NEAR SHORE WEC SYSTEM
First Claim
1. Apparatus for converting energy of sea currents that move largely horizontally below the sea surface into electrical energy, comprising:
- a base (2) and means for anchoring said base to the sea floor to limit drift of the base;
a panel (4) that lies at least partially in said sea and that is pivotally mounted on said base to oscillate between spaced panel positions when moved by the currents, said panel having top and bottom panel ends (92, 96) with one of said panel ends pivotally mounted about a first primarily horizontal panel axis on said base and with the other panel end being free to move;
said panel top end lies at least as high as the mid tide sea surface level (84) during at least part of said panel oscillations; and
electric power extraction means for converting said back and forth pivoting of said panel into electricity.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems are described for obtaining energy from water movements in shallow waters, using panels (4) that are pivotally mounted (13) near the sea floor in shallow water and that extend up to the sea surface, or that are pivotally mounted above the sea surface and extend down into the sea. As water near the sea surface moves in ellipses (48), or largely back and forth, the panel pivots back and forth. A cylinder (8, 18) with one end (7′) mounted on a stationary base and an opposite end (7) connected to the panel, carries at least one sheet (70) of elastomeric material that has electrodes (72, 74) at its opposite faces, with an electrical charge between the electrodes. As the panel pivots back and forth, the sheet is repeatedly stretched and relaxed to vary the voltage between the electrodes in order to generate electricity. A cylinder (8) can be used whose ends move toward and away from each other, or a cylinder (18) can be used whose ends pivot about a cylinder axis relative to each other.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. Apparatus for converting energy of sea currents that move largely horizontally below the sea surface into electrical energy, comprising:
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a base (2) and means for anchoring said base to the sea floor to limit drift of the base; a panel (4) that lies at least partially in said sea and that is pivotally mounted on said base to oscillate between spaced panel positions when moved by the currents, said panel having top and bottom panel ends (92, 96) with one of said panel ends pivotally mounted about a first primarily horizontal panel axis on said base and with the other panel end being free to move; said panel top end lies at least as high as the mid tide sea surface level (84) during at least part of said panel oscillations; and electric power extraction means for converting said back and forth pivoting of said panel into electricity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. Apparatus for converting the energy of currents that move with horizontal components below the sea surface, into electrical energy, comprising:
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a base and means for anchoring said base to the sea floor to limit its drift from a predetermined location over the sea floor; a panel that lies at least partially in said sea and that is moveably mounted on said base to oscillate between spaced panel positions when moved by said currents; a sheet of elastomeric material that has opposite faces and electrodes at said opposite faces with said electrodes having a voltage between them; and means for varying the thickness of said sheet in response to oscillations of said panel between said panel positions. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. Apparatus for converting energy of sea waves into electrical energy, comprising:
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a base and means for anchoring said base to the sea floor to limit drift of the base; at least one float that floats on the sea surface; a float frame pivotally mounted on said base and attached to said float to allow said float to move up and down on the sea; electric power extraction means which includes a cylinder that has opposite ends that are moved relative to each other by pivotal motion of said float frame, and a sheet of elastomeric material that has electrodes at its opposite sheet faces to form a capacitor and with said electrodes carrying electric charges to produce a voltage between said electrodes.
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13. Apparatus for converting energy of sea waves into electrical energy, comprising:
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a base (2) and means for anchoring said base to the sea floor to limit drift of the base; a panel (4) that lies at least partially in said sea and that is pivotally mounted on said base to pivot back and forth between spaced panel positions when moved by the waves; a pair of capacitor devices that each includes a sheet of elastomeric material and a pair of electrodes that lie at opposite faces of the sheet, with the sheet of each capacitor device being stretched and with a voltage between the corresponding pair of electrodes; said capacitor devices each being coupled to said panel so pivoting of the panel changes the amount of stretching of the sheets of the capacitor devices, with said pair of capacitors coupled to said panel so that when stretching of the sheet of a first of said capacitor devices is increased, stretching of the sheet of the other of said capacitors is decreased, and vice versa.
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Specification