Vehicle mountable electrical generating system

• US 4,536,668 A
• Filed: 09/13/1982
• Issued: 08/20/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Robert E. Boyer
• Original Assignee: Robert E. Boyer
• Inventors: Boyer, Robert E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Skudy, R.
• Application Number:
  US06/417,473
• Time in Patent Office: 1,072 Days
• Field of Search: 310/89, 310/67 R, 310/74, 310/168-171, 310/75 A, 310/90, 310/75 R, 310/75 C, 310/268, 310/83, 310/115, 310/118, 310/68 B, 322/3, 74/752 F, 340/58, 180/65.5, 307/9, 307/10 R, 190/1 R
• US Class Current: 310/75.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/041 Means for supplying power to the signal- transmitting means on the wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 25/08 from a ground wheel, e.g. engaging the wheel tread or rim
• CPC Class Codes: H02K 7/1846 structurally associated with wheels or associated parts dynamos arranged in the wheel hub of cycles B62J6/12

Abstract

A vehicle-mountable electrical power generating mechanism and signal transmitter, combined to constitute a self-powered generating system mountable such as on a wheel to monitor and provide an indication of certain operating characteristics of the wheel, such as the pressure of the tire mounted thereon.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mountable electrical power generating system for a wheeled vehicle, comprising, in combination, a housing, first mounting means for mounting said housing along the axis of rotation of a wheel for rotation with said wheel, second mounting means in said housing extending along the axis of rotation of said wheel, pendulum means suspended from said second mounting means, a rotatable electrical potential generating means including a generator shaft means, said generating means mounted with said pendulum means in para-axial relation to the axis of rotation of said wheel, drive means mounted for rotation with said housing and connected to rotate said generator shaft means of said generating means, said drive means having a substantially different diameter than said generator shaft means whereby rotation of said wheel causes said drive means to rotate said generator shaft means of said generating means at a selected rate higher than the rate of rotation of said wheel thereby generate electrical power.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein said drive means is mounted to have its axis of rotation aligned with the axis of rotation of said wheel, and said generating means is mounted to have its axis of rotation spaced from the axis of rotation on said wheel.

3. A system as in claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a rotatable gear, and said generator shaft means including gear means having a sufficiently high gear ratio whereby said generating means are actuated at a relatively high rate to provide power for powering a signal transmitter even when the vehicle is moving at a relatively slow rate of speed.

5. A vehicle-mountable electrical power generating system for a wheeled vehicle, comprising, in combination, a housing, first mounting means for suspendably mounting said housing along the axis of rotation of a wheel to maintain said housing relatively stationary when said wheel is rotating, second mounting means in said housing extending along the axis of rotation of said wheel for rotation with said wheel, an electrical potential generating means mounted in offset relation to the axis of rotation of said wheel, a drive shaft for actuating said generating means, drive gear means mounted for rotation with said second mounting means, and driven gear means mounted to drive said shaft and connected to be driven by said drive gear means, whereby rotation of said wheel causes said generating means to generate electrical power.

4. A system as in claim 5 wherein said generating means includes a pancake armature, and said armature is affixed to said shaft be driven by said drive gear means.

6. A vehicle-mountable electrical power generating system for a wheel of a vehicle, comprising, in combination, a housing, first mounting means for mounting said housing along the axis of rotation of said wheel to permit said wheel to rotate relative to said housing, an armature shaft, a pancake armature mounted on said armature shaft, driven gear means mounted on said shaft, drive gear means mounted on said first mounting means to be rotatable upon rotation of said wheel, and engaged to drive said driven gear means and said armature shaft, and magnet means mounted in said housing and operatively coupled to said armature, where rotation of said armature causes an electrical potential to be generated.

7. A system as in claim 6 wherein said first mounting means includes a bearing means, gear shaft means extending along the axis of rotation of said wheel for rotating in said bearing means to thereby permit said housing to remain relatively stationary when said wheel is rotating.

8. A system as in claim 6 wherein said housing is eccentrically mounted along the axis of rotation of said wheel.

9. A system as in claim 6 wherein weight means are mounted on said housing to provide a pendulum effect.

10. A system as in claim 6 wherein said drive gear means is mounted to have its axis of rotation aligned with the axis of rotation of said wheel, and said driven gear means is mounted to have its axis of rotation para-axial to the axis of rotation of said wheel.

11. An electrical generator system for mounting on a rotating member about a substantially horizontal axis, said generator system powered by the rotation of said rotating member, said generator system comprising:

a magnetic field source for producing a magnetic field;

an armature, said field source and armature being rotatable with respect to one another, said armature having at least a portion of its windings disposed to be operatively energizable by said field to produce an electrical voltage;

pendulum means journaled and disposed to be slideably suspended about the axis of rotation of said rotating member so as to be held in a substantially non-rotating condition during rotation of said rotating member;

overspeed rotary drive means coupled to said rotating member and said pendulum means, and driven by the relative rotation therebetween; and

output means for said drive means being disposed and coupled to produce a relative rotation between said magnetic field source and said armature at a rotation rate greater than the rotation rate of said rotating member.

12. A generating system as in claim 11 further including a housing for said system, said housing being mountable on said rotating member, said overspeed rotary drive means comprising:

(a) a first rotatable shaft means extending along said axis;

(b) first rotatable gear means mounted on said shaft means;

(c) second rotatable gear means including a rotatable second shaft means, said second gear means operatively engaging to said first gear means to be rotating at a relatively faster rate than said first gear means, and said second shaft means journaled on said pendulum means and hold in a relatively stationary axial position thereby;

(d) third gear means mounted on said second shaft means, and rotatable with said second shaft means;

(e) fourth gear means journaled on said first shaft means and operatively engaging said third gear means; and

(f) said armature being operatively affixed to said fourth gear means whereby as said rotating member and said housing rotates, said fourth gear means and said armature are driven at a relatively much higher rate of speed to obtain a rotation rate greater than the rotation rate of said rotating member and thereby generate an electrical potential even with a slow rate of rotation of said rotating member.

13. A generating system as in claim 11 wherein said armature is a pancake armature circular in configuration, and said magnetic field source comprises a plurality of magnets mounted in spaced relation adjacent the periphery of said armature whereby the speed at which the periphery of the armature moves past the magnets is maximized to provide electrical power output from the generator system even at relatively low rate of rotation of said rotating member.

14. A vehicle-mountable electrical power generating system for a wheeled vehicle, comprising, in combination, a housing, a mounting means for rotatably mounting said housing along the axis of rotation of a wheel, an internal coaxially-mounted shaft in said housing, a pancake armature, an armature hub, said armature affixed to said hub, a weight mounted to said hub, bearing means having an inner race and an outer race, said hub affixed to the outer race of said bearing means, said weight maintaining said armature hub substantially stationary, the inner race of said bearing means affixed to said shaft, whereby the pancake is substantially stationary with respect to said shaft and independent thereof, and a magnet means affixed to said housing and rotating therewith in operative association with said pancake armature, whereby rotation of said wheel causes said generating system to generate an electrical potential.

15. A system as in claim 14 wherein the pancake armature has flat copper windings on both sides of a thin supporting ring of dielectric material, with properly spaced winding turns radially extended from the inside diameter to the outside diameter and interconnected over the outer and inner edges of said supporting ring.

16. A generating system as in claim 14 wherein the mounting of the armature to the hub and of the magnet means to the housing are interchanged.

17. An electrical power generating system, comprising, in combination:

a housing;

a drive shaft in said housing;

a rotatable member;

mounting means for said housing, said drive shaft being coaxial with said rotatable member to be rotatable therewith;

pendulum means slideably mounted to and suspended from said drive shaft;

an electrical potential generating means mounted on said pendulum para-axial to said drive shaft;

an armature shaft for said generating means;

drive gear means mounted on said drive shaft and rotatable with said housing;

driven gear means mounted on said armature shaft to engage said drive gear means, whereby rotation of said rotatable member causes the drive gear to drive said driven gear and thereby control the ratio of speeds between said drive shaft and said armature shaft.