Stable wave motor

• US 5,842,838 A
• Filed: 11/04/1996
• Issued: 12/01/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: John L. Berg
• Original Assignee: John L. Berg
• Inventors: Berg, John L.
• Primary Examiner(s): FREAY, CHARLES GRANT
• Application Number:
  US08/740,716
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: 417/330, 417/331, 417/333, 60/398, 290/53
• US Class Current: 417/331
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 61/10 Accessories; Auxiliary operations
• CPC Class Codes: F03B 13/1875 and the wom is the piston or the cylinder in a pump
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/30 Energy from the sea, e.g. using wave energy or salinity gradient

Abstract

A wave motion energy harvesting apparatus of the invention comprises a float portion detachably interfitted with and axially moveable with respect to a hydrodynamically resistive portion. The float portion of this apparatus is moored by means of a line attached adjacent its vertical axis, but the hydrodynamically resistive portion is neither anchored nor moored except by its being interfitted with the float portion. Both the float and the hydrodynamically resistive portions are separately configured to have their mass distributed evenly about a common vertical axis of the apparatus. The float portion of the apparatus is nearly neutrally buoyant and comprises an automatically filled water ballast tank.

Claims

1. In a wave-driven pump comprising a float portion detachably interfitted with a hydrodynamically resistive portion for reciprocating motion therebetween, the pump adapted to float in a body of water so that the hydrodynamically resistive portion extends beneath a surface region of wave activity and the float portion moves vertically under the influence of wave motion with respect to the hydrodynamically resistive portion, an improvement comprising mooring apparatus, the mooring apparatus comprising:

anchoring means at a bottom of the body of water;

an anchor line extending from the anchoring means to a tether-buoy floating on the surface of the body of water;

a tether line having two ends, the first end of the tether line attached to the tether-buoy, the second end of the tether line attached to the pump adjacent a vertical axis thereof and distal from a periphery of the float.

2. Apparatus for mooring a wave-motion apparatus in a body of water adjacent a shore, the wave-motion apparatus supplying an output through an output line to a location remote therefrom, the wave-motion apparatus comprising a float portion interfitted for reciprocating motion with a hydrodynamically resistive portion, the float and the hydrodynamically resistive portions having a common axis distal from a periphery of the float portion, the mooring apparatus comprising:

anchoring means at a bottom of the body of water;

an anchor line extending from the anchoring means to a tether-buoy floating on the surface of the body of water;

a tether line having two ends, the first end of the tether line attached to the tether-buoy, the second end of the tether line attached to the wave-motion apparatus adjacent the axis and distal from the periphery of the float; and

wherein a first portion of the output line is attached to the tether line at a first plurality of locations therealong, a second portion of the output line is attached to the anchor line at a second plurality of locations therealong, and a third portion of the output line extends from the anchoring means to the remote location.

3. The mooring apparatus of claim 2 wherein the anchor line has a length six times a depth of the body of water and the tether line has a length of thirty feet.

4. The mooring apparatus of claim 2 wherein the tether line is attached to the float portion at a single point.

5. In a wave-driven pump comprising a float portion interfitted with a hydrodynamically resistive portion for reciprocating motion therebetween, the pump adapted to float on a body of water so that the float portion moves vertically with respect to the hydrodynamically resistive portion, an improvement wherein the float portion comprises a ballast tank adapted to be flooded by the water, the tank comprising an inlet check valve adjacent a bottom thereof, the inlet check valve adapted to permit the water to flow into the tank and adapted to prohibit the water from flowing out of the tank;

and a vent connecting an uppermost portion of the tank to the atmosphere.

6. The wave-driven pump of claim 5 wherein the tank has a volume chosen so that the specific gravity of the float portion is between 0.8 and 0.85, when the tank is flooded with the water.

7. The wave-driven pump of claim 5 wherein the inlet check valve comprises a ball having a density greater than that of the water and a valve seat, the inlet check valve not comprising a spring.

8. The wave-driven pump of claim 5 wherein the float portion and the hydrodynamically resistive portion both comprise masses disposed symmetrically about a common axis that is vertical when the float and the hydrodynamically resistive portions are interfitted and floating in the body of water.

9. The wave-driven pump of claim 5 supplying an output through an output line to a remote location, wherein the float and the hydrodynamically resistive portions have a common axis distal from a periphery of the float portion, and wherein the pump is moored adjacent a shore by mooring apparatus comprising:

anchoring means at a bottom of the body of water;

an anchor line extending from the anchoring means to a tether-buoy floating on the surface of the body of water;

tether line having two ends, the first end of the tether line attached to the tether-buoy, the second end of the tether line attached to the pump adjacent the axis and distal from the periphery of the float; and

wherein a first portion of the output line is attached to the tether line at a first plurality of locations therealong;

a second portion of the output line is attached to the anchor line at a second plurality of locations therealong; and

a third portion of the output line extends from the anchoring means to the remote location.