Energy recovery systems for vehicles and wheels comprising the same
First Claim
1. A wheel assembly for a vehicle comprising a rim and an energy recovery system, the energy recovery system comprising a flywheel and an infinitely variable transmission wherein:
- the flywheel is substantially concentric with the rim and operable to rotate relative to the rim;
the infinitely variable transmission is positioned within the flywheel and couples the rim to the flywheel such that;
when the vehicle is decelerating and an angular velocity of the rim is greater than an angular velocity of the flywheel, kinetic energy of the rim is imparted to the flywheel and stored as mechanical potential energy thereby providing a braking force to the vehicle; and
when the vehicle is accelerating and the angular velocity of the rim is less than the angular velocity of the flywheel, the mechanical potential energy of the flywheel is imparted to the rim thereby providing an accelerating force to the vehicle.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wheel assembly for a vehicle may include a rim and an energy recovery system. The energy recovery system may include a flywheel and an infinitely variable transmission (IVT). The flywheel may be concentric with the rim and operable to rotate relative to the rim. The IVT may be positioned within the flywheel and couple the rim to the flywheel. When the vehicle is decelerating and an angular velocity of the rim is greater than an angular velocity of the flywheel, kinetic energy of the rim may be imparted to the flywheel and stored as mechanical potential energy thereby providing a braking force to the vehicle. Alternatively, when the vehicle is accelerating and the angular velocity of the rim is less than the angular velocity of the flywheel, the mechanical potential energy of the flywheel may be imparted to the wheel thereby providing an accelerating force to the vehicle.
112 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A wheel assembly for a vehicle comprising a rim and an energy recovery system, the energy recovery system comprising a flywheel and an infinitely variable transmission wherein:
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the flywheel is substantially concentric with the rim and operable to rotate relative to the rim; the infinitely variable transmission is positioned within the flywheel and couples the rim to the flywheel such that; when the vehicle is decelerating and an angular velocity of the rim is greater than an angular velocity of the flywheel, kinetic energy of the rim is imparted to the flywheel and stored as mechanical potential energy thereby providing a braking force to the vehicle; and when the vehicle is accelerating and the angular velocity of the rim is less than the angular velocity of the flywheel, the mechanical potential energy of the flywheel is imparted to the rim thereby providing an accelerating force to the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An energy recovery system comprising a flywheel and an infinitely variable transmission), wherein the infinitely variable transmission rotationally couples the flywheel to a source of rotational motion with an input coupling and to an external system with an output coupling and the infinitely variable transmission comprises an idler ring, a plurality of input infinitely variable planetary gear sets and a plurality of output infinitely variable planetary gear sets, wherein:
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the idler ring is concentric with the flywheel; the plurality of input infinitely variable planetary gear sets are pivotally engaged with an outer diameter of the idler ring and operable to rotate on the outer diameter of the idler ring, wherein; the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets are rotationally coupled to the input coupling such that a rotation of the input coupling rotates the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets on the outer diameter of the idler ring; the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets are operable to frictionally engage with a flywheel coupling ring concentric with the flywheel and rotationally coupled to the flywheel such that rotation of the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets around the idler ring is imparted to the flywheel via the flywheel coupling ring; the plurality of output infinitely variable planetary gear sets are pivotally engaged with an inner diameter of the idler ring and operable to rotate on the inner diameter of the idler ring, wherein; the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets are rotationally coupled to the flywheel such that the rotation of the flywheel rotates the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets on the inner diameter of the idler ring; the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets are operable to frictionally engage with an output coupling concentric with the flywheel such that rotation of the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets is imparted to the output coupling; and the idler ring is axially displaceable with respect to the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets and the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets thereby pivoting the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets and the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets such that the input infinitely variable planetary gear sets and the output infinitely variable planetary gear sets are frictionally engaged or disengaged with the flywheel coupling ring and the output coupling, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An energy recovery control system for a vehicle having at least one wheel assembly comprising a rim and an energy recovery system having a flywheel disposed in the rim and an infinitely variable transmission coupling the rim to the flywheel, wherein:
the energy recovery control system comprises an electronic control unit electrically coupled to a brake sensor, an accelerator sensor, and an IVT actuator, wherein the brake sensor is coupled to a braking system of the vehicle, the accelerator sensor is coupled to a throttle control system of the vehicle, the IVT actuator is coupled to the infinitely variable transmission and the electronic control unit is programmed to; receive a signal from the brake sensor indicative of an amount of braking desired by a vehicle operator when the vehicle is decelerating; receive a signal from the accelerator sensor indicative of an amount of acceleration desired by the vehicle operator when the vehicle is accelerating from a stop; and output a control signal to the IVT actuator to engage the infinitely variable transmission with the flywheel and the rim based on one of the signal from the brake sensor or the signal from the accelerator sensor when the vehicle is accelerating from a stop or decelerating. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
Specification