Rotary-powered mechanical oscillator
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for generating mechanical oscillation, the apparatus comprising:
- a frame;
a first disc rotatably mounted to the frame to enable rotation about an axis and having a surface that extends radially from the axis of rotation;
a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on or within the surface of the first disc in an alternating polar orientation and in a circular pattern concentric with the axis of rotation, each of the permanent magnets having a maximum lineal dimension parallel to the surface of the first disc that is substantially smaller than a radius of the circular pattern;
a second disc translatably mounted to the frame adjacent the first disc and having a radially-extending surface disposed parallel to and adjacent the surface of the first disc; and
a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on or within the surface of the second disc in an alternating polar orientation and in a circular pattern concentric with the axis of rotation of the first disc such that, as the first disc is rotated with respect to the second disc, the permanent magnets of the first and second discs move cyclically between attractive and repulsive positions with respect to one another to cause the second disc to translate cyclically toward and away from the first disc.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Counterpart discs with respective sets of permanent magnets disposed at their periphery are rotated through an alternating sequence of repulsive and attractive positions to yield a repeating cycle of attractive and repulsive forces. At least one of the discs is freed to travel along the axis of relative rotation in response to the cyclical attractive/repulsive forces, thereby producing mechanical oscillation at a frequency determined by the number of magnetic positions in the two discs and the relative rotational speed of the discs.
-
Citations
22 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for generating mechanical oscillation, the apparatus comprising:
-
a frame; a first disc rotatably mounted to the frame to enable rotation about an axis and having a surface that extends radially from the axis of rotation; a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on or within the surface of the first disc in an alternating polar orientation and in a circular pattern concentric with the axis of rotation, each of the permanent magnets having a maximum lineal dimension parallel to the surface of the first disc that is substantially smaller than a radius of the circular pattern; a second disc translatably mounted to the frame adjacent the first disc and having a radially-extending surface disposed parallel to and adjacent the surface of the first disc; and a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on or within the surface of the second disc in an alternating polar orientation and in a circular pattern concentric with the axis of rotation of the first disc such that, as the first disc is rotated with respect to the second disc, the permanent magnets of the first and second discs move cyclically between attractive and repulsive positions with respect to one another to cause the second disc to translate cyclically toward and away from the first disc. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. An apparatus for generating mechanical oscillation, the apparatus comprising:
-
a frame; a first disc rotatably mounted to the frame and having permanent magnets disposed at its periphery in an alternating polar orientation; a second disc translatably mounted to the frame adjacent the first disc and having permanent magnets disposed at its periphery in an alternating polar orientation such that, as the first disc is rotated with respect to the second disc, the permanent magnets of the first and second discs move cyclically between attractive and repulsive positions with respect to one another to cause the second disc to translate cyclically toward and away from the first disc, the first and second discs being axially aligned and offset by a distance that varies cyclically in correspondence with the translation of the second disc, increasing beyond an average distance during a first portion of each translation cycle and decreasing below the average distance during a second portion of each translation cycle; and a displacement mechanism to enable adjustment of the average distance by translating the first disc along the axis of rotation to a selected one of a plurality of different positions with respect to the frame. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. An apparatus for generating mechanical oscillation, the apparatus comprising:
-
a frame; a first disc rotatably mounted to the frame and having permanent magnets disposed at its periphery in an alternating polar orientation; and a second disc disposed adjacent the first disc and having permanent magnets disposed at its periphery in an alternating polar orientation such that, as the first disc is rotated with respect to the second disc, the permanent magnets of the first and second discs move cyclically between attractive and repulsive positions with respect to one another to cause the second disc to translate cyclically with respect to the frame, toward and away from the first disc; and one or more flexible mounting members to secure the second disc to the frame while permitting cyclical translation of the second disc with respect to the frame, each of the one or more mounting members being formed by a respective sheet of flexible, memoryless material that is fastened to the frame and capable of deformation in response to the cyclical translation of the second disc with respect to the frame.
-
Specification