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Patent 1054483 Summary

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(12) Patent: (11) CA 1054483
(21) Application Number: 290619
(54) English Title: TRANSDUCER FOR CONVERSION OF TIDAL CURRENT ENERGY
(54) French Title: TRANSDUCTEUR PERMETTANT DE TRANSFORMER L'ENERGIE DE LA MAREE
Status: Expired
Bibliographic Data
Abstracts

English Abstract



TRANSDUCER FOR CONVERSION OF
TIDAL CURRENT ENERGY

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE


A set of aligned transducer units is fixedly disposed
in the sea. Each unit includes two atmosphere compartments
disposed on the opposite end portions, a sea-water stream
due to a tidal current flowing through its lower portion
between the compartments, and an impeller disposed between
the-compartments. The sea-water stream rotates the impeller
to actuate air cylinders disposed in both atmosphere compart-
ments communicating with the atmosphere. The air cylinders
compress the air to produce high pressure air. The high
pressure air from all the cylinders is transported through
a pipe to an adjacent shore to be converted to an electrical
energy. A four-sided tidal current guide is mounted on each
of the opposite sides of the transducer unit. A ballast water
room with its control is connected to the underside of the
transducer set for floating and sinking purposes.


- 1 -


Claims

Note: Claims are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


Claims:
1. A transducer apparatus for converting the energy of
a tidal current to high pressure fluid energy, comprising, in
combination, a housing in the form of a rectangular box, a pair
of atmosphere compartments disposed on the opposite end
portions of said housing thereof and in fluid communication
with each other and with the atmosphere, a plenum space and a
sea-water channel disposed between said pair of atmosphere com-
partments within said housing, said sea-water channel being
overlain with said plenum space to communicate in fluid-flow
relationship with the latter and having both ends open to the
exterior of said housing, means for supplying high pressure
fluid to said plenum space to maintain constant the level of
the upper surface of a tidal current flowing through said sea-
water channel, an impeller disposed within said communicating
plenum space and sea-water channel so that an upper half
thereof is located in said plenum space and a substantial
portion of its lower half is located in said sea-water channel,
said impeller including a rotary shaft disposed slightly above
and parallel to an interface between the plenum space and the
sea-water channel to project in both atmosphere compartments,
and a mechanism for producing a motive fluid disposed in each
of said atmosphere compartments to be operatively coupled to
the end of said rotary shaft projecting into the associated
atmosphere compartment, the arrangement being such that, with
the apparatus submerged in the sea, tidal current flows through
said sea-water channel to drive said impeller to cause said
motive fluid producing mechanism to produce higher pressure air
from lower pressure air.
2. A transducer apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, further
comprising a pair of guides mounted respectively on the opposite
end portions of said housing for guiding the tidal current to
flow into said sea-water channel.
3. A transducer apparatus as claimed in Claim 2 wherein
each of said pair of guides comprises four side walls projecting
from said housing and disposed in surrounding relation to one
of said both ends of said sea-water channel.
4. A transducer apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein
said mechanism for producing the motive fluid includes at least
one fluid cylinder means for compressing lower pressure air to

19

produce higher pressure air.
5. A transducer apparatus for converting the energy of a
tidal current to high pressure fluid energy, comprising, in
combination, a rectangular vessel, a plurality of transducer
units disposed in aligned relationship on the upper portion of
said vessel, each of said transducer units including a pair of
atmosphere compartments disposed on the opposite end portions
thereof and in fluid communication with each other, a plenum
space and a sea-water channel disposed between said atmosphere
compartments, said sea-water channel being overlain with said
plenum space to communicate with the latter in fluid-flow re-
lationship and having both ends open to the exterior of said
vessel, a plurality of tidal current guide walls projecting
from said opposite end portions of said housing and disposed in
surrounding relation to said both ends of said sea-water
channel, means for supplying high pressure fluid to said plenum
space to maintain constant the level of the upper surface of a
tidal current flowing through said sea-water channel, an im-
peller disposed within the communicating plenum space and sea-
water channel so that an upper half thereof is located in said
plenum space and a substantial portion of its lower half is
located in said sea-water channel, a rotary shaft for said im-
peller disposed slightly above and parallel to an interface
between said plenum space and said sea-water channel to project
into both atmosphere compartments, fluid compressing cylinder
means disposed in each of said atmosphere compartments to be
operatively coupled to the end of said rotary shaft projecting
into the associated atmosphere compartment, air introduction
means projecting from said vessel and connected to said
atmosphere compartments disposed in all said transducer units
to supply air to all said fluid compressing cylinder means, and
means on the lower portion of the vessel for controllably
submerging said vessel in the sea and maintaining the same
stationary.



Description

Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.


0544i3~
This invention relates to an apparatus for
utilizing an energy of a tidal current and more
particularly to a transducer apparatus for converting an
energy of a tidal current to an energy of a high pressure
fluid.
There have been previously proposed various
attempts to utilize the energy of tidal currents but they
have not been satisfactorily operated. It is an object of
the present invention to provide a new and improved trans-
- 10 ducer apparatus for effectively converting an energy of a
tidal currPnt to an energy of a high pressure fluid on a
large scale.
In accordance with one aspect of this invention
there is provided a transducer apparatus for converting
the energy of a tidal current to high pressure fluid
energy, comprising, in combination, a housing in the form
of a rectangular box, a pair of atmosphere compartments
disposed on the opposite end portions of said housing
thereof and in fluid communication with each other and
~:` 20 with the atmosphere, a plenum space and a sea-water
- channel disposed between said pair of atmosphere compart-
ments within said housing, said sea-water channel being
overlain with said plenum space to communicate in fluid-
flow relationship-with the latter and having both ends
open to the exterior of said housing, means for supplying
high pressure fluid to said plenum space to maintain con-
stant the level of the upper surface of a tidal current
rr flowing through said sea-water channel, an impeller dis-
m posed within said communicating plenum space and sea-
~- 30 water channel so that an upper half thereof is located in
: said plenum space and a substantial portion of its lower
half is located in said sea-water channel, said impeller
~ including a rotary shaft disposed slightly above and
`~ parallel to an interface between the plenum space and the
sea-water channel to project in both atmosphere compart-
ments, and a mechanism for producing a motive fluid dis-
posed in each of said atmosphere compartments to be
- operatively coupled to the end of said rotary shaft pro-
jecting into the associated atmosphere compartment, the
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arrangement being such that, with the apparatus sub-
merged in the sea, tidal current flows through said sea- t
water channel to drive said impeller to cause said motive
fluid producing mechanism to produce higher pressure air
from lower pressure air.
In accordance with another aspect of this in-
vention there is provided a transducer apparatus for con-
verting the energy of a tidal current to high pressure
. fluid energy, comprising, in combination, a rectangular
: 10 vessel, a plurality of transducer units disposed in align-
ed relationship on the upper portion of said vessel, each
of said transducer units including a pair of atmosphere
compartments disposed on the opposite end portions
thereof and in fluid communication with each other, a
plenum space and a sea-water channel disposed between
said atmosphere compartments, said sea-water channel being
. overlain with said plenum space to communicate with the
;i latter in fluid-flow relationship and having both ends
open to the exterior of said vessel, a plurality of tidal
current guide walls projecting from said opposite end
portions of said housing and disposed in surrounding re-
lation to said both ends of said sea-water channel, means
for supplying high pressure fluid to said plenum space to
maintain constant the level of the upper surface of a
tidal current flowing through said sea-water channel, an
impeller disposed within the communicating plenum space
: and sea-water channel so that an upper half thereof is
. located in said plenum space and a substantial portion ofits lower half is located in said sea-water channel, a
rotary shaft for said impeller disposed slightly above
and parallel to an interface between said plenum space
and said sea-water channel to project into both atmosphere . i
.~ compartments, fluid compressing cylinder means disposed in
. each of said atmosphere compartments to be operatively
coupled to the end of said rotary shaft projecting into
:. the associated atmosphere compartment, air introduction
means projecting from said vessel and connected to said
atmosphere compartments disposed in all said transducer
units to supply air to all said fluid compressing

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~ ~54483
cylinder means, and means on the lower portion of the
vessel for controllably submerging said vessel in the sea
and maintaining the same stationary.
; The present invention will become more readily
apparent from the following detailed description taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic perspective diagram of
.,` a transducer apparatus for converting an energy of a
tidal current to an energy of a high pressure fluid con-
structed in accordance with the principles of the present
: invention and illustrated at its operating position;
`-l Figure 2 is a schematic front elevational view,
:; partly in longitudinal section of the vessel shown in
` Figure 1 with parts broken away and with parts omitted;
. 15 Figure 3 is a fragmental side elevational
;` sectional view diagram taken along the line III-III of
; Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken along
~ the line IV-IV of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the
transducer

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unit embodying the principles of the present invention and
shown in Figures 2 and 3;
Figure 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the line
VI-VI of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along
the line VII-VII of Figure 5; and
Figure 8 is a cross sectional view of that portion of
the connection cable shown at dotted line in Figure 1 and
disposed on the bottom of the sea.
Referring now to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is
illustrated a transducer apparatus for converting an energy of
a tidal current to an energy of a high pressure fluid const-
ructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
The arrangement illustrated comprises a vessel in the form of
a rectangular box generally designated by the reference numeral
10 and a plurality, in this case, four of anchoriny chains 12
connected at one end to longitudinal corners of the vessel on
the middle portions and at the other ends to respective anchoring
blocks 14 disposed on the bottom of the sea 16 as best shown in
Figure 2. The vessel 10 further comprises a plurality of sup-
porting legs 18 (onl~ two of,which are illustrated in Figure 2)
attached to the bottom of the vessel and resting on the bottom
of the sea 16. In this way the vessel 10 has been maintained
submerged and stationary in the sea.
' As best shown in Figure 2, an air introduction unit generally

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designated by the reference numeral 20 is upwardly extended




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from a machine room 22 disposed on the top surface of the vessel
10 until its free end portion projects beyond the surface of the
sea.
As shown in Figure 2, the vessel 10 includes an upper portion
in which a transducer assembly 24 is disposed consisting of a
plurality, in this case, eight of rectangular transducer units 26
arranged in two rows and four columns, an intermediate portion
forming a submergence level control room for controlling a level
of submergence of the vessel generally designated by the reference
numeral 28, and a lower portion divided into a pair of upper and
lower layers. The upper layer includes a plurality, in this
case, two of ballast water chambers 30 horizontally aligned with
each other and the lower layer includes a plurality, in this case,
three of weighting chambers 32 horizontally aligned with one another.
The air introduction unit 20 includes an air intake
port 34 having an air cleaner 36, and an inlet pipe 38 connect-
ing the air intake port 36 to the machine room 22. The inlet
pipe 38 is flexible enough to be responsive to a change in the
surface of the sea due to the range of tide and formed of a
material resisting to both water and pressure. In view of
ships navigating close to the air introduction unit 20, the air
intake port 34 is supported to a buoy 40 provided at the top
with an indication lamp 42.
Within the machine room 22 there are disposed an
electrically operated compressor 44 and a switchboard 46.
The compressor 44 is adapted to compress the air fed into

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~54483
the machine rcom 22 through the inlet pipe 38 to supply the

compressed or pressurized air t~ all the transducer units 26
-
and, if necessary, to the ballast water chambers 30. The
switchboard 46 has connected thereto electric leads (not
shown) to all electric equipments installed within the
vessel 10. To this end, a piping duct 4~ is shown in Figure
2 as extending from the machine room 22 to all the transducer
units 26 and has extended therethrough various conduits
and pipes (only some of which are shown in Figure 2).
The transducer units 26 are of the same construction
and one-of them will now be described in detail. ~s best
shown in Figures 5 and 6, the transducer unit 26 includes a
housing 50 in the form of a rectangular box and an atmosphere
compartment 52 having an upper portion in the form of
a rectangular hollow annulus disposed on the entire edge or
verge portion of the housing and a lower portion in the form
of a pair of rectangular hollow prisms disposed in opposite
relationship on the bilateral end portions of the housing 50
and opened into the opposite side portions of the rectangular
hollow annulus. The annular portion of the atmosphere
compartment 52 has a bottom-somewhat -lower-in level-than the --
central horizontal plane of the housing 50 and encircles a
plenum space 54 having an upper surface defined by the top
wall of the housing 50. The plenum space 54 is underlaid
and communicates with a sea-water channel 56 sandwiched
between the bilateral prism portions of the atmosphere
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~5~483
; compartment 52. The channel 56 has a bottom defined by the
bottom wall of the housing 50 and centrally traverses the
- housing 50 to terminate at openings 56' disposed on the
adjacent portions of a pair of opposite side walls of the
housing 50. The channel 56 is coextensive with the cross
section of the channel 56. With the vessel 10 submerged
into the sea, the channel 56 is put in fluid communication
with the sea through the openings 56' to be filled with the
sea water as best shown in Figure 5.
~O As shown in Figure 6, a pipe holder 58 is fixedly
secured to the inner wall surface of the housing 50 within
the annular portion of the atmosphere compartment 52 and
adjacent to a suitable one of corners of the housing 50.
A high pressure feed pipe 60 from the compressor 44 in the
machine room 22 is extended and sealed through the pipe
` holder 58 along with various conduits and pipes as will be
described later. It will readily be understood that all
those conduits and pipes extend through the piping duct 48
prior to the connection to the pipe holder 58. The feed
pipe 60 is bifurcated within the annular portion of the
atmosphere compartment 52 and the bifurcated portions thereof
terminate at a pair of spouting ports 62 positioned in
opposite relationship within the plenum space 54 adjacent to
`- the annular compartment 52 portion. An electromagnetic
valve 64 is connected in each of the bifurcated pipe portions
60 for the purpose as will be apparent hereinafter.

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In operation, a high pressure fluid, in this case, the
air from the compressor 44 is delivered to the plenum space
52 to maintain a constant top surface of a tidal current
flowing through the sea-water channel 56 under the control
of a plurality in this case, four of level sensors 66
suitably disposed within the plenum space 52. In Figure 5,
the top surface of the tidal current is shown as being
substantially contacted by the outer bottom wall surface of
thè level sensors 66 and also by the outer wall surface of .~:
/o the annular compartment 52 portion.
- An impeller 68 is centrally disposed within the
housing 50 of the transducer unit 26 so that an upper half
thereof is located in the plenum space 54 while the
- substantial portion of a lower half thereof is located in
. the sea-water channel 56, that is to say, it is immersed
into a tidal current flowing through the channel 56 in
operation as best shown in Figure 5. To this end, the
impeller 68 includes a rotary shaft 70 hermetically and
- rotatably supported on both end portions by a pair of
bearings 72 extended and sealed through opposite partitions
for the prismatic compartment 52 portions respectively so
as to run in substantially parallel to and slightly above
;........................................................................... .
: an interface between the plenum space and sea-water channel

54 and 56 respectively, that is to say, the level of the

sea water flowing through the channel 56.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the rotary shaf~ 70 is
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i~54483
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provided on the free end portions therPof projecting into
those opposite portions of the annular atmosphere compartment
52 consecutive to the prismatic compartment 52 with a pair
of similar spur gears 74 respectively. Each spur gear 74
meshes with a pair of spur gears 76 disposed on both sides
thereof to be horizontally aligned with each other and with
the gear 74. The three meshing gears 74, 76 and 76 are of
the same construction and operatively coupled by~individual
cranks 78 to respective pistons 80. Each of the pistons 80
is slidably disposed in a fluid cylinder 82 disposed in
each of the prismatic atmosphere compartment 52 portions.
The pistons 80 and the associated cylinders 82 form a
mechanism for producing a compressed or motive fluid, in
this case, air generally designated by the reference
numeral 84.
In the example illustrated the three cylinders 82 are
juxtaposed with one another and the mating cranks 78 have
their phase angles of rotation different from one another
by angles of 120 degrees. As shown in Figure 6, those three
cylinders 82 include a common air inflow pipe 86 connected
in fluid communication with the.bottom portions thereof as

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viewed in Figure 7 and opened into the atmosphere compartment

. 52 toward the pipe holder 58 with a check valve 88 connected

in the open end portion of the inflow pipe 86. The bottom

,~ portion of all the three cylinders 82 are also connected in


.. `. fluid communication with a common high pressure delivery

. pipe 90 provided with a check valve 92.

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As shown in Figure 6, and air introduction pipe 94 is
extended and sealed through the pipe holder 58 and then
opened into the atmosphere compartment 52. The introduction
pipe 94 extends through the piping duct 48 and opens into
the machine room 22 for the purpose of introducing the air
into the atmosphere compartment 52. Also the high-pressure
delivery pipe 90 from the cylinders 82 is extended and
sealed through the pipe holder 58 and then passed through
the duct 48 to reach the machine room 22 for the purpose as
will be apparent hereinafter. Further a wiring conduit 96
is shown in Figure 6 as being extended and sealed through
the pipe holder 58 and passed through the duct 48. Then
the conduit 96 reaches the switchboard 46 disposed in the
machine room 22. However the pipes 94 and 96 and the
conduit 96 are not illustrated in Figure 2 only for purposes
of illustration. In Figure 6, a single electric conductor
is shown as extending through the wiring conduit 96. This
electric conductor is representative of electric leads
connected to the electromagnetic valves 64 disposed in the
atmosphere compartment 52 for energi~ation and to the level
sensor 66 disposed in ~e plenum space 54 for control purposes.
Those electric leads are connected to the switchboard 46
disposed in the machine room 22 although they are not illust-


-: -
rated in Figure 2 only for purposes of illustration.
- Referring back to Figure 2, the high pressure feed
pipe (not shown in Figure 2) from the compressor 44 includes
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~ - 10 -


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~54~83
a plurality of branches 98 (only two of which are illustrated
in Figure 2) extended through the submergence control room 28
where an electromagnetic valve 100 is connected in each branch
98. Then the branches 98 are opened into the ballast chamber
30. It will readily be understood that the electromagnetic
valves 100 are connected to an electric lead (now shown) to
the switchboard 46 ~see Figure 2).
As best shown in Figure 4, a pair of ballast drain
pumps 102 are disposed in the submergence control room 28
and connected to respective drain pipes 104. Each drain
pipe 104 is provided with a check valve 106 and extends in
water tight relationship through the side wall of the
chamber 28 unit it terminates at an open end slightly
projecting into the exterior of the vessel or the sea
water. Each drain pipe 102 includes a suction pipe 102
opened adjacent to the bottom of the ballast room 20 (see
Figure 2~. Further a hoisting winch 106 is disposed in
each of-the corner portions of the chamber 28 isolated from
the remaining portion thereof to be driven by an electric
motor 108 disposed adjacent to the hoisting winch 106
within the remaining chamber portion. To pay out and take
up the associated chain 12, the pumps and motors 102 and
108 respectively are adapted to be energized through electric
leads (not shown~ to the switchboard 46 in the machine room
22.
As shown in Figure 2 each of the ballast chambers
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1~54483

includes a gate 110 disposed on the outer wall thereof.
As also shown in Figure 2, the machine room 22 has a
flexible watertight cable sheath 112 extended therefrom.
The cable sheath 112 is trained over the bottom of the sea
16 unit it lands at a shore adjacent to the vessel 10 as
shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 8, the cable sheath
112 is relatively flat so as to present a low resistance to
tidal currents and contains a flexible, compressed-air feed
pipe 114 and a pair of flexible electric cables 116 extended
. ro therethrough. Further a weight 118 in the form of a
; discrete sheets aligned with one another is disposed on the
bottom of the cable sheath 112 in order to stably lay the
cable sheath 112 on the bottom of the sea 16.
- In the machine room 22 the compressed air pipe 114 is
connected to the high pressure delivery pipe 90 connected
to the fluid cylinders 82 and a plurality of electric
; conductors extending through one of the electric cables 116
are electrically connected through the switchboard 46 to
associate equipments installed within the vessel 10 such
~0 as electric motors, electromagnetic valves etc. in order to
- energize them. Similarly a plurality of electric conductors
extending through the other cable 116 are connected through
the switchboard 46 to associated controls such as the level -
sensors 66 and adapted to transmit control signals in the
form of carrier waves therethrough.
~` Referring back to Figure 1, the cable sheath 112
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i~54~83

after having landed at the shore enters a cable house 120
located in proximity of the shore. In the housing 120 the
compressed-air pipe 114 is provided with a check valve (not
shown) and then leaves the housing 120 until it i5 connected
to a high pressure tank 122 disposed adjacent to the cable
house 120. On the other hand, the pair of electric cables
` 116 enter a remote control cottage 126. A high pressure
- feed pipe 128 from the tank 122 is connected to a high
pressure fluid operated motor (not shown) disposed in an
~0 electric power generation plant 130 adjacent to the remote
control cottage 126. The motor is operatively coupled to an
* electric generator (not shown) disposed in the plant 130
and connected at the output to a transmission system 132.
The generator is also adapted to supply an electric power
` to the vessel 10 through the power cable 116.
Mounted on the opposite side portions of the vessel 10
are a plurality of guides 134 for guiding the tidal current
to flow into the sea-water channels 56. Each of the guides 13
comprises four side walls 136 extending at a right angle to
adjacent walls and projecting from the vessel 10, the four
walls 136 being disposed in surrounding relation to one of the
openings 56' of the sea-water channel 56. The guide 134 is
coextensive in cross section with the housing 50, so that
the guides 134 cover the entire area of the side wall portions
: of the vessel 10 in which the transducer units 26 are housed.
The tidal current, once flown into the guides 134, is trapped


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therein and prevented from escaping out of the guides 134 over
the side walls 136 under increased pressure within the guides
134 due to continuing influx cf the tidal current. With the
increased pressure is the guides 134, the tidal current therein
is foxcibly fed into the sea-water channels 56 through the
op~nings 56' and caused to flow through the channels 56 at an
increased rate of speed. Furthermore, the guides 136 act as a
sea-water collector in the case where.a.direction of the tidal
current is varied so as to be out of alignment with the longi-


.
tudinal direction of the sea-water channels 56.
The arrangment thus far described.is operated as follows:
The vessel 10 with the gates 110 brought into their closed
position is towed to a predetermined position on the surface
of the sea and then gates 110 are opened to permit the sea water
to be introduced into the ballast water chambers 30. The sea
water is also introduced into all the sea-water channels 56 until
it will possibly fill each transducer unit 26 up to a part of
the plenum space 54. In that case the longitudinal axis of each
channel 56 preferably lies in a direction of a tidal current.
In this way the vessel 10 is submerged in the sea until the
supporting legs 20 of the vessel 10 rest on the bottom of the
sea 16. Then the four anchoring chains 12 connected to the
respective anchoring blocks 14 dorp on the bottom of the sea 16
to maintain the vessel substantially stationary by having the
anchoring blocks 14 biting into the bottom of the sea 1~ as
shown in Figure 2.




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163 5~483
An actuation signal from the remote control cottage
126 is delivered through the control cable 116 to the
compressor 44 in the machine room 22 to drive it from a
source of electric power disposed therefor in the room 22
to supply a high pressure air to each of the plenum spaces
52 through the high pressure pipe 60 to increase a fluid
~ pressure within that plenum space 52 to depress the level of
;, the sea water flowing through the associated sea-water
channels 56. Upon the sea water flowing through each
. ~0 channel 56 reaching a predetermined level as determined by
the associated level sensors 66, the electromagnetic valves
64 in each atmosphere compartment respond to a`control signal
~= from the remote control cottage 126 fed thereto through the
control cable 116 to be closed to stop the supply of the
high pressure air to the associated plenum space 52 to
maintain the predetermined sea level in the mating sea-water
channel 56. If the sea level in a particular channel 56
exceeds the predetermined magnitude, the associated sensors
68 are operated to open the corresponding electromagnetic
valves 64 in responsive to a control signal from the control
cottage 126. In this way, the level sensors 68 cooperate
with the associated electromagnetic valves 64 to maintain the
predetermined sea level in each of the sea-water channels 56.
At the same time, a tidal current due to the particular
tide continues to flow through each sea-water channels 56
in one or the other of the directions. It will readily be

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understood that the tidal current flowing through each
channel 56 is reversed in direction in response to a change
in tide from one to the other of the reflux and flux.
Within each of the transducer unit 26 the tidal
current flowing through the associated sea-water channel 56
causes the rotation of the impel:Ler 70 in a direction as
determined by the direction of flow thereof. The rotation
of each impeller 70 causes the actuation of the associated
compressed air mechanism 84 through the mating spur gears
74, 78 and 78 and the cranks 80. Thus the air spouted into
each atmosphere compartment 54 from the associated atmosphere
pipe 90 and sucked into the cylinders 82 through the
corresponding pipe 86 is compressed and the compressed air
as a motive fluid is delivered through the mating high
pressure pipes 90 to the compressed air feed pipe 114.
Then the compressed air flowing through the pipe 114 within
the cable sheath 112 is entered into the high pressure tank
122. The compressed air accumulated in the tank 122 is fed
to the fluid operated motor (not shown) disposed in the power
generation plant 130 to rotate the electric generator (not
shown) connected to the motor to produce an electric power.
The electric power is adapted to be transmitted through the
transmission system 132.
It is.noted that once the electric power hasi been
produced in the power generation plant 130, the compressor
44 is switched to be energized with a part of that electric

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54483
.
power through the power cable 116.
When the vessel 10 is to be subject to the periodic
inspection or if a failure has occurred in the vessel 10
for any reason, control signals from the remote control
cottage 126 are fed to the vessel 10 through the control
cable 116 to close the gates 110 and to drive the drain
pumps 102 to drain the ballast chambers 30. At the same
time the electromagnetic valves 100 are opened to aid the
drainage of the ballast chambers 30 until the vessel 10 is
/o floated up on the sea surface. Thereafter the periodic
inspection can be effected. Alternatively the failure
can be removed.
Then the process as above described is repeated to
put the vessel 10 in operation.
Thus it is seen that the present invention has
provided an apparatus capable of effectively piciking up
and utilizing an energy of a tidal current in large-scaled
manner adjacent the bottom of the sea and also permitting
ships to navigate in the vicinity of the present apparatus
without any hindrance. Further the present invention provides
an unattended apparatus through the utilization o~ the remote
control performed on land.
While the present invention has been illustrated
and described in conjunction with a single preferred
embodiment thereof it is to be understood that numerous
changes and modifications may be resorted to without




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departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
For example, the present invention is equally applicable to
. apparatus requiring the high pressure fluid other than the
. electric power generation plant as above described.




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Representative Drawing

Sorry, the representative drawing for patent document number 1054483 was not found.

Administrative Status

For a clearer understanding of the status of the application/patent presented on this page, the site Disclaimer , as well as the definitions for Patent , Administrative Status , Maintenance Fee  and Payment History  should be consulted.

Administrative Status

Title Date
Forecasted Issue Date 1979-05-15
(45) Issued 1979-05-15
Expired 1996-05-15

Abandonment History

There is no abandonment history.

Owners on Record

Note: Records showing the ownership history in alphabetical order.

Current Owners on Record
OTSU, FUMIO
Past Owners on Record
None
Past Owners that do not appear in the "Owners on Record" listing will appear in other documentation within the application.
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Document
Description 
Date
(yyyy-mm-dd) 
Number of pages   Size of Image (KB) 
Description 1994-04-21 18 744
Drawings 1994-04-21 5 183
Claims 1994-04-21 2 121
Abstract 1994-04-21 1 32
Cover Page 1994-04-21 1 18