Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WAVE POWERED VESSEL
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vessel powered by an inexhaustible
energy source, more particularly to a wave powered vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the gradual depletion of oil resources and humankind's
mounting demands for energy, development of alternative fuels
is becoming more and more important. It is known in the art to
use regenerative energy sources, such as solar energy, wind energy,
and ocean tides, to produce electric power. However, devices using
these regenerative energy sources have various setbacks. For
instance, solar energy conversion is not efficient, and requires
the use of a large number of thermal collectors, which occupy
a large amount of space . The use of wind power to generate
electricity is limited to windy regions. Electricity generation
utilizing ocean tides is also limited to coastal regions having
tides of sufficient range.
SUi~IARY OF TIC INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a wave
powered vessel which permits rotation of a propeller to propel
the vessel forward by wave motion.
According to this invention, the wave powered vessel includes
a hull body extending in a longitudinal direction, a propeller
mounted to be rotatable relative to the hull body, and adapted
to be submerged in a body of water so as to propel the hull body
forward, and a driven shaft mounted to drive the propeller to
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rotate.
A drive transmission shaft is disposed in and is rotatable
relative to the hull body about a rotation axis, is adapted to
be spaced apart from the water level in an upright direction,
and extends in the longitudinal direction to couple with the
driven shaft so as to drive the propeller to rotate. A suspending
member is mounted relative to the hull body, and extends in the
longitudinal direction. A plurality of float members are
suspended by and are movable relative to the suspending member
in the upright direction, and are disposed to be displaced from
one another in the longitudinal direction. Each of the float
members includes bottom and top walls opposite to each other in
the upright direction, and a force transmitting rod disposed to
extend from the top wall uprightly. The force transmitting rod
includes a rack segment disposed to be moved upwards and downwards
with the force transmitting rod when a respective one of the float
members is moved upwards and downwards respectively by rising
and falling tides. A plurality of gear trains are mounted on the
hull body. Each of the gear trains includes a uni-directional
gear unit and a driven wheel. The uni-directional gear unit has
a toothed wheel that meshes with the rack segment so as to be
rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, and a uni-directional
gear wheel coupled relative to the toothed wheel to permit the
uni-directional gear wheel to be rotated coaxially with the
toothed wheel only when the toothed wheel rotates clockwise. The
driven wheel is disposed downstream of the uni-directional gear
wheel so as to transmit rotation of the uni-directional gear wheel
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to drive the drive transmission shaft, thereby driving the
propeller to rotate.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a first preferred embodiment
of a vessel according to this invention;
Fig. 2 is a partly sectional view of the first preferred
embodiment shown in Fig. 1, taken along lines II-II thereof;
Fig. 3 is a partly sectional view of the first preferred
embodiment shown in Fig. 1, taken along lines III-III thereof;
Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a power converting unit of the
first preferred embodiment;
Fig. 5 is a schematic view of a second preferred embodiment
of a vessel according to this invention;
Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of the vessel of the
second preferred embodiment; and
Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a power converting unit of the
second preferred embodiment.
DETAILFF~ DESCRIPTION OF TIC PREFERRED EI~ODIMENT
Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, the first preferred embodiment of
a wave powered vessel 1 according to the present invention is shown
to comprise a hull body 11 which extends in a longitudinal
direction, a propeller 12, a power converting unit 15, a drive
transmission shaft 14, and a plurality of power units 13.
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The propeller 12 is mounted to be rotatable relative to the
hull body 11, and is adapted to be submerged in a body of water
so as to propel the hull body 11 forward.
The power converting unit 15 has a known construction, and
includes a generator 151, a storage battery 152, a motor 153,
and a gearbox 154 ( see Fig . 4 ) . The gearbox 154 has a driven shaf t
1541 which is mounted to drive the propeller 12 to rotate.
The drive transmission shaft 14 is disposed in and is rotatable
relative to the hull body 11 about a rotation axis, and is adapted
to be spaced apart from the water level in an upright direction.
The drive transmission shaft 14 extends in the longitudinal
direction to couple with the driven shaft 1541 of the gearbox
154 of the power converting unit 15 so as to drive the propeller
12 to rotate.
A suspending member 110 includes a plurality of sleeves which
are secured to the hull body 11, and which extend in the
longitudinal direction.
Each of the power units 13 includes a float member 131, a
plurality of guiding rods 133 (four in this embodiment) , a first
gear train 132, and a second gear train 135.
All the float members 131 of the power units 13 cooperate to
provide a floating force for supporting the vessel 1 on the water.
Preferably, the floating force is provided by half of the float
members 131. In addition, the float members 131 are displaced
from one another in the longitudinal direction.
Each of the float members 131 has bottom and top walls
1311,1312 which are opposite to each other in the upright
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direction and which are respectively adapted to be submerged below
and floating above the water level, and a force transmitting rod
130 which is disposed to extend from the top wall 1312 uprightly.
The force transmitting rod 130 includes first and second rack
5 segments 1301, 1302 opposite to each other in a transverse
direction that is transverse to both the upright direction and
the longitudinal direction so as to be moved upwards and downwards
with the force transmitting rod 130 when the float member 131
is moved upwards and downwards by the rising and falling tides.
Each of the guiding rods 133 includes a lower segment which
is connected to and which extends uprightly from the top wall
1312 of the respective float member 131, and an upper segment
which extends from the lower segment through and upwardly of the
suspending member 110 so as to suspend the float member 131 from
the suspending member 110, thereby guiding upward and downward
movements of the respective float member 131 relative to the
suspending member 110 in the upright direction. Furthermore,
upper and lower limit members 134 are respectively disposed on
the upper and lower segments of each of the guiding rods 133 so
as to limit excessive upward and downward movements of the
respective float member 131.
The first gear train 132 includes a first uni-directional gear
unit and a first driven wheel 137. The first uni-directional gear
unit has a first toothed wheel 136 which surrounds a first axis,
and which is disposed to mesh with the first rack segment 1301
of the force transmitting rod 130 so as to be rotated clockwise
and counterclockwise, and a first uni-directional gear wheel 138
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which is coupled to the first toothed wheel 136 by means of a
support shaft 161 so as to permit the first uni-directional gear
wheel 138 to be rotated coaxially with the first toothed wheel
136 by means of uni-directional bearings (not shown) disposed
between the first toothed wheel 136 and the support shaft 161
and between the uni-directional gear wheel 138 and the support
shaft 161 only when the f first toothed wheel 136 rotates clockwise .
The first driven wheel 137 is disposed to mesh with the first
uni-directional gear wheel 138, and is coupled to the drive
transmission shaft 14 by means of a uni-directional bearing (not
shown) so as to transmit rotation of the first uni-directional
gear wheel 138 to drive the drive transmission shaft 14, thereby
driving the propeller 12 to rotate.
The second gear train 135 includes a second uni-directional
gear unit and a second driven wheel 137'. The second uni-
directional gear unit has a second toothed wheel 136' which
surrounds a second axis that is parallel to the first axis, and
which is disposed to mesh with the second rack segment 1302 of
the force transmitting rod 130. As such, when the first toothed
wheel 136 is rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, the second
toothed wheel 136' is rotated counterclockwise and clockwise
correspondingly. The second uni-directional gear unit further
has a plurality of second uni-directional gear wheels 138' , which
include first, second and third gear wheels 138' in this
embodiment. The first gear wheel 138' is coupled to the second
toothed wheel 136' by means of a support shaft 162, and meshes
with the second gear wheel 138' . The second gear wheel 138' further
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meshes with the third gear wheel 138'. As shown in Fig. 3, a
plurality of uni-directional bearings 139 are respectively
disposed between the first, second and third gear wheels 138'
and the corresponding support shafts 162,163,164 such that the
support shafts 162 ,163 ,164 can rotate only when the second toothed
wheel 136' rotates clockwise.
The second driven wheel 137' is disposed to mesh with the third
gear wheel 138' , and is coupled to the drive transmission shaft
14. As such, the first uni-directional gear wheel 138 and the
first gear wheel 138' can rotate clockwise in an alternate manner
to drive the drive transmission shaft 14, thereby enabling the
drive transmission shaft 14, as well as the propeller 12, to
perform continuous rotary movements when the float members 131
are moved upwards and downwards by the rising and falling tides.
When the float member 131 of each power unit 13 is moved upward
by a rising tide, the force transmitting rod 130 is moved upwards
so as to permit clockwise rotation of the first toothed wheel
136. The rotational force of the first toothed wheel 136 is
transmitted to the first uni-directional gear wheel 138 and the
first driven wheel 137 so as to drive the drive transmission shaft
14. On the other hand, the upward movement of the force
transmitting rod 130 permits counterclockwise rotation of the
second toothed wheel 136' . Due to the provision of the uni-
directional bearings 139, the counterclockwise rotational force
of the second toothed wheel 136' will not be transmitted to the
second uni-directional gear wheels 138' so that the second toothed
wheel 136' is in an idle state.
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When the float member 131 of each power unit 13 is moved
downward by a falling tide, the force transmitting rod 130 is
moved downwards so as to permit clockwise rotation of the second
toothed wheel 136'. The rotational force of the second toothed
wheel 136' is transmitted to the second uni-directional gear
wheels 138' and the second driven wheel 137' so as to drive the
drive transmission shaft 14. On the other hand, the downward
movement of the force transmitting rod 130 permits
counterclockwise rotation of the first toothed wheel 136. Due
to the provision of the uni-directional bearings (not shown),
the counterclockwise rotational force of the first toothed wheel
136 will not be transmitted to the first uni-directional gear
wheel 138 so that the first toothed wheel 136 is in an idle state.
Therefore, the clockwise rotational forces of the first and
second toothed wheels 136,136' can be alternately transmitted
to the drive transmission shaft 14 so as to drive continuously
the drive transmission shaft 14 as well as the propeller 12 by
virtue of the rising and falling tides.
Note that the gearbox 154 can not only control the rotational
speed of the propeller 12, it can also be used to steer the
propeller 12.
Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the second preferred embodiment
of a wave powered vessel 2 of this invention is shown to comprise
a hull body 21 which extends in a longitudinal direction, a
propeller 22 which is mounted to be rotatable relative to the
hull body 21, and which is adapted to be submerged in water so
as to propel the hull body 21 forward, a power converting unit
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25, a plurality of power units 23, and a compressed air chamber
24.
With reference to Fig. 7, the power converting unit 25 has
a known construction, and includes a compressed air tank 251,
S a rotor member 252, and a gearbox 253 with a driven shaft 2531
that is mounted to drive the propeller 22 to rotate.
The compressed air chamber 24 is formed as a tube, and is
disposed in the hull body 21 to be spaced apart from the water
level in an upright direction. The compressed air chamber 24
extends in the longitudinal direction and towards the power
converting unit 25, and terminates at an outlet valve 241 that
is communicated with the compressed air tank 251 and that permits
outflow of air stream into the compressed air tank 251 once the
air pressure in the compressed air chamber 24 is higher than a
predetermined value. The compressed air chamber 24 further
includes a plurality of inlet check valves 242 which are disposed
upstream of the outlet valve 241 and which are displaced from
one another in the longitudinal direction.
The rotor member 252 of the power converting unit 25 is
disposed to be driven by the air stream bursting out of the outlet
valve 241, and has an output shaft which is rotated with the rotor
member 252 and which is coupled to the driven shaft 2531 of the
gearbox 253 so as to drive the propeller 22 to rotate.
A suspending member 233 is mounted on the hull body 21, and
extends in the longitudinal direction.
Each of the power units 23 includes a float member 231, a
plurality of linking levers 235, a force pump 232, and an air
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duct 234.
In this embodiment, all the float members 231 of the power
units 23 are required to provide a floating force for supporting
the vessel 1 on the water. Thus, the numbers of the float members
231 employed is proportional to the carrying capacity of the
vessel 2. In addition, the float members 231 are displaced from
one another in the longitudinal direction.
The float member 231 is suspended by and is movable relative
to the suspending member 232 in the upright direction, and has
bottom and top walls 2311, 2312 which are opposite to each other
in the upright direction and which are respectively adapted to
be submerged below and floating above the water level . The linking
levers 235 are pivoted to the suspending~member 232 and the top
wall 2312 of the float member 231 to facilitate movement of the
float member 231.
The force pump 232 is disposed to interconnect the float member
231 and the suspending member 233 along a line which is inclined
relative to the water level . The force pump 232 includes a piston
2321 which is disposed to extend from the top wall 2312 of the
float member 231 along the inclined line, and a cylinder 2322
which is coupled with the piston 2321. The air duct 234
interconnects and is communicated with the cylinder 2322 and a
respective one of the inlet check valves 242 of the compressed
air chamber 24.
As such, the piston 2321 is movable reciprocatingly relative
to the cylinder 2322 to perform an air intake stroke and an air
compression stroke during each reciprocating movement when the
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float member 231 is moved upwards and downwards respectively by
the rising and falling tides. Thus, compressed air is delivered
through the air duct 234 and the check valve 242 to the compressed
air chamber 24 during each air compression stroke. By means of
S the rotor member 252 which can be driven by the compressed air
and the gearbox 253 which can transmit the rotational force of
the rotor member to the propeller 22, the propeller 22 can be
rotated to propel the hull body 21 forward.
While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is considered the most practical and preferred
embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited
to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretations and equivalent arrangements.
