Patent ID: 9651277
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: F24S,Y02A,Y02B,Y02E,Y10T

Claim:
1. An apparatus to facilitate manual 2-axis solar tracking, concentration and reception of solar energy, comprising: (a) a main frame having a front end and a rear end, two parallel elongated receiver support arms extending horizontally from said front end toward said rear end and terminating approximately mid-way between said front end and said rear end on opposite sides of a focal area, each said receiver support arm further having a receiver support rail and a receiver retainer attached to its inward side, each said receiver support arm further having at its rearward end a reflector carriage pivot, said reflector carriage pivots further having a common horizontal axis of rotation, said main frame further having at said front end an elongated vertical support for said receiver support arms, said vertical support further having near its upper end a mounting location for a winch, said vertical support further being fixedly attached at its lower end to an elongated horizontal base beam having length approximately twice that of each said receiver support arm, said base beam thus extending from said front end to said rear end of said main frame, (b) a pivotable reflector carriage having two sides, each said side having structure that is substantially a mirror-image of the other side, each said side being suspended from said main frame at one of said reflector carriage pivots, each said side of said reflector carriage further having an elongated upper carriage arm extending horizontally from said carriage pivot toward said front end and along the outward side of a said receiver support arm of said main frame, each said upper carriage arm being attached at said front end to a vertical front carriage member, each said front carriage member being attached at its lower end to a lower carriage arm extending horizontally to said rear end of said main frame, said reflector carriage further having an upper carriage brace connected perpendicularly to each said side of said reflector carriage adjacent the connections of said upper carriage arms to said front carriage members, said reflector carriage further having a front brace connected perpendicularly to each said side of said reflector carriage adjacent the connections of said front carriage members and said lower carriage arms, said reflector carriage further having a rear brace connected perpendicularly to each said side of said reflector carriage adjacent the rear end of said lower carriage arms, (c) a means for pivoting and holding said reflector carriage comprising said winch, a cable that can be drawn in, paid out and held at any position by said winch, a primary pulley attached to said main frame adjacent the connection of said vertical support to said base beam, and a secondary pulley attached to said base beam adjacent said rear end, said cable passing downward from said winch, turning approximately 90 degrees around said primary pulley and thence passing horizontally along said base beam to said secondary pulley, turning approximately 180 degrees around said secondary pulley and thence returning frontward, passing under said rear brace and wrapping approximately 90degrees around said front brace, thence passing upwards to a terminal anchor point near said upper carriage brace, (d) a means for easily and smoothly rotating said apparatus about a vertical axis, and (e) one or two reflector support panel frames, each disposed singularly on one of the two sides of said apparatus and attached to one side of said reflector carriage, so that said reflector support panel frames move together with said reflector carriage about said reflector carriage pivots, each said reflector support panel frame providing surfaces for attachment of a reflector support panel and surfaces for both perimetric and intermediate support of a reflector support panel,