Abstract:
A damper power-generating system includes a damper, a driving apparatus, and a generator. The driving apparatus simply consumes energy to do work for generation of electric power. That is, the work is done by utilizing the displacement due to the strong up-and-down vibration within a damper, wherein the displacement due to the up-and-down vibration drives a set of gear racks, which, in turns, drives gears having a one-way driving apparatus, so that rotation can be achieved in one direction, and, further, buffering springs and accelerative gears are used, so that speedy and uniform rotation can be achieved.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a damper power-generating system and, particularly, to a damper power-generating system that does work by utilizing the displacement due to the up-and-down vibration within a damper in use, wherein the motion is damped to do work for generation of electric power. 
         [0003]    2. Descriptions of the Related Art 
         [0004]    The most common prior art that utilizes up-and-down vibration to do work is the technology of the piston engine. It uses a crank shaft and a cam shaft to drive doing work, but it is not applicable to the case that the up and down vibratory strokes in a damper are not uniform. 
         [0005]    Since the conventional technology has such drawbacks as described above, an improvement is required urgently. 
         [0006]    In view of the above difficulties associated with the conventional technology, the present inventor, through a long-term study and practice, has set about the work of improvement and innovation that provides the present damper power-generating system. The damper power-generating system is composed of common mechanical apparatus, one-way gears, alleviate operating apparatus, accelerative rotating apparatus and generators. It functions mainly to do work for power generation, by utilizing the vibration in a damper in which the motion should be damped. The generated power can be used directly for carriers so as to save the extra cost for preparation of electricity. It will be much more prominent in environmental protection, as compared with other types of generators. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The primary aspect of this invention is to provide a damper power-generating system that may do work by utilizing the displacement due to the up-and-down vibration within a damper in use, wherein the motion to be damped is used to do work for generation. 
         [0008]    Another aspect of this invention is to provide a damper power-generating system that may solve the problem of non-uniform vibratory strokes and inconstant reciprocative displacement, so that the motion to be damped is used effectively to do work and the energy due to the work is converted to electric power by a simple mechanical construction. 
         [0009]    A further aspect of this invention is to provide a damper power-generating system that has advantageously easy fabrication, simple maintenance, and low cost. 
         [0010]    A damper power-generating system fulfilling the aspects of the present invention comprises a damper, a driving apparatus, and a generator. 
         [0011]    The damper has an outer tube, and an inner tube being movable upward and downward within the outer tube. 
         [0012]    The driving apparatus is disposed on the outer tube by means of a connecting base and has an active bar pivoted therein, wherein the active bar has one end extending out to be movably placed on the inner tube and the other end partially having a gear rack formed on at least one side thereof, the gear rack being engaged with at least two gears each of which has a one-way driving apparatus, the gears further directly or indirectly driving passive gears to rotate and the passive gears being engaged with a driving gear, so that the driving gear, together with a driving shaft, has a continuous one-direction rotation output. 
         [0013]    The generator is directly or indirectly connected to the driving gear, for generating electric power. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The drawings disclose an illustrative embodiment of the present invention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objects hereof, and are as follows. 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing of the appearance of the damper power-generating system according to the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the appearance of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is an internal configuration drawing of the driving apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is an elevation view of the internal configuration of the driving apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing of the internal operation of the driving apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is an internal configuration drawing of the alleviate operating apparatus and accelerative rotating apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of the driving apparatus and the alleviate operating apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0022]      FIG. 8  is an exploded view of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0023]      FIG. 9  is a schematic drawing of the appearance of a second embodiment of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0024]      FIG. 10  is an internal configuration drawing of the second embodiment of the driving apparatus of the damper power-generating system. 
           [0025]      FIG. 11  is a schematic side view of the damper power-generating system. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 , the damper power-generating system according to the present invention is shown. Those figures are, respectively, a schematic drawing of the appearance, a side view of the appearance, an internal configuration drawing of the driving apparatus, an elevation view of the internal configuration of the driving apparatus, and a schematic drawing of the internal operation of the driving apparatus. 
         [0027]    The damper has an inner tube  81  and an outer tube  82 . A fixing base  11  is disposed at the top end of the inner tube  81 ; a connecting base  12  is disposed on the outer tube  82  and is connected to a driving apparatus  1 ; a spring  83  has one end connected to the fixing base  11  and the other end connected to the top end of the outer tube  82 ; the fixing base  11  is connected to an active bar  13  extending through a movable hole  14  of the driving apparatus  1  and having a two-face gear rack  131  formed within the driving apparatus  1 . According to the present invention, the active bar  13  can be coupled to the inner tube  81  by means of the fixing base  11 ; the driving apparatus  1  can be coupled to the inner tube  81  by means of the connecting base  12 . As the up-and-down reciprocative motions in the damper are compressed, the inner tube  81  and the outer tube  82  produce relative displacement so as to make the driving apparatus  1  do work. According to the present invention, the fixing base  11  is used for producing relative displacement associated with displacement of the gear rack  131  of the active bar  13  and the energy to be damped is used as mechanical energy input to a generator  6 , so that the driving apparatus  1  and the generator  6  according to the present invention have function in place of all or part of function a damping apparatus has. 
         [0028]    According to the present invention, the driving apparatus  1  has a first gear  21  and a second gear  31  each having a one-direction rotation driving apparatus so that the reciprocative motion of the active bar  13  is converted to one-direction rotation outputs of the shafts of the first gear  21  and the second gear  31 . Besides, the shaft of the first gear  21  and a first passive gear  22  are coaxial and structured to move; the shaft of the second gear  31  and a second passive gear  32  are coaxial and structured to move. 
         [0029]    When the gear rack  131  moves downward, the first gear  21  is driven, structurally and coaxially with the first passive gear  22 , to rotate counter-clockwise. On the contrary, when the gear rack  131  moves upward, the first gear  21  rotates clockwise and, therefore, the first passive gear  22  cannot be driven synchronously. Further, the first passive gear  22  is engaged with a driving gear  41  synchronously, so that the driving gear  41  rotates clockwise. 
         [0030]    When the gear rack  131  moves upward, the second gear  31  is driven, structurally and coaxially with the second passive gear  32 , to rotate counter-clockwise. On the contrary, when the gear rack  131  moves downward, the second gear  31  rotates clockwise and, therefore, the second passive gear  32  cannot be driven synchronously. Further, the second passive gear  32  is engaged with the driving gear  41  synchronously, so that the driving gear  41  rotates clockwise. 
         [0031]    According to the present invention, the first passive gear  22  and the second passive gear  32  rotate in fixed direction. Both of them do not change the rotation direction as the first gear  21  or the second gear  31  change the rotation directions. 
         [0032]    Thus, the driving gear  41 , together with the driving shaft  42 , rotates clockwise all the time, whether the damper is compressed or is restored. The driving shaft  42  extends through a cover  15  of the driving apparatus  1  and to the outside of the driving apparatus  1 , and then is connected to the generator  6  or to an alleviate operating apparatus  5  and an accelerative rotating apparatus in between. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 8 , the alleviate operating apparatus and an accelerative rotating apparatus of the damper power-generating system according to the present invention are shown. Those figures are, respectively, an internal configuration drawing, a side perspective view, and an exploded view. For convenience, the cover  51  of the alleviate operating apparatus  5  is taken off to reveal partially the internal configuration of the alleviate operating apparatus  5 . The alleviate operating apparatus  5  is connected to the driving shaft  42  by means of a fixed base  52 ; the fixed base  52  is connected to a buffering spring  53 ; the buffering spring  53  and a passive gear  54  are connected to each other and put around the driving shaft  42 . 
         [0034]    As the driving shaft  42  rotates, the fixed base  52 , the buffering spring  53 , and the passive gear  54  are driven to rotate. The buffering spring  53  is disposed so as to buffer the shock due to the compression of the damper, so that the rotation of the passive gear  54  driven by the driving shaft  42  can be more uniform, with rotation pulse filtered out. When the accelerative rotating apparatus comes into play, the passive gear  54  drives a first accelerative pinion  55  engaged therewith and the first accelerative pinion  55  synchronously drives a second accelerative gear  56  to rotate. Then, the rotating second accelerative gear  56  drives a second accelerative pinion  57  engaged therewith. Thus, the second accelerative pinion  57  having an output shaft, which is connected to the generator  6  so as to drive the generator  6  to generate electricity. 
         [0035]    The driving apparatus  1  can be alternatively embodied so that it is connected to the alleviate operating apparatus  5  by means of the driving shaft  42  or the driving gear  41 ,  FIG. 7  is the embodiment of the driving shaft  42  being disposed at the center of fixing base  52  while rotating the said fixing base  52 ; another embodiment is the alleviate operating apparatus  5  including a transfer gear directly or indirectly engaged with the driving gear  41 , the buffering spring  53 , and the passive gear  54 , wherein the buffering spring  53  is connected to the transfer gear and to the passive gear  54  put around a shaft so that the passive gear  54  directly or indirectly drives the generator  6  to rotate for generation of electric power. 
         [0036]    Referring to  FIG. 9  to  FIG. 11 , a second embodiment of the damper power-generating system according to the present invention is shown. A driving apparatus  1 ′ is disposed on the outer tube  82  by means of a connecting base  12 ′. The driving apparatus  1 ′ has an active bar  13 ′ pivoted therein, wherein the active bar  13 ′ has one end connected to an inner tube  81  by means of a fixing base  11 ′ and the other end having two gear racks  131 ′ and  131 ″ disposed thereon. The gear racks  131 ′ and  131 ″ are, respectively, engaged with a first gear  21 ′ and a second gear  31 ′, each of which has a one-direction rotation driving apparatus in the same driving direction. Both of the first gear  21 ′ and the second gear  31 ′ further directly drive the driving shaft  42 ′ to rotate in one direction, and indirectly drive a passive gear  23 ′ to rotate by means of a buffering spring  24 ′. Thus, the passive gear  23 ′ synchronously drives an accelerative rotating apparatus engaged therewith, so that the accelerative rotating apparatus has a continuous one-direction rotation output to the generator  6 . As the up-and-down reciprocative motions in the damper are compressed and the gear rack  131 ′ moves downward, the first gear  21 ′ driven directly drives the driving shaft  42 ′ to rotate clockwise whereas the second gear  31 ′ driven counter-clockwise cannot drive the driving shaft  42 ′ to rotate. 
         [0037]    Thereafter, as the up-and-down reciprocative motions in the damper are restored and the gear rack  131 ″ moves upward, the second gear  31 ′ driven directly drives the driving shaft  42 ′ to rotate clockwise whereas the first gear  21 ′ driven counter-clockwise cannot drive the driving shaft  42 ′ to rotate. Therefore, the driving shafts  42 ′ disposed along the axes of the first gear  21 ′ and the second gear  31 ′ can drive the buffering spring  24 ′ to rotate in one direction; the passive gear  23 ′ put around the driving shaft  42 ′ is connected to the buffering spring  24 ′ so that it has a coaxial one-direction rotation output. 
         [0038]    Moreover, multiple gears can be installed between the passive gear  23 ′ and the generator  6  to meet the requirement for increase or decrease of the rotation speed input to the generator  6 .