Abstract:
A water powered motor for extracting raw energy from a water current and converting it to kinetic energy. The water powered motor is generally rectangular in shape with a generally round water wheel consisting of foldable vanes. The vanes receive raw energy produced by water current transforming that raw energy into usable energy for powering a pump, electric generator or as a general power source to power other equipment such as desalinization machinery.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 7,075,191 B2, issued Jul. 11, 2006, for WIND AND WATER POWER GENERATION DEVICE USING A RAIL SYSTEM, by Davison, included by reference herein. 
         [0002]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 6,930,406 B2, issued Aug. 16, 2005, for TIDE COMPENSATED SWELL POWERED GENERATOR, by Montgomery, included by reference herein. 
         [0003]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,805, issued Oct. 10, 1989, for WATER POWERED DEVICE, by Horiuchi, included by reference herein. 
         [0004]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,070, issued Apr. 12, 1988, for WATER POWERED DEVICE, by Horiuchi, included by reference herein. 
         [0005]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,376, issued Aug. 11, 1987, for TIDE TURBINE, by Retz, included by reference herein. 
         [0006]    The present application is related to U.S. Pat. No. 4,176,283, issued Nov. 27, 1979, for WATER POWERED GENERATOR, by McLaren, included by reference herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention relates to water powered motors and, more particularly, to a submersible motor that extracts usable power from water currents. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    Many areas of the world are poorly equipped to provide energy in usable forms to help the local population. Help is needed in water purification from both a contamination and salinity perspective. Electrical power is needed to provide basic medical care for refrigeration, sterilization and lights under which to perform medical procedures in the dark. Large numbers of people, primarily children are infected with a variety of debilitating and life threatening diseases due to water contamination from bacteria and viruses. The remoteness and poverty of most of these peoples prevents large power projects from solving the issues. Continued cost of maintenance prevents the use of simple solutions such as portable generators because there is no money to pay for the fuel to operate them. 
         [0009]    In a different situation we have a growning world population that requires increasing amounts of potable water. The oceans are full of water that has a salinity too high to use for human or animal consumption or for agricultural purposes and the fresh water supply in many of these areas is limited and insufficient to meet the current demands let alone an increase on those demands. An inexpensive source of power to desalinate the ocean water has not been available. Often times the problem is complicated by the need to place desalinization equipment miles off shore for best results and the least impact on the environment thus compounding the difficulties of supplying energy to that desalinization equipment. 
         [0010]    Other solutions to the problem exist in the form of primitive burning of wood to purify water, the use of solar power to provide purification and some small pumping assistance. Portable generators exist to supply power to these devices. Large scale hydro electric projects occur in many parts of the world as do other energy sources such as coal, gas and nuclear. 
         [0011]    All of the other solutions except solar contribute to air pollution and often water pollution from the fall out of the carbon based burning or the disposable of the power plats waste. Other than wood burning by local peoples the cost and maintenance of these power units is significantly higher than most of these peoples in poverty can afford. Large power plants like hydro electric require hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars of investment and often disrupt the local population and environment often setting off other negative economic issues. None of these solutions other than solar (which is limited to use during daylight hours) offers a nearly maintenance free source of power that will operate without an energy cost input. 
         [0012]    It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a low cost maintenance reduced energy source. 
         [0013]    It is another object of the invention to provide an energy source that can be used in remote locations without the need for a supply line to keep it operating. 
         [0014]    It is another object of the invention to reduce environmental impact by elimination chemicals or particulates that could adversely effect water, air or soil quality. 
         [0015]    It is another object of the invention to provide an energy source that can be used in deep ocean waters without harming aquatic live. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a water powered motor for extracting raw energy from a water current and converting it to kinetic energy. The water powered motor is generally rectangular in shape with a generally round water wheel consisting of foldable vanes. The vanes receive raw energy produced by water current transforming that raw energy into usable energy for powering a pump, electric generator or as a general power source to power other equipment such as desalinization machinery. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunction with the subsequent, detailed description, in which: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a power wheel with vanes and diversions; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a top partial view of a power wheel with vanes and diversions showing water current; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of a vane showing the section and hinge arrangement; 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of a vane showing sections and stops that prevent over extension of the vanes when under power; 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a top elevation view of a vane stop that prevents over extension of the vanes when under power; 
           [0023]      FIG. 6  is a top rear perspective view of the closed unit with all panels in closed and operating positions; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a top rear perspective view of an unit shown with a water vein for directional location so the opening faces into the current; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  is a bottom rear perspective view of a pivot device that permits the unit to rotate so that the opening is facing the oncoming current for areas where water current direction may change due to tides or tide effects. 
       
    
    
       [0026]    For purposes of clarity and brevity, like elements and components will bear the same designations and numbering throughout the Figures. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0027]      FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a power wheel with vanes and diversions. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  is a top partial view of a power wheel with vanes and diversions. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of a vanes showing the section and hinge arrangement. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of a vane showing sections and stops that prevent over extension of the vanes when under power. 
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a top elevation view of a vane stop that prevents over extension of the vanes when under power. 
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a top rear perspective view of the closed unit with all panels in closed and operating positions. 
         [0033]      FIG. 7  is a top rear perspective view of a unit shown with a water vein for directional location so the opening faces into the current. 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  is a bottom rear perspective view of a pivot device that permits the unit to rotate so that the opening is facing the oncoming current for areas where water current  29  direction may change due to tides or tide effects. 
         [0035]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 ; the present invention is a water powered mechanism particularly adapted to derive energy from a moving stream of water known as a current. In the preferred embodiment the present invention consists of a power cylinder  10  rotatable horizontally with a power shaft  14  non-rotably coupled and centrally located vertically through the power cylinder  10  for coupling the present inventions derived energy to other devices such as a generator, pump or other power consuming device. The power cylinder  10  mechanism has a plurality of vane folding  28  sections attached to its vertical sides for the extraction of energy from the current by means of hinges  30 . The hinges  30  consisting of two separate parts connected by means of a vertical shaft permit pivoting of the vane sections  12  providing a means for the vane sections  12  to lie back against the power cylinder  10  when the vane sections  12  encounter greater resistance to their forward side and less resistance to their rear side. The vane sections  12  are further fitted with a vane stop on the forward side configured by means of an angled surface to limit the movement of the vane sections  12  so as to provide a forward locked position opposing the torque generated by water current  29  to extract raw energy from the current and transfer it to the power cylinder  10 . 
         [0036]    The present invention includes a housing comprised of an inlet and return diversion section  16  configured to direct water currents toward the vane sections  12 , a reduction chamber  22  configured to reduce the water currents rotational flow direction and eliminate reverse torque on the vane sections  12  as they enter the vane folding  28  area of the mechanism by limiting the water capacity through a restricted enclosure, a chamber wall  18  that encircles a large portion of the vane sections  12  rotatable area constricting the water current  29  to a confined area for raw energy extraction. An outlet diversion wall  20  prevents general water currents outside of the present invention from entering or interfering with the rotability and torque of the vane sections  12  by diverting the water current  29  around the water exit  26 . Thus water may enter at the water entrance  24  and flow through the present invention and out the water exit  26  transferring its raw energy by means of torque to the vane sections  12  and thus transferred to the power cylinder  10  and thus further transferred to the power shaft  14  and ultimately to the work load. 
         [0037]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 ; in a most preferred orientation of the present invention, the illustration indicates the directional flow of water current  29  though the present invention. Water current  29  enters the mechanism indicated generally as water entrance  24  and water current  29  flows in the direction general indicated by the arrows. As the water current  29  enters the mechanism at the water entrance  24  it begins to cause thrust against the vane sections  12 . This thrust causes the power cylinder  10  to turn rotational in a horizontal plain driving the power shaft  14  with a torque related to the force of the water current  29  exerted against the rear side of the vane sections  12 . As the vane sections  12  rotate on their horizontal plane the water travels through the mechanism contained inside of the enclosure, partially shown, until it can exit through the water exit  26  and past the outlet diversion wall  20 . 
         [0038]    Though the most preferred orientation of the invention is depicted in  FIG. 2 , it should be understood that other orientations form horizontal to vertical planes may be used and are encompassed in this description. 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 ; in a preferred embodiment of the present invention vane sections  12  are hingeably connected to each other and the power cylinder  10 , not shown, to provide a rigid vane in one direction and collapsible vane in the opposite direction. Vane sections  12  are connected together by hinges  30  readily available as door hinges  30  consisting of two parts and a center hinge pin  31  to connect the two parts together in rotable manner, until the correct length for a particular sized vane unit is achieved. The vane sections  12  are opened or extended by means of water current  29  pressure exerted to the rear side of the vane sections  12  until they reach their optimum open position. When water pressure is reduced on the rear portion of the vane sections  12  and increased on the forward side of the vane sections  12 , the vane sections  12  collapse rear ward against the power drum to reduce forward water friction and resistance. 
         [0040]    It is understood that in a preferred embodiment of the present invention that the vane sections  12  are generally rectangular in shape, but that other shapes could well be utilized for effective vane performance including, but not limited to generally square, generally half round, generally round and generally triangular in shape. 
         [0041]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 ; in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the vane sections  12  are equipped with vane stops  32  to prevent the vane sections  12  from exceeding their intended open position. The vane stops  32  are secureably attached to a first vane section preventing a second vane section from rotating past a predetermined angle. The vane stops  32  are equipped with an angled edge  34  to determine the angle of the second vane section when attached to the first vane section. The vane stops  32  are placed on the forward side of the vane sections  12  which is the opposite side of the water current  29 . 
         [0042]    It is understood that in a preferred embodiment of the present invention that the vane stops  32  are one piece in construction but that optional methods could be used to achieve a vane stop such as adjustable or multi piece vane stops  32  and are covered under the spirit of this present invention. 
         [0043]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 ; in a preferred form of the present invention the vane stop is a generally rectangular stop with an angled edge  34  on the receiving portion to accommodate a chosen vane section angle. The vane stop is securely attachable to a first vane section and positionally connected to a second vane section in order to prevent a second vane section from rotating past the correct angle while permitting a second vane section to engage in vane folding  28  when the rear current force is reduced to below that of the forward current pressure. Optional vane stop configurations may occur in various forms of the preferred embodiment such as adjustable position stops and various shapes all serving to stop and position the vane sections  12  according to the users needs. It should be understood that all of these variations are contained in the scope of this present invention. 
         [0044]    Referring now to  FIG. 6 ; in a preferred embodiment of the present invention a housing consisting of a generally boxed configuration with a water entrance  24  generally located at the up current side and an inlet and return diversion section  16  securely attached to chamber wall  18 , upper containment panel  38  and a lower containment panel  40  to direct the flow of water through the present invention where it then exits at the water exit  26  location generally indicated and diverted to the down current side of the present invention by means of the outlet diversion wall  20 . The greatest portion of the water exits the present invention before entering the reduction chamber  22 , not shown. 
         [0045]    The vane sections  12  rotate internal of the generally box shaped mechanism and extract the raw energy from the water current  29  channeling it through the power cylinder  10 , not shown, to the power shaft  14 . The power shaft  14  is non-rotably securely attached to the power cylinder  10 , not shown, and is held rotably in position by means of an upper and lower, not shown, bearing  36 . The bearing  36  is removably attached to the upper bearing  36  containment panel and the lower containment panel  40  respectively in a manner that secures the power shaft  14  and reduces friction. 
         [0046]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 ; in a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is a direction vane  42  secureably attached to the top of the upper containment panel  38  to orient the water entrance  24  generally indicated toward the oncoming water current  29  for greatest effect especially where water currents change direction. The direction vane  42  is generally triangular in shape with sufficient height to cause the present invention to rotate on its axis for orientation into the oncoming current. The generally V shaped configuration creates greater drag on the wider portion and less drag on the pointed potion causing the direction vane  42  to orientate itself in a downstream position through rotation of the present invention. A stop, not shown, prevents the present invention from rotating more than  360  degrees. The direction vane  42  orients the present invention so that the water current  29  enters at the water entrance  24  point generally indicated passing between the upper containment panel  38 , lower containment panel  40 , chamber wall  18  and exits at the water exit  26  point generally indicated being diverted by the outer diversion wall and in doing so causes the greatest possible extraction of the raw energy from the water current  29  transferring it through the power shaft  14  held rotably in place by the upper and lower bearing  36 . 
         [0047]    It is understood that in a second preferred embodiment of the present invention the direction vane  42  could take a different form than triangular and that  FIG. 7  serves to depict one form of a direction vane  42 , but that all forms of a direction vane  42  are covered. 
         [0048]    Referring now to  FIG. 8 ; the bottom view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention and more particularly to the debris screen  44  and pivot drum  46 . The debris screen  44  consists of opening sizes determined by the water conditions and debris contained therein. The debris screen  44  is weldably fabricated with generally triangular shaped sides and a sloping to the rear top and rear bottom. The debris screen  44  is removably attached to the water entrance  24  portion of the generally box shaped present invention. 
         [0049]    The pivot drum  46  is centrally rotably attached to the outside of the lower containment panel  40  of the present invention in a preferred form of the invention. It is generally cylindrical in shape and rotable on its axis when affixed to the bottom surface of the water body. In a second preferred embodiment of the present invention the pivot drum  46  is equipped with a stop to prevent the generally box shaped upper structure from rotating more than 360 degrees. In a third embodiment of the present invention the pivot drum  46  would be a generally square shape and contain a rotable surface to which the lower containment panel  40  is attached. 
         [0050]    Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operating requirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen for purposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of this invention. 
         [0051]    Having thus described the invention, what is desired to be protected by Letters Patent is presented in the subsequently appended claims.