Apparatus for compressing gas in response to vehicular traffic

A plurality of actuator members are mounted along the surface of a roadway in the path of vehicular traffic, so as to be actuated as the wheels of vehicles pass thereover. Beneath each actuator is a chamber formed of resilient material, one of the walls of this chamber being deflected inwardly in response to an associated actuator. The chambers are filled with gas and connected to each other in series by means of a suitable valving arrangement. The gas contained within the chambers, which is preferably air, is compressed by virtue of the actuation of the chamber, gas being fed from chamber to chamber such that successively higher gas compression levels will be reached at succeeding chamber stages in the chain. To facilitate the actuation of the higher level compression stages the actuation surfaces thereof are made to have a decreased area so that greater force per unit area can be provided for a given weight vehicle. Thus, highly compressed and heated gas can be generated for use in driving various types of machinery.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating compressed 
heated gas and more particularly to such apparatus and technique wherein 
vehicular traffic is utilized to provide the input energy. 
With the great need for conserving energy, many avenues are being explored 
to tap unused energy sources. In this vein, thought has been given to 
harnessing the large amount of energy dissipated every day by the wheels 
of vehicles as they move along roadway surfaces. Efforts to utilize the 
force developed between vehicle wheels and roadway surfaces in the 
generation of compressed air (or other compressed gas) is the subject of a 
number of prior art patents including the following: 
U.s. pat. No. 3,918,844 issued Nov. 11, 1975 
U.s. pat. No. 1,126,109 issued Jan. 26, 1915 
U.s. pat. No. 2,333,614 issued Nov. 2, 1943 
Pat. No. 2,060,890 issued Nov. 17, 1936 
U.s. pat. No. 1,771,200 issued July 22, 1930 
U.s. pat. No. 2,020,361 issued Nov. 12, 1935. 
All of the devices of these patents are inherently limited in their 
capacity to compress the gas to a high level in view of the fact that they 
rely on the use of single low level compression stages (which may involve 
several stages connected in parallel), no means being provided to build 
the compression level up between successive cascaded stages. Further, many 
of these prior art devices are integrated with the roadway so that they 
cannot be readily removed for replacement or repair. Also, certain of 
these prior art devices protrude appreciably from the roadway surface so 
that they are a significant impediment to traffic. 
The present invention overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings of the 
prior art by employing a plurality of compression elements which are 
connected together in series or cascade to provide compression stages 
having successively higher compression levels, each stage feeding a 
successively higher level stage. Further, the actuators of the present 
invention are constructed and arranged on a roadway surface so as to 
provide a low profile and thus present no significant impediment to 
traffic. Also, to facilitate removal and repair of the compression units 
and actuators with a minimum interruption of traffic on the roadway, the 
actuator and compressor units of the invention are made so that they can 
readily be removed and reinstalled from roadside in a relatively short 
period of time. 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide improved means for 
utilizing energy generated by vehicular traffic to compress gas. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a device for utilizing 
vehicular traffic to compress gas which is capable of achieving higher 
compression ratios. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide a device for 
compressing gas in response to vehicular traffic which presents a minimum 
impediment to such traffic. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide a device for 
compressing gas in response to vehicular traffic which can be readily 
removed from and reinstalled in or under a roadway surface.

Briefly described, my invention is as follows: 
A plurality of actuator members are placed alongside each other on the 
surface of a roadway in a position where they can be readily actuated by 
passing traffic. Placed under each actuator for actuation thereby is a 
chamber filled with air or other gas, at least one of the walls of which 
is formed of a resilient material. When any actuator is actuated by a 
passing vehicle, the resilient wall of the associated chamber is pressed 
inwardly thereby compressing the gas within the chamber. The chambers are 
interconnected in series or cascade, such that each chamber feeds gas into 
a succeeding chamber which is at a higher compression level. Thus, 
successively higher compressions of the gas are attained in succeeding 
chambers, the last of these chambers providing an output at a relatively 
high level of compression. To facilitate the actuation of chambers which 
are at higher compression levels, the actuators for these higher level 
chambers may be designed with an actuation surface having a substantially 
smaller area than that of the actuators for the lower level chambers. 
Further, the actuators and compression chambers may be packaged in an 
integral unit which can be easily and rapidly installed in and removed 
from the roadway surface for replacement or repair. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is 
illustrated in its installed position in a roadway. Frame 11 in which the 
device of the invention is mounted is installed in roadway 12, being 
retained in the roadway bed by means of bolts 14 and nuts 15 only some of 
which are shown. Pivotally mounted in frame 11 are a plurality of actuator 
members 16, these members being fitted in apertures formed in top plate 18 
and pivotally supported on shafts 20. Supported under each actuator member 
is an associated chamber 22 having walls 25 formed of a resilient material 
such as a suitable rubber or plastic material which may be reinforced with 
steel. 
As to be explained more fully further on in the specification, chambers 22 
are interconnected with each other in a series or cascaded arrangement 
such that the gas in succeeding chambers is brought to successively higher 
compression levels. Gas in inletted to the first chamber in the chain 
through inlet line 23 and the compressed output is provided from the last 
chamber in the series from outlet line 24. The gas utilized is generally 
air drawn from the ambient atmosphere, but may comprise some other inert 
gas such as nitrogen or helium. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a preferred embodiment of the invention is 
illustrated. Actuators 16 are pivotally mounted on shaft 20 and have 
pivotally mounted thereon rollers 26 which ride on the top surfaces 
25a-25c of chambers 22a-22c respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, a vehicle 
wheel 30 is about to actuate the actuator 16 shown in the center of the 
drawing. Incipient actuation of this actuator and resultant deflection of 
chamber wall 25b is shown in outline. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the 
sidewalls of the chambers are retained on frame 11 by means of 
longitudinal tabs 35 which are held to the frame by means of bolts 37. The 
chambers 22a-22c are generally tubular in form and have base portions 39 
which are clamped to frame 11 by means of tabs 35 as just explained. Gas 
inlet channels 40 are formed in the base portions 39 of each of the 
chambers for enabling the entrance of gas to the chamber from a preceding 
chamber while exit channels 41 are formed in the base portion for exiting 
gas to a succeeding chamber. Channels 43 are provided in frame 11 to 
interconnect the chambers, one-way mechanism check valves 45 being 
provided in channel 43 between successive chambers to permit pressurized 
air flow only in the direction indicated by arrows 46. O-rings 48 are 
provided between the base portions 39 of the chambers and frame 11 along 
channels 40 and 41 to prevent the leakage of air at these points. 
It thus can be seen from FIG. 2 that when the air pressure in chamber 22a 
reaches a predetermined level with compression beyond this level, the 
compressed air is released through valve 45 to chamber 22b. Likewise when 
the pressure in chamber 22b reaches a predetermined higher level, 
pressurization above this level results in the release of gas to chamber 
22c through valve 45b, and so on until the last stage is reached which has 
the highest pressurization level of the chain. Valves 45a, 45b, etc. are 
check valves which will open in response to different predetermined 
pressure levels, valve 45b, having a higher response level than valve 45a, 
with each succeeding valve having a successively higher response level. 
The compression chambers may be formed from a suitable resilient material 
such as a rubber of the type used for fabricating automobile tires, a 
suitable plastic or a rubber or plastic material reinforced with fabric or 
metal. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, a single chamber and actuator of a second 
embodiment of the invention is illustrated. This second embodiment 
operates in the same manner as the first and differs only in the specific 
structure of the actuator and compression chamber. Compression chamber 22 
is formed from a folded-over piece of flexible material such as rubber or 
plastic 25, which has a sheet of resilient metal 55 which may be of steel 
sandwiched therebetween. The unit is formed in the general shape of a dome 
or mushroom with the central portion being raised and the ends being 
clamped tightly against frame 11 by means of longitudinal tabs 35 and 
bolts 37. Actuator 16 is pivotally supported on pin 20 and actuated to 
depress the walls of chamber 22 through the intermediary of roller 26 in 
response to vehicular traffic as in the previous embodiment. Pressurized 
gas from a preceding chamber in the compression chain passes from channel 
43 and channel 53 through check valve 45 into chamber 22. When the 
predetermined pressure level for the chamber is exceeded, pressurized gas 
passes out of the chamber through check valve 45b to channels 54 and 43 on 
to a succeeding chamber. Thus operation is basically the same as that 
described for the previous embodiment. 
Chamber 22 could also be formed in the same mushroom or dome shape, as 
shown in FIG. 4, but entirely of an elastic metal such as steel rather 
than in the plastic-metal sandwich configuration of FIG. 4. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, a preferred implementation for the actuators and 
chambers is schematically illustrated. In FIG. 5, chamber 22b has a higher 
pressurization level than chamber 22a, while chamber 22c has a higher 
pressurization level than chamber 22b. In order to accommodate the 
different force levels required to actuate the various chambers, the 
contact area against the associated chamber wall for actuator 16b is made 
less than that for actuator 16a, while the contact area for actuator 16c 
is made less than that for actuator 16b. In this manner, a greater force 
per unit area is provided for the chambers at higher pressurization 
levels. 
Referring now to FIG. 6, a preferred embodiment of the actuator mechanism 
of the invention is illustrated. Actuator 16 is in the general shape of a 
segment of a cylinder and has a flat top portion 60 and an arcuate front 
portion 61. The actuator is pivotally mounted on pivot pin 20 which is 
attached to frame 11. Rotatably mounted on the bottom portion of the 
actuator is roller 26 which contacts the compression chamber wall. A leaf 
spring 62 which is fixedly supported on frame 11 extends beneath the 
actuator and operates to restore the actuator to its initial (unactuated) 
position after a vehicle wheel has passed over the actuator. This assures 
return of the actuator to its initial position in situations where the 
compression level in the chamber is relatively low and may not provide 
sufficient force to achieve this end result. 
It is to be noted that the invention can be implemented in conjunction with 
many different types of vehicles, including railroad trains, the tracks 
for which provide the roadway with the actuator being mounted on the 
tracks. 
While the invention has been described and illustraged in detail, it is to 
be clearly understood that this is intended by way of illustration and 
example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and 
scope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the following 
claims.