Abstract:
An outdoor light unit has plural self-contained mechanisms for producing electricity for powering the light unit, the light unit including a support, an electrical lamp, photovoltaic material at its top, an electrical generator, and water impingement blades and wind turbine blades to turn the generator to power the lamp. A rainwater collector collects rainwater running off of the photovoltaic material and directs it onto the water impingement blades. The generator and the rainwater collector are mounted to pivot with respect to the support, and fins cause the wind turbine blades to face into the wind.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of the priority of U.S. provisional patent application 61/659,636 filed on Jun. 14, 2012 by the present inventors, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to a self-generating outdoor light and, more particularly, to a self-generating outdoor light unit that includes plural self-contained mechanisms for producing electricity for powering the light. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The sun, rain and wind powered light unit according to the present invention includes a lamp mounted on the top of a support, wherein a stationary top portion of the unit in a pyramid, or generally conical-type shape, is defined by a form of photovoltaic material angled toward the direction of the sun in order to convert UV rays into a form of electrical current that is stored in an accumulator type battery, which can be located in the support, in order to power the lamp at night or at other times when required. The light unit according to the present invention also includes an arrangement for generating electrical current from rain and/or wind. If there is rain or wind at night, the arrangement generates electrical current that powers the lamp and at the same time stores electrical energy in an accumulator type battery until the battery is fully charged. If there is rain or wind during the day, the arrangement generates electrical current and stores it in the accumulator type battery until the battery is fully charged. In one embodiment of the present invention, there is an accumulator type battery, or a set of accumulator type batteries, provided for connection to each source of power—sun, wind and rain. In such an embodiment, it is contemplated that the battery, or batteries, connected to the photovoltaic material will be used to power the lamp, unless or until the power from that battery or batteries runs out. 
         [0004]    A rain catcher mounted on the support under the bottom of the perimeter of the pyramid, or generally conical, shaped photovoltaic material collects rainwater flowing from the surface of the photovoltaic material, and an outlet of the rain catcher funnels and directs the collected rainwater at water impingement blades connected to the shaft of a generator, so that the flow of the rainwater passing through the outlet of the rain catcher turns the blades in order to generate electricity for direct use by the lamp or for storage in the accumulator type battery. The faces of the water impingement blades can be parallel to the axis of the generator shaft, and the outlet of the rain catcher is vertically aligned with the blades on one side of the shaft rather than being vertically aligned with the shaft itself. 
         [0005]    Smaller, wind turbine blades, which are connected to the generator shaft, are turned by the wind to rotate the shaft. Both the water impingement blades and the wind turbine blades are rigidly connected to the same shaft. Tail fins connected to the generator cause the generator to pivot around the vertical axis of the support so that the axis of rotation of the wind turbine blades is aligned with the direction of the wind. The rain catcher is mounted to pivot with the generator, so that the outlet of the rain catcher remains in vertical alignment with the water turbine blades on one side of the generator shaft when the generator pivots around the vertical axis of the support. The photovoltaic material is electrically connected to an electrical controller that is directly connected to the accumulator type battery associated with the photovoltaic material. The generator is connected to a separate electrical component that is also connected to the accumulator type battery. The photovoltaic material and the generator send electrical current to the accumulator type battery for storage, so that the battery can provide the energy to power the lamp during the night. The generator also sends electrical current directly to the lamp to power the lamp during the night. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view from the front and left side of a light unit according to the present invention; 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view from the front, top and right side of the light unit of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0008]    As can be seen from  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an outdoor light unit according to the present invention, which is designated generally by the reference numeral  10 , is shown extending vertically upward from a horizontal surface. The outdoor light unit  10  is to be anchored in a conventional manner. 
         [0009]    The outdoor light unit  10  includes an elongate, generally vertical support  12 , for example, a post, for supporting the unit, and an electrical lamp  14  mounted on the support  12 , near the top of the support. Photovoltaic material in the form of a plurality of triangular photovoltaic panels  16  define the top portion of the outdoor light unit  10 , the photovoltaic panels forming a pyramid, a generally conical shape at, wherein each panel lies at an acute angle with respect to the vertical axis of the plurality of panels in order to face the sun. The photovoltaic panels  16  transform light into electricity to power the electrical lamp  14 . The electrical lamp  14  is protected from the weather by the photovoltaic panels  16  and/or by a structure (not shown) lying between the electrical lamp and the photovoltaic panels. The electrical lamp  14  is also protected from the weather by a transparent or translucent panel  18  that extends across the base of the pyramid of photovoltaic panels  16  and below the electrical lamp  14 . A portion of the panel  18  is broken away in  FIG. 1  to show the electrical lamp  14 , which can be, for example, one or more fluorescent tubes. 
         [0010]    The lamp  14  can be turned on by the current being produced by the photovoltaic panels  16  falling below a predetermined threshold. As an alternative, a conventional light-sensitive switch for turning on streetlights can be used to turn on the lap  14  at dusk, or any other times when the natural light is reduced to the level of the natural light at dusk. As another alternative, the lamp  14  can be turned on by the owner of the lamp, whether the owner is an individual, a company or governmental agency. 
         [0011]    The outdoor light unit  10  also includes an electrical generator  20 , or dynamo, and a plurality of blades  22  and  24  mounted on a shaft  26  of the generator  20  to turn the generator shaft to produce electricity to power the electrical lamp  14 . The blades  22  are water impingement blades that are configured to be moved in rotation around the axis of the generator shaft  26  by a stream of rainwater that flows tangentially with respect to a circle defined by the water impingement blades on the generator shaft  26 . The configuration of the water impingement blades  22  includes surfaces that are preferably parallel to the axis of the generator shaft  26 , so that the surfaces are perpendicular to the stream of rainwater. Each water impingement blade  22  can be, for example, about 0.5 meters in length. 
         [0012]    The outdoor light unit  10  further includes an arrangement for directing a stream of rainwater onto the water impingement blades  22 . The arrangement includes a rainwater collector  28  defined by an annular trough having the outdoor light unit support  12  at its center. The entire open top of the annular trough is in vertical alignment with the bottom ends of the pyramid of photovoltaic panels  16  in order to receive rainwater running off of the panels. The rainwater collector  28  is supported by a plurality of struts  30  extending from the rainwater collector to the generator  20 . The annular trough of the rainwater collector  28  is not quite a complete annulus. Instead, a small section of the annulus is omitted such that the rainwater collector  28  defines an outlet  32  between the ends of the annulus, the collected rainwater flowing downward from the outlet. The ends of the annular trough at the outlet  32  are open, so that the rainwater collected in the trough can flow out the ends and down. The outlet  32  is in vertical alignment with the water impingement blades  22  on one side of the generator shaft  26 , so that water flowing from the outlet  32  of the rainwater collector  28  flows in a path spaced radially inward toward the generator shaft  26  from a circle defined by the water impingement blades  22  as they rotate around the generator shaft  26 . The surface of each water impingement blade  22  that is impinged upon by the rainwater falling from the outlet  32  is preferably perpendicular to the flow of the rainwater. 
         [0013]    The wind turbine blades  24  are configured to be turned by wind, especially by wind blowing axially with respect to the generator shaft  26 . The electrical generator  20  and the wind turbine blades  24  are pivotally mounted with respect to the support  12 , and the outdoor light unit  10  includes an arrangement to pivot the electrical generator  20  and the wind turbine blades  24  such that the blades  24  face the wind. The arrangement to pivot the electrical generator  20  and the wind turbine blades  24  can include one or more fins  34 , which can be connected to the electrical generator  20  such that the fins are fixed relative to the electrical generator. Additional fins can be attached to the hub H, next to the fins  34 , if additional fins are desired. The generator  20  and the rainwater collector  28  are mounted for rotation with respect to the support  12  by any conventional mounting arrangement for that purpose. 
         [0014]    The photovoltaic panels  16  are electrically connected to an electrical controller  36  that is directly connected to an accumulator type battery  38  associated with the photovoltaic panels. The generator  20  is connected to a separate electrical component (not shown) that is also connected to the accumulator type battery  38 . The photovoltaic panels  16  and the generator  20  send electrical current to the accumulator type battery  38  for storage, so that the battery can provide the energy to power the lamp  14  during the night. The generator  20  also sends electrical current directly to the lamp  14  to power the lamp during the night. The generator  20  is electrically connected to the controller  36  by, for example, a rotating electrical connector, which is well known. 
         [0015]    At night, if there is wind and/or rain, the wind turbine blades  24  and the water impingement blades  22  generate electricity that is sent directly to the lamp  14 , while excess electricity is sent through a conventional inverter (not shown) and stored in the battery  38 . The lamp  14  draws power from the generator  20  at night, if there is any wind or rain and, at the same time, draws power from the battery  38 , if not enough electricity is being generated by the generator. Once the battery is fully charged, additional electrical power generated by the outdoor light unit  10  can be sent externally to a nearby charging panel connected to a local grid, from which it can be sold back to an electrical energy provider in return for monetary or energy credits. 
         [0016]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art and it is contemplated that variations and/or changes in the embodiments illustrated and described herein may be made without departure from the present invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing description is illustrative only, not limiting, and that the true spirit and scope of the present invention will be determined by the appended claims.