Abstract:
A wind powered recharger for charging trolling motor batteries. The charger has a scoop or cowling mounted on top of the outboard motor. Air is forced into the front of the scoop and sent out an exhaust at the rear of the scoop. Inside the scoop is a four-blade fan attached to an alternator. The movement of air through the scoop causes the four-blade fan and alternator to turn. The scoop, fan and alternator are mounted on a base plate, attached to the top cover of an outboard motor of a boat. The plate can be a two-piece plate for mounting on an outboard motor cover. The plate can provide portability, that is detaching and reattaching of the charger at a different locations. The alternator is connected to the batteries via an inline electrical coupling that is easily attached and detached.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/402,539, filed Aug. 12, 2002. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0003]    The present invention relates to a wind powered mechanism to recharge a bank of batteries used for powering an electric trolling motor on a boat, and more particularly to a wind powered recharger having a cowling, a fan blade, and an electric alternator all in one unit, which can be mounted close to the bank of batteries and/or electric motor.  
           [0004]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0005]    Typically, electric trolling motors for boats use a battery or bank of batteries, which are charged in various ways. Most commonly they are charged by a charger powered by a building or house AC power line using a temporary connection. This recharge process requires preparation and time before leaving the building or house. Therefore, operation time for the trolling motor is limited to the first charge. The operation time for the trolling motor is also limited, when a fossil fueled boat motor is used to charge the batteries during transits across the body of water. The amount of time for the trolling motor operation is also limited when solar panels are used to charge the batteries during sunlight conditions, because they provide too little charge current. Too often a person fishing will use a trolling motor for extended times at a plurality of different fishing locations on the same body of water in the same day, and none of the recharge methods mentioned above address this usage of the trolling motor batteries.  
           [0006]    A variety of battery charging systems have been proposed to solve some of the problems mentioned above. In a few examples, U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,913 issued Apr. 22, 1975 to Loints et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,503 issued Jan. 30, 1973 to Haan; U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,930 issued Nov. 23, 1971 to Dutchak; U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,946 issued May 20, 1966 to Waterbury; U.S. Pat. No. 1,903,307 issued Apr. 4, 1933 to Gillio; U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,160 issued Feb. 2, 1982 to Boodman et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,004 issued Jan. 15, 1994 to Finley; U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,781, issued Oct. 31, 2000 to Hakala; U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,304, issued Jun. 29, 1999 to Bird; U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,032, issued Oct. 21, 1997 to Pena; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,425, issued Feb. 27, 1979 to Treat disclose a bank of batteries that are recharged by an impeller driven alternator turned by air, which is mounted within ductwork of a vehicle. Problems with these wind powered solutions are the weight and loss of wind speed due to friction when they use the extra long ductwork or tunnels. These wind powered solutions are permanently mounted. Also, these wind powered solutions rely on secondary sources of power. In other examples, U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,985, issued Apr. 13, 1982 to Oman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,822 issued Jan. 12, 1988 to Riezinstein disclose a wind turbine for charging batteries used on a sailboat pivoted so that it can catch the wind as the sailboat changes direction. Problems with these solutions are the springs and other mechanisms needed to counteract high winds. Another problem with these solutions are no guarantee that they will be pointed in the direction of the wind to generate electricity, when powered by another engine or towed on a trailer.  
           [0007]    In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,821 issued Feb. 27, 2001 to Morales et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,022 issued Apr. 20, 1999 to Jacobs, Sr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,144 issued Jan. 9, 1996 to Marek; U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,414 issued Dec. 10, 1999 to Lawrence; U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,454 issued Dec. 6, 1994 to Marek; U.S. Patent No. U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,029 issued Aug. 20, 1991 to Kulpa; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,832,808 issued Nov. 17, 1931 to Grier disclose other battery charging systems or trolling motor systems.  
           [0008]    It would be desirable to have a wind powered battery charger mounted in a simple and easy manner external to an existing vehicle structure without extra mechanisms to direct it in the direction of the wind. Also, it would be desirable to have a wind powered battery charger that does not need or use a long duct or wind tunnel and mounts close to a bank of batteries and provides a charge rate to fully charge a bank of batteries before they are needed. In addition, it would be desirable, to have a wind powered battery charge in which the fan to catch the wind is near the opening of a scoop and is directly coupled to the alternator.  
           [0009]    None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The invention is a wind powered recharger for charging trolling motor batteries in a boat. The charging of the batteries occurs while the boat is in transit or towed to a body of water, while the boat is in motion on a body of water under the power of a fossil fueled engine (outboard motor), or while the boat is in motion on a body of water under the power of a trolling motor (an electric motor). The charger has a scoop or cowling mounted on top of the outboard motor. Air is forced into an opening at the front of the scoop and sent out an exhaust at the rear of the scoop. Mounted inside the scoop is a four-blade fan attached to an alternator. The movement of air through the scoop causes the four-blade fan and alternator to turn. The scoop, fan and alternator are mounted on a base plate, which is attached to the top cover of an outboard motor of a boat. The plate can be a two-piece plate for mounting on an outboard motor cover that opens by splitting down the center of the motor cover. The plate can provide a means for portability. The plate design can provide detaching and reattaching of the charger at different locations. The alternator within the scoop is connected to the batteries via an inline electrical coupling that is easily attached and detached.  
           [0011]    Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for charging a bank of trolling motor batteries on a boat, which has charge rate large enough to fully charge the bank of batteries while the boat is in transit or being towed on a trailer to a body of water.  
           [0012]    It is another object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for batteries that is small and does not need long or complicated ductwork or wind tunnels.  
           [0013]    It is further object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for batteries which mounts externally on an existing surface of the boat specifically on the top cover of an outboard fossil fueled motor.  
           [0014]    It is another object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for batteries in which the fan blade is directly connected to the alternator.  
           [0015]    Still another object of the invention is to provide a wind powered charger for batteries which mounts in a location that is close to the bank of batteries such as the top cover of an outboard fossil fueled motor.  
           [0016]    It is another object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for batteries which mounts in a location that does not need mechanisms to keep it in the direction of the wind.  
           [0017]    It is another object of the invention to provide a wind powered charger for batteries having fan blades near the opening of a scoop or ductwork.  
           [0018]    Still another object of the invention is to provide a wind powered charger for batteries, which easily and quickly mounts and unmounts on the top cover of an outboard fossil fueled motor.  
           [0019]    Still another object of the invention is to provide a wind powered charger for batteries, which easily and quickly mounts and unmounts on the top cover of an outboard fossil fuel motor, which opens by splitting at the center top of the cover.  
           [0020]    It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
           [0021]    These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specifications and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]    [0022]FIG. 1 is an environmental, elevational view of a wind powered recharger for trolling motor batteries according to the present invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wind powered recharger of the present invention.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a wind powered recharger of the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is a top view of a bottom two piece base plate that mounts on the motor cover.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is a top view of a single piece base plate that mounts on the motor cover.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 is a top view of the cowling or scoop that mounts on the motor cover.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of all the parts of a wind powered recharger of the present invention inside the cowling.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an additional embodiment of the present invention having a protective screen disposed on the front of the scoop. 
     
    
       [0030]    Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0031]    As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is a wind powered charger  28  mounted on the top cover  25  of a fossil fueled outboard motor  30 , which is mounted on a boat  22 . The wind powered charger  28  has a fan and an alternator built inside the cowling or scoop of the charger  28 . The alternator is connected by cable  35  to the batteries  20  inside the boat on its deck near the fossil fueled outboard motor  30 . An inline electrical connector (not shown) is included in cable  35  to allow the wind powered charger  28  to be disconnected from the batteries  20 , when removing the top cover  25  of the motor  30  is necessary. Batteries  20  supply power primarily to the trolling motor  32 . The direction of movement  24  of the boat  22  causes air to flow in the direction  26  to the input  29  of the wind charger  28  and exit at the exhaust  27  in the direction  34 . This movement occurs while the boat  22  is towed over land to a body of water or while the boat  22  transits from location to location across a body water under power of the trolling motor  32  or while the boat  22  transits from location to location across a body water under power of the outboard motor  30 . The whole wind powered charger  28 , while in motion or operation, is permanently mounted in the direction of the wind.  
         [0032]    As seen in FIG. 2, the wind powered charger  28  has a front air inlet  29  facing the wind direction  26  and rear exhaust port  27  exhausting air in direction  34 . A bottom or single base plate  38  attaches the top scoop surface  33  of the charger  28  to the top of the motor cover  25 . The typical motor cover  25  does not have a ridge  63 , in which case the motor cover  25  is flat or smooth, the single plate  38  is flat and plates  58  and  60  shown in FIG. 2 are not needed. When a user requires access to the engine inside the typical one piece motor cover  25 , he can remove the whole one piece motor cover  25  with the wind powered charge unit  28  still attached to the one piece motor cover  25 . The top surface  33  has a scoop like three-dimensional shape as shown that decreases in height from front  29  (where wind enters) to back  27  (where wind exits). Exhaust opening  27  is smaller than front air inlet  29 . In FIG. 2, the one piece bottom plate  38  can be all one flat piece for use with typical outboard motor covers that are smooth or flat on top and are removed as one piece. With the typical one piece motor cover there is no need to remove the wind charger when access is needed to the engine inside the cover. The one piece bottom plate  38  has shape as shown decreasing from front to back and matches the bottom shape of the scoop  33  as shown in FIG. 7. The front inlet  29  faces into the wind in direction  26  and the exhaust port  27  exhausts air in the direction  34 .  
         [0033]    As shown in FIG. 3, the wind powered charger  28  has a scoop  33  like shape that decreases in height from front (where wind enters) to back (where wind exits) as shown. A four-blade fan  54  is mounted on the shaft  52 . Shaft  52  is the shaft of the alternator  46 . Thus, the fan  54  directly drives the alternator  46 . Bushing  50  and alternator front housing  48  together bolt on with bolts  56  to bracket  40 , which are bolted with bolts  44  on to plate  38 . The bushing  50  and the front housing  48  secure the alternator main body  46  to the bracket  40 . With regard to FIGS. 3 and 7, the positioning of the bracket  40  is such that the fan  54  is within two inches of the front air inlet  29  (as shown in FIG. 2) of the scoop  33  and positioned in the center of the front air inlet  29  both vertically and horizontally. In other words, the fan  54  is very close to the opening of the scoop  33 . Some or all of the bolt holes  39  also bolt the scoop  33  onto the plate  38 . After the scoop  33  is bolted onto the plate  38 , the plate  38  has other bolt holes to accommodate bolting the plate  38  onto the motor cover  25 . The plate  38 , also, provides the bolt holes for the bracket  40  for the attachment of the alternator  46  and fan  54 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 6 shows a top view of the wind powered charger  28  which mostly shows the scoop or cowling  33 . This view shows the bolt holes  39  along a flat portion of the cowling or scoop that mount the cowling or scoop to the plate  38  as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 6, the scoop  33  has a shape as shown larger at the front input  29  and smaller at the rear exhaust  27 .  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 7 shows the fan  54 , alternator  46  and bracket  40  are all coupled together and mounted on the bottom plate  38  inside the scoop  33  as the wind powered charger  28  would appear if not mounted on top of the outboard motor  30  or other external surface. The scoop  33  can be made of fiberglass or extruded plastic and bolts on to plate  38 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 8 shows an additional embodiment of the present invention having a screen  31  or louvers covering the front of the scoop  33 . The screen  31  protects the fan  54  and prevents anyone from coming into contact with the blades of the fan  54 . The openings in the screen  31  are large enough to not significantly slow the air flow that pushes the fan  54 .  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 4 shows a two-piece adaptor for the bottom plate  38  designed for mounting the wind charger  28  on a alternate two piece top cover  25  of an outboard motor  30 , which opens by splitting down the center ridge  63  of the alternate motor cover  25  as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The bottom plate  41  shown in Fig.  4  mounts on the cover as two separate pieces  58  and  60  on either side of the center ridge  63 , as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, where the opening of the two piece top cover  25  is located. As shown in FIG. 4, the two bottom pieces  58  and  60  provide bolt holes to match the upper plate  38  as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and  5 . Bolts mount the upper plate  38  to the bottom plates  58  and  60  on the top portion of the motor cover  25 . FIG. 2 also shows how the two bottom piece plates  58  and  60  are mounted on opposite sides of the center ridge  63  on the alternate motor cover  25 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the single piece base plate  38  is modified to have a hump to match the center ridge  63 . In FIG. 2, the top scoop  33  attaches to the modified single piece plate  38  with bolts in some or all of the holes. The wind powered charger  28  is one whole unit that mounts on the two bottom pieces  58  and  60 . The modified single piece plate  38  of wind powered charger is mounted with other bolts to the bottom plates  58  and  60 . When a user requires access to the engine inside the alternate two piece motor cover  25 , he can easily and quickly remove the wind charger  28  by unbolting only the bolts holding the modified single piece plate  38  to each of the two piece plates  58  and  60 , while bolts holding the scoop  33  and the bracket  40  in FIG. 3 remain bolted to the modified single piece plate  38 . The wind powered charger  28  remains as a whole unit when removed from the two piece plates  58  and  60  used on the motor cover  25  having an opening at center ridge  63 .  
         [0038]    In operation as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, when the boat  22  is towed by a land vehicle to a body of water, the boat  22  will be moving in the direction  24 . Wind in the direction  26  will be forced into the cowling or scoop  33  of the charger  28  at its inlet  29 . This wind will catch and turn the fan  54 . The fan  54  will turn the alternator  46 . The alternator  46  provides charge to the batteries  20 . The same operation occurs when the boat  22  is in transit between different fishing spots on the body of water when the outboard motor  30  or trolling motor  32  is used. The slower amount of motion on a body of water with either the outboard motor  30  or the trolling motor  32  will result in a lesser charge of the batteries  20  than when the boat  22  is towed on a trailer over land.  
         [0039]    The alternator  46  is an ordinary alternator, which is used to charge a battery in a car or a boat by a fossil fueled engine. Typically, the batteries  20  provide the field coil current to the alternator  46 . The alternator  46  includes a typical voltage regulator, which controls the charging and field coil currents. In certain preferred embodiments of the present invention the alternator  46  is a 74 amp one wire, self energizing alternator. This particular alternator improves efficiency and is adapted for charging up to three batteries at one time.  
         [0040]    While the boat  22  is being towed over land, the batteries  20  receive a full charge or more. While the boat  22  is powered by the fossil fueled outboard motor  30  and moving across the body of water, the batteries  20  receive less than a full charge. When the boat  22  is powered by the trolling motor  32  and moving across the body of water, (which uses the power of the batteries to be charged), the batteries  20  receive an even smaller charge or maintenance charge. These charge rates, also, vary with the ambient winds and wind directions as well. The alternator&#39;s included voltage regulator prevents over charge, under charge or discharge of the batteries  20  in all charging situations.  
         [0041]    It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.