Abstract:
A mechanical force generator for producing a directional force by converting centrifugal force energy to a directional force by rotating a cage assembly about its longitudinal axis which then turns secondary shafts which rotate sets of eccentrics to produce a net unidirectional force in a direction which is transverse to the axis of rotation of the cage assembly. Two pairs of eccentrics rotate such that for each 90° of carrier cage rotation, the pairs of eccentrics have their mass centers positioned alternately between a balanced condition and an unbalanced condition, but, for each 90° of rotation, one pair of eccentrics is always developing a power stroke. A timing mechanism is connected to the carrier cage to change the phase relationship between the carrier cage and the holding frame to vary the resultant force output.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for producing a directional force, and more particularly to an apparatus for converting centrifugal energy to a directional force by rotating an assembly about its longitudinal axis which then turns secondary shafts which turn right angle bevel gears to rotate sets of eccentrics to produce a net unidirectional force in a direction which is transverse to the axis of rotation of the longitudinal axis of the apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Various devices are well known in the prior art which transmit energy and converts that energy from linear to rotational and vice versa. Many such devices use eccentrics to modify the resultant force output. 
     For instance, the patent to Mount (U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,066) discloses a transmission which uses eccentrics to control power output by having the eccentrics mounted transversely to the drive axis to modify the drive ratio of a planetary gear transmission by centrifugal force associated with a rotor assembly having an imbalance that varies as a function of the speed of oppositely rotating eccentric rotor elements relative to a carrier frame mounting planetary gears drivingly connected to a spider on which the rotor assembly is mounted. 
     In the Peterson Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,259) there is disclosed a device for generating a unidirectional force comprising a rotary body carrying around its periphery a plurality of pivotal pendulum masses mounted on shafts parallel to the axis of rotation of the rotary body so that the pendulum masses swing transversely to the main access of rotation. As the device rotates, each pendulum mass flings outwardly to produce a unidirectional force symmetrical about a central axis. 
     The Moller Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,629) discloses a torque converter having an input shaft, an output shaft and preferably three or more torque generating trains each having a rotatable shaft whose axes are fixed relative to the axis of an input shaft. Each of the torque generating trains has a pair of double-weight torque generators thereon wherein the weights are eccentrically mounted upon the shaft of their respective torque generating trains. However, in each torque generator a pair of substantially identical weights are mounted for freedom of rotation relative to a pair of cylindrical bearing surfaces which are eccentrically positioned relative to the axis of their torque generating train shafts and which have their eccentricities 180° apart on the shafts. As the cage of the device is spun about the axis of its torque generating train, the eccentrically mounted weights are also spun with the cage and the weights apply torque to the shafts of their torque generating trains. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention and the contemplated problems which have and continue to exist in this field, the present invention will produce a unitary unidirectional force which may be directed angularly transversely from the central axis of rotation of the device as needed. 
     The invention accomplishes the above and other objects of the invention by utilizing rotating masses to achieve a unidirectional force. The invention comprises a cage-like housing mounting at one end thereof an outer ring gear and at the other end an end plate. A planetary gear assembly is mounted adjacent the end plate. Extending laterally between the ring gear and the end plate is a centrally mounted main shaft and a plurality of spaced parallel secondary shafts. The sun gear of the planetary assembly is centrally received on the central longitudinal axis located between the outer ring gear and the end plate. The sun gear communicates with planetary gears located therearound which are affixed to the secondary shafts. The secondary shafts have right angle bevel gears attached thereto and each secondary shaft communicates with an eccentric which rotates on a shaft transversely to the central longitudinal axis and the axis of the secondary shafts. There are two sets of cooperating eccentrics and, as the planetary gears orbit about the sun gear, the eccentrics are rotated so that the eccentrics produce a unidirectional power stroke every 90° of rotation of the force converter. A timing mechanism is associated with the planetary gear system to effect an angular direction of the power stroke with respect to the rotating cage. In this manner, the power output and the direction thereof is fully controllable by the timing mechanism. 
     Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing the preferred embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view showing the cage rotated 90° from the position of FIG. 1, and showing a portion in partial section for clarity; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view showing the cage rotated 180° from the position of FIG. 1, and showing a portion in partial section for clarity; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevation view showing the cage rotated 270° from the position of FIG. 1, and showing a portion in partial section for clarity; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded partial perspective view of the construction and placement of the control shafts and eccentrics; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded partial perspective view of the central support shell along with gears at the input and output ends; 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded partial perspective view of the output end showing the timing mechanism; and 
     FIG. 8 is a graphical representation of the eccentric orbital path for one complete revolution showing the power curve having a power stroke every 90°. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     For a fuller understanding of the nature and desired objects of this invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. Referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, reference is made first to FIG. 1 which shows the basic configuration for the force converter  11 . It should be noted that the force converter  11 , as shown herein, is very rudimentary and basic in configuration, but the parts and description pertaining to the parts and operation of the force converter accurately defines the concept of the invention. It should be noted that the materials shown in the drawings herein are generally off-the-shelf items to prove and show the concept. However, in actual practice, it is anticipated that various sophisticated materials would be utilized in assembling and practicing the invention and such materials are contemplated. 
     The force converter  11  comprises the input outer ring gear  12  at the proximal end thereof and the gear train mounting plate  13  at the distal end thereof, wherein the ring gear  12  and the mounting plate  13  encompass therebetween the carrier cage apparatus  14 . Within the cage apparatus  14  is a shell  15  for mounting the eccentrics which will be described later. Distally from the gear train mounting plate  13  is a planetary gear system  16  for effecting movement of the eccentrics. Distally of the planetary gear system  16 , and connected to the sun gear of the system, is a timer mechanism  17  for controlling the output direction of the resultant force produced by the force converter. 
     The input ring gear  12  accepts input power from a rotational power supply of suitable design and efficiency. A power supply for serving the force converter is herein should be one which is efficient and of light weight, yet will produce a sustained power output for extended periods of time using relatively small quantities of fuel for best efficiency. As the ring gear  12  revolves, and in the case to be described herein, the ring gear is assumed to revolve in a counterclockwise direction when looking at the end of the ring gear  12  longitudinally along the main shaft  18  from the proximal end thereof. The main shaft  18  is non-rotatable and is fixed to a mounting frame  19  by the axis shaft mount  21 . In the present invention, ring gear  12  will have centrally located therein a suitable bearing  22  (see FIG. 6) so that the ring gear will rotate around the non-rotatable access shaft  18 . Positioned between ring gear  12  and gear train mounting plate  13  are four minor axes  23   a ,  23   b ,  23   c  and  23   d . Each of the minor axes are independently rotatable within the ring gear  12  and the gear train mounting plate  13  by respective bearings  24   a, a ′ and  24   b, b ′ and  24   c, c ′ and  25   d, d ′ all mounted in the respective ring gear  12  or gear train mounting plate  13  as is shown in FIG.  5 . 
     The planetary gear system  16  (as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6) is mounted to the non-rotatable distal end of the main axis shaft  18  by having the sun gear  25  rotatably mounted upon the axis shaft  18  by means of fitted bearing  26  within the mounting plate  13 . Each of the planetary gears  27   a ,  27   b ,  27   c  and  27   d  are respectively mounted to the minor axes as shown in FIG.  1 . In order for the planetary gears to rotate about the minor axes, the gears are suitably mounted on the axes by bearings  28   a ,  28   b ,  28   c  and  28   d . The distal end of the force converter is mounted to the mounting frame  19  (not shown for clarity purposes in the drawings) by an axis shaft mount  29  which mounts the distal end main axis  18  therein. As was noted, sun gear  25  is fixedly mounted to the distal end main axis shaft  18 , however, the distal end main axis shaft  18  is suitably positioned within the axis shaft mount  29  for limited rotational purposes. 
     The reason that the distal main axis shaft  18  is only of limited rotational capacity is for the reason that the gear train mounting plate  13  rotates around the distal main axis shaft  18  upon a bearing  31 , which bearing resides within the mounting plate  13 , and this allows the entire cage apparatus  14  to freely rotate about the shafts  18 . However, as noted, the distal shaft  18  does have limited rotational capability and this may be effected by frictionally mounting the shaft in shaft mount  29  relatively tightly, or may be effected by having a concentric double shaft for the distal major access shaft  18 . The purpose of the limited rotational capability of the shaft, to which sun gear  25  is affixed, is to allow the timer mechanism  17  to be rotated, which rotation will revolve distal main axis shaft  18  a desired angular amount for timing purposes as will be later described. The timing mechanism  17 , as noted, is mounted to shaft  18  and, upon angularly rotating the timing control handle  32 , distal main axis shaft  18  is caused to rotate which, in turn, rotates the sun gear  25 . In order to effect such rotation, the pullout spring-loaded knob  33  is retracted which causes lock plunger  34  to be retracted from a locking aperture  35   a  within the timer index ring  36  which is firmly and fixedly mounted to the distal axis shaft mount  29  so that the index ring will not turn. As can be seen in the figures, the distal main axis shaft  18  passes through the timer index ring and is capable of limited frictional rotation therein. As the timing control handle  32  is rotated, the lock plunger  34  may be repositioned in any of the locking apertures  35  depending upon which direction the resultant force output is desired to be directed. 
     Referring once again to FIG. 1, and to the cage apparatus  14 , it is noted that each of the minor axes  23  have mounted thereon respective right angled bevel gears  37   a ,  37   b ,  37   c  and  37   d . Each of the bevel gears  37  are fixedly mounted on the respective minor axis shafts and the respective bevel gears mesh with a respective bevel gear  38   a ,  38   b ,  38   c  and  38   d  rotatably mounted within respective bearings  39   a ,  39   b ,  39   c  and  39   d  within the shell  15 . As will be seen, the bevel gears  38  are affixed to respective shafts  41   a ,  41   b ,  41   c  and  41   d , which shaft rotate within the respective bearings  39 . 
     Upon the bevel shafts  41 , there are fixedly mounted, at the midpoint of the shafts, eccentrics which impart the desired output force to the force converter  11 . These eccentrics are mounted in cooperating pairs with the first pair of eccentrics being designated  42   a  and  42   b , and the second pair of eccentrics being designated as  43   a  and  43   b . For convenience sake, the first pair of eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  will be designated as the distal eccentrics, and the second pair of eccentrics  43   a  and  43   b  will be designated as the proximal eccentrics. 
     In operation of the invention, power is directed to the outer ring gear  12  which, when looking at the end thereof from the perspective of sighting down main shaft  18  along proximal axis shaft mount  21 , the ring gear will revolve in a counter-clockwise direction. As the ring gear  12  revolves, it carries with it the cage  14  along with the minor axes  23 , the gear train mounting plate  13  and the planetary gear system  16 . To better understand the operation of the invention, assume that the representation of FIG. 1 is position  1  and that the timing handle  32  of timing mechanism  17  is pointed vertically and lies in a plane which is the same plane that passes through minor axes  23   a  and  23   c , as shown in FIG.  1 . As the force converter  11  rotates, the planetary gears  27  will revolve around the sun gear  25  and cause the minor axes  23  to revolve, thereby rotating bevel gears  37  which in turn will rotate bevel gears  38  turning eccentric shafts  41  and rotating the eccentric pairs  42  and  43 . As shown in FIG. 1 at position number  1 , the distal eccentric pairs  42   a  and  42   b  are in a position wherein the major plane of the eccentrics lie in the same plane which passes through minor axes  23   b  and  23   d . The mass center portions  44  of each of the first pair of eccentrics  42  are so positioned that the mass center portions face one another within the shell. In position number  1  the second pair of eccentrics  43  are positioned on shafts  41   b  and  41   d  such that the mass center portions  45  of the eccentrics  43  are positioned vertically and the major plane of the eccentrics lie in a plane which passes through minor axes  23   a  and  23   c.    
     As the ring gear  12  rotates, the entire force converter cage apparatus  14  rotates turning the minor axes  23  to rotate the eccentrics in a predetermined path. As the cage rotates, eccentrics  42  will rotate oppositely to one another and, in the case herein described, eccentric  42   a  will rotate clockwise (looking down upon the top of the cage apparatus  14 ) and eccentric  42   b  will rotate counterclockwise. Accordingly, eccentrics  43   a  and  43   b  will also rotate oppositely to one another, wherein eccentric  43   a  will rotate clockwise and eccentric  43   b  will rotate counterclockwise (looking at the side view of FIG.  1 ). 
     After a full 90° rotation of cage apparatus  14 , the force converter will be in the position as shown in FIG. 2 which is identified as position  2 . It should be noted that, as described in the description of the figures, the description herein is looking at a side elevation view of the force converter  11 . In FIG. 2, the result of 90° rotation shows that eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  are now positioned vertically designating that a power output force has been developed in the vertical direction of a plane which lies now through minor axes  23   b  and  23   d . At position number  2 , eccentrics  43   a  and  43   b  are so positioned that the mass center portions of the eccentrics are facing inwardly toward one another indicating that the force component exerted by these two eccentrics cancel out one another. Therefore, the resultant force is only developed by eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b.    
     As the ring gear  12  continues to rotate another 90° in the clockwise direction, it is seen that eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  begin to rotate oppositely toward the respective ends of the force converter and the eccentrics  43   a  and  43   b  also rotate oppositely, and as the entire cage rotates to a full 180° (a one-half rotation) the result is as shown in FIG.  3  and is position  3  showing eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  having the mass center portion  44  pointing toward the respective ends defined by ring gear  12  and gear train mounting plate  13  while eccentrics  43   a  and  43   b  now have their respective mass center portions  45  pointing vertically indicating that another power stroke has been developed in the vertical direction after a second is 90° rotation of the cage apparatus  14 , and that eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  are facing oppositely from one another and, therefore, cancel the forces that are generated. 
     As the cage apparatus  14  rotates from position  3  of 180° rotation to position  4  of 270° rotation, as depicted in FIG. 4, it is noted that eccentrics  42   a  and  42   b  now have been repositioned in a vertical plane with the respective mass center portions  44  pointing in a vertical direction giving a power stroke in that plane while the second pair of eccentrics  43  have been rotated to a cancelling position where the mass center portion  45  of each eccentric  43  now faces outwardly toward the respective ends of the converter  11 , thereby giving a net resultant force in a vertical direction. Again, as the cage apparatus  14  rotates from position  4  to position  1  (a full 360° rotation), the eccentrics continue their respective rotations and end up at the position shown in FIG. 1 with another resultant power stroke. 
     The timing mechanism  17  is an integral and important part of the present invention, and is capable of determining the resultant net unidirectional force component of the force converter and the direction to which the force will be directed. The previous discussion has all been made with the assumption that the timing control handle is pointed vertically and has not been rotated to effect any particular timing, other than to time the unit in a vertical direction. However, if the handle  32  is rotated and since it is fixed to shaft  18  on which sun gear  25  is fixed, then the rotation of handle  32  will also rotate sun gear  25 . For instance, if handle  32  initially starts off in the most vertical locking aperture  35   a  then the directional force will be vertical as just described. However, should the handle  32  be rotated so that locking plunger  34  be placed in locking aperture  35   b , in this instance a rotational move of 30°, it will be seen that the sun gear will also rotate thereby rotating the minor axes  23  and effecting a movement of eccentric pairs  42  and  43 . It is assumed that the ring gear  12  does not move and that the cage apparatus  14  remains stationary. When this happens, the eccentrics rotate an equivalent 30° on their respective axes and, therefore, when the ring gear is at top dead center as in position  1  of FIG. 1, the eccentrics have not yet reached the full power stroke. It is not until the ring gear would move to a 30° position off top dead center that the eccentrics would be at a full power stroke as shown in position  1  of FIG.  1 . In this manner, the timing mechanism therefore changes the direction of the resultant net output force of the force converter to a position which corresponds with the timing mechanism  17 , and, in this case, essentially in the direction which timing control handle  32  points. Therefore, it can be seen that the timing mechanism may be used to change direction of the resultant net output force as desired, and will allow the force converter to direct a force in any direction transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, various modifications may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and which are set forth in the appended claims.