Patent Publication Number: US-2012023991-A1

Title: Onboard vehicle compression storage system

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. 
     A variety of natural resources are used to power modern technology. Unfortunately, certain natural resources, such as oil and gas, are limited and difficult to reach. Renewable resources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower, are particularly advantageous due to their abundance. However, modern technology is far from efficient in using various resources, and often creates significant waste energy. This waste energy is largely untapped, and thus represents a significant energy resource in the face of increasing energy demand and decreasing energy supply in modern civilization. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying figures in which like characters represent like parts throughout the figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic of an embodiment of a vehicle using a motion-driven air compressor, air storage enclosure, and controller that delivers air to vehicle subsystems; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrates a process according to one embodiment of the motion-driven air compressor; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic of an embodiment of a motion driven air compressor and its interaction with a compressed air storage enclosure, vehicle subsystem controller, and vehicle subsystems; and 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the various vehicle subsystems and external systems that may utilize compressed air created by a motion-driven air compressor. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS 
     One or more specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below. These described embodiments are only exemplary of the present invention. Additionally, in an effort to provide a concise description of these exemplary embodiments, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in the specification. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     When introducing elements of various embodiments of the present invention, the articles “a,” “an,” “the,” and “said” are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements other than the listed elements. Moreover, the use of “top,” “bottom,” “above,” “below,” and variations of these terms is made for convenience, but does not require any particular orientation of the components. 
     The present disclosure is directed to an onboard compression system that uses a vehicles vertical motion during travel to compress air. When a vehicle is driven, it will be subjected to vertical motion due to the unevenness of the ground over which it travels. The shocks, struts, and tires normally absorb the vehicle&#39;s vertical motion. This results in wasted energy that could be utilized to decrease the vehicle&#39;s operating cost. Advantageously, the vehicles motion could be used to compress air. The compressed air may then be used to power various subsystems, reducing the operating cost of the vehicle. For example, the on-board compressed air may enable use of pneumatic driven equipment rather than electronic-driven equipment to decrease fuel costs, reduce wear on parts, and receive credits, etc. Fuel costs should be understood to mean fuel consumption, fuel price, or both fuel consumption and fuel price. The on-board compressed air may decrease the vehicle&#39;s operating costs by powering various onboard vehicle subsystems, assisting in the powering of various onboard vehicle subsystems, or obtaining a reward by delivering the compressed air to an external system. Examples of these subsystems may include: air conditioning systems, air inflation systems, engine support systems, access systems, interior comfort systems, disability systems, pneumatic systems, fluid systems, electrical systems, large vehicle systems, external discharge systems, and driver assist systems. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic of an embodiment of a vehicle  10  that includes a motion driven compression system for powering various subsystems. The vehicle  10  includes a body  12 , tires  14 , a motion-driven air compressor  16 , an air storage enclosure  18 , a controller  20 , and vehicle subsystems  22 . When the vehicle  10  is driven, it will naturally experience vertical oscillations due to the unevenness of the surface on which it travels. This constantly changing vertical motion is typically absorbed by the shocks, struts, and tires creating a smoother ride. In the present embodiment, the motion-driven air compressor  16  uses the vertical motion of the vehicle  10  to compress and transport air. The compressed air is moved through air lines  24  into the air storage enclosure  18 . A controller  20  connected to the air storage enclosure  18  controls when compressed air is released from the air storage enclosure  18  to operate various vehicle subsystems  22 . Upon receiving a signal from the vehicle&#39;s onboard electronics or the respective vehicle subsystem  22 , the controller  20  releases compressed air through air lines  26 , thus providing a source of power to the vehicle&#39;s subsystems  22 . 
     While in the present embodiment a car is illustrated as the vehicle  10 , a car is merely exemplary and is not intended to limit the invention in any manner. In fact, the motion-driven air compressor  16  may be used in trucks, recreational vehicles (RV), vans, sport utility vehicles (SUV), tractors, motorcycles, watercraft, aircraft, locomotives, and other such vehicles. While two motion driven air compressors  16  are illustrated, a vehicle may have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or more motion driven air compressors  16 . The size, number, and configuration of the motion-driven air compressors  16  is dependent upon compressed air requirements (e.g., high pressure, low pressure, number of subsystems using compressed air, amount of compressed air needed by a particular vehicle subsystem, etc.). In addition, while only one air storage enclosure  18  is illustrated, the vehicle  10  may include multiple air storage enclosures  18 . Each of the air storage enclosures  18  may be coupled to a respective motion driven air compressor  18  or multiple motion driven air compressors  18  may feed multiple air storage enclosures  18 . Furthermore, an air storage enclosure(s)  18  may be specifically dedicated to provide compressed air to one or more vehicle subsystems  22 . In some embodiments, the air storage enclosures  18  may be defined by cavities within the framework of the vehicle  10  to store the compressed air, thereby saving space in the vehicle  10 . For example, each tubular frame member of the vehicle  10  may be sealed to define an air storage enclosure  18 . Thus, depending on the amount of framework, the vehicle  10  may include 1 to 100 independent or linked air storage enclosures  18  integrated into the vehicle  10 . Similarly, the present embodiment is not limited to a single controller  20  but multiple controllers  20  may exist for controlling the release of compressed air from a single air storage enclosure  18  or multiple air storage enclosures  18 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart that illustrates a process  38  according to one embodiment of the on-board motion-driven air compression system. The process  38  begins with compressing air onboard the vehicle using the vehicle&#39;s motion as the motive force (block  40 ). For instance, the compressed air may be generated by use of a piston cylinder device. The process  38  proceeds by storing the compressed air onboard as the energy source for the vehicle subsystems  42 . The compressed air may be stored in variety of locations including, the framework of the vehicle or within one or more storage tanks. The process  38  also includes driving one or more vehicle subsystems to reduce the cost of operating the vehicle  44 . Examples of possible subsystems may include: air conditioning systems, air inflation systems, engine support systems, access systems, interior comfort systems, disability systems, pneumatic systems, fluid systems, electrical systems, large vehicle systems, external discharge systems, and driver assist systems. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic of an embodiment of a motion driven air compressor  16  and its interaction with a compressed air storage enclosure  18 , vehicle subsystem controller  20 , and vehicle subsystems  22  of an on-board motion driven compression system. As discussed above, the motion driven air compressor  16  uses the changing vertical motion of the vehicle  10  to compress air. The compressed air is then collected in the air storage enclosure  18 . As the vehicle subsystem controller  20  receives signals from the vehicle subsystems  22 , the controller  20  may then cause the air storage enclosure  18  to flow the compressed air, stop the flow of compressed air, or maintain the flow of compressed air to one or more vehicle subsystems  22 . 
     The motion driven air compressor  16  includes: a cylinder  60 , a piston  62 , a shaft  63  (e.g., lower shaft  64  and upper shaft  66 ), intake nozzles  68 , and outflow nozzles  70 . The cylinder  60  defines a chamber  61  divided by the piston  62  into a lower chamber  65  and an upper chamber  67 . The cylinder  60  further defines a top surface  72  and a bottom surface  74 . The top and bottom surfaces  72  and  74  further define apertures  76  and  78  respectively. The apertures  76  and  78  enable axial movement of the respective upper and lower shafts  64  and  66  within the cylinder  60 . Some embodiments may include seals (e.g., o-rings) between the upper and lower shafts  64  and  66 , and the apertures  76  and  78 . The seals assist in blocking air leakage during compression. Furthermore, air intake and outflow nozzles  68  and  70  include one-way valves  80  and  82  (e.g., check valves). These one-way valves  80  and  82  only allow air to travel in a single direction. Thus, the intake nozzles  68  only allow air to flow into the cylinder  60 , while the outflow nozzles  70  only allow air, above a certain pressure, to flow out of the cylinder  60 . In the present embodiment, the compressor  16  includes two intake and outflow nozzles  68  and  70 . Other embodiments may include more or less intake and outflow nozzles  68  and  70  per cylinder. 
     In the present embodiment, the motion driven air compressor  16  is designed for dual action, whereby air compression occurs in both the upward and downward strokes in the lower and upper chambers  65  and  67 . In other embodiments, the air compression may only occur in a single direction, in either the lower or the upper chamber  65  or  67 . As the vehicle body moves up and down, the upper and lower shafts  64  and  66  move within the cylinder  60  in the direction of arrows  84 . For instance, the lower shaft  64  drives the piston  62  upward in the direction  84  as an upward force is imparted on the vehicle  10 . The upward force may result from a bump in the road, which causes upward movement of the tire  14  relative to the body  12  of the vehicle  10 . As the piston  62  moves upward (i.e., the upstroke), the piston  62  compresses air in the upper chamber  67  while drawing in additional air in the lower chamber  65 . As discussed previously, the intake nozzles  68  include one-way valves  80  to enable only intake airflow, thus the only exit for the air is through the outflow nozzles  70 . As mentioned above, the outflow nozzles  70  include a one-way valves  82  (e.g., check valves) that open at certain pressures. Upon reaching the proper pressure, the one-way valves  82  open to route the compressed air to the air storage enclosure  18 . During the upstroke, the valve  80  is closed and the valve  82  eventually opens in the upper chamber  67 , while the valve  80  is open and the valve  82  is closed in the lower chamber  65 . More specifically, in the upper chamber  67 , the valve  82  opens as the piston  62  approaches top dead center (e.g., the surface  72 ) of the upper chamber  67 . As the piston  62  changes directions the valves  80  and  82  also reverse their states. 
     As the piston  62  begins the downward stroke, the valve  80  opens and the valve  82  closes in the upper chamber  67 , thereby allowing the piston  62  to draw air into the upper chamber  67 . Simultaneously, the valve  80  closes and the valve  82  eventually opens in the lower chamber  65 , as the piston  62  gradually compresses air in the lower chamber  65  and then expels the compressed air through the valve  82  at a sufficiently high pressure. The cycle repeats in this manner to provide alternating compression and air intake in the opposite chambers  65  and  67 . Each reversal of the piston  62  causes the chambers  65  and  67  to change functions from air intake to air compression, and vice versa. Advantageously, each disturbance in the road may cause both an upward stroke and a downward stroke of the piston  62  providing air compression in both chambers  65  and  67 . 
     The illustrated compressor  16  is a single stage duel-acting compressor. In some embodiments, the on-board motion driven compression system may include a multi-stage compression system driven by vehicle motion. For example, the system may include a series of motion-driven compressors  16  to sequentially compress air in stages, each stage compressing the air to a higher pressure. The multi-stage compression system may be capable of providing higher pressures, while using all available motion energy for air compression. 
     The compressed air leaving the outflow nozzles  70  travels through the air lines  24  into the air storage enclosure  18 . As previously discussed, the vehicle subsystem controller  20  may receive signals from the vehicle subsystems  22  or other onboard electronics. The controller  20  may respond to a signal from a vehicle subsystem  22  to open or close an appropriate valve  86 . When the valve  86  opens, compressed air is released to do work for a vehicle subsystem  22 . After completion, the vehicle subsystem  22  or other onboard electronics sends a signal to the controller  20  indicating the work is complete. The controller  20  then signals the valve  86  to close, cutting off the compressed air from the compressed air storage enclosure  18 . 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of the various vehicle subsystems  22  that may utilize air pressure created by a motion-driven air compressor  16  to reduce the vehicle&#39;s operating costs. Vehicle subsystems  22  may include: air conditioning systems  100 , air inflation systems  106 , engine support systems  112 , access systems  120 , interior comfort systems  130 , disability systems  138 , pneumatic systems  148 , fluid systems  160 , electrical systems  168 , large vehicle systems  176 , external discharge systems  190 , and driver assist systems  200 . 
     Air condition system  100  could use the compressed air in an expander  102  or in a temperature control system  104  among other possibilities. The expander  102  would take advantage of the cooling effect that occurs as compressed air expands from high pressure to low pressure. This cooling effect created by the expansion of the compressed air in the expander  102  could be used to supplement an A/C system or even completely replace the A/C system. The use of expander  102  to remove all or part of the workload of an A/C would be particularly advantageous due to the operating costs associated with using an A/C unit. Temperature control system  104  could take advantage of compressed air to change the temperature in a vehicle by moving air past heaters or coolers and into the cabin without the use of fans. The temperature control system  104  may further include an air conditioning control system capable of controlling the expansion of the compressed air for cooling to decrease an engine load on the vehicle. This would therefore require less electricity to be generated by the alternator and in turn a smaller workload for the engine saving fuel and possibly part replacement. Furthermore, compressed air could quickly move large amounts of air past heaters or coolers, optimizing the interior comfort of the vehicle faster than by using fans. 
     An air inflation system  106  could use the compressed air in a pressure control system  108  or in a tire pressure control system  110 . The pressure control system  108  could be used to rapidly inflate objects such as air bags to a specific pressure upon vehicle collision. The tire pressure control system  110  could take advantage of onboard generation of compressed air, by adjusting the tire pressure. Tires that are maintained at the proper pressure save on fuel costs and prevent excessive tire tread wear. 
     The engine support system  112  could use the compressed air to operate various actuators  114  and valves  116 . The air driven actuators  114  and valves  116  reduce the electrical load on the battery, and thereby reducing the load on the engine to improve fuel economy. The actuators  114  and valves  116  may include fuel injectors, lubricant actuators/valves, coolant actuators/valves, and so forth. Finally, the control system  118  controls the operation and actuation of the various actuators  114  and valves  116 . 
     The access systems  120  could use the compressed air to power locks  122 , drives  124 , and security systems  126 . In place of electrical power used for power locks  122 , compressed air could be used to lock various compartments on a vehicle (e.g., door locks, trunk locks, hood locks, sunroof locks, convertible top locks, storage compartment locks, wheel locks, steering locks, etc.). These systems would take advantage of the force generated by compressed air to move the locking mechanism back and forth. Finally, a control system  128  may be included for controlling the operation of the various locks  122 , drives  124 , and security systems  126 . 
     Interior comfort systems  130  could use the compressed air to power seats  132 , windows  134 , and sunroofs. Rather than use an electric motor to move the seat through various seat configurations, an air motor could be used to power the seat. Compressed air could also be used to inflate seats, parts of seats (e.g., lower lumbar support, armrest, headrest etc.) or other parts of the vehicle, such as the steering wheel. Compressed air could also be used to open and close windows  134  and sunroofs, rather than use electric power or manual force. Finally, the control system  136  may be included to control the seats  132 , windows  134 , and other comfort systems, etc. 
     Disability systems  138  could be used to power lifts  140 , doors  142 , and seats  144 . A hydraulic lift is often employed to lift disabled individuals into vehicles. Instead, the pneumatic lift  140  is driven by the onboard motion generated compressed air. Furthermore, the onboard motion generated compressed air is used to power the doors  142  and seats  144 , e.g., to assist a disabled person the doors  142  and seats  144  could be powered by compressed air allowing for an automatic opening of the doors  142  and ease in rotating or changing the configuration of the seats  144 . Finally, a control system  146  may be included for operating the lift  140 , door  142 , and seats  144 . 
     The pneumatic system  148  could use the compressed air to power pneumatic drives  150 , pneumatic actuators  152 , pneumatic valves  154 , and pneumatic controls  156 . These devices assist in operating the devices mentioned above (e.g., air driven windows, doors, trunks, seats, sunroofs, convertible tops, hoods, windshield wipers, steering, brakes, storage compartments/doors, vents, lifts, etc.). Finally, a pneumatic control system  158  may control the pneumatic drives  150 , pneumatic actuators  152 , pneumatic valves  154 , and pneumatic controls  156 . 
     The fluid system  160  could use the compressed air to power an air-driven liquid system  162 , and an air-driven gas system  164 . Some of the potential liquid systems that could take advantage of compressed air could include fuel pumps, hydraulic fluid pumps, oil pumps, water pumps, transmission fluid pumps, and power steering fluid pumps, windshield wiper fluid pumps, among others. In addition to, pumps, the air-driven liquid systems  162  may include other pneumatic drives. Some of the air driven gas systems  164  could include operating an air pump that drives fresh air into the cabin, a pump that circulates cabin air, etc. Finally, a fluid control system  166  may be included for operating the air-driven liquid systems  162  and the air-driven gas systems  164 , and wherein the fluid control system  166  controls the flow of the fluid or gas as well as their pressures. 
     The electrical system  168  could use the compressed air to power a generator  170 , and an air-powered cooler  172 . In one embodiment, the compressed air could be used to rotate a shaft within a generator  170  creating electricity. The compressed air could also be used to power a cooler by providing the power to compress the coolant in a refrigerant cycle. In addition, the compressed air could be used to cool the various electronics onboard (e.g., Page of expander, fans, may blow compressed air directly over electronics, etc.). Finally, a control system  174  may be included for operating the generator  170  and air cooler  172 . 
     Large vehicle systems  176  could use the compressed air to power air brakes  178 , lifts  180 , stabilizers  182 , cranes  184 , tools  186 , and control systems  188 . Thus, rather than relying on electrical drives or electrically driven compressors, the large vehicle systems  176  employ compressed air from the motion driven air compressor  16 . The air brakes  178  may replace manual brakes or air brakes relying on electrically driven air compressors. The air lifts  180  may replace hydraulic lifts or electrically driven lifts or the compressed air may be used to drive hydraulics. In this way, the motion driven air compressor  16  could supply the air pressure to power the lifts  180 . Other lifts  180  that could take advantage of the compressed air include lifts on trash trucks/dump trucks that raise and lower the dump portion, the front hooks that lift trash bins, or the compressors for compressing the trash onboard a trash truck. Furthermore, the air stabilizers  182  may replace hydraulic or electric driven stabilizers, or the compressed air may be used to drive the hydraulics. Likewise, air cranes  184  may replace hydraulic or electric drive cranes, or the compressed air may be used to drive hydraulics. The compressed air could also be used to power tools (e.g. power hammers, jackhammers, drills, etc.) carried on the vehicle. In some embodiments, the compressed air may be stored in removable tanks, which can be carried off the vehicle for use on a worksite. Finally, a control system  188  may be included for controlling the air brakes  178 , lifts  180 , stabilizers  182 , cranes  184 , and tools  186 . 
     In some embodiments, the onboard compressed air could be used to power onboard systems and discharge the remaining compressed air to an external system  190 . In still further embodiments, all of the compressed air generated while driving could be discharged to an external system  190 . One of the ways to take advantage of the onboard compressed air generation is to release it through a discharge port on the vehicle. The discharge port could be a quick disconnect port for attachment to an air hose, external air station, or air supply nozzle. For example, the discharge port may allow discharge of the air through a hose to pump up bike tires, four wheeler tires, air mattresses, inflatable toys, inflatable playhouses, and so forth. In still other embodiments, the compressed air could be discharged to a commercial tank collecting from multiple vehicles. These discharges could occur at parking meters, parking garages, gas stations, parking lots (e.g., mall, grocery store, restaurants, shopping centers etc.), on ferries, camping sites, toll booths, etc. During discharge, a meter  194  may register how much air is being discharged by the vehicle. After discharge, the meter  194  could communicate with a rewards system to indicate how much monetary reward, cash back, free item (e.g., coffee, donut etc.), price reduction, rewards points, credit for future purchases, etc. that the particular discharge is worth. In still other embodiments, the reward system might communicate with a larger system that could track a vehicle or an individual in order accumulate rewards from discharges at multiple locations, and store the rewards in a database  196 . 
     In addition, the continuous discharge of compressed air by multiple vehicles to an external system could be used to perform a variety of tasks most notably to power air-driven electrical generators, or motors that would provide power for parking garages, gas stations, office buildings etc. Finally, a control system  198  may be included to control the air-driven electrical generators, motors, and control delivery of the compressed air from the vehicle to the external system  190 . 
     In still other embodiments, the onboard motion generated compressed air could be used to assist in driver systems  200 . One of these systems that could take advantage of the compressed air could be the braking system  202 . This could take the form of air brakes as discussed above with respect to large vehicle systems or it could be used to make the braking easier for the driver, by providing additional force once it senses braking. Power steering  204  could be another system that takes advantage of the compressed air. Rather than use a fluid based power steering system, an air driven power steering system could be used or compressed air could possible supplement the fluid based power steering system. Finally, the control system  198  for the braking system  202 , power steering systems  204 , etc. could take advantage of the compressed air by operating the drives, actuators, valves, controls, etc. 
     All of these systems and devices could take advantage of the compressed air created by the vertical oscillations a vehicle experiences while traveling. While the savings created by use of these systems may initially appear small, in the long term and in aggregate use, these systems would generate a significant amount of savings for the individual and the environment by helping to conserve oil, coal, and other nonrenewable energy resources. 
     While the invention may be susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and have been described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.