Abstract:
A variable power generator comprises one of a stator and a rotor which is adjustably movable through an infinite number of positions from being proximate to one another so that their magnetic fields overlap to a position such that the rotor is most distant from the stator and has little overlap of magnetic field strength. The variable power generator in operation may comprise one of a rotor and a stator being out of phase with one another by an angle, for example, the one of the rotor or the stator leading or lagging the other. In this instance, a motor such as a servo motor may be used to rotationally compensate for the out-of-phase angle by radially moving the rotor with respect to the stator or vice versa.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/039,096 filed Aug. 19, 2015 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/255,377 filed Apr. 17, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,151,269 issued Oct. 6, 2015), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/915,785 filed Jun. 12, 2013, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,702,552 issued Apr. 22, 2014), which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/568,288 filed Aug. 7, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,933 issued Jul. 16, 2013) which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/521,408 filed Aug. 9, 2011, and to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/523,846 filed Aug. 16, 2011 and U.S. application Ser. No. 13/568,288 filed Aug. 7, 2012 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/425,501, filed on Mar. 21, 2012, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,641,570 issued Feb. 4, 2014) which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/384,621, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Providing a Constant Output from a Variable Flow Input” filed Jan. 18, 2012, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,388,481 issued Mar. 5, 2013), being a national stage entry application of PCT US 10/42519 having an international filing date of Jul. 20, 2010, all applications of Kyung Soo Han and being incorporated herein by reference as to their entire contents. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The field of the invention relates to applications of a variable torque generator (VTG) which in power generation applications shall be referred to as a variable power generator (VPG) and, more particularly, to the applications of a variable power generator in adjustable assemblies of rotors and stators, for example, in environmental sources of energy such as wind and marine hydrokinetic turbines for generating constant frequency output power, the VTG/VPG also being useful, for example, in pumps, electric vehicles and internal combustion engines. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A variable torque generator has been described in priority U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,338,481; 8,485,933; and 8,702,552 as well as priority PCT/US2010/042519 published as WO2011/011358. The variable torque generator has one of an axially moveable rotor and stator with respect to its stationary or moveable counterpart stator or rotor so as to vary the amount of overlap by the stator with respect to the rotor from a minimum when the stator is displaced from the rotor to a maximum value when the stator and rotor are proximate to or overlap one another. 
     In particular, there is described in, for example, WO2011/011358 or U.S. Pat. No. 8,338,481 (the U.S., &#39;481 patent), the concept of measuring torque/rpm on an output shaft of a system such as a wind or river/tidal/ocean wave/ocean current turbine (which may be referred to herein as a marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbine) for providing a constant output from a variable flow input. The measured torque/rpm value may be compared with a torque/rpm value stored in a memory and, if the measured torque/rpm is high in comparison, then, the moveable rotor or stator of a variable torque generator may be moved axially to a position more in keeping with the high measured torque/rpm value, i.e. such that the stator is moved away from the rotor axially under motor control through a feedback loop. When the measured torque/rpm is low in comparison with an expected value, the moveable rotor or stator may be moved axially toward one another to match a low value of torque/rpm so that the speed of the output shaft may increase and vice versa. This variable torque generator process continues so as to maintain a relationship between speed of input (such as wind or river/tide/ocean wave/ocean current) to match a desired rotational speed of output shaft and to maintain output shaft speed, for example, if used as an electric power generator, to produce 60 Hz U.S. electric frequency or in Europe 50 Hz European frequency electric power. 
     In either the &#39;481 U.S. patent or the WO 2011/011358 printed publication priority documents,  FIG. 8  shows the concept of an infinitely variable torque generator, meaning that the one of the moveable rotor or the stator may be moved, for example, by a servo motor, not shown, to any position of proximity to or distance from one another or such that their respective magnetic flux fields are located far away from one another so as to not couple with one another or to couple with one another, for example, to have an effect to cause a coupling of rotor and stator and a magnetic force field tending to cause the rotor to be stationary with the stator or move with the stator. In  FIG. 10 , the rotor and stator of the variable torque generator are shown such that the rotor  810  is directly coupled to the shaft  820 . “When the stator parts  830 ( a ) and  830 ( b ) are moved away from rotor  810 , a minimum input torque results. The operation of a control may be as follows via measuring a torque value stored in memory proximate to the maximum torque that a given rotor shaft  820  may receive (a maximum allowable torque value), the stator parts  830 ( a ) and  830 ( b ) may be moved by a motor (not shown) to be in removed torque position or a position in between maximum and minimum torque positions whereby a close-to-maximum torque position may be achieved in relation to the measured torque and the maximum allowable torque(/rpm) value or value stored in memory.” 
     There remains a need in the art to provide applications of such a variable torque/power generator assembly in connection with the generation of electrical energy/power (VPG) from renewable sources such as wind and river/tide/ocean wave/ocean current among other possible applications such as in vehicle engines. 
     SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of a variable power generator (VPG) associated with wind and river/tide/ocean wave/ocean current, marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbine equipment or a motor/engine such as one for a pump, an electric vehicle or other application comprise a VTG/VPG Extension to variable torque motors (VIM), also referred to herein as variable power motors (VPM), wherein there may be an adjustment of the relative axial overlap between the rotor and stator to control speed and torque independently. A suggested application for such a device is in the development of electric generators and motors for an electrically powered vehicle such as the Tesla developed by Elon Musk. A further application is in the potential application of VPG in wind and river/tidal/ocean wave/ocean current (MHK) turbines. 
     In wind and MHK turbines, a speed converter is used for the purposes of adjusting the speed of the input which may be slow or fast depending on the rate of wind or river velocity with respect to a desired constant output speed (rotational velocity or electric power frequency) for generating power to be fed to a power grid. The embodiment considered provides mechanical synchronization of variable input to constant output. In particular, it is suggested that there be an adjustment of the relative angular (radial) relationship between the rotor and stator in addition to the concept of adjusting the (axial) position lengthwise of a moveable rotor or stator in a VTG or VPG for variable torque with input velocity and desired output frequency. This concept is especially useful for mechanical speed converters for synching the phase angle of variable input with, for example, a desired constant output velocity (convertible to electric power frequency, for example, at 60 Hz US and 50 Hz European). 
     A further practical application of VPG is to provide a reciprocating input to a variable power generator for generating electricity with a reciprocating rotor. This concept eliminates the need for Sprags from the speed converter described in the priority patent applications and patents, and reduces cost, weight, size, and potential validation time. 
     A further practical application of VPG is to provide reactive VTG with respect to waterwheel control in a river/tidal/ocean wave/ocean current, marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbine. In this embodiment, the VPG may increase torque to the generator in MHK or wind turbines (or any variable load) for control of a waterwheel (or propeller/blades) or hatch of such a MHK turbine. In a MHK turbine, the reactive torque control may be applied to control waterwheel speed until reactive control reaches a designed maximum and then hatch control may be used for further waterwheel speed control with respect to desired output electrical power frequency. 
     A variable torque/power generator useful in all embodiments for controlling torque/rpm from a maximum to a minimum is shown in perspective view in  FIG. 1  (exaggerated perspective view to show the movability) and in  FIG. 2A  (fixed rotor and stator with maximum torque).  FIG. 2B  (showing rotor and stator displaced from one another for minimum overlap) and  FIG. 2C  (showing rotor and stator coupled magnetically or electromagnetically for maximum overlap). The utilization of a variable power generator as shown in  FIG. 1  has been validated by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, as a useful control device for controlling output shaft rotational velocity at a constant value with respect to a variable input shaft rotational velocity. For steady flowing streams and rivers, without much flow rate variation, a constant speed output can be easily produced by compensating the input. In wind turbine applications, considerable more control is required due to the more extreme variation in wind velocity from practically a calm wind to a high velocity storm wind. As shown in  FIG. 2B or 2C , a constant speed, variable torque/power generator  250 , comprises rotor shaft  201  on which may be displaced a moveable stator  253  to positions of minimum overlap  260  with rotor  252  ( FIG. 2B ) to medium overlap (not shown) and maximum overlap  261  with rotor  252  in  FIG. 2C . (There may be an infinite number of positions between minimum overlap  260  and maximum overlap  261  but minimum and maximum positions are shown by way of example). Shaft  201 /rotor  252  may be connected to a pump, variable transformer, engine, generator or other device or wind or river/tidal/ocean wave/ocean current (MHK) turbine as discussed above. Note that in an alternative embodiment a rotor may be moveable with respect to the stator if needed to achieve minimum, medium and maximum torque. These variable torque/power generators (VTG&#39;s or VPG&#39;s) may be added to an input compensating IVMC (Infinitely Variable Motion Converter) with a speed converter, for example, to output electric power to a grid at constant frequency. 
     In MHK turbines, for example, the VPG may be used to advantage regulating output shaft rotational velocity to a constant value. Per  FIG. 3 , an output shaft  310  may have its output rotational velocity monitored by, for example, a tachometer or other rotational speed detector as an integral part of control box  306  and used to regulate the VPG comprising shaft  310 /rotor  303  and stator  304  having power output  305 . Control box  306  actuates servo motor  307 , for example, worm  308  attached to the motor shaft  311  and worm gear  309  or other equivalent shaft and gear arrangement to axially adjust the stator  304  position with the rotor  303  without a back flow. Output  305  will be connected to the power grid at a desired electric power frequency (such as 60 Hz US and 50 Hz European). 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a three variable spur/helical Transgear™ gear assembly  505  providing control of a variable power generator comprising output shaft  508 , rotor  502  and stator  503 . Input to input shaft  501  is rotating VPG output shaft  508  via gear box controlled shaft  510  and under control of Transgear assembly  505  and constant speed motor  504 . Left sun gear  402  of Transgear  505  is connected to first sleeve  515  having gear  517  meshed with generator output shaft  508  via meshed gear  519 . The rotational speed of input shaft  501  is increased and reflected in the rotational velocity of shaft  510  via the gear box, for example, comprising gears  514  and  513 . Motor  504  preferably rotates at a constant speed and the motor shaft  511  is rotating right sun gear  405  of Transgear assembly  505  via second sleeve  518  and gear  520  integral with or attached to sleeve  518 . The variation of left sun gear  402  of Transgear assembly  505  will adjust the stator  503  displacement with respect to rotor  502  through, for example, worm  506  and worm gear  507 . Input shaft  501  rotational velocity may be variable and output shaft  508  rotational velocity held constant via control motor  504  input to Transgear assembly  505 . 
     Also, referring to  FIG. 7A  and  FIG. 7B ,  FIG. 7A  is a variable pitch cam controlled speed converter with rotational output  705  which is described in the priority patent application and U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,641,570 and 9,017,208, and  FIG. 7B  is a variable pitch cam controlled speed converter with a VPG producing electrical output  755 . There is shown a VPG comprising a shaft  765  which may be an extension of shaft  705 , rotor  757  and stator  758  displaceable with respect to rotor  757 , for regulating reciprocating shaft  765  produced by gears  756  attached to shaft  765  and driven by driver  759  including an eccentric cam ( FIGS. 6A and 6B ). Further details of a cam-controlled speed converter of  FIG. 7A  are described in connection with the description of FIG. 10 of U.S. Pat. No. 8,641,570 issued Feb. 4, 2014 and U.S. Pat. No. 9,017,208 issued Apr. 28, 2015. 
     The synchronization of rotor and stator of a VPG may be out of synch as seen in  FIG. 8B  by an angle  804 . The angle may be adjusted by radially moving rotor  802  with respect to rotor  803 . 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  are provided by way of example to show the application of a VPG/Hatch in an MHK turbine, for example, for control of output speed or electric current frequency to be relatively constant in comparison to variable water flow rates. The same principles may be applied to wind turbines to obtain constant output rotational velocity or electric current frequency in comparison to variable wind velocities. 
     These and other embodiments will be described with respect to the drawings, a brief description of which follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view (an exaggerated view to emphasize the variable overlap of rotor and stator) of a variable power generator (VPG). 
         FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C  provide an overview mechanical diagram of a Variable Torque Generator (VTG) also called a variable power generator or VPG.  FIG. 2A  represents a fixed overlap embodiment  200  with no adjustability between shaft  201 , rotor  202  and stator  203 .  FIG. 2B  shows minimum overlap  260  between a shaft  201 /rotor  252  and a stator  253  and  FIG. 2(C)  shows maximum overlap  261  (maximum torque/power) between a rotor  252  and a stator  253 . 
         FIG. 3  provides an overall schematic and mechanical diagram of an electronically-controlled variable power generator  300  for use, for example, in a wind or MHK turbine for controlling variable input flow rates to achieve a constant output rotational velocity or electric current frequency. 
         FIG. 4A  shows a left side view,  FIG. 4B  shows a front view and  FIG. 4C  shows a right side view of a three variable basic spur or helical Transgear™ gear assembly useful in  FIG. 5 . This three variable embodiment is discussed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/668,315, of Kyung Soo Han filed Mar. 25, 2015. The spur gear assembly is also shown as FIG. 1 in U.S. Pat. No. 8,986,149. 
         FIG. 5  shows a diagram of a Transgear™ gear assembly-controlled variable power generator (VPG)  500  with the rotor  502  of the VPG integral to or attached to output shaft  508  shown displaced from the stator  503  by way of example. 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  show a concentric cam and an eccentric cam comprising a central shaft  601 , inner cam  602 , and an outer cam  603 . Further details of the eccentric cam and its use in a driver and cam-controlled speed converter are provided in FIGS. 7, 9 and 10 of U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,641,570 and 9,017,208 of Kyung Soo Han. 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  show two versions of a speed converter.  FIG. 7A  shows rotary output  705  versus  FIG. 7B  electrical output, for example, by producing reciprocating output  765  and generating electrical output by VPG  757 / 758 .  FIG. 7A  is described in the priority patent applications and patents. 
         FIG. 8A , front view, and  FIG. 8B , side view, show an example in cross-sectional view of how to achieve synchronization with a VPG ( FIG. 8A ) by adjusting the angle of displacement of stator  803  with respect to a rotor  802  (adjustment angle  804 ) so as to better achieve synchronization between a wind or water flow input with a desired synchronized phase angle of power output to a power grid. 
         FIG. 9  shows a control schematic of a DDMotion River/tidal/ocean wave/ocean current Turbine (also known as a Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) turbine). A run-of-river turbine also known as an MHK turbine is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/255,377 of Kyung Soo Han filed Apr. 17, 2014, now allowed. 
         FIG. 10  provides a corresponding perspective view of an MHK turbine, for example, located so as to receive water flow and generate electricity. 
     
    
    
       FIGS. 9 and 10  further show how to combine details of MHK turbine electric power generator control following principles introduced with reference to  FIGS. 3, 5, and 7 . In  FIG. 9 , three forms of MHK control are shown: The first form of control is stator  904  control of a VPG. The second form of control is Hatch  902  control of Hatch  902  and waterwheel  901 . The third form of control is synchronizing control of rotor  903  and stator  904  of VPG. 
     The principles of application of a VPG for controlling input with respect to output will now be further described in the detailed description of the drawings which follows. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In all the figures of the present embodiments of the invention, the first reference number such as 1XX indicates figure number where the element first appears. Now referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown the basic concept of a variable torque generator (VTG) or variable power generator (VPG) useful in all embodiments for controlling torque from a maximum to a minimum over a continuous range. For steady flowing streams (or steady wind conditions), without much flow rate variation, a constant speed output can be easily produced by compensating the input. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a constant speed, variable torque generator (VTG) or variable power generator (VPG) in electric power generation applications  100 , comprises rotor shaft  101  which is shown displaced axially with integral rotor  102  to a position of minimum overlap with stator  103 . Either stator  103  may be moved to overlap rotor  102  or rotor  102  may be moved to overlap stator  103  in alternative embodiments. In the present embodiment in the following figures, for example, the stator may be moved (due to a simpler presentation) to a maximum power generation position by moving the stator from left to right to be contained within rotor  102 . This embodiment was verified by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to provide control of a variable rotational input velocity to match a constant output rotational shaft velocity, for example, by using a servo motor, for example, to move stator from maximum displacement (for example, high winds or extreme water flows) to minimum displacement (perfect overlapping) (for example, low winds or slow speed water flow). 
     The principles of a VPG will now be discussed with reference to  FIG. 2A  (a fixed overlap of rotor  202  and stator  203  forms a fixed overlap power generator  200  housed in a housing with rotating shaft  201  extending from the housing. A variable power generator  250  having a slightly larger housing is shown in minimum overlap  260  ( FIG. 2B ) and maximum overlap  261  ( FIG. 2C ), for example, by sliding stator  253  axially and controlled to an infinite number of positions by a motor (not shown) if the rotor  252  is not to move with the shaft  201  as shown. The output  255  of movable stator  253  may be connected to a variable transformer or other device or wind or MHK turbine discussed above having various shafts, wind/water input shafts, control shafts and output shafts. Note that in an alternative embodiment, a rotor  252  may be moveable axially with respect to the stator  253  if needed to achieve minimum, medium and maximum torque (or any position in between). The moveable rotor  252  or stator  253  may be moved axially with respect to one another to achieve anywhere from a minimum to a maximum overlap by a motor and controlled to a value responsive to, for example, a high or low wind or river velocity by a wind/river flow sensor, an input shaft sensor or other shaft sensor (velocity or torque, for example). For example, as described above, a value may be stored in memory of a microprocessor based control associated with a minimum torque value (or velocity) or a maximum torque value (or velocity) for a given system and the variable torque/power generator controlled by the motor to match whether a minimum fluid (wind or water) velocity or maximum fluid velocity (or a velocity in between minimum and maximum) is currently being experienced by the wind or river turbine system. These variable torque/power generators may be added to an input compensating IVMC (infinitely variable motion control) device of any kind with a speed converter (or output shaft), for example, to convert output electric power to a grid at grid frequency (for example, 60 Hz or 50 Hz). 
     Four (4) independent concepts are described herein, but they are all related to variable overlap of rotor and stator assemblies and the application of these in a variable torque/power generator (VTG/VPG). The four independent concepts described herein comprise: (a) Extension of the VPG concept to motors (VPM): the extension comprising adjustment of the relative axial overlap between the rotor and stator to control speed and torque in, for example, a vehicle engine output independently ( FIGS. 7A and 7B ). The VPG extension may seem to be a good application for electric vehicles (EV&#39;s) (in electrical power generators used with the motors and the motors themselves): Elon Musk of Tesla or other manufacturers of electric vehicles using constant sources of power such as battery power may appreciate this suggestion of the use of variable output power generators. An internal combustion engine (actually a plurality of engine embodiments) in which the present concept may be applied to advantage is disclosed in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 14/225,658, filed Mar. 26, 2014, now allowed (and published as U.S. Published Patent Application 2014/02960616 on Oct. 2, 2014). 
     A second concept is for (b) mechanical synchronization between a rotor and a stator; discussed herein will be an adjustment of the relatively small angular relationship between the rotor and stator (per  FIGS. 8A and 8B ). This concept of rotating one moveable element in cross-section about the immovable element (the stator) can be useful for synchronizing the lead/lag relationship between the rotor and stator in operation. For example, the regulation of adjustment angle  804  is useful for mechanical speed converters. 
     A third concept discussed herein is (c) providing a reciprocating input to a variable power generator generating electricity with a reciprocating rotor (per  FIG. 7B ). This concept eliminates the need of Sprags from our speed converter, and reduces cost, weight, size, and potential validation time. 
     A fourth concept described herein is (d) Reactive VPG with respect to a waterwheel and generator used in wind or marine hydrokinetic (MHK) turbines—VPG may control torque to the waterwheel in our river or wind turbine (or any variable load); see  FIGS. 3, 5, 7, and 9 . A river turbine with a Hatch is described in priority U.S. Pat. No. 8,485,933 and further embodiments of a river turbine with Hatch control are disclosed in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 14/225,658 filed Mar. 26, 2014, now allowed (and published as U.S. Published Patent Application 2014/02960616 on Oct. 2, 2014). A wind turbine and VTG ( FIG. 8 ) are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,388,481 and WO 2011/011358 of Mr. Han. Reactive torque control may, for example, control waterwheel speed up to a designed maximum and then Hatch control may be used to control waterwheel speed. 
     The second concept (mechanical synchronization) is a cousin to VPG since the relative relationship between the rotor and stator are being adjusted except one is linearly (axially) and the other angularly (radially) (as seen in cross sectional view  FIG. 8B ). 
     Extended Applications of VTG: VTM and Reactive Feedback Control 
     Variable Torque Generator (VTG) or Variable Power Generator (VPG) 
     Previously, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,388,481 and 8,485,933 issued to Kyung Soo Han and a research paper, Development of a Variable Electromotive-Force Generator for a Wind Turbine, 7 pages, authored by W. D. Zhu et al., ASME 2012 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, published November 9-15, via the University of Maryland Baltimore County (under Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MIPs, Grant) for VTG for Mr. Han and its applications described as a generator incorporated herein by reference as to their entire contents. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2B  and  FIG. 2C , the disclosed VTG/VPG device and generator is capable of infinitely varying the required rotor torque by adjusting the relative overlap between the rotor and stator, one of which is associated with a shaft. A VTG/VPG can control torque independently of other controls. According to a concept of an embodiment of the present invention, generator torque controls for wind and MHK turbines may be controlled via VTG/VPG. Advantages include: the cut-in speed can be reduced close to zero and harness lower speed energy and rated speed can be increased to close to cut-out speed (the rated power of a generator can be increased when the rated speed increases). The VTG/VPG of  FIG. 2B, 2C  may be applied in an electric vehicle or an internal combustion engine as described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/225,658 filed Mar. 26, 2014, now allowed (and published as U.S. Published Patent Application 2014/02960616 on Oct. 2, 2014). 
     Variable Torque Motor (VTM) or Variable Power Motor 
     The speed and torque of currently used variable speed motors can be varied with variable voltage/current, but they may be varied together in a fixed overlap relationship but each one may not be controlled independently. On the other hand, by adjusting the relative overlap between the rotor and stator the torque also can be controlled independently per  FIGS. 2B and 2C . 
     Typical applications of use of VTG/VPG in this concept include Electric vehicle EV transmissions, generators and motors (for controlling speed and torque) and refrigerator and air-conditioner compressor controls (for controlling temperature). Advantages of use in any electric vehicle include: More miles to drive per battery charge, improved performance (better speed and torque control). Variation of synchronization of rotor with respect to stator by an adjustment angle applied to one or the other is shown in  FIGS. 8A and 8B . 
     Reactive Power Control by Variable Torque Generator (VTG), Variable Power Generator 
     Previously U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,388,481 and 8,485,933 issued to Kyung Soo Han and the above-referenced research paper were published by University of Maryland, Baltimore County (a grant from Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MIPS) for VTG for Mr. Han and its applications described as a generator. VTG as a generator is capable of infinitely varying the required rotor torque by adjusting the relative overlap between the rotor and stator as described above with reference to  FIGS. 1, 2B and 2C . The VTG/VPG may match the output of the generator to the given input torque. 
     A feedback control system is a reactive control system by adjusting the VTG/VPG torque/rpm/power, the adjusted VTG/VPG torque/rpm/power transfers to the rotor, and the rotor speed will be adjusted accordingly (for example, waterwheel speed in a river/tidal/ocean current or MHK turbine). Typical Applications include and are not limited to wind turbines and MHK turbines as described above and disclosed in the issued patents and pending application described above. Advantages of such a reactive power control include: The cut-in speed can be reduced close to zero, the rated speed can be increased to close to cut-out speed, and the increased rated speed increases the rated power of the output, for example,  FIGS. 5, 7, and 9 . The Hatch  902  may be controlled to limit or increase the flow of water to the waterwheel  901  and so the waterwheel speed. 
     A feedback control system being a reactive control system may be applied first, before Hatch control occurs, between the waterwheel shaft and the generator shaft output to be a reactive system to the flow of water via the Hatch. In a weak river flow situation, the VTG/VPG may be in a minimum torque position so that the output of the generator may be as great as possible, that is, the generator output shaft will require minimum torque to turn. As the water flow increases, it is desirable that the generator output be at maximum torque in reaction to an increased water flow and increased ability to turn the generator output shaft at, for example, 60 Hertz to feed a power grid. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown the MHK turbine of  FIG. 10  as MHK turbine  300  with an exemplary control system shown in some detail using a VPG  310 ,  303 ,  304  and  305 . MHK turbine  300  receives water flow and the rpm of waterwheel shaft  301  will be increased by a gearbox. Starting at upper left, shaft  301  turns gear  312  which meshed with gear  314  of an exemplary gear box. The gearbox may contain more or fewer gears than shown (for example, two gears  313 ,  314  or more) and the gears meshed to increase or decrease rotational velocity between shaft  301  and shaft  310  (preferably increase rpm of shaft  310 ). Gear  314  meshes with gear  313  of the gearbox, and gear  313  meshes with gear  316  integral with or attached to shaft  310 . Gearbox output shaft  310  rotates VPG rotor  303  and the rpm of shaft  310 /rotor  303  is controlled by sensing the shaft speed as determined by a sensor in control box  306 , in this example, sensing the output shaft  310  rotational velocity as driven by the waterwheel shaft  301  through the gearbox (for example, gears  312 ,  314 ,  313  and  316 ). Measured rpm at control box  306  will decide to actuate servo motor  307  and the motor output may adjust stator  304  axially through a pair of worm  308  and worm gear  309  or other choice of gears as is known in the art. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the sensor of rotational velocity, for example, a tachometer, in control box  306  (preferably a special purpose program controlled microprocessor and memory and speed sensor) may also provide a stator  304  control output of waterwheel shaft speed via stator control motor  307 , for example, a servo motor, (which may be rotor control alternately) to move a rotor/stator ( 303 ,  304 ) between a completely overlapping or maximum overlap position and a minimum overlap position with respect to each other. Power generated  305  is for outputting power to a grid at preferably constant frequency, for example, 60 Hz in the US and 50 Hz in Europe. This invention embodiment is equally applicable to regulating a wind turbine power generation to a grid. 
       FIGS. 9 and 10  further show how to combine details of MHK turbine electric power generator control following principles introduced with reference to  FIGS. 3, 5, and 7 . An MHK turbine system  900  of  FIG. 9 , by way of example, may have similar control applied in a wind turbine or other renewable source setting to match input rotational velocity to output power grid. Three forms of MHK control are shown: The first form of control is stator  503  control of a VPG. The second form of control is Hatch  902  control of Hatch  902  and waterwheel  901 . The third form of control is synchronizing control of rotor  503  and stator  502  of a VPG. Each form of control will be explained separately. First the VPG control will be explained briefly. Input to waterwheel shaft  501  splits into two after increasing the rpm with a gearbox (numbered individually, not numbered as a unit): one to VPG shaft  508  and the other to left sun gear  402  of Transgear assembly  505 . A constant speed motor  504  input will be driving right sun gear  405  of Transgear assembly  505 . The difference in rpm will be the output (carrier) and the output will be delivered to shaft  509 . Worm  506  is attached to shaft  509  and meshed with worm gear  507 . Worm gear  507  is connected to control box  909 . Control boxes  909  and  912  may be special purpose, program controlled processors, for example, microprocessors and memory for storing programs and values of measured parameters and desired values. Control box output  910  adjusts stator  503 . Control box output  911  adjusts Hatch  902  axially. Control box  912  is synchronizing the harnessed electricity to the grid power. There are two inputs to control box  912 : one from the grid  913  and the other from stator  914 . When they need to be synchronized, a servo motor may adjust the stator radially. 
       FIG. 10  provides a better view of how an MHK turbine may be placed at a river or stream or ocean. As shown in recently allowed patent application, a run-of-river turbine also known as an MHK turbine is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/255,377 of Kyung Soo Han filed Apr. 17, 2014, now allowed. The MHK turbine may be allowed to rotate with tidal flow so as to always face the direction of tidal flow. A ramp called ramp block  1001  receives water flow and the water flow may be channeled over a horizontal plane to hatch  902  shown in a mostly open position to allow the water flow to turn waterwheel  901 . A gear box and controls  1004  (which may comprise a special purpose programmed controlled processor) regulates the variable rotational velocity of waterwheel  901  to a desired constant rotational velocity of output shaft  1005  for driving an electric generator for feeding power to a power grid (not shown). As described, this MHK turbine may be controlled in the manner described with reference to  FIG. 9 . 
     (b). Synchronization 
     1. Synchronization 
     Invention: This invention is applicable, for example, to power generators with constant input to a rotor. Since the rotor speed is constant, the frequency is assumed to be constant. If the frequency of generator and the power grid is out of phase, we may adjust the relative angular positions between the rotor and stator using a spur/helical gear or other Transgear gear assembly (for example, bevel gear, ring gear, N assignable variables where N is greater than or equal to 3) or other control to match the phase angle that the input and output frequencies are out of phase with one another (for example, referring to  FIG. 8B , the rotor  802  may lead or lag the stator  803  by an angle  804  that may be compensated via adjusting angle  804  by moving the displacement of the rotor  802  radially with reference to the stator  803 ). Mechanical synchronization of the rotor  802  with the stator  803  is achieved by continuously measuring the phase angle  804  of the output versus the input and matching it continuously by controlling the adjustment angle  804  by moving the rotor with reference to the stator or vice versa. 
     2. Synchronization Techniques 
     The problem is formulated with respect to a wind turbine but may be applicable to MHK turbines and to how to synchronize a wind farm with a power grid. One answer may be found at: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100305065433AAyR1Mp 
     Question: How does one interconnect a wind farm with a power grid, how does one synchronize this connection so as to achieve a constant 60 Hz (or 50 Hz, European) output of power, or may any simulation in MATLAB demonstrate the synchronization impact? 
     Best Answer: The earliest wind generators were synchronous machines—NASA Mod-1 for example. These had to be synchronized by feathering the blades to control rotational speed. This technology was interesting, but not very practical, and blade pitch rotation is rarely used today. 
     A solution to synchronization is shown in  FIGS. 8A and 8B  wherein it is shown that an adjustment angle  804  is provided in cross-sectional view whereby a small adjustment angle  804  is provided for the stator  803  with respect to the rotor  802  (if one leads or lags the other) that may be controlled to assist in synchronization of input and output frequency. The advantage of the small synchronization adjustment angle  804  is that such adjustment may cause phase angle matching of the stator with respect to the rotor to overcome the phase angle difference of one element, the rotor, with respect to the stator, at times of little wind or river flow activity versus heavy wind or river velocity and particularly when the phase angle variation is very small so that the automatic compensating movement of the adjustment angle  804  may be small. 
     Some wind machines are asynchronous. This means induction machines that operate slightly above synchronous speed. These do not require synchronization. Some wind machines are full-conversion DC machines. The generators produce DC which then goes through a DC to AC converter to become AC. These also generally do not require synchronization. 
     Some wind machines are doubly-fed induction machines in Which the machine synchronizes itself That is, the rotor is excited at a frequency that is related to the difference between system frequency and the rotating speed of the machine. This frequency is determined automatically, and provides inherent synchronization. 
     Other Answers (1) 
     Wind farm generators are Asynchronous generators, or Induction generators. These are just cage induction motors that are driven slightly above synchronous speed. Under these conditions, the motor becomes a generator and, as it was connected to the supply when it was motoring, so separate synchronization is typically necessary. 
     Question: Which type of electrical generators is best to be used in wind turbines? See http://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_type_of_electrical_generator_is_best_to_be_used_in_wind_turbines? 
     Ashish Shrivastava Hindustan•Aeronautics Limited 
     If we analyze the commercially available wind turbine generators, it is found that direct drive, grid-connected generators indicate a future trend in the wind generation of power. The system reliability will increase by elimination of the gear boxes and the power electronic converters. Also the system efficiency will increase because the losses in the gear box and power electronic converters are eliminated. 
     Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG). Field excited synchronous generator (FESG) and the Induction Generator (IG) are three candidates for such applications. As permanent magnet excitation eliminates the excitation losses of a FESG, hence, PMSG will be a more favored option going forward. The direct drive, grid connected IG and PMSG generators are intended for fixed speed operations. When the PMSG generator is connected to the grid, the speed is determined by the grid frequency and is constant. So, if the torque to the generator is increased (sudden blow of wind), the generator will produce electromagnetic force to resist an increase in speed. Therefore, a blow of wind leads to large stresses on the wind turbine&#39;s drive train. However IG allows a small change of speed with the change of torque going to the generator and lower stresses/tear and wear of the drive train. As the IG and the PMSG machine have similar a Stator component, the cost difference is mainly due to the rotor. The PM&#39;s cost is always going to be more than that of aluminum, and one can see that the cost of the induction generator is expected to be much lower than the PMSG generators for the same power rating. But PMSG generators have higher efficiency so the higher material cost may he somewhat compensated for the extra electricity generated. Also, inductive power factor of the induction generators require capacitors for power factor correction and may increases the overall cost of the IG. So, a trade-off analysis is needed for case by case basis before declaring any one machine best for an application or an Installation. 
     In any wind turbine embodiment, a shared characteristic is that the output generator requires regulation with respect to wind speed and so the embodiment of  FIG. 3  (absent the hatch control) of  FIG. 3  for synchronization of phase may be applied to control the wind turbine generator output via VPG by sensing the wind turbine propeller shaft speed and governing the torque and phase angle applied between generator rotor and stator by the principles of  FIGS. 8A and 8B . 
     (c). Generator with Reciprocating Rotor 
     1. Cam Driven Speed Converter with Sprags 
     Prior Art: US patents have issued to DDMotion for cam driven speed converters. A speed converter controls the given input to a required output. Commonly known speed converters are transmission for vehicles. A wind turbine has a power converter (or variable frequency converter) and the power converter converts harnessed variable power by rotor to grid compatible constant frequency power—a constant desired output. A speed converter converts (mechanical) rotational power (torque and rotational speed), (frequency is constant when the rotational speed is constant) and power converter converts the mechanical input propeller shaft velocity to electrical power (voltage, current, and frequency). 
     Typical Applications: Wind Turbines, MHK Turbines 
     Advantages: harnessing grid compatible constant electricity without power grooming (no heat, no power loss, less failures, economical), durable, scalable, generate more electricity by lowering the cut-in speed, increasing the rated speed (rated power), eco/fish friendly, and protect the system from floating debris. 
     2. Cam Driven Speed Converter without Sprags 
     Cam driven speed converters may have Sprags to convert reciprocating input to continuously rotating output. The use of Sprags may be familiar with the automotive industry since they are used in automatic transmissions. The cam driven speed converters (variable pitch cam shown in  FIG. 6 , concentric cam  FIG. 6A  and eccentric cam  FIG. 6B , and applications of variable pitch cams shown in  FIG. 7 , speed converters of  FIG. 7A  rotary output with Sprags and  7 B electrical output by generating electricity with reciprocating rotor) may be used to convert rotary energy to rotary energy or electricity. When a speed converter is converting rotary energy to electrical energy, the cost of a speed converter can be reduced: the reciprocating output of a cam driven speed converter can be connected and a generator with a reciprocating rotor can generate grid compatible electricity. The generator can be a conventional fixed overlap generator or VPG. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6A and 6B , there are shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B , a cam that may be converted from a concentric cam to an eccentric cam enlarging its effective cam profile. The concentric cam/eccentric cam is also found in recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,017,208 to Kyung Han as  FIG. 7 , cam controlled infinitely variable motion control (IVMC). To convert a constant speed input to an infinitely variable output, an infinitely variable speed converter is needed. A cam controlled IVMC converts a constant input speed into sinusoidal waveforms using a variable pitch cam per  FIGS. 6A and 6B , rectifies half waves and superimposes all the rectified sinusoidal waveforms into an output. The building blocks necessary for the IVMC system will now be described. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B , a variable pitch cam assembly  600  comprises an eccentric inner cam surrounding a shaft and an eccentric outer cam assembled to freely move around the eccentric inner cam. Both inner cam and outer cam form perfectly round circles except that they are bored eccentrically. Outer cam may freely rotate around inner cam to form minimum eccentric cam profile per  FIG. 6A  and maximum eccentric cam profile per  FIG. 6B . These cams with an infinitely variable control can produce infinitely variable eccentricity from a minimum effective cam profile of  FIG. 6A  where the outer cam is concentric with respect to the center of cam shaft  601  per  FIG. 6A  to a maximum effective cam profile per  FIG. 6B  where the outer cam is eccentric relative to the center of cam shaft  601 . Since both inner and outer cams are mounted on and around the input cam shaft  601 , producing the parts for variable pitch cam  600  is simple, and the design can handle higher torque compared, for example, to a crankshaft with an offset shaft. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 7A and 7B , two speed converters are shown. In  FIG. 7A , the output shaft  705  is delivering rotary output with output gears  706  imbedded with Sprags  707  wherein  FIG. 7B  shows a speed converter having output gears  756  without Sprags  707  and a VPG is attached to the output shaft  705 / 765 , rotor  757  and stator  758 . Shaft  705  is extended in  FIG. 7B  to comprise shaft extension  765  compared with the  FIG. 7A  Sprag embodiment. The Sprags are eliminated in  FIG. 7B . The reciprocating output diagram for a typical DDMotion speed converter for one of a MHK and a wind turbine having a shaft input  701  (Propeller shaft or waterwheel shaft), the shaft input being controlled by a control shaft  704  having an overlapping sleeve and Transgear assemblies for regulating an output  705 ,  755 . The output according to the present invention may be further regulated by use of VPG  757 ,  758  to control stator  758  to a constant output velocity of, for example, 60 Hz. Per  FIG. 7A , right sun gear/sleeve/sheath  704  controls the eccentricity of variable pitch cams. The small bores in the outer cams (no reference numeral shown) may be housed by outer cam pins. The outer cam pins may control the outer cam position since they are also located in slots of slotted gears (the three large gears, not numbered, meshing with gears  702 ). In this manner, a reciprocating motion is performed that may be used per  FIG. 7B  as concentric/eccentric cam  756  associated with driver  759  regulates VPG  757 ,  758  in  FIG. 7B . The eccentric/concentric cams  756  ( FIG. 6A ,  FIG. 6B  are driven by driver  759 . Further details of a variable pitch cam  756  and associated driver  759  are shown and described in detail by corresponding description in the specification of FIGS. 7 and 9, respectively, of U.S. Pat. No. 8,641,570 for describing a cam-controlled speed converter of FIG. 10, shown in this patent application as  FIG. 7A . 
     Typical Applications include wind Turbines, MHK Turbines and other power generating turbines. Advantages include: scalable, reduced cost, size, weight, and a potential repair in the future. 
     The principles of application of the several discussed embodiments of a structure and method of constructing same for, for example, providing a green energy alternative to the burning of fuel such as coal, oil or other less environmentally friendly energy sources have been demonstrated above using a VPG. The present embodiments used in conjunction with known flow energy turbine systems may be enhanced by using many known control systems for improved operation such as pitch and yaw control in wind turbines, control responsive to power grid statistics and requirements and remote or automatic control responsive to predicted and actual weather conditions (wind velocity from an anemometer, water flow velocity from a water flow velocity meter, barometric reading and direction (rising or falling) and the like). These and other features of embodiments and aspects of a variable flow input, constant output system and method may come to mind from reading the above detailed description, and any claimed invention should be only deemed limited by the scope of the claims to follow. Moreover, the Abstract should not be considered limiting. Any patent applications, issued patents and citations to published articles should be considered incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.