Abstract:
A hydraulic power generation system employs a plurality of buckets carried by an endless chain to receive water falling from height and drive the chain, which in turn drives a water pumping device to raise water to the height for automatic and continuous generation of power.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to the field of hydraulic power generation, and in particular to a hydraulic power generation that employs a plurality of buckets carried by an endless chain to receive water falling from height and drive the chain, which in turn drives a water pumping device to raise water to the height for automatic and continuous generation of power  
         [0003]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0004]     As the natural power source is dying out, people are seeking alternative power to substitute fossil energy that plays the most important role of energy supply for the modern society. Solar energy, hydraulic energy, and even wind energy are the most promising solution for the time being. However, the solar energy is only available in areas having regular and intense sun light and can only be collected in day times. In addition, solar panels may occupy a great space and is thus not space efficient. The wind power generation is also available in limited areas around the world, for it needs constant and strong winds to drive the power generator, otherwise wind power generation would be economically inefficient. Tidal power generation requires facility occupying a long section of costal line, as well as a large difference in height between high and low tides. In addition, due to the elapse of time to change from high tide to low tide, the tidal power generation is also very time inefficient. Conclusively, those promising alternatives for energy supply all have inherent limitations and drawbacks.  
         [0005]     To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention intends to provide an improved hydraulic power generation system to mitigate the aforementioned problems.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fully automatic hydraulic power generation system, which employs the weight of water as driving force to continuously drive power generator whereby power can be automatically generated without any engine to drive the generator.  
         [0007]     In order to accomplish the aforementioned objective, the hydraulic power generation system in accordance with the present invention comprises a driving wheel and an auxiliary wheel with an endless transmission chain surrounds and extends between the driving wheel and the auxiliary wheel. The auxiliary wheel is also coupled to a pulley by means of a second chain mating toothed wheels respectively mounted to the auxiliary wheel and the pulley. The pulley engages a belt that drives a power generator. Alternatively, the pulley may be directly coupled to the power generator by means of for example teeth. The transmission chain carries a plurality of buckets, which are arranged on opposite sides of the driving wheel and the auxiliary wheel. The driving wheel is coupled to a water pumping cylinder by link and crank arm, of which a front end extends into the water pumping cylinder forming a water pumping piston one-way valve. The water pumping cylinder has a water discharge pipe connected to a water dispensing tank in which flow control switch is arranged.  
         [0008]     The design feature of the present invention is described as follows:  
         [0009]     (1) The pipe employed in the present invention is the one that has an inside diameter of 4 centimeters and a length (height) of 10 meters. Thus, approximately 15 Kg of water in total is contained in the pipes of the power generation system of the present invention. The capacity of each bucket is selected to 15 kgs. When the system is in operation, there are eight buckets in each side and the eight buckets of one side are filled with water to serve as driving buckets. Among the eight driving buckets, the first and second buckets provide energy to overcome mechanical friction inherent in the system, the third bucket serves to counterbalance the weight of the water in the pipes, the fourth bucket provides power to pump water, and the remaining fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth buckets provide power to drive the power generator, thereby forming an effective, water-circulated power generation system.  
         [0010]     (2) The driving wheel is set to drive an amount of water, equivalent to that can be carried by four buckets, that is 60 kgs. Thus, each turn of the driving wheel drives each of four water pumping cylinders to operate one complete cycle, which pumps an amount of 15 kg water, that is 60 kgs in total for four cylinders for completely filling up four of the buckets on the transmission chain.  
         [0011]     (3) The system of the present invention is initiated by manually rotating the driving wheel, which drives the piston to draw water into the water pumping cylinder to fill the four driving buckets with manual adjustment of flow control switch. Thus, by manually rotating the driving wheel two turns, the eight driving buckets can be filled up with water, which in turn automatically drives the whole system to continuously generate power. Thus, the present invention can be employed in both large-sized and small-sized power generation system.  
         [0012]     (4) Further, the operation of the system of the present invention can be maintained by the circulation of water. Thus, the operation is simple and easy.  
         [0013]     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a hydraulic power generation system constructed in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a water pumping device of the hydraulic power generation system in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view showing a different embodiment of the water pumping device of the hydraulic power generation system in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , which shows an embodiment of a hydraulic power generation system constructed in accordance with the present invention, the hydraulic power generation system comprises a water intake pipe  1 , a water discharge pipe  2 , a one-way valve  3 , water pumping cylinders  4 , a set of link and crank arm  5 , a water pumping piston one-way valve  6 , a driving wheel  7 , an auxiliary wheel  8 , a water dispensing tank  9 , a flow control switch  10 , a plurality of driving buckets  11 - 18 , a plurality of bucket shafts  19 , a plurality of guiding rods  20 , a guiding track  21 , a water reservoir  22 , a plurality of empty buckets  23 , an overflow drainage pipe  24 , a transmission chain  25 , a crankshaft  26 , toothed wheels  27 , a chain  28 , an accelerating pulley  29 , a belt  30  and a generator  31 .  
         [0018]     To couple the present invention with the water pumping cylinders, the transmission chain  25  is arranged between the driving wheel  7  and the auxiliary wheel  8 , both being symmetric between left and right sides. The left-right-symmetric driving wheel  7  is mechanically coupled to four water pumping cylinders  4  by the crankshaft  26  and four sets of link and crank arm  5 . The toothed wheels  27  are mounted to the auxiliary wheel  8  and the pulley  29  and are connected to each other by the chain  28 . A belt  30  is arranged between the pulley  29  and the generator  31 . The transmission chain  25  carries the plurality of buckets, which are arranged to correspond to each other on opposite sides. In other words, eight driving buckets  11 - 18  are arranged on one side and eight empty buckets  23  are arranged on the other side. An additional empty bucket  23  is arranged on and below the driving wheel  7  and the auxiliary wheel  8 . Thus, there are eighteen buckets in total. Each bucket is provided with a bucket shaft  19  to maintain the bucket in the proper course. Each bucket is also provided with a guiding rod  20  engageable with the guiding track  21  located below the driving wheel  7  to allow the bucket to automatically pour the water that it carries into the water reservoir  22 .  
         [0019]     A front end of each set of link and crank arm  5  extends into each corresponding water pumping cylinder  4  and forms a water pumping piston one-way valve  6 . The water intake pipe  1  is connected to the water pumping cylinders  4  by a one-way valve  3 , which serves as a check valve to prevent reverse flow of water. The water discharge pipe  2  that extends from the water pumping cylinders  4  has a remote end connected to the water dispensing tank  9 . The water dispensing tank  9  is provided with a flow control switch  10  and is also connected to an overflow drainage pipe  24  that extends downwards to the water reservoir  22 .  
         [0020]     The operation of the present invention will be briefly described as follows: Initially, the driving wheel  7  is manually rotated, which, by means of the crankshaft  26  coupled to the driving wheel  7 , drives the water pumping cylinders  4  to pump water. Water is drawn into the water pumping cylinders  4  via the one-way valve  3  and is pumped by the water pumping piston one-way valve  6  to the water dispensing tank  9 . Water is then dispensed from the water dispensing tank  9  to the driving buckets and once the driving buckets are filled up with water, the weight of the water contained in the driving buckets is converted into power for driving the rotation of the driving wheel  7  and the auxiliary wheel  8 . The auxiliary wheel  8  then moves the pulley  29 , which in turn drives the generator  31 . Thus, power generation is continuously and cyclically performed.  
         [0021]     Also referring to  FIG. 3 , which shows a different embodiment of the water pumping cylinder cooperating with the present invention, the water pumping cylinder is comprised of steel rings  40 , a fixed axle  41 , a water outlet  42 , a water inlet  43 , a rubber bellow  44 , rollers  45 , a crank arm  46 , guiding tracks  47 , moving axles  48 , and a one-way valve  49 .  
         [0022]     The water pumping cylinder is constructed by having opposite ends of the crank arm  46  respectively pivoted to the moving axles  48  to connect the driving wheel  7  to the rubber bellow  44 . The rollers  45  are arranged on opposite sides of the rubber bellow  44  and are guided by the guiding tracks  47 . The steel rings  40  are arranged at folding sections of the rubber bellow. An end of the rubber bellow  44  is connected to the outlet  42  and the inlet  43  by the fixed axle  41  and a one-way valve  49  is arranged in each of the outlet  42  and the inlet  43 . Thus, by up-and-down movement of the rubber bellow  44 , water is drawn into and then pumped out of the bellow  44 . This design eliminates the adverse effect of sand and earth residual inside the bellow  44 .  
         [0023]     Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.