Patent ID: 7877994

Claim:
A wave energy converter (WEC) comprising: a float intended to lie along the surface of a body of water and designed to move in-phase with the waves present in the body of water; a spar intended to extend vertically, generally perpendicular to the float and the surface of the body of water, said spar extending below the surface of the body of water and intended to move vertically up and down generally out-of-phase with the waves; a power take off device (PTO), connected between the spar and the float, responsive to their relative motion to convert their relative motion to useful energy; and a heave plate centrally connected to a submerged portion of the spar, said heave plate extending in a plane perpendicular to the spar, and at least one of rods and wires connected between the outer periphery of the heave plate and the spar for ensuring a structurally firm connection between the heave plate and the spar and that the plate moves uniformly up and down with the spar for effectively adding mass to the spar as the spar tends to move up and down and causing the spar to move generally out-of-phase relative to the float.