Patent ID: 8453443

Claim:
Apparatus for converting thermal energy to kinetic energy, comprising a body of fluid having a first zone and a second zone; a thermal energy source thermally connected to said first zone for providing thermal energy to said first zone; a thermal energy sink thermally connected to said second zone for removing thermal energy from said second zone such that said first zone has a temperature greater than said second zone; a movable loop extending between said first zone and said second zone; and a plurality of containers positioned in said body of fluid, each of said containers being attached to said loop such that it is moveable conjointly with said loop between said first zone and said second zone, each of said containers being expandable to a first volume when it is in one of said first and second zones and being contractible to a second volume, which is smaller than said first volume, when it is in the other one of said first and second zones, each of said containers having a working fluid therein for causing said containers and hence said loop to move between said first and second zones, said working fluid of each of said containers providing a first buoyant force and a second buoyant force when a corresponding one of said containers is in said first volume and said second volume, respectively, said first buoyant force being greater than said second buoyant force, at least one of said containers being positioned in said one of said first and second zones, at least another of said containers being positioned in said other one of said first and second zones, said first buoyant force acting on said at least one of said containers being greater than said second buoyant force acting on said at least another of said containers, whereby said loop is caused to move in a predetermined direction, each of said containers including at least one temperature-sensitive spring for causing the expansion of a corresponding one of said containers to said first volume and the contraction of a corresponding one of said containers to said second volume, each of said temperature-sensitive springs of said containers having a high-temperature shape when a corresponding one of said containers is in said first zone and a low-temperature shape when a corresponding one of said containers is in said second zone.