Patent ID: 7980143

Claim:
An apparatus for use with a liquid supply pipeline, for transforming energy of liquid passing therethrough into electrical energy, comprising: a housing configured to be received within said pipeline and having a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet defining a flow direction therebetween; at least one current generator including a rotor supported by said housing and having a shaft and a plurality of vanes attached thereto, said shaft extending in the housing along said direction allowing rotation of said vanes by liquid passing through the generator, and a stator associated with said rotor for producing electrical signals corresponding to the rotation of said rotor; and a power storage mean to which the at least one current generator is electrically connected, for receiving said electrical signals; and wherein the current generator comprises an upstream housing part and a downstream housing part in the form of separate components spaced by the rotor and supporting the shaft at two ends thereof with the shaft being freely rotatable with respect to the upstream and downstream housing parts.