Patent Application
20240240603
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to flow control apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new flow control apparatus for directing a water current to rotate a waterwheel.
The prior art relates to flow control apparatuses for waterwheels. Various structures have been employed to help a water current rotate a waterwheel in one direction. For example, flaps have been pivotally mounted to waterwheels which act as a sail when water flows into the flap on a first side and which pivot out of the way of the water when the water flows into a second side of the flap opposite the first side. However, the prior art does not disclose a cover apparatus that freely rotates around a waterwheel to cover selected portions of the waterwheel and which comprise fins or similar structure which engage a flow of water to align the cover apparatus as desired.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shield having a first side panel, a second side panel, and a perimeter panel. The perimeter panel is coupled to and extends between the first and second side panels. The shield defines a cavity surrounded by the first side panel, the second side panel, and the perimeter panel. The cavity has a size such that the shield is configured to receive a waterwheel into the cavity. The shield also has a rim defining an opening to the cavity formed by a free edge of the first side panel, a free edge of the second side panel, and a pair of end edges of the perimeter panel. Each of the first and second side panels has a hole extending therethrough so that the shield may be rotatably mounted around a shaft that is coupled to the waterwheel. The perimeter panel has a front portion and a rear portion. A fin is coupled to the rear portion of the perimeter panel and extends outwardly from the perimeter panel.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of fins 38 is coupled to and extends outwardly from the perimeter panel 24 of the shield 12. The fins 38 are distributed along the perimeter panel 24 between the pair of end edges 26 and are positioned on the rear portion 30 of the perimeter panel 24. Each fin 38 of the plurality of fins 38 has a planar shape which is oriented perpendicularly to the first and second side panels 14, 16. Each fin 38 is also plastically bendable such that an angle between the fin 38 and the perimeter panel 24 is adjustable. In other embodiments, the angles of the fins 38 to the perimeter panel 24 may be adjusted by hinge joints which are retained in selected positions via fasteners, frictional engagements, or the like. Any suitable means for adjusting the angles may be used. Each fin 38 is orientable perpendicularly to the perimeter panel 24. Each fin 38 of the plurality of fins 38 has a length taken between the perimeter panel 24 and a distal edge 40 of the fin 38 with respect to the perimeter panel 24, and the lengths of the plurality of fins 38 become progressively larger from a frontmost fin 42 of the plurality of fins 38 to a rearmost fin 44 of the plurality of fins 38.
With reference to
The rim 34 may also be divided into portions which are angularly offset from each other to expose or cover more of the waterwheel 56 as may be optimal for various water flow conditions. For example, as seen in
The cover apparatus 10 may be mounted in an electricity generation system 50. Such a system is depicted in
A float 60 is tethered to the generator 52 to suspend the generator 52 in a body of water 66 below a surface 68 of the body of water 66. A weight 62 is tethered to the generator 52 to retain the generator 52 below the surface 68 of the body of water 66. A pair of piles 64 are tethered to the weight 62 to secure the generator 52 to a selected area of a ground surface 68 below the body of water 66. In some embodiments of the electricity generation system 50, the weight 62 may be removably coupled to the piles 64 via hooks 70 which insert through loops formed on the piles 64 or any other suitable fastening means, including clamps, threaded fasteners, ties or the like.
In use, when water currents catch on the fins 38 to orient the cover apparatus 10 such that the rear portion 30 of the perimeter panel 24 of the shield 12 is positioned downstream of the front portion 28. In this position, the cover apparatus 10 acts to block water from flowing against approximately one half of the waterwheel 56 and exposes another half of the waterwheel 56 to the current. The water current is then able to urge the exposed half of the waterwheel 56 to move the waterwheel 56 in one rotational direction while being prevented from counteracting this motion by urging the covered half of the waterwheel 56 in another rotational direction opposite the one rotational direction. The generator 52 may therefore be operated by shifting water currents without such currents also counteracting productive rotations of the waterwheel 56.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
I hereby claim the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) of U.S. Provisional application 63/439,098 filed on Jan. 14, 2023.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63439098 | Jan 2023 | US |
