Claims
- 1. A thermal energy scavenger assembly comprising: a plurality of temperature-sensitive elements made of material which exhibits shape memory due to thermoelastic, martensitic phase transformation; said elements being elongated with first and second ends; reaction means reacting with said elements for applying a stress to said elements to strain said elements during a first phase and for responding to the unstraining of said elements during a second phase; support means supporting said elements for allowing said elements to be placed in tension while reacting with said reaction means; said support means including at least one module supporting a group of said elements disposed in parallel relationship to one another so that said group of elements strain and unstrain together for producing a single energy output from said module to said reaction means; said group of elements in said module defining a module width dimension perpendicular to the lengths thereof; elongated hot fluid inlet means for subjecting the lengths of said elements across said width dimension to a flow of fluid flowing generally perpendicularly to the length of and about said elements so that all portions of the length of each element are simultaneously subjected to hot fluid; elongated cold fluid inlet means for subjecting the lengths of said elements across said width dimension to a flow of fluid flowing generally perpendicularly to the length of and about said elements so that all portions of the length of each element are simultaneously subjected to cold fluid; said fluid inlet means having a transverse width at least as great as said width dimension across said group of elements so that the flow of fluid directed at said elements is as wide as said group of elements.
- 2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support means supports said hot fluid inlet means and said module for movement relative to one another and supports said cold fluid inlet means and said module for movement relative to one another so that said elements are alternately subjected to hot and cold fluid for preventing cold fluid flow through said hot fluid inlet and for preventing hot fluid flow through said cold fluid inlet.
- 3. A thermal energy scavenger assembly comprising: a plurality of temperature-sensitive elements made of material which exhibits shape memory due to thermoelastic, martensitic phase transformation; said elements being elongated with first and second ends; reaction means reacting with said elements for applying a stress to said elements to strain said elements during a first phase and for responding to the unstraining of said elements during a second phase; support means supporting said elements for allowing said elements to be placed in tension while reacting with said reaction means; said support means including at least one module supporting a group of said elements disposed in parallel relationship to one another so that said group of elements strain and unstrain together for producing a single energy output from said module to said reaction means; elongated hot fluid inlet means for subjecting the lengths of said elements in said module to a flow of fluid flowing generally perpendicularly to the length of and about said elements so that all portions of the length of each element are simultaneously subjected to hot fluid; elongated cold fluid inlet means for subjecting the lengths of said elements in said module to a flow of fluid flowing generally perpendicularly to the length of and about said elements so that all portions of the length of each element are simultaneously subjected to cold fluid; said support means supporting said hot fluid inlet means and said module for movement relative to one another and supporting said cold fluid inlet means and said module for movement relative to one another so that said elements are alternately subjected to hot and cold fluid for preventing cold fluid flow through said hot fluid inlet and for preventing hot fluid flow through said cold fluid inlet.
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 914,030 filed June 9, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,223.
US Referenced Citations (2)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
914030 |
Jun 1978 |
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