Capillary lifter

Abstract

Capillary lifter, characterized in that one side of a square glass basin (picture 1,2) is a few centimeters higher than the other 3 sides.

Description

Capillary action is usually known when a transparent straw or a thin glass tube is placed in a water-filled glass, because it can then be observed that the water level inside the tube or straw rises by a few millimetres higher than the water level outside. This is the so-called capillary ascension, the rise of water in the narrow solid cavities. The opposite is capillary depression, where liquids such as mercury sink in narrow solid cavities.The capillary lifter uses capillary action between 2 glass plates or surfaces (1 and 4) at a small distance in order to convert the forces generated thereby into motion.The capillary lifter consists of a water basin made of glass (4) with an edge (7) protruding beyond the water level on one side, and of 2 thin glass plates (1 and 5) of equal weight mounted vertically and movably thereon. The glass plates are mounted by a rigid metal rod (FIG. 3), the centre of which is movably mounted on a metal axis of the raised wall of the water basin, and at both ends of which the glass plates of equal weight are mounted in such a way that the lower edge of the glass plate (1) "floating" above the water level is in contact with the water level only when both glass plates are at the same height. Immersion of the glass plate above the water basin below the water level is prevented by the stopper (6).Due to the mounting on the metal rods ( 3) positioned vertically one above the other in each case 2, both plates are always in the vertical state. The externally mounted glass plate is the counterweight to the internally mounted glass plate and makes it virtually "zero gravity", so that the existing, but altogether rather weak capillary forces can be used to an extent of almost 100 percent only for the upward movement or lifting of the glass plate 1).Capillary forces usually occur only in the range of a few millimeters, for which reason the distance (10) between the glass plate (1) floating above the water and the immovable glass wall of the basin in the initial state (FIG. 1) should be only a maximum of 4 or predominantly 3 mm, so that the mobile glass plate (1) is "attracted" by the basin edge and the capillary forces act. Once the water contacts the lower edge of the inner glass plate (1), the water rises into the capillary space between the glass wall of the water basin and the glass plate.The capillary forces now ensure that the distance between the two glass walls decreases, as a result of which the strength of the capillary force increases and the water penetrates even more highly into the intermediate space. Due to this capillary force effect, the glass plate pulls up due to the mounting on the metal rod, and itself out of the water.The height of the ascent can be varied in construction by the distance between the axes 8 and 9. This makes it possible for the glass plate ( 1), given a corresponding distance of the axes 8 and 9, to cover only a distance of 2-3 mm to the "left" in the direction of the opposite glass surface, but at the same time to rise at a height of 10 mm.At some point during the ascent (Fig. 2), the underside of the glass plate loses contact with the water surface and because complete adhesion of both plates is prevented by the stopper and spacer (6) and a nub at the lower end of the glass plate, most of the water drains out of the slot just 1 mm wide and the capillary forces disappear. After that, due to the water residues still adhering to it and thus being "heavier than the balancing weight (5), the plate sinks down again, the intermediate space (10) again increases from 1 mm distance to 3-4 mm distance, the contact with the water level is restored, and the filling of the capillary space and the rising of glass plate 1 again begins.

Claims

Capillary lifter, characterised in that one side of a 4 - cornered basin made of glass (Figure 1, 2) is a few centimeters higher than the other 3 sides.Capillary lifter, characterized in that on both sides of the higher basin wall of claim 1, vertically above one another, laterally in each case 2 horizontally opposite bores or holes (8) with ball bearings or metal rings located therein are located,Capillary lifter, characterised in that inserted into the 4 bearings or rings of claim 2 are axles or rods made of metal of a few millimetres length.Capillary lifter, characterized in that on the rods or axles of claim 3 there is 1 metal rod assembly (3) each with annular openings at both ends and in the middle, in each of which 1 ball bearing is mounted.Capillary lifter, characterised in that 2 equally heavy glass plates or discs with round rods of metal of only a few millimetres long are mounted in the ball bearings of claim 4 at the ends of the four metal linkages (Fig. 3) in such a way that they hang in equilibrium parallel next to one another at the same height (5, 1)Capillary lifter, characterized in that the lower side of the glass plate (1) or pane from claim 5 positioned above the basin filled with water is beveled upwards at the rear, and when both glass plates are positioned at the same height, the lower edge of the glass plate is situated just above the water level, whereby the latter comes into contact with the water surface due to adhesion and capillary forces.Capillary lifter, characterised in that the holes in the glass plate (1) floating above the water are drilled a few millimetres higher and the holes in the glass plate 5 are drilled deeper than the holes in the glass basin edge (8), whereby the metal rod equipped with 3 ball bearings each shows a slight inclination upwards in the direction of the glass plate floating above the water, given the same height of the movable glass plates.Capillary lifter, characterised in that on the upper side of the higher glass wall there is a plate of any material (6) which on the one hand prevents the lower edge of the glass plate (1) from dipping under the water level and on the other hand, with the interaction of a knob on the inwardly pointing surface of the glass plate floating above the water, prevents the vertical surface of the plate 1 from adhering completely without any intermediate space to the inner side of the upstanding glass plate of the basin.Capillary lifter, characterized in that the distance (10) between the glass surfaces facing one another of the movable (1) and the immovable (7) glass panes in the initial state (Fig. 1) is not more than 2.5 mm to 3 mm.Capillary lifter, characterized in that the initial state of claim 9 is that the lower edge of the mobile glass pane (1) has very close contact with the water surface when the basin (2) is almost completely filled with water and the glass pane (1) has reached the lowest point bounded by the stopper (6).Capillary lifter, characterised in that the rise height of the glass plate (1) can be increased despite the horizontal spacing of the interior space (10) being the same in the starting position by increasing the spacing of the axes 8 and 9 on the metal rod (Figure 3).Capillary lifter, characterised in that the weight of the outer glass plate (5) is dimensioned such that both glass plates (5 and 1) are always on axis 8 in the balance when they are in the initial state (Fig. 1) and without capillary forces acting thereon.

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