Power generator

Abstract

To provide a power generator configured so as to be attached to a rotatable object.SOLUTION: A power generator 200 includes a housing 3 configured so as to be fixed to an object, a rotor module 4 coaxially fixed to the housing 3 along a horizontal axis 800, a stator module 5 rotatably attached to the housing 3 around the axis 800, and a counter weight module 6 fixed to the stator module 5 and whose gravity is located in a lower position of the axis 800. When the object rotates, the rotor module 4 rotates with respect to the stator module 5 not rotating with the rotor module 4 due to the gravity of the counter weight module 6, and one of the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5 generates power according to a magnetic field provided to the other of the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5 through electromagnetic induction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a power generation device, and more particularly to a power generation device configured to be attached to a rotatable object.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, carbon dioxide reduction is being promoted worldwide. Carbon dioxide reduction is achieved by energy conservation and power generation using natural resources. Also, carbon dioxide reduction can be achieved by converting the kinetic energy of a moving object (e.g., the wheel of a moving vehicle) into electric power (see Patent Document 1 (Chinese Patent Application Publication No. 110971018)).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a power generation device configured to be attached to a rotatable object.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The power generation device includes a housing configured to be fixedly attached to an object, a rotor module fixedly and coaxially attached to the housing along a substantially horizontal axis, a stator module attached to the housing and rotatable relative to the housing about the axis, and a counterweight module fixedly attached to the stator module. The center of gravity of the counterweight module is located below the axis.

[0006] When the object rotates, the rotor module is driven to rotate relative to the stator module that does not rotate with the rotor module due to the gravity of the counterweight module. One of the rotor module and the stator module generates electric power according to the magnetic field provided by the other one of the rotor module and the stator module through electromagnetic induction.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] When the power generation device is attached to an object and the object rotates, the power generation device can convert the angular kinetic energy of the object into electric power through a rotor module and a stator module attached to the housing and a counterweight module attached to the stator module, and supply the electric power to an electrical device or charge a power storage device.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Before explaining the present invention in more detail, it should be noted that when considered appropriate, reference numerals or the ends of reference numerals may be repeatedly used between the drawings to indicate corresponding or similar elements that may have similar characteristics.

[0011] In this specification, directional terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", and "rear" are used only to illustratively explain the relative positions of a plurality of components in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the drawings, and are not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention.

[0012] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, a power generation device 200 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is configured to be attached to a rotatable object (not shown). The rotatable object may be, but is not limited to, a wheel rim of a vehicle.

[0013] The power generation device 200 includes a housing 3 configured to be fixedly attached to the object along a substantially horizontal axis 800, a rotor module 4 fixedly and coaxially attached to the housing 3 along the axis 800, a stator module 5 attached to the housing 3 and rotatable relative to the housing 3 about the axis 800, and a counterweight module 6 fixedly attached to the stator module 5. The power generation device 200 may be configured to be coaxially attached to the object along the axis 800, but is not limited thereto.

[0014] The housing 3 includes a main body 31 having a side opening 310 and a side cover 32 disposed on the main body 31 and covering the side opening 310 of the main body 31. The main body 31 and the side cover 32 cooperate to define an attachment space 30 for disposing the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5. In the present embodiment, the attachment space 30 is a cylindrical space centered on the axis 800.

[0015] In the first embodiment, the rotor module 4 is a ring-shaped coil assembly that is fixedly attached to the inner peripheral surface of the main body 31 in the radial direction and can generate electric power through electromagnetic induction. The coil assembly is a conventionally known one and there are many types, but its details are omitted in this specification for the sake of brevity.

[0016] The stator module 5 includes a rotating shaft 51 that extends along the axis 800 and is rotatably attached to the main body 31 and the side cover 32 of the housing 3, and a plurality of magnets 52 that are angularly spaced from each other about the axis 800 and are fixedly arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 51 in the radial direction. The rotating shaft 51 is rotatably attached to the main body 31 and the side cover 32 via two bearings 50. The rotating shaft 51 extends outward from the mounting space 30 and has a mounting end portion 511 that protrudes from the side cover 32. The magnets 52 are located inside the rotor module 4 in the radial direction, are spaced from the rotor module 4, and provide a magnetic field for electromagnetic induction.

[0017] The counterweight module 6 is coaxially and fixedly attached to the mounting end portion 511 of the rotating shaft 51 of the stator module 5, is located on one side of the housing 3, and is located outside the housing 3. The center of gravity of the counterweight module 6 is located below the axis 800. Specifically, the counterweight module 6 is configured as a disk, and includes a cover component 62 centered on the rotating shaft 51, and a counterweight body 61 that is disposed on the cover component 62, is fixedly attached eccentrically to the rotating shaft 51, and positions the center of gravity of the counterweight module 6 below the axis 800. The cover component 62 covers the counterweight body 61 from the side opposite to the main body 31 of the housing 3 of the counterweight body 61.

[0018] When the object to which the power generation device 200 is attached rotates, the housing 3 is driven by the object to rotate, and the rotor module 4 is also simultaneously driven by the housing 3 to rotate about the axis 800. Specifically, the rotor module 4 is driven to rotate with respect to the stator module 5 that does not rotate with the rotor module 4 due to the gravity of the counterweight module 6. The rotor module 4 generates electric power according to the magnetic field provided by the magnet 52 of the stator module 5 via electromagnetic induction 4. The rotor module 4 can be electrically connected to a power storage device (not shown) to store the electric power generated by the rotor module 4 in the power storage device, or can be electrically connected to an electric device (not shown) to supply the electric power generated by the rotor module 4 to the electric device.

[0019] Referring to FIG. 5, a power generation device 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. The difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5. For the sake of brevity, only the differences will be described below.

[0020] In the second embodiment, the rotor module 4 includes a plurality of magnets 41 fixedly attached to the inner peripheral surface in the radial direction of the main body 31 and angularly spaced from each other about the axis 800. The stator module 5 includes a rotating shaft 51 and a coil assembly 53 surrounding the rotating shaft 51. The magnet 41 is spaced from the coil assembly 53 and is located outside the coil assembly 53 in the radial direction.

[0021] Similar to the first embodiment, when the housing 3 is driven by the object to rotate, the magnet 41 of the rotor module 4 is driven to rotate with respect to the coil assembly 53 of the stator module 5, whereby the coil assembly 53 generates electric power according to the magnetic field provided by the magnet 41 via electromagnetic induction.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a power generation device 200 according to a third embodiment of the present invention is shown. The difference between the third embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5.

[0023] In the third embodiment, the main body 31 is spaced apart from the side cover 32 and has a side wall 311 facing the side cover 32. The rotor module 4 is disk-shaped and is a coil assembly fixedly and coaxially attached to the side wall 311. The magnet 52 of the stator module 5 is disposed on one side of the rotating shaft 51 facing the side wall 311 and is spaced apart from the rotor module 4 along the axis 800.

[0024] Similarly, when the housing 3 is driven to rotate by an object, the rotor module 4, which is a coil assembly, is driven to rotate with respect to the magnet 52 of the stator module 5 to generate electric power.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 8, a power generation device 200 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown. The difference between the fourth embodiment and the third embodiment lies in the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5.

[0026] In the fourth embodiment, the rotor module 4 includes a plurality of magnets 41 fixedly attached to the side wall 311 of the main body 31 and angularly spaced from each other about the axis 800. The stator module 5 includes a rotating shaft 51 and a disk-shaped coil assembly 53 fixedly surrounding the rotating shaft 51. The magnets 41 of the rotor module 4 are spaced apart from the coil assembly 53 of the stator module 5 along the axis 800.

[0027] Similarly, when the housing 3 is driven to rotate by an object, the magnets 41 of the rotor module 4 are driven to rotate with respect to the coil assembly 53 of the stator module 5, whereby the coil assembly 53 generates electric power.

[0028] In each of the above-described embodiments, the counterweight body 61 is fixedly attached eccentrically to the attachment end portion 511 of the rotating shaft 51, thereby restricting the rotation of the stator module 5 via the gravity of the counterweight body 61. However, in other embodiments, the cover component 62 is fixedly attached to the attachment end portion 511 of the rotating shaft 51, the counterweight body 61 is disposed eccentrically with respect to the cover component 62, and is disposed on the rotating shaft 51 via the cover component 62, thereby restricting the rotation of the stator module 5 via the gravity of the counterweight body 61.

[0029] In summary, when the power generation device 200 is attached to an object and the object rotates, the power generation device 200 can convert the angular kinetic energy of the object into electric power via the rotor module 4 and the stator module 5 attached to the housing 3 and the counterweight module 6 attached to the stator module 5, and supply the electric power to an electric device or charge a power storage device. Therefore, the object of the present invention is surely achieved.

[0030] In the above description, for the purpose of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a complete understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Also, in the description indicating "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" in this specification, it should be understood that all descriptions accompanied by indications such as ordinal numbers may be included in specific implementations of the present invention having specific aspects, structures, and features. Furthermore, in this specification, although multiple variations are sometimes incorporated into one embodiment, drawing, or their descriptions, this is for rationalizing this specification and is intended to facilitate understanding of the multifaceted nature of the present invention. Also, one or more features or specific examples in one embodiment may, where appropriate, be implemented together with one or more features or specific examples in other embodiments in the practice of the present invention.

[0031] The embodiments and variations of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and includes all modifications and equivalent configurations as various configurations within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0032] 200 Power generation device 3 Housing 30 Mounting space 31 Main body 310 Side opening 311 Side wall 32 Side cover 4 Rotor module 41 Magnet 5 Stator module 50 Bearing 51 Rotating shaft 511 Mounting end 52 Magnet 53 Coil assembly 6 Counterweight module 61 Counterweight main body 62 Cover component 800 Axis

Claims

1. A power generation device configured to be attached to a rotatable object, comprising: a housing configured to be fixedly attached to the object; a rotor module fixedly and coaxially attached to the housing along a substantially horizontal axis; a stator module attached to the housing and rotatable relative to the housing about the axis; a counterweight module fixedly attached to the stator module, wherein the center of gravity of the counterweight module is located below the axis; when the object rotates, the rotor module is driven to rotate relative to the stator module which does not rotate with the rotor module due to the gravity of the counterweight module, and one of the rotor module and the stator module generates electric power according to a magnetic field provided by the other one of the rotor module and the stator module through electromagnetic induction.

2. The rotor module is a coil assembly for generating the electric power, the stator module includes a rotating shaft extending along the axis and rotatably attached to the housing, and a plurality of magnets arranged around the rotating shaft and providing the magnetic field, and the counterweight module is arranged on the rotating shaft. The power generation device according to claim 1.

3. The magnets of the stator module are arranged on an outer peripheral surface in a radial direction of the rotating shaft, spaced from the rotor module, and located inside the rotor module in the radial direction. The power generation device according to claim 2.

4. The magnets of the stator module are spaced from the rotor module along the axis. The power generation device according to claim 2.

5. The rotor module is fixedly attached to the housing about the axis and includes a plurality of magnets providing the magnetic field, the stator module includes a rotating shaft extending along the axis and rotatably attached to the housing, and a coil assembly surrounding the rotating shaft and generating the electric power, and the counterweight module is attached to the rotating shaft. The power generation device according to claim 1.

6. The magnet of the rotor module is spaced apart from the coil assembly and is located outside the coil assembly in the radial direction, the power generation device according to claim 5.

7. The magnet of the rotor module is spaced apart from the coil assembly along the axis, the power generation device according to claim 5.

8. The housing includes a main body having a side opening and a side cover disposed on the main body and covering the side opening. The side cover and the main body cooperate to define an installation space for arranging the rotor module and the stator module. The stator module includes a rotating shaft that extends along the axis and is rotatably attached to the main body and the side cover, the power generation device according to claim 1.

9. The rotating shaft has a mounting end portion protruding from the side cover, and the counterweight module is attached to the mounting end portion and is located outside the housing, the power generation device according to claim 8.

10. The counterweight module is configured as a disk and includes a cover component centered on the rotating shaft and a counterweight main body disposed on the cover component and positioning the center of gravity of the counterweight module below the axis. One of the cover component and the counterweight main body is fixedly attached to the mounting end portion, the power generation device according to claim 9.

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