4963 results about "Pendulum" patented technology

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

A measuring transducer includes a transducer housing, as well as an internal part arranged in the transducer housing. The internal part includes at least one curved measuring tube vibrating, at least at times, during operation and serving for conveying the medium, as well as a counteroscillator affixed to the measuring tube on the inlet-side, accompanied by formation of a coupling zone, and to the measuring tube on the outlet-side, accompanied by the formation of a coupling zone. The internal part is held oscillatably in the transducer housing, at least by means of two connecting tube pieces, via which the measuring tube communicates during operation with the pipeline and which are so oriented with respect to one another, as well as with respect to an imaginary longitudinal axis of the measuring transducer, that the internal part can move during operation in the manner of a pendulum about the longitudinal axis. The measuring tube and the counteroscillator are additionally so embodied and so oriented with respect to one another that both a center of mass spaced from the imaginary longitudinal axis of the measuring tube, as well as also a center of mass of the counteroscillator spaced from the imaginary longitudinal axis, lie in a common region of the measuring transducer spanned by the imaginary longitudinal axis and the measuring tube, and that the center of mass of the measuring tube is spaced farther from the longitudinal axis than the center of mass of the counteroscillator.

A system and method for generating energy from the tuning masses relative to a ground plane and an external force. In some embodiments the external force is the action of the waves. The system has a first mass movable relative to the ground plane, wherein the external force induces an oscillation in the first mass relative to the ground plane. A second movable mass is carried by and movable relative to the first movable mass. The second movable mass creates kinetic energy as the result of varying the position of the second movable mass relative to the first mass. The system adjusts or tunes the frequency of various components in relation to the natural frequency of the waves. The second mass can move relative to the first mass by various methods including rolling on a track or pendulum. The energy created by the relative motion can be converted to various forms of energy including electrical energy.

A mechanism for limiting vibration amplitudes in a pumping system includes a plurality of pendulum absorbers coupled with a carrier and each having a pivoting range. The pendulum absorbers each further include a first and a second contact surface that contacts an outer peripheral surface of the carrier at limit stop positions, and each having a shape that is conforming with a shape of the outer peripheral surface. The pumping system may be used for pumping liquid nitrogen.

A method and apparatus for testing a football helmet utilizes a weighted pendulum arm to impart an impact force upon the helmet. Linear head acceleration and rotational head acceleration caused by the impact force is measured and a Head Impact Power Index is computed and used as a standard to judge the ability and effectiveness of the football helmet in preventing injury to a football player.

Ball robot comprising a shell, a diametric main axle, at least one pendulum, and a drive mechanism comprising at least two drive motors, wherein the drive motors are arranged on the pendulum(s) in the vicinity of the inner surface of the shell. There is also provided a ball robot with a ball attached to the shell concentric the shell, and a drive mechanism located inside the shell and supported by the diametric axle, wherein the diametric axle is arranged to accommodate for dimensional changes of the shell along the main axis of rotation.

An analog timepiece with smart watch functions is provided that has an overlay full color display and a transparent mode when the smart watch features are not in use. The transparent display mode exposes the underlying analog watch, which operates on a separate power supply then the smart watch functions and display. The analog watch may operate on a traditional winding, long life battery, solar charge, pendulum drive, or a self-winding drive based on watch motion. The smart watch functions operate on a rechargeable battery designed for frequent recharging. In a specific embodiment, recharging of the rechargeable battery may be with an induction mat. The full complement of smart watch functions provided by embodiments of the overlay smart watch display differ from existing analog digital watches that have an analog movement with a smaller digital display on the watch face to show time, dates, or a chronograph.

A laser level disposable on a reference surface includes a housing, a pendulum pivotably connected to the housing, a first laser diode disposed on the pendulum for emitting a first laser beam along a first path, and a lens disposed on the pendulum in the first path for converting the first laser beam into a first planar beam, the first planar beam forming a line on the reference surface.

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

The present invention relates to an imitation candle, comprising a housing, an imitation flame body provided at a top of the housing, a light source adapted to emit light onto the imitation flame body, a swing motion device, and an air blowing device. A lower portion of the imitation flame body is connected with the swing motion device that is configured to allow the imitation flame body to pivot horizontally about at least one of a X axis and a Y axis, and comprises a wind driven pendulum member. The air blowing device is adapted to blow air toward the wind driven pendulum member causing the wind driven pendulum member to swing as well as the imitation flame body to pivot. The wind driven pendulum member is a wind driven bowl adapted to receive blowing air and having an air discharge hole.

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

Ball robot comprising a shell, a diametric main axle, at least one pendulum, and a drive mechanism comprising at least two drive motors, wherein the drive motors are arranged on the pendulum(s) in the vicinity of the inner surface of the shell. There is also provided a ball robot with a ball shaped shell, a diametric axle attached to the shell concentric with the main axis of rotation of the shell, and a drive mechanism located inside the shell and supported by the diametric axle, wherein the diametric axle is arranged to accommodate for dimensional changes of the shell along the main axis of rotation.

A valve assembly including a housing having an opening defined by a valve seat, a valve body movable within the housing between a completely opened position disengaged from the valve seat and a completely closed position engaging the valve seat, and a sleeve movable longitudinally along, and rotatably about, a longitudinal axis. The sleeve is connected to the valve body so that the valve body can rotate and move longitudinally with the sleeve. One of the housing and the sleeve includes a cam surface, and the other of the housing and the sleeve includes a cam follower received by the cam surface. A rotatable shaft is in threaded engagement with the sleeve so that rotation of the shaft causes at least one of rotation and longitudinal movement of the sleeve against the cam follower.

The measuring transducer includes a transducer housing, as well as an internal part arranged in the transducer housing. The internal part includes at least one curved measuring tube vibrating, at least at times, during operation and serving for conveying the medium, as well as a counteroscillator affixed to the measuring tube on the inlet-side, accompanied by formation of a coupling zone, and to the measuring tube on the outlet-side, accompanied by the formation of a coupling zone. The internal part is held oscillatably in the transducer housing, at least by means of two connecting tube pieces, via which the measuring tube communicates during operation with the pipeline and which are so oriented with respect to one another, as well as with respect to an imaginary longitudinal axis of the measuring transducer, that the internal part can move during operation in the manner of a pendulum about the longitudinal axis. Counteroscillator of the measuring transducer of the invention is formed by means of two counteroscillator plates, of which a first counteroscillator plate is arranged on the left side of the measuring tube and a second counteroscillator plate is arranged on the right side of the measuring tube.

An apparatus creating a flickering flame effect. The apparatus includes a housing with an interior space with first and second stages. A drive mechanism generates a time varying electromagnetic field extending into the first stage. A first pendulum member is pivotally mounted in the interior space of the first stage and includes first and second magnets on first and second ends, with the first end proximate to the drive mechanism such that the first magnet interacts with the varying electromagnetic field to cause movement of the pendulum member. The apparatus includes a second pendulum member pivotally mounted in the second stage with a magnet on a first end proximate to the second end of the first pendulum member. A flame silhouette element extends from the second pendulum member, and a light source transmits light onto the flame silhouette, which is moving due to the magnetic coupling of the pendulum members.

A ball includes a shell defining a spheroid. The shell includes an opening and a panel to close the opening. The panel has a sleeve that extends radially inward. A generation module is disposed in a cavity defined by the shell. The generation module includes a housing. A pendulum, an electric generator, and a battery are disposed in the housing. The pendulum is mechanically coupled to a rotor of the electric generator at a first axis of rotation of the pendulum and the electric generator is electrically coupled to the battery. An acceleration of the ball causes the pendulum to rotate about the first axis of rotation. The rotation of the pendulum rotates the rotor of the electric generator. The rotation of the rotor of the electric generator generates electricity, and at least a portion of the generated electricity is stored by the battery.

In this vehicular chassis system, the vehicle's passenger compartment and wheels incline toward the turning center side in such a manner, that the wheels can be tilted independently from steering. This vehicle has a steering apparatus controlling the steering, and a separate apparatus controlling the lateral leaning. The lean is controlled mechanically using a pendulum, and forced lateral leaned using a control unit, or manually with the transfer of body weight using several pinions with a set ratio to control the passenger compartment lateral lean in conjunction with the wheel lateral lean. An electric DC servo gear motor can be used to control the lateral lean, that intern moves a pinion, which moves a rack and lateral movable cross member, while controlling the lateral leaning wheels and pulling the tilt support bar pivotally attached to a passenger compartment in the same leaning direction.

A measuring transducer includes a transducer housing, as well as an internal part arranged in the transducer housing. The internal part includes at least one curved measuring tube vibrating, at least at times, during operation and serving for conveying the medium, as well as a counteroscillator affixed to the measuring tube on the inlet-side, accompanied by formation of a coupling zone, and to the measuring tube on the outlet-side, accompanied by the formation of a coupling zone. The internal part is held oscillatably in the transducer housing, at least by means of two connecting tube pieces, via which the measuring tube communicates during operation with the pipeline and which are so oriented with respect to one another, as well as with respect to an imaginary longitudinal axis of the measuring transducer, that the internal part can move during operation in the manner of a pendulum about the longitudinal axis. The measuring tube and the counteroscillator are additionally so embodied and so oriented with respect to one another that both a center of mass spaced from the imaginary longitudinal axis of the measuring tube, as well as also a center of mass of the counteroscillator spaced from the imaginary longitudinal axis, lie in a common region of the measuring transducer spanned by the imaginary longitudinal axis and the measuring tube, and that the center of mass of the measuring tube is spaced farther from the longitudinal axis than the center of mass of the counteroscillator.

A wiper blade is proposed which is used to clean windows, especially of motor vehicles. The wiper blade is displaceable transversely to its length, preferably about a pendulum axis, and can be pressed with an elongated, rubber-elastic wiper strip (46) against the window (54) to be wiped; the wiper strip is disposed on the lower band face (49), oriented toward the window, of a bandlike-elongated, spring-elastic support element (42). Chattering that occurs during wiping operation and causes an unsatisfactory outcome of wiping as well as considerable noise, is avoided if the region of the upper band face (43), remote from the window, of the support element (42), the wiper blade is provided with a mass body, which is disposed movably, at least in the displacement direction (74) of the wiper blade.

A highly sensitive accelerometer for determining the acceleration of a structure includes a mass within a housing rotationally supported by a hinge and opposing support members. The support members are alternately wound around a fixed mandrel and the mass in a pendulum arrangement. At least a portion of one of the support members comprises a transducer capable measuring the rotation of the mass within the housing. An embodiment of the invention employs optical fiber coils as support members for use in interferometric sensing processes. Arrays of such interferometer based accelerometers maybe multiplexed using WDM or similar methods.

An inventive method is presented for a sliding pendulum seismic isolation system that reduces seismic forces on the supported structure and reduces the costs of the isolation bearings, seismic gaps, and supported structural frame. The inventive method is to configure the isolation system to achieve increased effective friction with increased displacement amplitudes, and to employ specific bearing configurations that suit the different types and magnitudes of loads present at particular structure support locations. Three bearing configurations are presented which are comprised of multiple sliders that slide along different concave spherical surfaces, each constituting an independent sliding pendulum mechanism having a specified pendulum length and friction. Two bearing configurations are presented which are comprised of multiple sliders that slide along different concave or convex cylindrical surfaces, one configured to carry both compression and tension loads, and one configured to be cost-effective for carrying light compression loads and accommodating large displacements.

A method and apparatus for harnessing power associated with ocean waves and converting that power into electricity. The apparatus is a buoy that houses a vertically oriented central shaft, a pendulum, and a generator. As the buoy tilts from the vertical under the influence of wave motion, the pendulum is accelerated and rotates about the central shaft. A centrally-placed generator is mechanically coupled to, and driven by, the rotating pendulum so that the pendulum's kinetic energy is converted into electricity. The electricity may be stored at or near the buoy or transferred to a remote facility. Moreover, a fin array located along the bottom of the buoy serves as an anti-torque mechanism and improves the operational efficiency of the electricity production. The method involves employing use of the centrally located generator and the fin array to efficiently harness wave power.

The invention relates to a pendulum eddy current tuning mass damper device which comprises a support, a steel cable, a cable-length adjusting device, a mass block, a permanent magnet adjustment frame, a permanent magnet, a copper plate, a magnetic iron plate, a copper plate and magnetic iron plate adjusting frame, a limiting stopper and a limiting damper. The mass block is formed by connecting of a steel plate through bolts and is hung on the support through the steel cable, the length of the steel cable is adjusted by the cable-length adjusting device, the permanent magnet adjusting frame is installed on the bottom of the mass block, the magnetic iron plate is overlapped on the bottom of the copper plate, and the copper plate and the magnetic iron plate are connected on the copper plate and magnetic iron plate adjusting frame through the bolts. The copper plate and magnetic iron plate adjusting frame is installed on the structural base, the limiting stopper is placed on the periphery of the bottom of the mass block, one end of the limiting damper is connected on the limiting stopper, and the other end of the limiting damper is connected on the structural base which is placed below the limiting damper. The pendulum eddy current tuning mass damper device is long in service life, high in reliability, maintenance-free and high in sensibility and the like, damping adjustment is accurate, convenient and wide in adjustment range, and the friction of the whole TMD structure is nearly zero.

A movement stabilizing control ECU 25 includes a differential unit 25a, a cycle calculation unit 25b, a time constant / gain setting portion 25c, a first-order lag processing unit 25d, a pendulum movement detection unit 25e, a control amount calculation portion 25f and a control amount output unit 25g. The time constant / gain setting portion 25c sets a time constant τ and a gain K used at the time of subjecting a yaw acceleration ω′ which is a time-differential value of a yaw rate ω to the first-order lag processing at the first-order lag processing unit 25d, with reference to a function or data of a look-up table, for example, depending on the cycle or the frequency of the yaw acceleration ω′ due to the pendulum movement. The control amount calculation portion 25f multiplies the amplitude of a yaw acceleration ωd′ outputted from the first-order lag processing unit 25d by a predetermined constant to calculate a yaw control amount with a phase in opposite to that of the yaw acceleration ωd′ and outputs the yaw control amount to the control amount output unit 25g.

A wave energy converter has a shell, a pendulum pivotally positioned in the shell, a magnet thereon, a variable inductor positioned in the shell, a pendulum adjustor for changing a center of gravity of the pendulum, a motion sensor positioned in the shell, a position sensor connected to the pendulum, a rotation sensor connected to the pendulum, and a controller connected to the motion sensor and the position sensor and the rotation sensor. The pendulum has a magnet thereon. The magnet of the pendulum oscillates adjacent the variable inductor. The variable inductor can adjust the inductive capacity.

The invention provides a lighting fixture for a sloped ceiling comprising an enclosure, an optics assembly situated within the enclosure, and at least one gravity-controlled pendulum with an indicator capable of being used to align the optics assembly. The lighting fixture further comprises a yoke assembly comprising a yoke and a secondary support piece, and at least one connector that guides the movement of the yoke.

A wiper apparatus is proposed that is used to clean windows of motor vehicles. The wiper apparatus has a wiper arm (18), guided on the motor vehicle and driven in pendulum motion, on whose free end, remote from the pendulum shaft (88), a wiper blade (10), elongated transversely to the pendulum direction (double arrow 86) and capable of being pressed against the window (28), is separably hinged via a connection device (14) that has coupling elements (22 and 16) associated with the wiper arm and the wiper blade, respectively, wherein the pivot axis (54) extends substantially in the pendulum direction, and the wiper apparatus has at least one support shoulder (44, 46 and 68), solidly connected to the wiper arm and pointing toward the pendulum shaft (88), which shoulder is located opposite an associated interception shoulder (62), solidly connected to the wiper blade and pointing away from the pendulum shaft (88). To assure problem-free mounting of the wiper blade on the wiper arm and problem-free removal of the wiper blade from the wiper arm, even if for structural reasons the wiper arm cannot be raised in a plane that is vertical to the window, transverse to the wiping direction, at least one of the two shoulders (44, 46, 68; 62) can be moved counter to a restoring force all the way out of the opposed position relative to the other shoulder (62; 44, 46, 68).

A system and method for harnessing power associated with ocean waves and converting that power into electricity. The apparatus is a buoy that houses a vertically oriented central shaft, a pendulum, a generator mechanism, and other components that synergistically operate to optimize power output of the buoy. Both the load on the pendulum and the effective length of the pendulum may be varied in response to changing environmental conditions. Also, the buoy may be part of a network that shares environmental data and a series of best tuning responses to that data, across the network. A library of environmental data and associated tuning responses is built at a central location and shared across the network.