An Exploratory Research Mechanism

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Designed and Built by Emile Cole

Range of Motion Video (profile)....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_vF3...layer_embedded

Range of Motion Video (front)....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=E7CEwnOFnCk

I've been working on this (hobby status) on and off over the last fifteen years or so.... a mechanism that immediately begins to rotate relatively forcefully in either direction with an imbalancing displacement of as little as one degree. With repeated well timed periodic displacements of as little as five to seven degrees its rate of rotation rapidly approaches about a 100 to a 150 rotations per minute over the course of just eight to ten repetitions, all while overcoming only negligible friction from the main axel (equipped with bearings). It may have some applications for extracting useful rotational motion more efficiently from wind and wave and maybe a couple of other things too.... or it may just be a work of art.

 

A uniquely balanced mechanical arrangement, its motion is pendulous.... but unlike a simple pendulum which has two possible positions of equilibrium (stable when down and un-stable when up), this Pendulum, because of the way it's balanced, actually has four possible positions of equilibrium.... two un-stable positions alligned with the force of gravity (up or down vertically).... and two stable positions perpendicular to the force of gravity (positioned to either side horizontally).

Gravity isn't being switched or turned on and off, the influence that gravity has on the Mechanism is being changed by changing its condition. I'm getting the Mechanism to rotate by periodically changing its condition. The Control Lever at the rear (connected to the Calibrated Spring) is the part that's periodically moved back and forth (3 to 5 degrees approx.) and is fixed to the Main Axel (white) and Sun Sprocket (gold with white center) of the Planetary Chain and Sprocket arrangement. The Planet Sprocket (black, with the Pendulum that is fixed to it) is affected through the imbalancing action of the Sun Sprocket, transmitted to it by the Chain.

It swings to one side, and then, by changing the condition of the Mechanism at the appropriate time, the Pendulum continues its swinging motion (taking an eliptical path) to the other side without losing kinetic energy gained. I believe that's why it begins to rotate so quickly and forcefully.

It's a pendulous Mechanism that rotates relatively forcefully at the first introduction of a relatively slight imbalancing force. The input force needed to imbalance the Mechanism, delivered to the system via the Control Lever, is sensibly comparable in every way to standing a pencil on end, holding it at the top and moving it back and forth an inch or so, which is exactly what I feel during testing like that shown in the videos.... almost nothing.

The actual driving force needed to cause rotation of the Mechanism as a whole can't be imparted to the Planet Sprocket by the Sun Sprocket via the Chain because the Sun Sprocket doesn't move in such a way as to impart rotational motion to the Planet Sprocket which leaves gravity as the only other driving force available to explain why it immediately begins to rotate in response to a slight imbalancing force.

In all the diagrams the length of a line represents the magnitude of a force and the arrow itself represents the direction of a force, so no mass is explicitly stated anywhere in the analysis . For example....

The situation graphically depicted in the diagram below won't change as long as any arbitrarily stated magnitude of force for the vector D is uniformly applied as a standard. In other words.... Whether one arbitrarily states for the vector D a magnitude of force equal to two ounces or sixteen pounds the resulting diagramatically shown vector proportions won't change in any way, and the diagram will remain an accurate representation for both scenarios (two ounces or sixteen pounds). So, since any arbitrarily stated magnitude of force for the vector D will result in an identical diagram and identical vector proportions, for the purpose of analysis, there's no need to state any specific magnitude of force for the vector D in the diagram.

Any arbitrarily stated magnitude of force for the vector D (or any other vector in the diagrams) uniformly applied as a standard gives the magnitude of force associated with any of the other vectors in the scale drawings of the analysis. For example....

If the vector D is made to equal one inch and the arbitrarily stated magnitude of force associated with it is two ounces (one inch equals two ounces), then....

A.... 3/8 inch equals 0.75 ounces
B.... 3/4 inch equals 1.50 ounces
C.... 3/4 inch equals 1.50 ounces
D.... 1 inch equals 2.0 ounces
E.... 3/8 inch equals 0.75 ounces
F.... F = C + B.... 0 ounces

If, instead, the vector D is made to equal one inch and the arbitrarily stated magnitude of force associated with it is sixteen pounds (one inch equals sixteen pounds), then....

A.... 3/8 inch equals 6 pounds
B.... 3/4 inch equals 12 pounds
C.... 3/4 inch equals 12 pounds
D.... 1 inch equals 16 pounds
E.... 3/8 inch equals 6 pounds
F.... F = C + B.... 0 pounds

For the purpose of analysis the very same numerically un-adorned diagram serves to describe both of the above scenarios equally well.

The diagram (below) illustrates both the direction and magnitude of the forces arising from the various moving parts of the mechanism individually and shows (FIG. 4) how they ultimately cancel each other out.

FIG. 1 - Schematic representation of the Chassis.

FIG. 2 - The Chassis is fixed in this schematic. The diagram shows the downward force A of the Pendulum and the resulting force B on the Planet Sprocket.

FIG. 3 - The Sun Sprocket is fixed in this schematic. The Chassis and the Planet Sprocket are free to rotate. The diagram shows the downward force D of the planet sprocket. The force C on the Planet Sprocket is the result of the force D after the force E from the oppositely situated Counter Weight (fixed to the chassis) is subtracted, or.... D minus E equals C.

FIG. 4 - The Sun Sprocket is fixed in this schematic. The Planet Sprocket with its attached Pendulum and the Chassis are free to rotate. The equal and opposite forces B and C acting on the Planet Sprocket effectively cancel each other out, or.... B plus C equals F.

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