a practical approach to Hands on Science and Engineering

These two articles are so totally complementary, in that the Tech Shops would solve the problem of decreasing interest in engineering. Nothing stimulates a mind more than hands on experiences where the student can design, build, test and see their creation come alive!

“I am a new graduate student in Computer Engineering. I would like to get my MS and possibly my Ph.D. I have learned that 90% of my department is from India and many others are from China. All the students come here to study and there are only 7 US citizens in the engineering program this year. Why is that? I have heard that many of the smarter Americans go into medicine or the law and that is why there are so few Americans in engineering. Is this true?” - Source

I have long thought of something like this TechShop idea but more on the order of a research lab where people are invited to assist on a host of novel projects and reap not only a salary but a portion of sales from a successful project.

“The Tech Shop, located in Silicon Valley’s Menlo Park, California, is a playground for grown-ups where you can make invention prototypes, fix your stuff, sew your products, or further artistic designs. Your “toys” are actually pretty big machines such as “lathes, plasma cutters, sheet metal equipment, drill presses, band saws, industrial sewing machines, hand tools, plastic working equipment, electronics design and fabrication facilities, tubing and metal bending machines, electrical supplies and tools,” and, Jim Newton says, “pretty much everything you’d ever need to make just about anything all by yourself.” Like he says, “a Kinko’s for inventors.” Newton put his Tech Shop playground together with mostly used equipment in a relatively low-rent area, making his start-up costs manageable, and when he opened his shop, he put his business plan to work. Offering one time entries and membership plans to inventors, hobbyists, artists, and dozens of other enthusiasts, Tech Shop operates much like a health club: you can come in anytime and use whatever equipment you want. With a long-term membership, you can even make advance reservations for the equipment you need. Hours? Not a problem. Tech Shop is open from 9:00 a.m. to midnight! Staff? Always someone there to help you out. And no need to let those big machines intimidate you either. For the safety of you and others, Tech Shop offers 18 classes in how to use the equipment it offers! A tremendous boost to DIY inventors are the CNC classes that teach you how to model your own prototypes from 3-D CAD designs. Inventors need this service, if only to get out of our cocoons. But, more practically, to legitimize our ideas, those we’ve had closeted for so long because we didn’t have the time or the big bucks to act on them.” - Source

We need these shops all over the place to assist and encourage invention and the pursuit of a higher education.

The 24 volt pulsemotor

A new version of the EV Gray pulse motor, but one which uses 24 volts instead of the 1500-3000 volts used by Gray. Note that it takes advantage of push and pull from permanent magnets. Click on the image for a larger version.

(I looked at the patent reference in the 09/28/07 news item about Willie Gallacher who created an electro-magnetic drive motor which he believes could replace the combustion engine. I typed up the PDF application as you can see its a low voltage EV Gray type air cooled pulse motor. - JWD)

From the patent; An electro-magnet engine which operates via electro-magnetic force which is applied from four electro-magnets and four permanent magnets combined. An adjustable pulse generator/vibrator may be provided to control the switching of several solid state relays. The piston thrust of the engine is made up of the rejection and attraction states which turn a crankshaft in a similar way to a conventional combustion engine.

A battery charger/regulator working in unison witht he four alternators. The combined current produced from the four alternators going directly to the battery charger/regulator giving a flow of current as demanded, which be be much more than that required to activate the four electro-magnets. By adding a four to one ratio, current is available at a lower speed of vehicle, 500 X 4 = 2000 watts at 30MPH. The battery charger/regulator because of technical reasons has to be placed as near to the batteries as possible.

A speed control potentiometer is provided between the batteries and the control box in order to regulate demand. The control box performing the function of supplying the electro-magnets with the required current.

The entire duty of the bi-polar magnets will be the pulling and rejection of the inner pistons which in turn revolves the crankshaft which propels the vehicle when gear is engaged. Each of the eight magnets will be laminated to avoid the buildup of eddy currents and therefore avoid the buildup of heat (which reduces the magnet power - JWD). The four permanent magnets are assisting this pulling and rejecting.

The coercivity of the four permanent magnets willb e 20% greater than that of the electro-bi-polar magnets. As long as this situation exists no de-magnetisation will take place.

Even though eventually the four permanent magnets will reuire to be charged, magnetised, the four magnets are easily removed from the cylinder head.

The Crankshaft - This is a two-stroke system, pistons two and three work together as one unit. Pistons one and four also work as one unit, being attracted on one stroke and being rejected on the other. When pistons two and three are rejecting, when poles are the same, pistons one and four are attracting at this same moment when poles are the opposite which means a powerful thrust of the pistons and a powerful turning of the crankshaft. Although pulling and rejecting it is one movement. The nearest the two magnets will be to each other in the one chamber will be 10mm. This could well be much less.

Alternators - The alternators have been adjusted to increase output at low speeds (eg. 500rpm). A stator winding with smaller wires anda lower number of turns have been used. This decreases output at high speeds which is acceptable as current is required quickly. Specially designed rotor blades, small and positioned to give maximum wind displacement effect, 500 X 4 = 2000 watts at 30mph.

Batteries - The four 6 volt batteries will be of the lead gel deep cycle type. This type of battery can retain a charging current of 80% of the capacity for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, thus being able to cope with a constant charge/discharge cycle. Because the battery can be efficiently charged in such a way within a short period of time it is fully charged without any extra load being placed on it, than is really necessary. Battery capacity could be 360AH/24 volts.

Wind Displacement (cooling) - I have eight rotary blades per alternator, arranged to use every passage of air. With the alteration of the wiring in the alternator, at 30mph more than enough power is produced to activate the four electro-magnets. Even with the air gap the total pulling and rejection power of the 8 magnets is at least 2 tons on each stroke.

Claim - An electro-magnetic system for the powering of a land vehicle. A non-magnetic cylinder block that has no cylinder head attachment. There are four cylinders in the block as one would find today in a four stroke combustion engine. There are four bi-polar electro-magnets and four permanent magnets in the invention. There is an adjustable pulse generator/vibrator to control the switching of the solid state relays. The four permanent magnets have a south pole definition. These permanent magnets are attached to the piston assembly and accordingly the crankshaft which can have a deeper stroke than the drawing illustrates. This is a 24 volt system, comprising four 6 volt batteries. Lead gel, being used in a quick charge/discharge operation. A starter motor for a kickstart will be used. A two push button is used for on and off start/stop. A speed control potentiometer is provided between the batteries and the control box in order to regulate the demand of the electro-magnets. There is a battery charger regulator working in conjunction with the combined current produced from the four alternators and will produce more energy than that required to energise the four electro-magnets, 56 amps. The result is a very powerful thrust and pull which combined equals at least that of a combustion engine. This force of the electro-magnet can be increased considerably, as can any magnet. The magnets used were 70mm. / To view Willie’s invention in full, log on to the Intellectual Property Office website at www.ipo.gov.uk and enter patent number GB2434255. / Source

I hope this guy really does have a super-efficient new pulsed electric motor that will not just be a lab queen, but actually work in the real world. Doug Konzen and John Bedini need to know about this.