Machine generating power from wave energy - has semicircular rack turning gears with teeth profiled to give free wheel effect

摘要

A float is pivoted on a shaft which is guided on two vertical struts fixed to the seabed so that the float can move with the surface of the water and swing with the waves. Brackets carry further shafts at a fixed distance from the float. Each shaft carries a gear wheel which engages with a semi-circular rack on the float. The gear teeth are shaped so that each wheel is moved in one direction only by the rack. Pinions on the two shafts mesh with each other so that whichever wheel is rotated there is a continuous output on one shaft.