Energy system for self-propelled vehicles

Claim 1

An energy system for self propelling a vehicle having at least one wheel driven by a motor, said energy system comprising; a detecting means for responding to vibrations and bouncing of the wheel caused by irregularities in the road surface, converting means for changing the vibrations and bouncing detected into electrical energy, and driving means for driving the motor from said electrical energy, said detecting means comprising a piston and cylinder arrangement, lever means coupling the piston and cylinder arrangement to the wheel to cause the piston to reciprocate within its cylinder in response to the wheel vibrations and bouncing, said converting means comprising turbine means, pipe output means interconnecting said piston and cylinder arrangement with said turbine means and adapted to contain a fluid, the fluid being pressurized by the reciprocating motion of said piston and then passing through said pipe output means to cause said turbine means to operate, and electrical generator means coupled to said turbine means to generate electrical energy in response to the operation of said turbine means; said driving means comprising battery means for operating the motor, said battery means connected to said generator means for being charged therefrom, and said converting means further comprising first reservoir means interconnected between said pipe output means and said turbine means for storing the pressurized fluid prior to its flow into the turbine means, second reservoir means for storing the fluid flowing out of said turbine means, and input pipe means interconnecting said second reservoir means with said piston and cylinder arrangement for bringing fluid into said piston and cylinder arrangement to be pressurized, whereby a closed loop fluid system is formed, and safety valve means directly connected between said first and second reservoir means, whereby excess pressurized fluid can bypass said turbine means and flow directly from said first to said second reservoir means; said safety valve means comprising a cylinder having an input and output end, a piston capable of sliding within said cylinder, biasing spring means holding said piston adjacent said cylinder input end, said piston containing a flow passage transversely therethrough and a spring held plug closing said flow passage, said plug having an end thereof extending from said piston into said cylinder, whereby when sufficient fluid pressure is applied against said piston to overcome said biasing spring, said piston slides through said cylinder to the output end thereof causing the output end of said cylinder to push against the extending end of the plug to thereby open said flow passage.