Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
213 words
A down-hole device for producing rotary motion from the mud flow within a borehole comprising a cylindrical casing having its axis aligned with the direction of mud flow, and an annular impeller arranged to be driven by the mud flow and surrounding the casing so as to be coaxial therewith, wherein each of the casing and the impeller incorporates at least two magnets, a first of which is closer to one axial end of the impeller and has at least one North pole facing radially outwards and at least one South pole facing radially inwards, and a second of which is closer to the other axial end of the impeller and has at least one South pole facing radially outwards and at least one North pole facing inwards, the impeller and casing magnets being so arranged relative to one another that axial movement of the impeller in relation to the casing in one direction will tend to be resisted by a force of magnetic repulsion acting between the first casing magnet and the second impeller magnet and axial movement of the impeller in relation to the casing in the opposite direction will tend to be resisted by a force of magnetic repulsion acting between the second casing magnet and the first impeller magnet.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
213 words
A down-hole device for producing rotary motion from the mud flow within a borehole comprising a cylindrical casing having its axis aligned with the direction of mud flow, and an annular impeller arranged to be driven by the mud flow and surrounding the casing so as to be coaxial therewith, wherein each of the casing and the impeller incorporates at least two magnets, a first of which is closer to one axial end of the impeller and has at least one North pole facing radially outwards and at least one South pole facing radially inwards, and a second of which is closer to the other axial end of the impeller and has at least one South pole facing radially outwards and at least one North pole facing inwards, the impeller and casing magnets being so arranged relative to one another that axial movement of the impeller in relation to the casing in one direction will tend to be resisted by a force of magnetic repulsion acting between the first casing magnet and the second impeller magnet and axial movement of the impeller in relation to the casing in the opposite direction will tend to be resisted by a force of magnetic repulsion acting between the second casing magnet and the first impeller magnet.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
A device according to claim 1, wherein the first casing magnet is disposed radially adjacent the first impeller magnet and the second casing magnet is disposed radially adjacent the second impeller magnet, whereby force of magnetic attraction are set up between the two first magnets and between the two second magnets.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
A device according to claim 2, wherein the first and second casing magnets are axially adjacent one another, and the first and second impeller magnets are axially adjacent one another.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
52 words
A device according to claim 1, wherein the casing magnets are mounted on a rotary drive member which is arranged within the casing so as to be rotatable by driving torque transmitted to the drive member by the impeller by way of the magnetic coupling between the impeller and the drive member.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
A device according to claim 4, wherein the drive member is mechanically connected to drive an electrical generator within the casing.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
61 words
A device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second magnets on each of the casing and the impeller each comprise a set of magnets consisting of an even number of magnets equiangularly distributed about the central axis with magnets having radially outwardly or inwardly facing South poles alternating circumferentially with magnets having radially outwardly or inwardly facing North poles.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
64 words
A device according to claim 6, wherein the first and second sets of magnets on each of the casing and the impeller are angularly offset relative to one another so that South poles in the first set are axially aligned with North poles in the second set and North poles in the first set are axially aligned with South poles in the second set.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
56 words
A device according to claim 1, wherein the impeller and/or casing incorporates at least one further magnet which is so arranged relative to the other magnets as to tend to produce a further force of magnetic repulsion resisting axial movement of the impeller by the axial thrust due to the mud flow acting on the impeller.