ELECTRON PROPULSION.com
Below you will find a Provisional Patent I filed with the USPTO in
March of 2019. I am uploading this 1/1/2021 for the betterment
of mankind. I am currently working on a proof of concept prototype
that is about 8 inches in diameter. Please consider donating to
this
project on my donation page, Thanks Ted W Schulze.
IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK
OFFICE
Utility Patent Application
(provisional)
TITLE: AN
EFFICIENT PROPULSION DEVICE AND METHOD EMPLOYING ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE TO PRODUCE MOVEMENT
INVENTORS: Ted Walter Schulze
Date March 27, 2019
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel
electromagnetic propulsion device with a novel electrical circuit that reuses the electrons used for propulsion to
recharge the lower main capacitor, providing a very efficient electrically powered
device.
BACKGROUND-
Propulsion systems currently used for travel like jet aircraft or in the vacuum of space that use rocket engines,
rely on burning or expanding a propellant through a nozzle to produce thrust. Therefore the craft has limited range
due to the fact that the propellant must be carried onboard the craft. A solar sail will produce thrust but is
impractical because of the low amount of thrust generated and the need to be in close proximity to a sun to
work.
Presently there is no practical solution to deep space travel at reasonable speeds and acceleration.
This invention does not violate Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion
which states "To every action there is always an opposed equal reaction" The experiment that explains the principle
of how my invention works was performed by Andre Marie Ampere
published in 1820 and commonly known by the name of "Ampere hair pin experiment" that proves that a single body can
propel its self when a current passes through it, explained by the fact that when a current passes through a wire
that is bent at a right angle the magnetic field produced by the current in the wire will tend to straighten out
that wire and is the same principle that the electromagnetic rail gun operates on. What is not well understood is
that a rail gun has recoil the same as any gun that accelerates a projectile that has mass, but if an airplane that
has its own propulsion engine takes off from the deck of a ship there is no recoil transferred to the deck of the
ship. Where as if the plane uses a catapult to accelerate it , then there is a recoil transferred to the catapult
that is attached to the ship.
The recoil is not seated in the parallel conducting rails of an electromagnetic rail gun. As was proven by an
experiment conducted in December 2009 by Michael J. Putnam THESIS for the Naval Postgraduate School titled "An
experimental study of electromagnetic Lorentz force and rail recoil." A copy of which can be freely downloaded from
the internet. And his abstract findings were quote.
"
Understanding whether recoil forces are seated in the rails of any
Electromagnetic launch technology, including rail guns, is critical for
efficient development and design. Several theoretical and experimental
researchers have produced multiple published papers characterizing rail
recoil. These papers are not definitive and often conflict. An experiment
has been developed that allows for the simultaneous measurements of the quasistatic Lorentz force on the armature
and rail recoil. The primary challenge in quantifying these forces is removing the mechanical coupling required to
construct the necessary circuit while maintaining electrical connectivity. Liquid metal Ga/In eutectic was used to
conduct electricity while mechanically decoupling the rails from the rest of the circuit. Force measurements show
that the force on the armature increases as the square of the current, while the indicated reaction force on the
rails is an artifact of the experiment. These recoil forces measured <1% of the force on the armature. We
conclude that the recoil, or corresponding equal and opposite reaction force to the force on the armature, is not
seated in the rails."
Although not stated by the author of this paper it is obvious to me that the opposite reaction forces are
transferred to the electrons moving in the rails
that is transferred back to the charge in the capacitors. And the magnetic force acting on the moving electrons in
the rails tends to push the rails apart and the bar across the rails away from the source of the current in the
rails. It could also be stated that the recoil force is transfer to the rails but it is the force that tends to
push the rails apart thereby canceling out the recoil force. This explains in simple terms how Ampere hair pin
experiment can propel it's self and still satisfy Newton's third law of motion. And the principle upon which this invention is based on.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION- The current disclosure presents a novel electromagnetic propulsion system which does not
expel propellant and requires only an input of electrical power to operate. The basic elements of the invention
are a negative capacitor plate that is discharged through any suitable triggered switch that is shown as a spark
gap switch for simplicity to understand the present invention. The spark gap conducts a pulsed DC current to a
vertical conductor that is connected to the top of the upper domed inside conductor that has radius cutouts
around the lower edge leaving tabs around the circumference and connected to each tab is a diode that may be a
two conductor or a three conductor switching diode that is connected to an inductor coil and the inductor is
connected back to the negative capacitor plate. Below the negative capacitor plate is a dielectric plate and
below the dielectric plate is the bottom positive capacitor plate that is a larger diameter to fit the outer
upper dome so that the inside surface of the outer dome is the positive capacitor air gap
plate.
The
invention is also designed to not only provide a propulsive force but is designed to conserve the electrons
used to power it by reusing the electrons discharged by the lower capacitor through the spark gap to a domed
air gap capacitor of which provides the propulsion, when I say the air gap capacitor it could also be a
vacuum capacitor or a dielectric gas in the space between the upper domed capacitor to the upper outside
domed capacitor, the negative charge on the inside domed upper capacitor will induce a positive charge on the
inside surface of the upper outside dome and at the same time will produce a negative charge on the outside
surface of the upper dome that will be used to provide propulsion as will be explained later. The charge on
the inside upper domed capacitor will then go to a number of diodes that are each connected to an inductor
that stores the current used by the upper inside domed capacitor plate for providing propulsion. Now the
current stored in the inductor is discharged back into the discharged bottom negative capacitor plate. So the
negative is connected back to the negative capacitor plate and the positive capacitor plate is connected to
upper positive air gaped upper domed capacitor plate. So an electrical power source not shown in the drawings
for clarity, will only need to add a small amount of charge to the main capacitor to make up for the normal
resistance losses in the circuit.
BRIEF DISCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS -
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of the specification, illustrate various
principles of operation and examples of the best mode of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is
an exploded view of the present invention consisting of components numbered 1-2-3-4-5-10-11.
FIG. 2 shows a view of the top outer shell of the invention numbered -1.
FIG. 3
shows a cutaway view section B-B consisting of components 1-2-3-5-6-7.
FIG. 4
shows a close up view of detail-C in FIG. 3 showing components
numbered
3-4-5.
FIG. 5
shows a cutaway view of the upper inside dome showing the magnetic field
lines and
the Lorentz force direction, and consisting of numbered
components 2-6-7-8-9.
FIG. 6
shows a perspective exploded view of the invention consisting of
numbered
components 1-2-3-4-5.
FIG. 7 shows the top view of the device consisting of the top outside dome
numbered
1-.
FIG. 8
shows the assembled outside side view components 1-5.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
EMBODIMENTS.
The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different
forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey
the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Note #1 that the electrical power supply used to charge the main lower capacitor is not shown in the drawings for
clarity of understanding how the invention operates, and note that any power supply that will generate an electric
voltage and current can be used, as is well known in the art.
Note #2 that in FIG.1 the Diode #10 and the inductor # 11 is only shown in FIG 1-for clarity and it is only shown
attached to one tab of dome #2 but in practice each tab of dome #2 has its own diode and inductor pair. And the
diode #10 may be a two conductor or three conductor in which the third lead of the diode acts as a controllable
switch so that if the current is shut off of one or two adjacent diodes it will cause the craft to tilt down on
that side causing the craft to move in the direction in which the diodes were shut off, enabling the craft to have
directional control. Also the control electronics are not shown for clarity and can be added as is known in the
art.
Note #3 that the drawings show a simple spark gap #6 and #7. But in practice the spark gap would be a triggered
spark gap for controlling the number of pulses per second thereby controlling the amount of propulsion needed for
hovering and accelerating the craft. The triggered spark gap may be replaced by any number of controllable switches
as is known in the art.
Note #4 that the preferred invention would have instead of a single conductor
on the inside dome #2 and outside dome #1 the preferred invention would have a multi layered construction
consisting of thin layers of a light weight conductor separated by thinner layers of an insulator or semiconductor
so that it acts the same as a multi turn coil of wire for the purpose of increasing the current flow that will
increase the magnetic field that provides the propulsion. As is well
known in the art.
Note #5
that the two capacitor plates #3 and #4 separated by insulator #4 can be replaced by any multi plate capacitor
to increase the capacitance as is well known in the art.
Note #6 that the preferred embodiment of this invention employs a pulsed DC circuit, but in some configurations an
AC circuit will also provide propulsion. As is well known in the art.
Note #7 that the drawings do not show a door for entering a large craft, but a door can be added as desired, as is
well known in the art.
Note #8 that because the propulsion system relies on a high voltage static charge on the
outside surface of the craft, the preferred embodiment would employ retractable insulated landing struts, in order
to not inadvertently discharge the outside charge on the craft to ground during takeoff or landing. Although it
would be desirable to provide a switch to enable discharging the outside charge after landing, so that people can
board or when departing the craft with our fear of having the discharge going through them to ground. A thin
flexible coating of an electrical insulator similar to glass may also be employed so that discharging the craft may
not be needed as is well known in the art.
The current
disclosure presents a novel electromagnetic propulsion system which does not expel propellant and requires only
an input of electrical power to operate. The basic elements of the invention are a negative capacitor plate #3
that is discharged through any suitable triggered switch that is shown as a spark gap switch #6 and #7 for
simplicity to understand the present invention. The spark gap conducts a pulsed current to a vertical conductor
#6 that produces a circular
magnetic field around conductor #6 and is depicted as #8 in Fig 5 that is connected to the top of the upper domed
inside conductor #2 and as the current moves from the top center of the dome #2 the current moves down creating a
circular magnetic field #8 to the radius cutouts around the lower edge to the tabs, again producing a circular magnetic field, so the first point of
propulsion is created by the interaction of the magnetic field around conductor #6 pushing against the magnetic
field generated in the conductor #2 by the same principle that was explained earlier in the BACKGROUND description
on how rail guns work, but there is a stronger electromagnetic
propulsive force that is created by the rotating magnetic field produced by the current moving from the center down
the sides to the tabs at the bottom of domed conductor #2. This magnetic field will cause the electrons that are
trapped on and in the outer dome # 1 to produce a rotating repulsive magnetic field similar to #8 but on the
outside of the top dome #1 caused by the Lenz force, causing a greater repulsive force on the outer dome, the
magnetic field produced by the electrons in the inner dome #2 is the same type of circular magnetic field produced
in a straight conductor like is produced by conductor #6. So that the magnetic force in the dome #2 is transferred
to the electrons that are being pushed by the capacitor discharge so that the force will be the same as the force
produced in the rails of a rail gun as explained earlier in the BACKGROUND description.
The current
exits the tabs around the circumference of inner dome #2 and connected to each tab is a diode #10 that may be a
two conductor or a three conductor switching diode that is connected to an inductor coil #11 and the inductor is
connected back to the negative capacitor plate #3. Below the negative capacitor plate is a dielectric plate #4
and below the dielectric plate is the bottom positive capacitor plate #5 that is a larger diameter to fit the
outer upper dome #1 so that the inside surface of the outer dome #1 is the positive capacitor air gap plate. The
direction of the electromagnetic Lorentz force is generally shown as #9 in Fig 5 but would be a number of vectored forces on a curved surface added
together as is well known in the art.
The invention is also designed to not only provide a
propulsive force but is designed to conserve the electrons used to power it by reusing the electrons
discharged by the lower capacitor through the spark gap to a upper domed air gap capacitor of which provides
the propulsion as previously explained, when I say the air gap capacitor it could also be a vacuum capacitor
or a dielectric gas in the space between the upper domed capacitor to the upper outside domed capacitor, the
negative charge on the inside domed upper capacitor #2 will
induce a positive charge on the inside surface of the upper outside dome #1 and at the same time will produce
a negative charge on the outside surface of the upper dome #1 As can be explained by Michael Faraday's Ice
Pail Experiment, and will be used to provide propulsion as was explained above.. Now the current stored in
the inductor is discharged back into the discharged bottom negative capacitor plate #3.
So the negative is connected back to the negative capacitor plate #3
and the positive capacitor plate #5 is connected to upper positive air
gaped upper domed capacitor plate #1.
And an electrical power source not shown in the drawings for clarity, will only be needed to add a small amount of
charge to the main capacitor to make up for the normal resistance losses in the circuit.
CLAIMS
What is claimed is:
1. An electromagnetic propulsion system comprising:
a capacitor of two or more parts having charged conductive elements:
a means for discharging the main capacitor through a suitable switch :
a means for generating an electromagnetic propulsive force by the interaction of elements #6 acting
electromagnetically on element # 2 that also creates it's own electromagnetic propulsive force on element #1:
a means for reusing the original charge stored in the main capacitor elements #3 #4 and #5 to produce work and then
the original charge is raised to a higher voltage by is interaction with element #2, and is then passed through a
diode element #10 charging inductor element #11 with a high current, that is then discharged back into the main
capacitor elements #3 #4 and #5:
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