Wednesday, March 01, 2006
It used to be all hands to the pump in an emergency. Now it?s all feet.
A patent filing funded by the US Navy
describes a simple way to generate power for emergency lighting or communications following a disaster, without the need for heavy batteries or bulky generators.
An emergency task force would carry a fire hose rolled flat, with a foot pump at one end and an air valve at the other. The hose could then be unrolled and volunteers take turns to pedal the pump until the hose is full of air. The valve would then be opened to vent the air through a small turbine acting as a generator.
Volunteers could keep pumping while circuitry controls the valve so that the venting pressure remains constant. This would ensure that the turbine speed and the generated voltage remain steady, with no interruptions, even when exhausted volunteers are replaced with fresh ones.
Read the power hose patent here