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Possible motor idea that I built and had PART of working for a while. I hope some others will replicate it as I build it again, since mine got left behind in my move to California when I got divorced.
Picture a child's teeter-totter or see-saw. When one end (1) is on the ground, the other (2) is up in the air. If you were able to bend down end 2, so that it is just barely below level, while leaving end 1 on the ground, you would have the basic structure of the device I built. If you push a weight up the ramp and over the high point in the middle, gravity will cause end 2 to drop to the ground and end 1 will now be up in the air. Everyone got the picture so far?
If rods are attached to both ends of the device and the other ends of the rods to points on a wheel, will the up and down motion turn the wheel? I believe old pumps were built using this basic design, so I am hoping it will work.
Would everyone agree that this portion could be made to work so far? I never connected rods to the ends of the device. I simply got it to go up and down by itself, so if what I am proposing so far does not fall within the laws of physics, my idea won't work.
As to how I got it to go up and down by itself....
When end 1 is on the ground, it is aligned between two rows of magnets that form a magnetic track that force a steel ball or a roll of round magnets to roll up the ramp and over the top. The magnets do NOT go the length of ramp number one, but only far enough along the ramp to give the roll of magnets or ball the momentum it needs to get over the top where gravity can do its work.(I used a roll of round magnets with two steel wheels in place of two of the magnets so it could roll up flexible HO scale train track I had on my ramp.) When it goes over the top, gravity takes over and the ball or roll of magnets roll down the incline to the end. Side two is NOT in alignment with the magnets on its side until the weight rolls to the end and gravity causes it to slowly lower into place, at which point it comes into alignment with the magnets on that side, which now force it back in the opposite direction.
There are a ton of variables here. The weight of the ramp. The height of the center point, the strength of the magnets. The weight of the ball, The angle of the ramp. I fiddled with this for months and got mine to work. It ran continuously for several days before the wheels bound up one time and I had to restart it. A ball might work better because there is nothing to bind with then, but I am unsure how to do that. I bet there is someone here who can figure that out though.
Anyway, this is the idea I had. I built mine out of cutting board material and used the round magnets from Radio Shack that have a hole through the middle. I glued them onto a dowel to make a roll, and had two steel wheels that ran on railroad tracks. I believe I had to have a couple steel washers in that mix to get the wheels to line up correctly. The magnets along the outside of the track were also from radio shack but they were rectangular.
I intend to begin building this again, but I thought it would be interesting if some others would like to have a go at the same time to compare notes with during the building process. Obviously the bigger and heavier it is when completed, the better it would work as a motor, but the force exerted by the movement of the ramp will probably only equal the weight of the ball or roller. since all else is equal. A one pound ball would exert one pound of force on the rods to the motor. How practical this thing would be, I don't know. I would need an engineer to tell me that.
Picture a child's teeter-totter or see-saw. When one end (1) is on the ground, the other (2) is up in the air. If you were able to bend down end 2, so that it is just barely below level, while leaving end 1 on the ground, you would have the basic structure of the device I built. If you push a weight up the ramp and over the high point in the middle, gravity will cause end 2 to drop to the ground and end 1 will now be up in the air. Everyone got the picture so far?
If rods are attached to both ends of the device and the other ends of the rods to points on a wheel, will the up and down motion turn the wheel? I believe old pumps were built using this basic design, so I am hoping it will work.
Would everyone agree that this portion could be made to work so far? I never connected rods to the ends of the device. I simply got it to go up and down by itself, so if what I am proposing so far does not fall within the laws of physics, my idea won't work.
As to how I got it to go up and down by itself....
When end 1 is on the ground, it is aligned between two rows of magnets that form a magnetic track that force a steel ball or a roll of round magnets to roll up the ramp and over the top. The magnets do NOT go the length of ramp number one, but only far enough along the ramp to give the roll of magnets or ball the momentum it needs to get over the top where gravity can do its work.(I used a roll of round magnets with two steel wheels in place of two of the magnets so it could roll up flexible HO scale train track I had on my ramp.) When it goes over the top, gravity takes over and the ball or roll of magnets roll down the incline to the end. Side two is NOT in alignment with the magnets on its side until the weight rolls to the end and gravity causes it to slowly lower into place, at which point it comes into alignment with the magnets on that side, which now force it back in the opposite direction.
There are a ton of variables here. The weight of the ramp. The height of the center point, the strength of the magnets. The weight of the ball, The angle of the ramp. I fiddled with this for months and got mine to work. It ran continuously for several days before the wheels bound up one time and I had to restart it. A ball might work better because there is nothing to bind with then, but I am unsure how to do that. I bet there is someone here who can figure that out though.
Anyway, this is the idea I had. I built mine out of cutting board material and used the round magnets from Radio Shack that have a hole through the middle. I glued them onto a dowel to make a roll, and had two steel wheels that ran on railroad tracks. I believe I had to have a couple steel washers in that mix to get the wheels to line up correctly. The magnets along the outside of the track were also from radio shack but they were rectangular.
I intend to begin building this again, but I thought it would be interesting if some others would like to have a go at the same time to compare notes with during the building process. Obviously the bigger and heavier it is when completed, the better it would work as a motor, but the force exerted by the movement of the ramp will probably only equal the weight of the ball or roller. since all else is equal. A one pound ball would exert one pound of force on the rods to the motor. How practical this thing would be, I don't know. I would need an engineer to tell me that.