The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 25, 1984
Filed:
Apr. 06, 1982
Kenneth N Bates, Redmond, WA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A solar collector is provided in which a focussing element precisely focusses solar radiation upon a collecting region of a collecting element during all times of the day, without necessitating daily motion of the focussing element. The collecting region is constructed to be more highly absorbing of the solar radiation than any other region of the collector which might be in thermal contact with the collecting region. In some embodiments, the collecting region is a self-defined portion of the collecting element upon which the solar radiation is focussed at any given time. This is achieved by utilizing a collecting element which locally converts incident solar energy to another form of energy in a non-linear manner as a function of incident solar intensity. For example, the collecting element may be fabricated from a photochromic glass which darkens when impinged upon by the focussed radiation of the sun. The collecting region is automatically self-defined by the local darkened region of the photochromic glass, which traverses the collector as the sun traverses the sky.