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:
Aug. 02, 1988
Filed:
Jul. 02, 1987
Stephen E Thomas, Fremont, CA (US);
Mark S Thomas, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Other;
Abstract
A wheel mounted hub containing an electrical generator which is pivotally supported in arms of a yoke. The yoke and generator have an offset center of gravity, tending to give the yoke and generator a pendulum-like behavior within the housing. During wheel rotation, the generator tends to remain along a gravitational line of force, forcing a small wheel associated with the generator to turn against the hub. Around the outer periphery of the yoke, yet within the hub housing, is a circuit board which carries a power utilization circuit, so that the electrical path between the generator and the utilization circuit is very short. The circuit board may carry auxiliary circuits such as a current limiter, a generator disengaging circuit, a daylight deactivating circuit and a circuit for allowing operation regardless of direction of rotation.