Energy Redirecting Device

Abstract

A system for a renewable source of energy may include a light concentration device to collect and concentrate sunlight, a light transmission device to transmit the collected and concentrated sunlight, and a light receiving device to receive the collected and concentrated sunlight and to convert the sunlight to heat. The light receiving device may be a clothes dryer, and the clothes dryer may include a rotating drum having a window to receive the sunlight. The light receiving device may be an oven, and the light receiving device may be is used to create light in a darkened area. The light concentrating device may be a convex lens, and the light transmitting device may be a fiber-optic cable. The light transmitting device may be a pipe.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an energy redirecting device and more particularly to a renewable energy redirecting device.

BACKGROUND

Renewable and alternative energy sources are playing a greater role in reducing the dependence on oil as a primary energy source. Wind energy has played a significant role in generating electrical power that is applied to the electrical grid. In addition, the use of solar energy in this same fashion has increased substantially over the past few years. The use of these and other alternative energy sources will play an increasingly important role in the future with respect to the sourcing and distributing of energy.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,730 discloses an optical waveguide includes a substrate, a core formed on the substrate and serving as a passageway for light, and a metal film, in which at least a portion of the core is covered with the metal film. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,893 discloses that sunlight is localized at a solar cell by means of a lens in conjunction with a solar energy trap with very low losses. The lens is a standard magnifying lens which concentrates the sunlight to a spot which is a small percentage of the total area of the lens. The lens is fixed at a tilt angle which is in accordance with the latitude of the site of the solar collection. The daily arc of the sun across the face of the lens produces a smooth arc path of the spot in three dimensional spaces. At or near the smooth arc in space, a guide which may be a secondary mirror surface or an opening guides the light into a solar trap. The solar trap is a fully mirrored enclosed space which permits light to enter but not leave the trap. The light in the trap is guided to a solar cell within the trap with reflected and scattered light being absorbed by the solar cell. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

SUMMARY

A system for a renewable source of energy may include a light concentration device to collect and concentrate sunlight, a light transmission device to transmit the collected and concentrated sunlight, and a light receiving device to receive the collected and concentrated sunlight and to redirect and convert the sunlight to heat.

The light receiving device may be a clothes dryer, and the clothes dryer may include a rotating drum having a window to receive the sunlight.

The light receiving device may be an oven, and the light receiving device may be is used to create light in a darkened area.

The light concentrating device may be a convex lens, and the light transmitting device may be a fiber-optic cable.

The light transmitting device may be a pipe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a building with a renewable energy savings device;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a convex lens to be used with the renewable energy saving device;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of a clothes dryer to be used with the renewable energy saving device;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the clothes dryer to be used with the renewable energy saving device;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the rotating drum of the clothes dryer.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of an oven to be used with the renewable energy saving device;

FIG. 7 illustrates a another side view of the oven;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of the optical waveguide of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of the optical waveguide of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the rotating drum of the clothes dryer of the present invention;

FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the oven to be used with the renewable energy savings device;

FIG. 12 illustrates a darkened area to be used with the renewable energy savings device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As the energy requirements throughout the world increases, increasing the energy efficiency is one of many ways to satisfy the energy requirements. The production of energy from non-renewable sources should be minimized in order to preserve these non-renewable energy sources. In consideration of these factors, whenever a natural and abundant energy source can be utilized, this energy source should be leveraged in order to provide efficiencies to eliminate non-renewable sources of energy.

In particular, the light from the sun (sunlight) has been underused as an redirected energy source for lighting areas which have been traditionally lit by energy consuming light bulbs.

Clothes dryers consume a large amount of energy to heat and dry the clothing within the clothes dryer. The clothes dryers are operated frequently especially in large households.

The present invention may include a renewable energy source 100 which may utilize sunlight from the Sun and channels and redirects it through a pipeline/waveguide which may include fiber optics or light absorbing tubes where the sunlight will be transmitted to the light receiving device which may be a clothes dryer, an oven or a darkened area. Furthermore since the sunlight may include ultraviolet radiation, applying the sunlight to a clothes dryer will disinfect the clothes by utilizing the ultraviolet rays.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 of the present invention and may include a building 113 which may be a residential building or may be a commercial building to collect, redirect, utilize and concentrate solar energy 115. The building 113 will be described as a residential building, but the teachings are equally applicable to a commercial building. The building 113 may include a roof 119 to cover an attic 101, and the building 113 may include a bedroom 107 and a bathroom 103 positioned under the attic 101 and may form a portion of the upstairs of the building 113. The upstairs of the building 113 may be positioned over the downstairs which may include a family room 105 which may be adjacent to a kitchen 111 which may be adjacent to the utility room 109. Other configurations are well within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 additionally illustrates a sunlight collection apparatus which may be positioned on the roof 119 of the building 113 and may be movable in order to follow the sun in order to substantially maximize the sun collection. The sun collection apparatus may include a light collection device 131 which may be a convex lens as illustrated in FIG. 2. The convex lens may have the focal length set appropriately to the needs of the heating/illumination of the building 113. The light collection device 131 may include mirrors to focus the sunlight on the light collection device 131 which may concentrate and redirect the sunlight. The light collection device 131 may be connected to a light passageway or optical waveguide 133 which may transmit and redirect the concentrated sunlight from the light collection device 131 to the light receiving device 135 which may be a dryer, a cooking range, a lighting device to provide illumination or other appropriate device requiring physical light or heat or a combination. An optical waveguide 133 may include cores serving as a passageway for light and formed in a predetermined pattern, and an under cladding layer and an over cladding layer formed so as to cover the cores. The under cladding layer cores and an over cladding layer may be formed on a substrate to form the optical waveguide.

The refractive index of the above-mentioned cores is made higher than that of the under cladding layer and the over cladding layer so that light passing inside the cores does not exit from the cores. The cores, the under cladding layer and the over cladding layer may be in general made of a synthetic resin or other appropriate material.

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of clothes dryer 301 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and illustrates the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301. The optical waveguide 133 may extend through the outer surface of the clothes dryer 301 and may include a light diffuser 305 to diffuse the concentrated and redirected sunlight through a window 307 which may be positioned in the sidewall 309 of the clothes dryer 301. The window 307 may be transparent and formed from plastic or hardened glass in order to allow the sunlight to be transmitted through the window 307 to heat the interior of the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301 and to radiate the clothes within the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the clothes dryer 301 in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and illustrates the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301. The optical waveguide 133 may extend through the outer surface of the clothes dryer 301 and may include a light diffuser 305 to diffuse the concentrated sunlight through a window 307 which may be positioned in the sidewall 309 of the clothes dryer 301. The window 307 may be transparent and formed from plastic or hardened glass in order to allow the sunlight to be transmitted through the window 307 to heat the interior of the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301 and to radiate the clothes within the rotating drum 303 of the clothes dryer 301.

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of the rotating drum 303 and illustrates the windows 307.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of an oven 601 with the optical waveguide 133 being connected to oven top burner elements 603.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the oven 601 with the optical waveguide 133 being connected to the internal oven 701.

FIG. 8 illustrates a first optical waveguide 133 which may be a fiber optic cable, and FIG. 9 illustrates a second optical waveguide 133 which may be a light transmitting pipe which may be used with the renewable energy device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the rotating drum 303 and the window 307.

FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the oven 701.

FIG. 12 illustrates a perspective view of a darkened area 1201 and lighting device 1203 which are connected to the optical waveguide 133.

In operation, sunlight enters the light concentration device 131 to be concentrated and is transmitted by being redirected to the optical waveguide 133 where the concentrated light is transmitted to the light receiving device 135. The light receiving device 135 may be a clothes dryer having a rotating drum with a window to allow the light to reach the interior of a rotating drum.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.

Claims

1) A system for a renewable source of energy, comprising:

a light concentration device to collect and concentrate sunlight;

a light transmission device to transmit and redirect the collected and concentrated sunlight;

a light receiving device to receive the collected, redirected and concentrated sunlight and to convert the sunlight to heat.

2) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light receiving device is a clothes dryer.

3) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 2, wherein the clothes dryer includes a rotating drum having a window to receive the sunlight.

4) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light receiving device is an oven.

5) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light receiving device is used to create light in a darkened area.

6) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light concentrating device is a convex lens.

7) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light transmitting device is a fiber-optic cable.

8) A system for a renewable source of energy as in claim 1, wherein the light transmitting device is a pipe.