1. A wind turbine transmission system comprising:
a rotor;
at least one hydraulic pump coupled to the rotor;
a branch manifold having a trunk portion defining a main flow path connected to an outlet port of the hydraulic pump and a plurality of branch portions each defining a branch flow path extending from the main flow path;
a plurality of hydraulic motors each having an inlet port connected to at least one of the branch flow paths to provide fluid communication between the hydraulic pump and the plurality of hydraulic motors; and
a plurality of generators each coupled to at least one of the plurality of hydraulic motors.
2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of fluid return lines each connecting an outlet port of at least one of the plurality of hydraulic motors to an inlet port of the hydraulic pump.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the branch manifold includes a transition zone in which the plurality of branch flow paths have a total cross-sectional flow area that is substantially equal to a cross-sectional area of the main flow path.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the branch manifold includes a transition zone in which the plurality of branch flow paths are collinear with the main flow path.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the transition zone has a length of approximately two to three times a square root of a cross-sectional flow area of the main flow path.
6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of speed increasing gear mechanisms each connecting at least one of the plurality of hydraulic motors to at least one of the plurality of generators.
7. The system of any of claim 1, further comprising at least one fluid bypass line in fluid communication with at least one of branch flow paths to selectively divert hydraulic fluid from the at least one of the plurality of branch portions away from the corresponding at least one of the hydraulic motors.
8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a sensor in communication with the hydraulic pump, the sensor being configured to determine a pressure within the hydraulic pump and to direct hydraulic fluid from the at least one of the plurality of branch portions to the corresponding at least one fluid bypass line when the determined pressure is less than a predetermined threshold pressure.
9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a sensor in communication with the rotor, the sensor being configured to determine a rotational speed of the rotor and to direct hydraulic fluid from the at least one of the plurality of branch portions to the corresponding at least one fluid bypass line when the determined rotational speed is less than a predetermined threshold rotational speed.
10. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one fluid bypass line is connected to the hydraulic pump inlet port.
11. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one fluid bypass line is connected to the inlet port of another one of the plurality of hydraulic motors.
12. The system of claim 7, further comprising at least one switching valve connected with at least one of the branch flow paths for selectively directing hydraulic fluid to either one of the corresponding at least one hydraulic motor and the corresponding at least one fluid bypass line.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hydraulic pump comprises a reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pump.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one hydraulic pump comprises a plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps is out of phase with at least one of the remaining ones of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps is 90\xb0 out of phase with at least one of the remaining ones of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pump includes a slider crank mechanism having connection points provided with hydrostatic bearings.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein hydraulic fluid is provided to the hydrostatic bearings by the at least one reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pump.
19. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hydraulic pump is vertically aligned with the rotor, the plurality of hydraulic motors being vertically spaced apart from the hydraulic pump.
20. The system of claim 19, further comprising a fluid elevating device connected with the plurality of hydraulic motors, the fluid elevating device being configured to return hydraulic fluid from the plurality of hydraulic motors to the at least one hydraulic pump.
21. A method of generating power from a variable speed wind turbine, the method comprising:
positioning a rotor to face a wind current, the rotor being coupled to a hydraulic pump to pump a hydraulic fluid;
dividing the pumped hydraulic fluid into a plurality of branch flow paths;
directing the pumped hydraulic fluid through each of the plurality of branch flow paths to at least one of a plurality of hydraulic motors to drive the plurality of hydraulic motors; and
applying an output torque of each of the plurality of hydraulic motors to at least one of a plurality of generators for generating power.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising determining a rotational speed of the rotor and diverting the pumped hydraulic fluid away from at least one of the plurality of hydraulic motors when the determined rotational speed is less than a predetermined threshold rotational speed.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising determining a pressure within the hydraulic pump and diverting the pumped hydraulic fluid away from at least one of the plurality of hydraulic motors when the determined pressure is less than a predetermined threshold pressure.
24. The method of claim 21, further comprising recirculating the pumped hydraulic fluid from the plurality of hydraulic motors back to the hydraulic pump.
25. The method of claim 21, wherein dividing the pumped hydraulic fluid into the plurality of branch flow paths comprises directing the pumped hydraulic fluid through a branch manifold having a trunk portion defining a main flow path and a plurality of branch portions each defining one of the plurality of branch flow paths.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein the branch manifold includes a transition zone in which the plurality of branch flow paths have a total cross-sectional flow area that is substantially equal to a cross-sectional area of the main flow path.
27. The method of claim 25, wherein the branch manifold includes a transition zone in which the plurality of branch flow paths are collinear with the main flow path.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the transition zone has a length of approximately two to three times a square root of a cross-sectional area of the main flow path.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein the rotor is coupled to a plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
30. The method of claim 29, further comprising combining the pumped hydraulic fluid from the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps into a main flow path upstream from the plurality of branch flow paths.
31. The method of claim 29, wherein each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps is out of phase with at least one of the remaining ones of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
32. A branch manifold comprising:
a trunk portion defining a main flow path; and
a plurality of branch portions each defining a branch flow path, the plurality of branch portions collectively forming a transition zone in which each of the branch flow paths is collinear with the main flow path, and in which a total cross-sectional flow area of the branch flow paths is substantially equal to a cross-sectional area of the main flow path.
33. The branch manifold of claim 32, wherein the transition zone has a length of approximately two to three times a square root of a cross-sectional area of the main flow path.
34. A wind turbine transmission system comprising:
a rotor;
a plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps coupled to the rotor, with each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps including an intake port and a discharge port;
at least one hydraulic motor having an inlet port connected to at least one of the plurality of discharge ports to provide fluid communication between the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps and the at least one hydraulic motor; and
at least one generator coupled to the at least one hydraulic motor.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps is out of phase with at least one of the remaining ones of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
36. The system of claim 35, wherein each of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps is 90\xb0 out of phase with at least one of the remaining ones of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps.
37. The system of claim 34, wherein at least one of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pump includes a slider crank mechanism having connection points provided with hydrostatic bearings.
38. The system of claim 37, wherein hydraulic fluid is provided to the hydrostatic bearings by the at least one reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pump.
39. The system of claim 34, wherein at least one of the plurality of reciprocating hydraulic cylinder pumps includes a piston having first and second pressure relief devices disposed in the piston, the first pressure relief device permitting reverse flow through the piston as a result of fluid overpressurization outward of the piston, and the second pressure relief device permitting forward flow through the piston as a result of fluid overpressurization inward of the piston.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method, comprising:
at an electronic device having a processor and a memory:
while the device is subject to one or more environmental conditions, detecting the occurrence of an event; and
in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, determining a response to the event based on a current alert mode selected from a set of three or more alert modes, the selection based on the one or more environmental conditions, the determining a response includes:
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a first alert mode, outputting a first alert in response to the event; and
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a second alert mode, outputting a second alert in response to the event, wherein the second alert is different from the first alert.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the current alert mode is automatically selected based on the one or more environmental conditions prior detecting the occurrence of the event.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the current alert mode is automatically selected using an environmental sensor that is configured to detect the one or more environmental conditions.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein
the environmental sensor is a microphone configured to detect an ambient sound level, and
the current alert mode that is selected includes one or more of: a visual component that corresponds to the ambient sound level, an audio component that corresponds to the ambient sound level and a haptic component that corresponds to the ambient sound level.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein
the environmental sensor is a motion sensor configured to detect an activity level, and
the current alert mode that is selected includes one or more of: a visual component that corresponds to the activity level, an audio component that corresponds to the activity level and a haptic component that corresponds to the activity level.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein
the environmental sensor is an image sensor configured to detect an ambient light level, and
the current alert mode that is selected includes one or more of: a visual component that corresponds to the ambient light level, an audio component that corresponds to the ambient light level, and a haptic component that corresponds to the ambient light level.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein
the environmental sensor is a battery power sensor configured to detect a current battery level, and
the current alert mode that is selected includes one or more of an audio component and a haptic component, wherein an estimated peak power output of the current alert mode corresponds to the current battery level.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the current alert mode that is selected includes the audio component and the haptic component that are output at separate times to reduce the peak power output of the current alert mode.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the current alert mode that is selected includes one or more of: the audio component and the haptic component have a reduced amplitude to reduce the peak power output of the current alert mode.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein
the first alert mode includes a first haptic component and a first visual component, and
the second alert mode includes a second haptic component and no visual component.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein
the first alert mode includes a first audio component and a first haptic component, and
the second alert mode includes a second audio component and second haptic component, wherein the first audio and first haptic component are different than the second audio component and the second haptic component, respectively.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein
the first alert mode includes no audio component and no haptic component.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein
the first alert mode includes a first audio component and a first haptic component offset by a first delay, and
the second alert mode includes the first audio component and the first haptic component offset by a second delay that is different than the first delay.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after selecting the current alert mode, select a subsequent current alert mode based on a changed environmental condition.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the response to the event includes, in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a third alert mode, outputting a third alert in response to the event, wherein the third alert is different from the first alert and the second alert.
16. An electronic device, comprising:
an environmental sensor;
an output device including one or more of: a speaker, a display, a light source, and a haptic device;
one or more processors;
memory; and
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs include instructions for:
while the device is subject to one or more environmental conditions, detecting, using the processor, the occurrence of an event; and
in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, determining, using the processor, a response to the event based on a current alert mode selected from a set of three or more alert modes, the selection based on the one or more environmental conditions that are detected using the environmental sensor, the determining a response includes:
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a first alert mode, outputting, using the output device, a first alert in response to the event; and
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a second alert mode, outputting, using the output device, a second alert in response to the event, wherein the second alert is different from the first alert.
17. An electronic device, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory; and
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs include instructions for:
while the device is subject to one or more environmental conditions, detecting, using the processor, the occurrence of an event; and
in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, determining, using the processor, a response to the event based on a current alert mode selected from a set of three or more alert modes, the selection based on the one or more environmental conditions that are detected using an environmental sensor, the determining a response includes:
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a first alert mode, outputting, using an output device, a first alert in response to the event; and
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a second alert mode, outputting, using the output device, a second alert in response to the event, wherein the second alert is different from the first alert.
18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the environmental sensor is located in one of: a mobile telephone and a wearable electronic device, and
the output device is located in one of: a mobile telephone and a wearable electronic.
19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by an electronic device having one or more processors and memory, cause the device to:
while the device is subject to one or more environmental conditions, detect the occurrence of an event; and
in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, determine a response to the event based on a current alert mode selected from a set of three or more alert modes, the selection based on the one or more environmental conditions, the determining a response includes:
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a first alert mode, output a first alert in response to the event; and
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a second alert mode, output a second alert in response to the event, wherein the second alert is different from the first alert.
20. An electronic device, comprising:
one or more processors;
memory; and
means for, while the device is subject to one or more environmental conditions, detecting the occurrence of an event; and
means for, in response to detecting the occurrence of the event, determining a response to the event based on a current alert mode selected from a set of three or more alert modes, the selection based on the one or more environmental conditions, the determining a response includes:
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a first alert mode, outputting a first alert in response to the event; and
in accordance with a determination that the current alert mode is a second alert mode, outputting a second alert in response to the event, wherein the second alert is different from the first alert.