THI MONTUOLIULUTTURUS009866148B2 (12 ) United States Patent ( 10 ) Patent No. : US 9 , 866 , 148 B2 Petrowsky et al . (45 ) Date of Patent : Jan . 9 , 2018 ( 54 ) ELECTROSTATIC MACHINE SYSTEM AND ( 56 ) References Cited METHOD OF OPERATION (54 ) METHODO U . S . PATENT DOCUMENTS (71 ) Applicant : C -Motive Technologies Inc ., Madison , 2 ,417 ,850 A 3 / 1947 Winslow WI (US ) 3 ,094 ,653 A 6 / 1963 Le May et al . 3 , 400 , 282 A * 9 / 1968 Felici G01P 15 / 125 (72 ) Inventors : Matthew Aaron Petrowsky , San 310 / 300 Diego , CA (US ) ; Micah Jon Erickson , 3 , 433 , 981 A 3 / 1969 Bollee Newark , CA (US ) ; Daniel Colin 3 , 455 , 954 A 7 / 1969 Prager Ludois , Madison , WI (US ) ; William (Continued ) Mason , Brooklyn , WI (US ) ; Justin K . Reed , Madison , WI (US ) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS JP H04 - 183793 6 / 1992 ( 73 ) Assignee : C -Motive Technologies Inc. , Madison , RU 2414043 3 / 2011 WI (US ) (Continued ) ( * ) Notice : Subject to any disclaimer , the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 OTHER PUBLICATIONS U . S . C . 154 (b ) by 258 days . Coddington et al ., “ Operation of a dielectric motor with a low conductivity liquid ,” J. Phys . D : Appl. Phys. , revised Feb . 1970 , vol. ( 21 ) Appl. No. : 14 /716 , 725 3 , pp . 1212 - 1218 . (22 ) Filed : May 19 , 2015 ( Continued ) (65 ) Prior Publication Data Primary Examiner - Robert W Horn US 2016 /0099663 A1 Apr. 7 , 2016 (74 ) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Foley & Lardner LLP (57 ) ABSTRACT Related U . S . Application Data An illustrative electrostatic machine includes a shaft that is configured to rotate about an axis , a rotor electrode , and a (60 ) Provisional application No. 62/ 059 , 903, filed on Oct. stator electrode . The rotor electrode and the stator electrode 5 , 2014 are separated by a gap and form a capacitor . The rotor electrode is fixed to the shaft. The electrostatic machine can (51 ) Int . Cl. also include a housing that is configured to enclose the rotor HO2N 1 / 08 (2006 . 01) electrode, the stator electrode , and at least a portion of the ( 52 ) U . S . CI. shaft . The stator electrode is fixed to the housing . A dielec ??? .. .. HO2N 1/ 08 ( 2013 .01 ) tric fluid fills a void defined by the housing , the rotor ( 58 ) Field of Classification Search electrode, and the stator electrode . None See application file for complete search history . 20 Claims, 20 Drawing Sheets 630 620 630 615 625 UPLODOC 610 po 605 A LLIA . / / / ZA ? 600 US 9 ,866 , 148 B2 Page 2 ( 56 ) References Cited Felici, N , “ High - Field Conduction in Dielectric Liquids Revisited , " IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation vol. E1 - 20 , No. 2 , Apr. U . S . PATENT DOCUMENTS 1985 , pp . 233 -238 . Felici , N . J . “ Electrostatic generators , ” Electronics & Power, May 3 ,696 ,258 A * 10 / 1972 Anderson .. .. .. .. .. G04C 3 / 16 1965 , pp . 169 - 171. 310 / 10 Felici, N . J . , Ten Years of Research on Electrostatistics at the 3 , 948 , 788 A 4 / 1976 Munch University of Grenoble 1942 - 1952 ) , British Journal of Applied Physics , p . 862 - S67 , 1952 . 5 , 437 ,775 A 8 / 1995 Dittrich et al . Fogler, Michael , “ Electrostatics of two- dimensional structures : 6 , 353 ,276 B1 3 /2002 Gendron Exact Solutions and approximate methods, ” Physical Review B 69 , 8 ,779 ,647 B2 7 / 2014 Sashida pp . 245321 - 1 through 245321 - 15 , 2004 . 9 , 1841 , ,676070 B2BZ "* 11 / 20152015 Ludois . HO2N 1 /00 Ge et al . , “ Evaluation of Dielectric Fluids for Macro - Scale Elec 9 ,479 , 085 B1 * 10 / 2016 Ludois . .. .. .. .. HO2N 1 /004 trostatic Actuators and Machinery ," 2014 IEEE , pp . 1457 - 1464 . 9 ,571 ,010 B2 * 2 / 2017 Ludois .. HO2N 1 /00 Gung et al ., “ Preliminary Kerr Electro - Optic Field Mapping Mea 2005 /0006980 A1 1 / 2005 Horst surements in Propylene Carbonate Using Point- Plane Electrodes, " 2009 /0115285 Al 5 / 2009 Najafi et al . Journal of Electrostatics 46 , 1999 , pp . 79 - 89 . 2011/ 0232940 A1 9 / 2011 Hwang et al. Jefimenko ,Oleg D ., “ Electrostatic Motors , Their History , Types and 2013/ 0106317 Al 5 / 2013 Ludois Principles of Operation , ” Copyright 1973 by Electret Scientific 2013 /0300252 A1 11/ 2013 Johnson Company, 149 pages . 2014 /0175941 A1 6 / 2014 Johnson Krupa et al. , “ Main Modes of Electrohydrodynamic Spraying of 2015 / 0048716 AL 2 / 2015 Johnson Liquids, " Third International Conference on Multiphase Flow , 2015 /0134109 A1 * 5 / 2015 Zhou . HO2N 1 / 006 ICMF' 98 , Jun . 1998 , 8 pages 700 / 245 Niino et al , “ Electrostatic Artificial Muscle : Compact , High - Power 2016 / 0099663 A1 * 4 / 2016 Petrowsky .. .. .. HO2N 1 /08 Linear Actuators with Multiple- Layer Structures ,” pp . 130 - 135 , 310 / 300 1994 IEEE . 2016 /0211775 Al * 7 / 2016 Ge . .. .. .. .. HO2N 1 /08 Practical Dielectrics , Reading Shen and Kong Ch . 10 , MIT 2016 /0344306 A1 * 11/ 2016 Ge . HO2N 1 /08 OpenCourseWare , Spring 2011 , 6 . 007 Electromagnetic Energy : From Motors to Lasers . Roland Albers PH D Thesis, Technical University — Munich , Dis FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS sertation on Jan . 29 , 2001, 155 pages . English translation provided RU 2471283 12 / 2012 for relevant pp . 100 - 102 . SU 1069106 1 / 1984 Secker et al ., " A Simple Liquid Immersed Dielectric Motor, " WO WO -2006 / 102444 9 / 2006 Journal of Applied Physics , 39 , pp . 2957 -2961 ( 1968 ) . WO WO - 2012 / 102915 8 / 2012 Shenkman et al. , " A New Type of Capacitive Machine, ” Energy and Power Engineering , 2015 , , 7 pp . 31 - 40 , published online Feb . 2015 , Scientific Research Publishing . OTHER PUBLICATIONS The Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter, electric performance of a high voltage prototype. , Dec . 10 , 2008 , 189 pages . Crossland et al. , Mechanical to electrical energy conversion in a Vanslette , R . A . , “ Torque Generation using Ferroelectric Materials ," hybrid liquid -solid dielectric electrostatic generator, Journal of IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. Applied Physics 106 , published online Aug. 31, 2009 , 4 pages. AES - 1 , No. 2 , Oct . 1965 , pp . 124 - 128 . Dittrich et al. , “ Abatement of High - Field Conduction in Liquid International Search Report and Written Opinion issued on PCT / Dielectrics by Electrode Conditioning with Non - ionic Cage -Form US2015 /053746 , dated Jan . 28 , 2016 . ing Polymers : A Novel Avenue to High - Power Engineering , " 2000 International Preliminary Report on Patentability for PCT/ US2015 / Lyonel Baum , 5 pages. 053746 , dated Apr . 11 , 2017 . Dittrich et al. , “ Abatement of injection currents in propylene carbonate , " taken from IEEE Periodical 1990 , pp . 166 - 170 . * cited by examiner U . S . Patent Jan . 9 , 2018 Sheet 1 of 20 US 9 , 866 , 148 B2 105 FIG.1B 100 105 FIG.1A U . S . Patent Jan . 9 , 2018 Sheet 2 of 20 US 9 , 866 , 148 B2 * *** wf++ 205 FIG.2B 200 205 FIG.2A U . S . Patent Jan . 9 , 2018 Sheet 3 of 20 US 9 , 866 , 148 B2 100 se . 115. 200 FIG.3B wwwYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY 205 + + - ototorteeth - SetSoos - + + FIG.3A ??????? 105 ??????? .more potortooth U . S . Patent Jan . 9 , 2018 Sheet 4 of 20 US 9 , 866 , 148 B2 100 Won 200 N *** BAND FIG.3C 100 X4141 200 000 ha 000000014 U . S . 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