|
Top
100
|
|
|
|
|
|
click
to enlarge |
INDIANA, USA -- Skateboarders may soon be able to ride around 30%
farther, faster, and longer for each push of their board, thanks to a magnet
power design James Morris is taking to market.
After two years of development work, Morris completed a production prototype of
just such a skateboard, last Saturday.
Morris thinks the novelty of the power assist effect will drive sales. "And
you only need one per skateboard, though having two would give that much more of
the effect," he said. "You get on this thing, and it goes like twice
as far for the same push."
Morris expects that by November 1, the first units will be available
commercially, in the form of trucks -- the two-wheel assembly that fits on a
skateboard. Morris projects that each truck will cost around $60.00, which
is nearly twice the industry standard price for high-end trucks. Morris
thinks the novelty of the power assist effect will drive sales. "And
you only need one per skateboard, though having two would give that much more of
the effect," he said. The truck axle will be made of stainless steel
and aircraft aluminum, and has 14 holes drilled in it for magnet placement.
The underlying technology does not serve as a prime mover, neither is it merely
a matter of providing near frictionless carriage. It doesn't provide the
input energy, which is what Steorn
of Ireland is claiming with their recent announcement of a free-energy-producing
magnet motor. Rather, the Morris axle augments a given input. The
engineers refer to it as "power assist" or "augmenting
friction".
The provisional patent titled "Permanent Magnetic Motor Axle" has been
filed in the United States. International patent protections have also been
initiated.
With the proof of principle rumbling about in the streets in defiance of known
laws of physics, other applications will follow in quick succession. When
the kids are fired up about this new contraption, adding it to their "must
have" list, and showing it to everyone they know including their
scientifically-indoctrinated parents, it will be harder for naysayers to keep
claiming, "That's impossible."
Applications
Morris says the technology can be used to assist any kind of axle or drive shaft
such as are found in connection with the motors and engines on all vehicles,
planes, trains, and ships. Existing energy-generating devices with
rotational mechanisms, from coal-fired plants to wind turbines could have their
output enhanced. Retrofit kits could be installed on existing drive shafts
which function primarily in one direction.
Those applications will require a great deal of prototype testing time.
Morris wanted to get the technology to market fast, and decided on the
skateboard application to introduce it to the world. The novelty industry
is much more forgiving than the higher-priced and more serious fields of
transportation and electrical energy. Starting with the skateboard industry will
help to break the academic ice as to whether such things are possible.
Market acceptance there may help to break the logjam of financing additional
research and development to characterize the effect, optimize the design, and
scale it to the myriad of other applications that are expected to be possible.
The production prototype has not yet been tested as to its efficiency
ratios. The input versus output proportions have not yet been quantified
experimentally. That is coming soon, according to Morris.
Drawbacks
 Sport skateboarders rely entirely on gravity for their speed. The axle assist would purportedly enhance that speed. Urban board users simply roll down handrails and other slopes and sail off into the air, then crash down onto solid pavement, creating tremendous shock to the trucks. Image Source: SpohnRanch.com (with permission) |
The magnet assist is a unidirectional effect. Push the skateboard forward,
and it goes much further in that direction than otherwise. Push it backward, and
the magnets have a braking effect. This might even put a brake on sales, insofar
as some sport riders may be using the board's ability to go in either direction
when doing leaps and loops, going up and down ramps while grabbing edges and
grabbing air in "vert" competitions.
The braking effect in the other direction could be used beneficially as well.
With magnets fitted into metal holes, another issue will be fracturing of
brittle magnets from the repeated concussions of skateboard action. The N35
neodymium magnets Morris plans to use are prone to fracturing, and
skateboarders, especially those who perform jumps from ramps or railings, are
not exactly known for being gentle riders. Future versions will probably need to
have more pliable housing to cushion the otherwise hard jolts, or some new form
of magnet may be needed.
New Energy Congress member Paul
Noel recommends adding Nylon or Teflon impact bushings on the magnet shafts.
These are commonly used on magnetic bearings to prevent the impact
disintegration. Morris appreciates suggestions such as this and said he
would definitely include something like this in the next version.
Those who purchase the first units will no doubt need to be patient with this
non-field-tested technology. They themselves will serve as the beta testing
crew. In the immediate future, they will need to be prepared to occasionally
replace broken magnets in their trucks. The vigorous sport of skateboarding will
be a rigorous testing and proving ground for the technology, helping to knock it
into shape in preparation for more industrial applications.
Where Next?
After the skateboard, Morris' next design, already in the works, will be for the
axle of a large tricycle that could be used for recreational transport. This
might move forward pun intended the whole field of human-powered
vehicles for commuters. Backyard inventors have been hard at work for some years
pushing the evolution of cycles with and without electrical assist; paired
wheels on a front or rear axle for stability; aerodynamic housings, doors, cargo
space, and windshields; directional signal lights front and back; and other
features that serious riders may want.
There is a type of skateboard that is always unidirectional, and that's the
"scooter". This more sedate recreational device has a front-end
handle, and is pushed with one foot while the other remains on the board.
The low-impact scooter might be a better place to start with this technology. It
might even use the same size of mechanism so no redesign would be needed, just a
shift of aim at a different demographic. Scooter users -- which might include a
higher percentage of girls -- would probably appreciate more effective pushing.
Hatching the Idea
Morris works as a web press operator -- not "web" as in Internet,
but "web press" in its older meaning of hard-copy printing press. One
might think that his watching those rollers spin minute by minute, hour after
hour, day after day, for years might have influenced him to invent this
permanent magnet motor axle.
However, Morris says that in actuality, the idea was hatched a couple of years
ago when a friend wanted to invent a Jewish-oriented toy school bus to sell to
the Jewish community. Morris wanted the toy to roll "as if by
magic". Once the axle concept was developed, he decided to go with
the skateboard application, and to appeal to a wider market.
Skateboards first came out when Morris was a kid. He remembers the first
ones. "They were straight, small, had metal wheels borrowed from
girls' roller skates," he said. Perhaps in as many years from now,
Morris' axle assist via magnet power technology will be as well-developed and
widespread as the skateboard is now, if not more so. The number of
applications certainly go far beyond just skateboarding. "It was
called street surfing", he recalls. Morris uses the 60's surfer
reference "Mad Dog" in his business email address.
About Morris Magnetic Enterprises
James Morris has been developing this magnet-assist axle concept as an
individual and has brought in the necessary expertise as needed: attorneys to
assist with the patents, and engineers to assist with the design and
fabrication. Morris hired Reynolds
Design in Georgia to help with the engineering to build a production
prototype. Reynolds is now building molds for manufacturing the trucks.
Now that he is ready to go to market, he is assembling a team to operate the
company that will likely be called "Morris Magnetic Enterprises".
# # #
SOURCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
CONTACT
See also
|
||||
|
||||
| Page composed by Sterling
D. Allan Sept. 12, 2006 Last updated September 13, 2006 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Feed