Is there any advantage to spinning (accelerating) perimeter cross blades as illustrated here:

 

http://elanetics.com/turbinearray.html

 

by their tips (by the magnetic coupling of center blades) as opposed to spinning them individually from the center with a generator/motor. Same energy required for both methods?

 

Need to know if this unique coupling plus unique magnetic involute gear configuratioin is worth anything. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

Don

OK, a few comments:

 

their website is short on details. Basic equations are there, but nothing that really explains much, like backing up "A magnetic gear (containing four teeth) will spin considerably faster than a physical gear of the same circumference."

 

The diagrams and video don't match up — all of the drawings I saw show axles closer than 2 x blade length, but this is not the case of their physical demonstration. I think there's a huge potential problem of arms hitting each other, if the magnetic coupling isn't all that strong.

 

The claim that made sense is that magnetic coupling has less friction, but whether that justifies the system isn't well-documented. There are losses in the form of eddy currents. There doesn't seem to be a discussion of the cost of running the whole thing in vacuum. They seem to have gone much more for more style than substance. There's much more there to impress the lay person than the technically-oriented one, IMO.

although Magnetic coupling for small application Clutches and slip-dif gears are used quite routinely, mostly in RC cars.

You nailed it with the comment "There's much more there to impress the lay person than the technically-oriented one, IMO" I had to smile after reading that because I'm the inventor, video guy, web designer and content manager of the Elanetics. I am a one man show. I have no formal training in mechanical or electrical engineering. So, the site is a bit light on the physics. I hired MagSoft Corp to provide a Feasibility Study on the magnetic coupling.

 

I can say that the magnetic coupling is very strong when the arms are just beyond touching. And the unique involute magnetic gear coupling does spin considerably faster then a physical gear using equal amounts of energy to spin. Decent explanation here:

 

http://elanetics.com/physicalgears.html

 

I just need to know if there is any value in any market for this unique technology. National and International patent searches turn up no prior art. It would be a shame to have something so unique that has no industrial utility.

 

Don

why do they need to spin at all.....just two stationary opposing magnets space....isnt that alone energy?