Solar collector
US4492424A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 10, 1981 |
| Grant date | Jan 8, 1985 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 10, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S385/90
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The disclosure is a solar collector consisting of glass rods enclosed in a housing and mounted vertically on a roof or other elevated place to gather solar rays. The collector is fixed, with no tracking device or other moving parts. The glass rods are 6 mm or smaller in diameter, and there can be several thousand, depending on the sizes of the rods and collector. The upper ends of the rods are inclined at an angle of thirty degrees from horizontal, with the inclined surfaces occupying a plane which faces south so as to obtain maximum exposure to the winter sun. Solar rays striking the inclined ends of the rods are refracted into the rods. The rays travel down through the rods, with a predominantly parallel path of propagation being established by repeated reflections off the inside walls of the rods. The rays are emitted from the lower perpendicular ends of the rods as parallel rays of incoherent light which are directed into beam concentrators.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.