Pneumatic operated devices are well known in the prior art and are used in a wide variety of applications and fields. Pneumatic engines are also capable of replacing most electric powered or battery powered engines. Various problems however, exist in prior art pneumatic operated devices that are realized and solved by the present invention, such as size limitations, simplicity, and efficiency.
A typical prior art pneumatic operated device, such as a toy car, requires at the very least a reservoir to hold a pressurized fluid and a pneumatic motor or mechanism, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,806 to Akiyama. However, a prior art pneumatic power supply requires complicated intake and exhaust manifolds between the pneumatic engine and reservoir, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,517 to Kowanacki. In addition, some pneumatic operated devices include refillable reservoirs that incorporate complicated pressure release valves to vent excessive pressure inside the reservoir, also illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,806. All of the above complicates the manufacturing of the pneumatic power supply and increases the likelihood that an individual part will break making the device inoperable.
A need, therefore, exists to improve upon the prior art pneumatic operated devices. Such an improvement should simplify the manufacturing by eliminating the need for complicated mechanisms and eliminate tubes or channels leading to and from the individual components. Such an improvement will further provide for a pneumatic power supply that is smaller, lighter, compact, and less expensive than other prior art motors.
In addition, most non-tethered pneumatic devices use plastic bottles (or even metal) for the reservoir to which the pneumatic mote is in someway attached thereto. A bottle is typically used because the shape of a typical bottle holds pressurized fluid the best. The bottle combined with the fact that the motor is externally attached is one reason that pneumatic products have to be larger than need be and more importantly, the bottle size and shape can have an effect on the styling of the item, if the item is to be as small as it can possible be. It is therefore a further improvement to have a pneumatic motor attached within the reservoir, which permits a motor output shaft can extend out of the reservoir at any desired location as opposed to hanging off the end of a bottle.
In addition, the size of the product will be dependent upon all of the parts. A benefit realized by the present invention is that size could be minimized while maximizing the use of the space, allowing pneumatic operated devices to be extremely small because of the simplicity of the invention. However, on the other extreme, because of the simplicity of the invention it is also extremely easy to make a pneumatic power supply, in accordance with the embodiments herein, larger. As such, the present invention finds applicability in full size compressed fluid-powered engines, such as described by U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,519. It being further understood that the duration of the operation of the motor is dependent on the size of the motor and the size of the reservoir. Therefore, to maximize duration in any pneumatically operated device it becomes necessary to have the shape of the reservoir conform to the shape of the device; bottles however, do not provide such conformity. In some embodiments of the present invention, the pneumatic motor is integrated and secured entirely within the reservoir further reducing product design limitations.