This would make a good elevator. Not a lift, but what Heinlein would have called a bounce tube, something you step into in order to be gently lowered to the ground floor.
It's also how the brakes in a hybrid or plug-in car help recharge the motive batteries. However, there's a considerable amount of heat generated by the process; that might need to be bled off.
Another problem: I couldn't take the spinning. I can't even do merry-go-rounds.
For a drop tube, no need for anything more than a piston in a cylinder -have a controlled venting so you can drop fast or slow as desired. You could even strategically locate the vents to get the "Marilyn over the street grate" effect!
You can use cheaper materials for that, too. And it wouldn't be too hard to automate the amount of venting so you'd get a reasonably consistent drop regardless of the weight standing on the platform.
probably it could be done with a flexible vane- then direct the waste air over a reed or edge and make the worlds biggest woodwind ! Musical one way elevator. If only the way up was so easy. I do know a pipe organ maker who has a musical door- open the door and it pulls a bellows that pipes a note- very cool!
It's also how the brakes in a hybrid or plug-in car help recharge the motive batteries. However, there's a considerable amount of heat generated by the process; that might need to be bled off.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem: I couldn't take the spinning. I can't even do merry-go-rounds.
Eric Hines
For a drop tube, no need for anything more than a piston in a cylinder -have a controlled venting so you can drop fast or slow as desired. You could even strategically locate the vents to get the "Marilyn over the street grate" effect!
ReplyDeleteYou can use cheaper materials for that, too. And it wouldn't be too hard to automate the amount of venting so you'd get a reasonably consistent drop regardless of the weight standing on the platform.
ReplyDeleteEric Hines
probably it could be done with a flexible vane- then direct the waste air over a reed or edge and make the worlds biggest woodwind ! Musical one way elevator. If only the way up was so easy.
ReplyDeleteI do know a pipe organ maker who has a musical door- open the door and it pulls a bellows that pipes a note- very cool!