Saw this interesting idea in a
local news story. I'm not schooled in this area and have no idea if the concept has merit, so was hoping others with knowledge of transportation power might weigh in on the idea. I don't like the term "perpetual motion machine" which just equates in my mind with "impossible", but the rest of the ideas outlined seem..... interesting?
" "West Fargo inventor creates 'perpetual motion machine' which could power car for 50,000 miles without fossil fuels."
WEST FARGO — Ernie Brookins has already
led an accomplished life, but the 79-year-old West Fargo inventor hopes to add one more achievement to his résumé: changing the world. Brookins — alongside his wife Gail — announced Thursday, Oct. 22, that Brookins Clutch and Transmission moved one step closer to obtaining a patent for what the United States Patent and Trademark Office termed a "perpetual motion machine." According to Brookins, the machine, a hydraulic hybrid system, creates more power than it takes in and could power a car for 50,000 miles without fossil fuels.
"What that means is that my pickup doesn’t need an engine. It's all self-contained in the pickup," Brookins said, referencing the 1980 Chevrolet he's used as a test vehicle throughout the process. "You pre-charge it one time and you can drive it, as long as nothing leaks, for 50,000 miles."
The latest patent application, Brookins said, is the closest he's come to completing the
project. Brookins, who formerly owned A Transmission
City in West Fargo, holds nine automotive patents dating back to 1996. The pending patent application, titled "All Hydraulic Automotive Self-Contained Drive System for Producing More Power Than is Taken in Using Two On-Board Power Systems and No Internal Combustion Engine", differs from a previous patent which the couple lost to in a lawsuit equipment manufacturing giant Caterpillar. "My mother said, 'You know when your invention is good when somebody wants to steal it.'," Ernie joked of the couple's federal court battle with Caterpillar. In 2016, Brookins argued that Caterpillar was infringing on his clutch patent. The Illinois-based manufacturer subsequently filed an Inter Partes Review questioning whether or not Brookins
should have gotten the patent in the first place.
The USPTO sided with Caterpillar, after which Brookins alleged Caterpillar made fraudulent statements during the Inter Partes Review. Brookins filed suit in the Cass County District Court, but the case was dismissed in federal court in January. Now, Ernie disconnected the internal combustion engine, resulting in a drive system that does not use gas. "We've tested it a lot," Brookins said, though the test pickup doesn't yet run exclusively on hydraulic power. The engine has stayed attached to power the onboard computing system and power steering, without which the vehicle would be inoperable. With a few more parts he expects to have the test pickup running exclusively on hydraulic power soon.
Replacing the internal combustion engine will be "accumulators" which capture
energy that Brookins said would otherwise be wasted. "Every time you go down the road and back off the gas to slow down, you've wasted a bunch of energy," he explained. "Instead of wasting it, I'm capturing it." While firms such as Tesla have led a recent proliferation in electric vehicles, Brookins believes his hydraulic system is a less costly method to curtailing global warming. "Electric cars are very good, but they need charging stations," he said. "With electric, the trouble is it's going to cost us a lot of money because we'll have to put in thousands of charging stations."
Another issue Brookins cited with electric vehicles is the length of time it takes to charge. What an electric charger can accomplish in two hours, Brookins system can do in six seconds, he claimed. As opposed to electric cars, the hydraulic system would also cut down on the need for fossil fuels. According to the United States Energy Information Administration, fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal,
petroleum and other gases accounted for roughly 63% of 2019's electricity generation in the country. Renewable sources hydropower, wind, biomass,
solar and geothermal combine to account for approximately 18% of electricity generation.
"Our biggest problem is global warming," Brookins said. "We're never going to replace fossil fuels because of airplanes, but we can replace all of the other fossil fuels and the trains going down the railroad tracks full of coal." Despite North Dakota's standing as a top-10 national producer of both natural gas and coal, Brookins wants to produce his fossil fuel-free hydraulic drive systems in the state. "I do believe we can get it done right here in town," he said.
Brookins said he is in talks with a business associate in California, his
native state, to bring his technology to the Golden State. He envisioned the first implementation would be installing the hydraulic drive system on commercial vehicles such as city buses and delivery vehicles. "California wants as many as we can produce in the first year, which would be a couple thousand," he said.
In the private sector, Brookins is working with International Trucks to implement his system on semi trucks. For consumer vehicles, he plans to license the technology through his North Dakota-based company Warp Speed Torque Drive. Brookins doesn't intend to stop with motor vehicles. He envisions using the technology in generators, which he claimed could run entire buildings without an external power source. The system could also be used to increase the longevity of windmills, he added. Windmills are often difficult to repair because the access roads built to construct them are typically returned to farmland after construction.
Private investors have financed their endeavors. The couple offers shares of potential future profits, selling 160 shares for $2,500,
enough keep the project moving forward, Ernie said. "How many people do you know who can actually change the world?" Brookins asked. "We've got it in our hands and I think we're going to get the job done." ... "
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