US 12,116,972 B2
Wave-powered towing apparatus
Jocelyn Raymond Fitzsimons, Cork (IE); Patrick Joseph Duffy, Blackrock (IE); and Cyril Kerr, Blackrock (IE)
Assigned to JOSPA LIMITED, Cork (IE)
Appl. No. 17/600,577
Filed by JOSPA LIMITED, Cork (IE)
PCT Filed Mar. 20, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/057828
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 30, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/200846, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 8, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19166737 (EP), filed on Apr. 2, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0178343 A1, Jun. 9, 2022
Int. Cl. F03B 13/18 (2006.01); B63B 21/56 (2006.01); B63B 35/32 (2006.01); B63H 19/04 (2006.01)
CPC F03B 13/181 (2013.01) [B63B 21/56 (2013.01); B63B 35/32 (2013.01); B63H 19/04 (2013.01); F05B 2240/931 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A wave-powered towing apparatus comprising:
a spine extending in a longitudinal direction and having a length of at least 100 m, and with a leading end and a trailing end;
a series of blades each mounted to the spine to rotate about an axis substantially transverse to the longitudinal direction, each blade having a first surface facing generally in a trailing end direction and a second surface facing generally in a leading end direction;
restraints preventing rotation of each blade by more than a pre-set amount towards the leading end, so that impingement of a wave on the first surface applies a force to the wave-powered towing apparatus in the leading end direction; and
an actuator arranged to retract the series of blades towards the spine or to remove constraints to render the series of blades disabled, and the constraints comprising restraint cables and the actuator comprising a linear actuator to adjust the restraint cables of the series of blades to allow the series of blades to pivot freely.