Kamen's Stirling Engine

[Deepuz]

News articles are stirring again about Dean Kamen's stirling cycle engine. Ginger was Segway, could this be IT?

This, to my mind, fits the leaked Ginger book proposal hyperbolic quotes more than the Segway, but I think Kamen see its all as the same master plan for clean water, transportation and energy.

This could be BIG if his engineers have ironed out the problems of heat transfer / materials and design that have hindered a mass-produced consumer stirling until now.

Deka's Stirling (http://www.theunionleader.com/Articles_show.html?article=10429&archive=1)

Deka link and pic (http://www.dekaresearch.com/coreTech.html)

[goofyfish]

Kamen gave a demonstration of Ginger to a number of “New Economy” heavyweights including Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com, Steve Jobs from Apple, Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, and journalist Steve Kemper. Kemper submitted a proposal to the Harvard Business School press on Ginger, which culminated in the $250,000 book deal. Details from the proposal (as reported by Inside.com) include: IT is not a medical invention.

There may be two versions of IT, called Metro and Pro

Bezos reportedly said that IT "is a product so revolutionary, you'll have no problems selling it."

Kemper said it will "sweep over the world and change lives, cities, and ways of thinking."

Jobs was quoted as saying, "If enough people see the machine, you won't have to convince them to architect cities around it. It'll just happen."Bezos was apparently so intrigued with Ginger that he's already selling it - sort of. Amazon.com has posted a page ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000059MSD/103-4918485-6175053) on its site featuring the mysterious IT, with a picture featuring a beanie-wearing question mark on top of two wheels.

For those not familiar with the Sterling Engine, The Sterling Engine Society (www.sesusa.org/) might be a good place to start.

Peace.

[wet1]

I don't know. Maybe it's the tone but it sounds over advertised. Like if we can just create a demand for it by advertising then it will sell itself.

Even the rollouts are designed to attract attention in hopes that more interest will generate sales.

Permission to use on sidewalks with pedestrains? That sounds like a nightmare in metropolises like NYC. Guess I'm just old fashioned.

[goofyfish]

Patent No. 20020029567 (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=stirling&s2=kamen&OS=stirling+AND+kamen&RS=stirling+AND+kamen)

Patent No. 20010032452 (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=stirling&s2=kamen&OS=stirling+AND+kamen&RS=stirling+AND+kamen)

One patent suggests the engine under development can run on fuels from cow dung to nuclear material and everything in between, while giving off virtually no pollutants. One key improvement to in the new applications is the design of the heat exchanger that appears to be cast instead of welded. This may help in mass production of the engines, and make them cheaper to produce with less costly materials.

Peace.