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Hand Recharger.

 for really remote work sites.
 
(+2, -2) 		  [vote for,
against]

A drill wired so that turning the bit part (not sure of acutal name) recharges batteries, for use when you forgot your charger but need to get that screw in that last inch after your battery dies..

and yes i am well aware that a hand tool would do the same work with less energy than turning this drill to charge it would, but i want the satisfying whrrrrrr noise whenever i drive a screw, even if it leads to tennis elbow.

edit: afterthought/joke removed.

—bleh, Jul 31 2006

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       <pops head above parapet> make an mp3 of the sound and use a hand tool! <ducks and braces for grenade>
—methinksnot, Jul 31 2006
   

       We've discussed wind up battery rechargers before. Don't think anyone ever suggested using a drill before, tho.
—DrCurry, Aug 01 2006
   

       //make an mp3 of the sound and use a hand tool!//   

       what do i do when my mp3 player battery dies?
—bleh, Aug 02 2006
   

       You're using energy from one battery to charge another one which you're then going to put to the same use... fishbone.
—moomintroll, Aug 02 2006
   

       /(not sure of acutal name)/   

       It's name is "chuck".
—Galbinus_Caeli, Aug 02 2006
   

       //you're using energy from one battery to charge another one which you're then going to put to the same use... fishbone.//   

       the Idea is to charce a drill by turning its chuck, not charging one battery with another. that was just an afterthought/ joke.
—bleh, Aug 02 2006
   

       Get rid of the afterthough/joke, and you might have a workable idea. Of course, hand cranking the chuck enough to make it whirr in the screws will take a lot more effort that hand cranking the screw itself using a screwdriver.   

       Perhaps youy could install a dynamo (such as the dynamo flashlights) into the trigger. Then every time you pull the trigger, it will trickle charge the battery a worthlessly minute amount, and when it's finally dead, you just turn off the power, and dyanmo pull the trigger a thousand times or so. This would at least make the cranking part a different motion than the screwing in motion of turning the chuck.
—ye_river_xiv, Aug 02 2006
   

       Um, the planetary reducing gears on a drill are usually meant to be one-way, ie if you "drive" the motor by turning the chuck, you'll be wearing out the gearbox. [as a mech eng i'm not sure exactly why this is so, perhaps it is a shock-loading issue, as the gearbox is reversible... I'm out of ideas] Solve that problem, and the rest would be pretty easy in terms of bypassing the H-bridge or whatever PWM circuit that's in use, and simply running current back across the battery. I'd suggest having a tool of some sort, perhaps with a torque reducer to make the task easier. But then again, you'd be better off carrying hand tools or a spare battery?
—Custardguts, Aug 03 2006
   

       how about a flywheel that attaches into the chuck?   

       and about running out the gearbox.. i had no idea, seems like they would have to work both ways. do they not just change polarity to change direction? <sorry if thats a stupid question, i havent gotten to the classes on electroincs yet, i just finished physics I.>
—bleh, Aug 03 2006
   

       //what do i do when my mp3 player battery dies?//
You can buy this here "Hand Recharger." a friend of mine developed. All you need to do is turn this chuck a few thousand times and you're set.
—methinksnot, Aug 03 2006
   

       is it that my idea wont work, or just that its incredibly inefficent? I am well aware that much more energy would be required put into the system than would be yeilded back from the battery. but some energy would be yeilded back from the battery, right?
—bleh, Aug 04 2006
   

       Damn. My hand just ran down again, and I left the charger at home.
—DrCurry, Aug 04 2006
   


 

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