Water turbine support structure
AssigneeRepetitive Energy Company Limited
InventorFrank Moloney
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A water flow turbine arrangement for capturing energy from water flows is provided. The arrangement includes: a base member (212); a generally open support structure (210) mounted to the base and upstanding therefrom, the support structure including plural legs (216) joined by a cross brace at or adjacent their upper ends; an electrical generator (230) mounted to the base; and shaft mounted turbine blades (220) mounted for rotation generally within the space occupied by the legs about a turbine axis. The turbine shaft (222) is supported at its upper end by the cross brace and is coupled to the generator at its lower end by a magnetic torque transmitting coupling, allowing complete fluid sealing of the generator's housing.
Claims13
A water turbine arrangement for capturing energy from a water flow, the arrangement comprising:
- a base member having a recess;
- a support structure mounted to the base and upstanding therefrom, the support structure including plural legs secured to the base and extending continuously to and joined by a brace at or adjacent upper ends of the plural legs;
- shaft mounted turbine elements mounted for rotation about a shaft to define a swept volume, said plural legs being positioned outside the swept volume and said shaft being supported at an upper end of said shaft by the brace;
- and
- a rotary machine mounted to the base within the recess for converting rotational energy of the shaft into other energy, wherein the rotary machine is coupled to the shaft and has a rotational axis coaxial with an axis of rotation of the shaft, wherein the rotary machine is housed in a fluid sealed or hermetically sealed housing, and wherein a coupling between a lower end of the shaft and the rotary machine provides a torque transmitting relationship which transmits torque through the housing by a magnetic attraction, wherein the brace is demountable from the plural legs such that the brace and the shaft mounted turbine elements are separable from the rotary machine and the plural legs which remain secured to the base.
A water turbine arrangement for capturing energy from a water flow, the arrangement comprising:
- a base member;
- a support structure mounted to the base and upstanding therefrom, the support structure including continuous plural legs fixed to the base at lower ends of the plural legs and joined by a removable X-shaped cross brace at or adjacent upper ends of the plural legs;
- shaft mounted turbine elements mounted for rotation about a shaft to define a swept volume, said plural legs being positioned outside the swept volume and said shaft being supported at an upper end of said shaft by the brace;
- and
- a machine mounted to the base for converting rotational energy of the shaft into other energy, wherein the turbine arrangement has a swept area when viewed in a direction of intended flow path toward the turbine arrangement, and at least one of the plural legs at least partially projects into a flow path area such that said at least one of the plural legs perturbs a portion of the flow in the flow path area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.