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US 11,015,578 B2Granted
Wind generator with energy storage system
AssigneeStar Sailor Energy, Inc.
InventorPamela A. Menges
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention is a wind generator system particularly suitable for small wind applications that harnesses low velocity wind effectively. The wind generator system comprises a drive shaft; one or more retreating blades and one or more advancing blades attached to the drive shaft and extending radially outwardly therefrom; a generator assembly coupled to the drive shaft and effective for generating electrical power; and a energy storage system comprising a mechanical bellows.
Claims14
A wind generator system comprising:
- a rotor mounted to a drive shaft;
- one or more blades attached to said rotor and extending radially outwardly from said rotor wherein said blades operate to rotate said rotor and said drive shaft;
- a generator assembly coupled to said drive shaft wherein rotation of said drive shaft operates said generator assembly to generate electrical power;
- a mechanical energy storage system having a mechanical bellows, wherein rotational energy of said drive shaft moves a piston that operates to expand or contract said mechanical bellows to store rotational energy of said drive shaft into potential energy which is stored within the position of said mechanical bellows;
- and
- wherein said mechanical bellows then operates to expand or contract to release said potential energy stored in said mechanical bellows to rotate said generator assembly or to power another mechanism.
3 more elements
A wind generator system comprising:
- a rotor mounted to a drive shaft;
- one or more blades attached to said rotor and extending radially outwardly from said rotor;
- a generator assembly coupled to said drive shaft and that operates to generate electrical power;
- and
- a mechanical energy storage system having a mechanical bellows with an outer flexible material casing and whereby said outer flexible material casing includes shaped memory material coupled to a heat source that operates to create a temperature differential in said shaped memory material causing said shape memory material to expand or contract said mechanical bellows to store potential energy in said mechanical bellows;
- and
- wherein said mechanical bellows is mechanically coupled to said generator assembly to transfer the potential energy stored in said mechanical bellows to said generator assembly to create electrical power.
4 more elements
A mechanical energy storage system comprising:
- a mechanical bellows with an outer flexible material casing;
- shaped memory material attached to said flexible material casing such that when temperature of said shaped memory material changes said shaped memory material causes said mechanical bellows to expand or contract thereby storing or delivering energy;
- and
- a heat source for changing the temperature of said shaped memory material.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.