Vertical axis wind turbine apparatus and system
AssigneeHarmony Turbines Inc.
InventorChristopher T. Moore
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vertical axis wind turbine with improved safety, production efficiency and greater functional wind speed range. A vertical axis wind turbine comprises turbine blades having geometric characteristics of a “yin yang” symbol when viewed from the top down. The turbine blades are configured to form a scoop portion for catching wind. The surface area of the scoop portion may be dynamically configured to accommodate power production in higher wind speed ranges by dynamically furling the blades to reduce the surface area of the scoop portion as RPM begins to exceed a safe limit. First and second permanent magnet rotor arrays are dynamically positioned above and below an array of stator coils to maximize power generation.
Claims19
A wind turbine apparatus comprising:
- a rotary shaft defining a central axis;
- a turbine blade assembly having one or more pairs of blades configured to be mateably interfaced to define a cylindrical shape when fully furled, each blade in the one or more pairs of blades being configured as equal oppositely oriented semicircles having a center point on a diameter of the circle when mateably interfaced, the one or more pairs of blades having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side wall extending from the upper surface to the lower surface to define a scoop portion, the one or more pairs of blades being configured to furl and unfurl around the central axis;
- and,
- a generator assembly comprising an upper magnet platter and a lower magnet platter being disposed on the rotary shaft, a plurality of coils disposed around a circumference of the rotary shaft, and a governor assembly coupled to the rotary shaft, the governor assembly configured to adjust an upper axial air gap between the upper magnet platter and the plurality of coils and adjust a lower axial air gap between the lower magnet platter and the plurality of coils.
- wherein when the upper axial air gap and lower axial air gap are at a maximum distance, there is no impedance between the upper and lower magnetic platters and the plurality of coils such that there is no magnetic cogging.
A vertical axis wind turbine apparatus comprising:
- a turbine blade assembly having one or more pairs of blades configured to furl and unfurl around a central axis in proportion to a wind speed, each blade in the one or more pairs of blades defining a scoop;
- a rotary shaft being operably engaged with the turbine blade assembly;
- and,
- a generator assembly comprising an upper magnet platter and a lower magnet platter being disposed on the rotary shaft, a plurality of coils disposed around a circumference of the rotary shaft, and a governor assembly coupled to the rotary shaft, the governor assembly being operable to dynamically configure linear positions of the upper magnet platter and the lower magnet platter relative to the plurality of coils and in proportion to a rotary speed of the governor assembly.
A vertical axis wind turbine apparatus comprising:
- a turbine blade assembly having one or more pairs of blades, each blade having an upper surface, a lower surface, a side wall extending from the upper surface to lower surface to define a scoop portion, and blade teeth disposed on a semicircular perimeter portion of the upper surface and lower surface;
- a generator assembly;
- a rotary shaft having a shaft gear disposed thereon, the rotary shaft being operably engaged between the turbine assembly and the generator assembly, the shaft gear being configured to mateably interface with the blade teeth of each pair of blades in the one or more pairs of blades;
- a blade support configured to couple each pair of blades in the one or more pairs of blades to the rotary shaft, the blade support operable to maintain a desired orientation between each pair of blades in the one or more pairs of blades;
- and,
- the generator assembly comprising an upper magnet platter and a lower magnet platter being disposed on the rotary shaft, a plurality of coils disposed around a circumference of the rotary shaft, and a governor assembly coupled to the rotary shaft, the governor assembly being operable to dynamically configure spatial positions of the upper magnet platter and the lower magnet platter relative to the plurality of coils.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.