Winch
AssigneeKite Power Systems Limited
InventorWilliam Hampton
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A winch for a power generating system using a tethered airborne device, the winch comprising a drum rotatable about its main axis a guiding apparatus arranged to guide an airborne device tether to wind and unwind around the drum; wherein the drum is rotatable relative to a pivot point to move in a first plane and the guiding apparatus is disposed relative to the drum to move along part of an orbital path around the drum in a second plane substantially perpendicular to the main axis of the drum, thereby allowing alignment of the winch with respect to an unwound length of the tether.
Claims22
A winch for a power generating system using a tethered airborne device, the winch comprising:
- a drum rotatable about its main axis;
- a guiding apparatus arranged to guide an airborne device tether to wind and unwind around the drum;
- wherein the drum is rotatable relative to a pivot point to move in a first plane and the guiding apparatus is disposed relative to the drum to move along part of an orbital path around the drum in a second plane substantially perpendicular to the main axis of the drum, thereby allowing alignment of the winch with respect to an unwound length of the tether.
A winching system for plural tethered airborne devices, the system comprising a plurality of rotatable turntables coupled to a central column wherein a respective winch is mounted on each turntable.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.