Mechanism for direct actuation of the tail of a self-trimming wingsail
AssigneeTechnology Innovation Institute - Sole Proprietorship LLC
InventorsJeremy Nicola, Pascal Lafourcade, Julien Cau, Jules Berhault
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A self-trimming wingsail system, comprising a wingsail body mounted on a mast and configured to rotate freely around the mast, an adjustable tail connected to the wingsail body, and a tail control mechanism configured to adjust an angle of the adjustable tail. The tail control mechanism comprising a motor, and a slidable collar connected to the motor via a collar cable and connected to the adjustable tail via a tail cable. Movement of the slidable collar transmits a linear force via the tail cable to the adjustable tail to adjust the angle of the adjustable tail.
Claims20
A self-trimming wingsail system, comprising:
- a wingsail body mounted on a mast and configured to rotate freely around the mast;
- an adjustable tail connected to the wingsail body;
- and
- a tail control mechanism configured to adjust an angle of the adjustable tail, the tail control mechanism comprising:
- a motor, and
- a slidable collar connected to the motor via a collar cable, and connected to the adjustable tail via a tail cable,
- wherein movement of the slidable collar transmits a linear force via the tail cable to the adjustable tail to adjust the angle of the adjustable tail.
A method of adjusting an angle of attack of a wingsail, comprising:
- controlling, by a controller, a motor of a tail control mechanism to move a slidable collar along a mast, the slidable collar connected to the motor via a collar cable, and connected to an adjustable tail via a tail cable;
- applying, by the slidable collar via the collar cable, a linear force via the tail cable to the adjustable tail to adjust the angle of the adjustable tail;
- and
- applying by the adjustable tail, an adjustment force to a freely rotating wingsail body mounted on the mast.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.