Wind electric plant

A wind power plant of the type including a support tower and a multiblade, variable pitch propeller supported thereon, the improvement comprising:

• gear means supported on top of the tower;
• a propeller shaft connected to the gear means and extending forwardly therefrom;
• multiblade, variable pitch propeller means carried on the propeller shaft;
• and drive shaft means connected with the gear means and extending downwardly in the tower for connection to suitable means to be driven by the drive shaft means;
• said gear means including a ring gear carried by the propeller shaft, and a hypoid bevel gear carried by the drive shaft means and meshed with the ring gear, said drive shaft means disposed with its axis offset to one side of the axis of the propeller shaft so that wind forces on the propeller means tending to push the propeller means around the axis of the tower are balanced by torque forces between the ring gear and bevel gear.

A wind electric plant of the type including a support tower and a multiblade, variable pitch propeller supported thereon, the improvement comprising:

• gear means supported on top of the tower;
• a propeller shaft connected to the gear means and extending forwardly therefrom;
• a plurality of variable pitch propeller blades carried on the propeller shaft for rotation in a plane angularly disposed relative to the axis of the tower, said propeller blades mounted on a propeller hub for radial outward movement under centrifugal force, spring means connected between the blades and the propeller hub to move the blades radially inwardly, spring connecting means connecting the spring means to the propeller blades, said spring connecting means including a bracket means secured to the blades, bolt means connected with the bracket means and with the spring means, and self-centering pivot washer means engaged between the bolt means and bracket means to center the bolt means relative to the bracket means and to enable the bolt means to pivot relative to the bracket means during pitch changes and the like, said bracket means including a flange having a hole therethrough, said bolt means extending through said hole, said pivot washer engaged against said flange coaxial with said hole, a pair of centering pins on said flange on diametrically opposite sides of said hole, a pair of sockets in said washer in which said pins are received, and upstanding, diametrically extending ribs on each face of said washer, the ribs on one face extending perpendicular to the ribs on the other face.