Wind driven, high altitude power apparatus

Apparatus for harvesting energy from the winds aloft such as may be found at great heights above the ground, comprising:

• a relatively flexible very long drive shaft means having a lower end portion and an upper end portion, a ground supported generator device for generating power, a plurality of wind driven vertical axis rotors for driving said shaft, each of said rotors having a plurality of blades circumferentially spaced about the vertical axis thereof for imparting rotational means of the blades about the longitudinal central axis of any one of said rotors when any of the rotors is subjected to the force of the winds aloft;
• a shaft swivel means, an aerial support means in the form of a lighter than air lifting body;
• said swivel means being supported by said aerial support means;
• means by which said upper end of said shaft is supported at a great height above said generator device by said swivel means with said shaft being the sole means by which said aerial support means is tethered to the ground;
• means connecting the lower end of said shaft to said generator device such that rotation of said shaft operatively actuates said generator device to thereby generator power;
• means, including a one-way clutch, by which at least one of said rotors are connected to said shaft, means connecting the other of said rotors to said shaft, so that said one of said rotors is disengaged from the shaft when the wind causes the other of said rotors to turn the shaft at a rotational velocity which is greater than the rotation velocity of said one of said rotors.

Method of extracting energy from the winds aloft comprising the steps of:

• supporting an energy conversion device for generating power upon the surface of the earth;
• connecting one end of a very long, relatively flexible drive shaft to said energy conversion device such that rotation of said shaft about its central longitudinal axis enables useful energy to be derived from said energy conversion device;
• suspending the other end of said drive shaft within the atmosphere by connecting said other end to an aerial support means such that said shaft is the sole means by which said aerial support means is tethered to the earth;
• forming a plurality of vertical axis rotors which include radially spaced blades circumferentially disposed about the vertical axis of the rotor thereof;
• and,
• connecting said plurality of wind driven vertical axis rotors to turn said drive shaft about the longitudinal central axis thereof and positioning said rotors in spaced relationship along said drive shaft so that the rotors are suspended within the atmosphere;
• disengaging a lower one of said rotors from said drive shaft when the winds aloft tend to cause an upper one of said rotors to turn said drive shaft at a rotational speed which is greater than the rotational speed of the lower rotor by interposing a one-way clutch means between a rotor and said drive shaft;
• so that when the winds aloft drive said rotors, said rotors impart a rotational motion into said drive shaft to thereby provide a method by which wind energy is converted into another form of useful energy.