Wind power system

A collapsible wind motor assembly comprising:

• a central vertically extending rotatable main shaft;
• a plurality of vanes;
• means for mounting said vanes equidistant around said shaft to rotate both about separate axes parallel to said vertical shaft and also to rotate together about said shaft;
• means for rotating said vanes in unison;
• means for orienting each of said vanes to be perpendicular to the incident wind when the axis of each said vane is at a point on a line extending through said main shaft and also extending perpendicular to the direction of the incident wind;
• means for raising and lowering said main shaft between a stored position and an operative position, respectively;
• and
• means for exposing said vanes in an operative position and for lowering said vanes into a compact configuration with a vertical extent less than one-half of their operative configuration, concurrently with the raising and lowering, respectively, of said shaft.

A wind motor assembly comprising:

• a central vertically extending rotatable main shaft;
• a plurality of vanes;
• means for mounting said vanes equidistant around said shaft to rotate both about separate axes parallel to said vertical shaft and also to rotate together about said shaft;
• means for rotating said vanes in unison;
• means for orienting each of said vanes to be perpendicular to the incident wind when the axis of each said vane is at a point on a line extending through said main shaft and also extending perpendicular to the direction of the incident wind, said orienting means including means for fully restraining against the unbalanced forces applied to said system when it is in the optimum orientation relative to the wind as defined hereinabove;
• a useful load coupled to said main shaft;
• and
• said assembly including means for reducing the speed of rotation of said main shaft;
• and apart from undesired frictional losses in bearings and the like, said means for reducing the speed of rotation consists solely of the useful load.

A wind motor comprising:

• a central vertically extending rotatable main shaft;
• a plurality of generally rectangular vanes;
• means for mounting said vanes equidistant around said shaft to rotate both about separate axes parallel to the axis of said vertical shaft and also to rotate together about said shaft;
• means for positively controlling and orienting a first one and only one of said vanes to be perpendicular to the incident wind when the axis of said one vane is at a point on a line extending through said main shaft and also extending perpendicular to the direction of the incident wind, said controlling and orienting means including means for fully restraining against the unbalanced forces applied to said system when it is in the optimum orientation relative to the wind as defined hereinabove and
• means consisting solely of cranks secured to rotate with each vane and a rigid member interconnecting said cranks in a triangular configuration, for rotating said other vanes in unison with said first vane.