Vertical axis wind turbine
AssigneeAluminum Company of America
InventorHoward R. Kutcher
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A Darrieus-type vertical axis wind turbine is disclosed which includes a vertically extending rotor tube mounted on a support structure with two or three rotor blades of troposkein configuration on the rotor tube for rotating the tube in response to wind energy and thereby drive a generator to produce electrical power. The turbine includes an erection hinge which permits assembly of the rotor tube and blades at close to ground level followed by upward hinging of the rotor assembly to a vertical position. It also includes a system for automatically lubricating the top bearing upon erection and a system for visually tensioning the guy cables.
Claims17
A vertical axis wind turbine, comprising:
- a support structure;
- a rotor shaft extending vertically upward from said structure;
- a lower bearing supporting said rotor shaft in said support structure;
- an upper bearing assembly adapted for disassembly from said turbine with said rotor shaft in the upwardly extending vertical position, the assembly comprising a housing having a top wall and having cable attaching means for attachment to guy cables to thereby maintain the housing in a substantially fixed position, an upstanding cylinder adapted for attachment to a top end of said rotor shaft within and spaced apart from the housing, bearing means between the cylinder and housing to maintain the cylinder in the spaced apart relationship with the housing and to allow the cylinder to rotate about its longitudinal axis, and lubrication means to automatically provide and maintain an adequate amount of oil to lubricate the bearing means;
- at least three guy cables attached to the cable attaching means;
- wind responsive means for causing said shaft to rotate in response to wind energy;
- and
- a generator connected to said rotor shaft for producing electrical energy upon rotation of the turbine shaft by wind energy.
A vertical axis wind turbine, comprising:
- a support structure;
- a rotor shaft extending vertically upward from said structure;
- a lower bearing supporting said rotor shaft in said support structure;
- an upper bearing assembly having means for attaching guy cables thereto on a top end of said shaft;
- at least three guy cables attached to the cable attaching means;
- guy cable tension indicating apparatus for indicating the tension in each cable when attached to an anchor comprising a second cable attaching means for attachment to at least one anchored threaded rod, at least one nut on each threaded rod for adjusting the position of the second cable attaching means, and at least two Belleville type washers having predetermined flattening characteristics on each rod between a nut and the second cable attaching means for providing a visual indication of the tension in each guy cable;
- wind responsive means for causing said shaft to rotate in response to wind energy;
- and
- a generator connected to said rotor shaft for producing electrical energy upon rotation of the turbine by wind energy.
A vertical axis wind turbine, comprising:
- a support structure;
- hinge means attached to said support structure;
- a lower bearing within said support structure;
- a rotor shaft having a top end and bottom end with the bottom end adapted for assembly with said hinge means to enable positioning said shaft in a horizontal or vertical position and with the bottom end further adapted for disassembly from said hinge means and attachment to said lower bearing with said shaft in the vertical position;
- an upper bearing assembly having means for attaching guy cables thereon on the top end of said shaft;
- wind responsive means for causing said shaft to rotote in response to wind energy;
- and
- a generator connected to said lower bearing for producing electrical energy upon rotation of the shaft by wind energy.
A method of assembling and erecting a vertical axis wind turbine, comprising:
- providing a support structure;
- hingably connecting a rotor shaft to said support structure with said shaft in a substantially horizontal position;
- hoisting said rotor shaft into a vertical position above said support structure;
- connecting said rotor shaft to a generator within said support structure;
- and
- disconnecting said hinge connection between said support structure and said rotor shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.