Wind powered system for generating electricity

A wind powered system for generating electricity, comprising:

• a support tower;
• a nacelle on top of the support tower;
• a step-up transmission within said nacelle having a low speed end and a high speed end;
• a rotary electric generator within said nacelle having a rotor with an input end which is connected to the high speed end of the transmission, said generator including means enabling it to operate as a generator at a plurality of discreet speeds of rotation;
• an input shaft having an inboard end connected with the low speed end of the transmission, and an outboard end;
• a wind turbine rotor comprising a hub and fixed pitch blades extending radially outwardly from said hub, said hub including means connecting it to the outboard end of said input shaft;
• each said blade having a fixed pitch mid-section of airfoil cross section and a fixed pitch outer end section of airfoil cross section;
• at least one outer end section including a main portion including a leading edge for said section, and a drag brake forming, trailing edge portion which is hinge-connected to said main portion, for movement between a retracted position in which it forms a streamline trailing edge for said outer end section and a deployed position in which it extends generally across the chord of the outer end section and functions as an aerodynamic drag brake;
• a centrifugal force triggered positioning means normally holding the drag brake in its retracted position, but operating in response to the development of a centrifugal force of than a predetermined magnitude to move said drag brake into its deployed position;
• and
• a releasable lock member having a lock position in which it locks the weight means in its inner position, and a centrifugal force operated trigger means for moving said lock member into an unlocked position in response to a centrifugal force of a predetermined magnitude, with said weight means being free to move radially outwardly from its inner position to its outer position, in response to centrifugal force, when the lock member is in its unlocked position.

A wind powered system for generating electricity, comprising:

• a support tower;
• a nacelle on top of the support tower;
• a step-up transmission within said nacelle having a low speed end and a high speed end;
• a rotary electric generator within said nacelle having a rotor with an input end which is connected to the high speed end of the transmission, said generator including means enabling it to operate as a generator at a plurality of discreet speeds of rotation;
• an input shaft having an inboard end connected with the low speed end of the transmission, and an outboard end;
• a wind turbine rotor comprising a hub and fixed pitch blades extending radially outwardly from said hub, said hub including means connecting it to the outboard end of said input shaft;
• each said blade having a fixed pitch mid-section of airfoil cross section and a fixed pitch outer end section of airfoil cross section;
• at least one outer end section including a main portion including a leading edge for said section, and a drag brake forming, trailing edge portion which is hinge-connected to said main portion, for movement between a retracted position in which it forms a streamline trailing edge for said outer end section and a deployed position in which it extends generally across the chord of the outer end section and functions as an aerodynamic drag brake;
• a centrifugal force triggered positioning means normally holding the drag brake in its retracted position, but operating in response to the development of a centrifugal force of than a predetermined magnitude to move said drag brake into its deployed position;
• said positioning means for the drag brake comprising weight means mounted in the wind turbine rotor for radial translation between an inner position and an outer position, and linkage means interconnected between the weight means and the drag brake, said linkage means holding the drag brake in its retracted position when the weight means is in its inner position, and said linkage means holding the drag brake in its deployed position when the weight means is in its outward position;
• spring means for normally biasing the weight means radially inwardly, said spring means functioning to move the weight means from its outer position into its inner position when centrifugal force acting on said weight means drops below said predetermined magnitude;
• and
• a lock member for holding the weight means in its outer position, in opposition to the force of the spring means, and means for unlocking said lock member when the centrifugal force on the trigger mechanism drops below a predetermined magnitude, to free the weight means for inward movement.