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US 5,203,672 AGranted
Wind turbine with stationary vertical support tower and airflow-directing shell
AssigneeMariah Electric Corporation
InventorRandolph J. Wolf
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A wind turbine with a stationary tower and a set of turbine blades rotatably attached to the top and bottom of the tower. A set of upper and lower braces connects the turbine blades to prevent any sag or skewing of the turbine blades as they rotate about the tower. The wind turbine may also include a stationary shell attached to the tower and inside the sweep of the turbine blades, to direct the airflow toward the turbine blades at the shell periphery, thereby improving overall performance and efficiency of the turbine.
Claims22
A wind turbine, comprising
- (a) a substantially stationary vertical tower;
- (b) upper turbine blade attachment means mounted on an upper portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the upper end of a plurality of turbine blades to said upper portion of said tower;
- (c) lower turbine blade attachment means mounted on a lower portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the lower end of a plurality of turbine blades to said lower portion of said tower, the wind turbine not including any rotation rigid vertical tower that connects the upper blade attachment means to the lower blade attachment means;
- and
- (d) a plurality of turbine blades, the upper end being attached to said upper turbine blade attachment means and the lower ends being attached to said lower turbine blade attachment means, each of said turbine blades being curved over its length so that the middle of the turbine blades rotate about the tower spaced apart from the tower.
2 more elements
A wind turbine, comprising:
- (a) a substantially stationary vertical tower;
- (b) upper turbine blade attachment means mounted on an upper portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the upper end of a plurality of turbine blades to said upper portion of said tower;
- (c) lower turbine blade attachment means mounted on a lower portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the lower end of a plurality of turbine blades to said lower portion of said tower, said lower turbine blade attachment means including a lower turbine blade attachment flange extending around and radially from the lower portion of said tower with a set of bearings engaged with the flange, and a lower turbine blade connecting means having an outer circumference with a plurality of attachment brackets on the outer circumference, for connecting said plurality of turbine blades, bearing means attached to said lower turbine blade attachment flange and said lower turbine blade connecting means for rotatably attaching said lower turbine blade attachment flange and said lower turbine blade connecting means, and a ring with an inner circumference having an annular bearing raceway engaged with said bearings, the annular bearing raceway having two annular surfaces diagonally disposed relative to one another and the bearing including a first group of bearings engaged with one of the two annular surfaces and a second group of bearings engaged with the other of the two annular surfaces;
- (d) a plurality of turbine blades, the upper ends being attached to said upper turbine blade attachment means and the lower ends being attached to said lower turbine blade attachment means, each of said turbine blades being curved over its length so that the middle of the turbine blades rotate about the tower spaced apart form the tower;
- (e) wherein each bearing of said set of bearings is a roller bearing and each roller bearing is rotatably mounted on a bearing shaft, and each shaft is mounted to the radially outward portion of said lower turbine blade attachment flange.
2 more elements
A wind turbine, comprising
- (a) a substantially stationary vertical tower;
- (b) upper turbine blade attachment means mounted on an upper portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the upper end of a plurality of turbine blades to said upper portion of said tower;
- (c) lower turbine blade attachment means mounted on a lower portion of said tower for rotatably attaching the lower end of a plurality of turbine blades to said lower portion of said tower;
- (d) a plurality of turbine blades, the upper ends being attached to said upper turbine blade attachment means and the lower ends being attached to said lower turbine blade attachment means, each of said turbine blades being curved over its length so that the middle of the turbine blades rotate about the tower spaced apart from the tower;
- and
- (e) adjacent sets of braces connecting adjacent turbine blades.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.