Vertical axis wind turbine
OwnerRonald H. Smedleyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vertical axis wind turbine having a plurality of blades around its periphery and a pivotable door associated with each blade. Each door has a pivot axis that is inclined outwardly toward the bottom of the turbine so that gravitational forces will pull the doors toward an open position. The doors are designed to move toward a closed position to at least partially block wind forces from the blades when the rotor rotates at potentially damaging speeds. The turbine has mating coils on the rotor and the support column to generate electrical energy when the rotor rotates.
Claims19
A vertical axis wind turbine comprising:
- a vertically oriented support column;
- a rotor mounted on said column, said rotor including a plurality of blades spaced circumferentially around the rotor;
- and
- a plurality of doors hingedly mounted on said rotor around its periphery, with one of said doors between each pair of adjacent blades, each of said doors having a hinge axis located near the outer edge of one of said blades and inclined outwardly toward the bottom of the rotor, whereby the force of gravity pulls each said door to pivot about said hinge axis toward the center of the rotor.
A vertical axis wind turbine comprising:
- a vertically oriented support column;
- a rotor mounted on said column, said rotor including a plurality of outwardly projecting, substantially vertically extending blades having concave surfaces responsive to wind forces to rotate the rotor about the axis of said column to produce electrical power;
- and
- a plurality of doors hingedly mounted on said rotor around the periphery of the rotor, with one of said doors between each pair of adjacent blades, each of said doors hingedly connected to said rotor on a hinge axis located near the outer edge of one of said blades, with said hinge axis inclined outwardly from the support column toward the bottom of the rotor;
- whereby each said door is acted on by gravitation forces and wind forces tending to pivot the door toward the center of the rotor and by centrifugal forces tending to pivot said door away form the center of the rotor.
A vertical axis wind turbine having a rotor with plurality of blades on it, the improvement comprising a plurality of doors on the rotor with one of said doors associated with each blade and pivotally mounted at an angle to vertical to be pulled outwardly by centrifugal force when the rotor rotates at a predetermined high RPM that could damage the turbine, so the door at least partially blocks wind forces from acting on the associated blade, and is pulled inwardly by the force of gravity when the rotor rotates at a speed less than said predetermined high RPM.
A vertical axis wind turbine comprising:
- a vertically oriented, non-rotating support column;
- a rotor mounted on said column and rotatable on said column, said rotor including a plurality of blades spaced circumferentially around the rotor for receiving wind energy to rotate the rotor on said stationary column;
- where
- coils on said rotor and on said column within said rotor for generating electrical power when the rotor rotates on the column;
- and
- a plurality of doors pivotally mounted on said rotor near its outer periphery at an inclined angle to vertical to be pulled inwardly by the force of gravity and to be pulled outwardly by centrifugal force when the rotor rotates at a predetermined speed that could damage the turbine so the door at least partially blocks wind forces from acting on at least some said plurality of blades.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.