Vertical axis windmill and self-erecting structure therefor
AssigneeDermond Inc.
InventorsJacquelin Dery, Laurent Mondou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a structure comprising a blade attachment, a blade structure, an integrated driving shaft/generator for a wind system such as a vertical axis windmill, and a self erecting structure for such a wind system, together with an erecting method thereof.
Claims35
A wind system of the type having a rotating shaft perpendicular to the ground, comprising:
- a plurality of blades positioned in a pre-strained rigid configuration as the wind system is at rest;
- a top set of horizontal tensioned wing-beams, said top set of horizontal tensioned wing-beams having a triangular configuration and connecting the blades to a top end of the rotating shaft;
- and
- a bottom set of horizontal tensioned wing-beams, said bottom set of horizontal tensioned wing-beams having a triangular configuration and connecting the blades to a bottom end of the rotating shaft;
- wherein said blades and sets of horizontal tensioned wing-beams form a flexible blade attachment assembly, which tends to get flattened under a centrifugal force and adopts a troposkein shape at a target speed of rotation, said troposkein shape being then maintained by the sets of horizontal tensioned wing-beams.
A blade attachment structure for a windmill, comprising blades connected to a rotating shaft by wing-beams arranged in sets of horizontal wing-beams under tension, said sets of horizontal wing-beams under tension having a triangular configuration and holding a spatial distribution of the blades, and by sets of securing elements, said sets of securing elements having a triangular configuration and being mounted respectively to each sets of horizontal wing-beams, wherein said blades are positioned in a pre-strained rigid configuration as the windmill is at rest.
A blade attachment structure for a windmill comprising blades mounted to a driving shaft by means of tensioning means and positioned in a pre-strained rigid configuration as the windmill is at rest, said blades being connected in a spatial distribution to at least one set of horizontal wing-beams under tension, said at least one set of horizontal wing-beams having a triangular configuration by said at least one set of securing elements, said at least one set of securing elements having a triangular configuration, in such a way as to form a flexible assembly, which tends to get flattened under a centrifugal force and adopts a troposkein shape at a target speed of rotation, said troposkein shape being maintained by the tensioning means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.