Looped airfoil wind turbine
AssigneeEverLift Wind Technology, Inc.
InventorGeorge J. Syrovy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Looped AirFoil Wind Turbine (LAWT) (10) is a novel wind turbine with a basic system of a triangular structure (14) utilizing both lift and drag aerodynamic forces produced by wind energy. The entire triangular structure (14) could either yaw to always face the wind direction (W) or stay in a fixed position. The LAWT system (10) uses airfoil blades (12) shaped like an airplane wing, traveling linearly on travel wheels (22) riding on travel tracks (50, 52, 54). While traveling up, the wings are powered by a positive lift force and drag force while using negative lift force and drag force when traveling downward. All wings (12) are connected by a segmented chain (16) which transfers the kinetic power of wheeled wing carriages (18) directly to multiple generators (26), requiring no gears.
Claims18
A device for harnessing wind power comprising
- a generally triangular track having a generally horizontal lower side, an upwardly rearwardly sloping front side, and a downwardly rearwardly sloping rear side,
- a plurality of interconnected carriages riding on the track for movement around the track, each of the carriages comprising an aerodynamic wing segment, the wing segments being parallel to each other, the wing segments riding on the front side of the track being positioned to produce positive lift and drag,
- an energy conversion device coupled to the carriages to convert motion of the carriages into another form of energy.
A device for harnessing wind power comprising
- a frame having a triangular path,
- a plurality of interconnected carriages mounted for movement in the triangular path around the frame, the path having a generally horizontal lower reach, an upwardly rearwardly sloping front reach, and a downwardly rearwardly sloping rear reach, each of the carriages comprising an aerodynamic wing segment having a spanwise leading edge, the leading edges of the wing segments being generally horizontal and parallel to each other, the wing segments on the front reach of the path being positioned to produce positive lift and drag, and
- an energy conversion device coupled to the carriages to convert motion of the carriages into another form of energy.
A method of generating electricity comprising coupling to a generator a looped airfoil system comprising a plurality of interconnected parallel wing segments, each wing segment forming an airfoil having a generally horizontal spanwise leading edge, mounting the wing segments in a frame having a generally triangular path with wing segments on a windward side of the triangular path being arranged to provide aerodynamic lift, the path having a generally horizontal lower reach, an upwardly rearwardly sloping front reach, and a downwardly rearwardly sloping rear reach.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.