Patent ID: 7014416
Filing Date: 2006-03-21
Classification: F03D,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A wind turbine apparatus comprising: a support tower having a fixed lower tower portion engaged axially with a rotatable upper tower portion supporting an electric generating turbine, the turbine providing plural, radially oriented, blades engaged for rotating in a vertical plane; the upper tower portion further providing a vertically oriented control vane mounted on a hinge bar of the upper tower portion, the control vane movable vertically along the hinge bar and, further, movable bilaterally about the hinge bar; the control vane engaging a control surface positioned for lifting the control vane out of a restraint well under the force of a wind vector moving in a first horizontal direction, and for pressing the control vane into the restraint well under the force of a wind vector moving in a second direction, whereby, the control vane is urged to rotate laterally when lifted out of the restraint well, thereby rotating the upper tower portion about the lower tower portion until the control vane is pressed into the restraint well so as to align the blades for a preferred blade rotational direction.