Patent Publication Number: US-2004047733-A1

Title: High torque accumulator wind machine

Description:
REFERENCES CITED  
       [0001] U.S. Patent Documents  
                                                       U.S. Document No.   Publication Date   Patentee                          4,353,702   Oct. 12, 1982   Nagy           1,300,499   Apr. 15, 1919   Slagel           4,127,356   Nov. 28, 1978   Murphy           4,303,835   Dec. 1, 1981   Bair           4,432,695   Feb. 21, 1984   Voitsekhovsky           1,007,317   Nov. 16, 1926   Spencer           3,986,786   Oct. 19, 1976   Sellman           4,522,600   Jun. 11, 1985   Jost           4,118,144   Oct. 3, 1978   Kellley           1,178,729   Apr. 11, 1916   Kemble           1,502,433   Jul. 22, 1924   Johanson           4,527,950   Jul. 9, 1985   Biscomb           4,031,405   Jun. 21, 1977   Asperger           4,360,315   Nov. 23, 1982   Olson                      
 
       BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0002] A prior art windmill comprises a rotor blade assembly, an electric generator connected to the rotor blade assembly and a high tower that supports the rotor blade assembly and electric generator at high elevation. The skinny rotor blades of prior art windmill have narrow wind contact areas so much so that a high percentage of the available wind energy are allowed to escape and wasted through the wide gaps of the blade swept area.  
       [0003] In the windmill farm near Palm Springs, Calif. more than 4,000 prior art windmills are catching insufficient amount of wind energy to produce electricity at low efficiency for the following reasons (a) a high percentage of the available wind energy is wasted through the wide gaps of the blade swept area (b) one inadequate skinny blade assembly is used in rotating the heavy electric generator (c) more than 4,000 electric generators are giving resistance to the work of the skinny rotor blades (d) more than 4,000 high towers are blocking the wind flow to the rotor blades.  
       OBJECT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0004] It is the object of the present invention to provide a high torque accumulator wind machine that is using a plurality of blade assemblies for rotating one electric generator to produce electricity.  
       [0005] It is the object of the present invention to provide a high tower for exposing a plurality of blade assemblies to the wind at high elevation.  
       [0006] It is the object of the present invention to provide a plurality of blade assemblies that have ratchet bearings and to install said blade assemblies in a manner wherein the wind energy that escapes capture by the front blade assembly is captured by the rear blade assembly.  
       [0007] It is the object of the present invention to provide a torque transporter means that will transport the torque elements from the blade assemblies to the high torque accumulator shaft.  
       [0008] It is the object of the present invention to provide a high torque accumulator means to combine the numerous torque elements from the blade assemblies and non-wind related sources into a single big force to rotate the electric generator to produce electricity.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0009]FIG. 1 is the isometric view of the High Torque Accumulator Wind Machine of the present invention.  
     [0010]FIG. 2 is the side view of the present invention.  
     [0011]FIG. 3 is the side view of the present invention that is showing the cross sectional view of the blade assemblies that have ratchet bearings and the cross sectional view of the pulleys that have ratchet bearings.  
     [0012]FIG. 4 is the isometric view of the horizontal platform that includes a plurality of vertical supports, a vertical swivel on which the horizontal platform is rigidly secured to.  
     [0013]FIG. 5 is the isometric view of the vertical tower that includes a vertical support  16   b  and bearings  16   a  and  16   c.    
     [0014]FIG. 6 is the isometric view of the alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0015] In FIG. 1, the high torque accumulator wind machine is designated as numeral  1  that includes a rotor assembly  2 , a tower support means  3 , a torque transporter means  4 , a high torque accumulator shaft  9  that combines the numerous contributed torque elements into a single big force for rotating the electric generator  20 .  
     [0016] Rotor assembly  2  comprises a plurality of blade assemblies that have ratchet bearings, collar and blades, platform, plurality of horizontal shafts.  
     [0017] Tower support means  3  comprise a tower  16 , horizontal platform  15 , and plurality of vertical supports  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14 .  
     [0018] Torque transporter means comprise a plurality of blade assemblies, shafts, belts, pulleys.  
     [0019] High torque accumulator means comprise a high torque accumulator shaft, speed multiplier gear and electric generator.  
     [0020] In FIG. 2, shaft  8  is horizontally and rotatably carried by bearing  13   b  at vertical support  13  and bearing  12   b  at vertical support  12 . Pulleys  8   a  and  8   b  are rigidly secured to shaft  8 . Bearings  13   b  and  12   b  enhance the rotation of shaft  8 . In FIG. 3, shaft  8  is axial and rotatable about z-z axis.  
     [0021] In FIG. 2, shaft  9  is horizontally and rotatably carried on bearing  13   d  at vertical support  13  and bearing  12   d  at vertical support  12 . Speed multiplier gear  21  is rigidly secured to shaft  9  for rotating electric generator  20 . Bearings  12   d  and  13   d  enhance the rotation of shaft  9 . In FIG. 3 shaft  9  is axial and rotatable about z′-z′ axis. Pulleys  9   a ,  9   b ,  9   c  with ratchet bearings  30   a ,  30   b ,  30   c  respectively are axial and rotatable about the shaft  9  axis.  
     [0022] In FIG. 2, shaft  5   c  is horizontally and rotatably carried on bearing  13   a  at the top end of vertical support  13  and bearing  12   a  at the top end of vertical support  12 . Bearings  13   a  and  12   a  enhance the rotation of shaft  5   c . Thrust bearing stoppers  5   a  and pulley  5   b  are rigidly secured to shaft  5   c . In FIG. 3, shaft  5   c  is axial and rotatable about x-x axis. Blade assemblies  10   a ,  10   b , and  10   c  with ratchet bearings  29   a ,  29   b  and  29   c  respectively are axial and rotatable about the shaft  5   c  axis. Tower  16  is rigidly secured to the ground.  
     [0023] As the wind load rotates either one of the blade assemblies  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   a ,  29   b ,  29   c  automatically engage to drive mode and cooperatively rotate shaft  5   c . Without wind load on either one of the blade assemblies  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   a ,  29   b ,  29   c  automatically disengage to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  5   c . During operation not all blade assemblies have wind loads simultaneously. Only blade assemblies on drive mode are rotating shaft  5   c  cooperatively while the blade assemblies on neutral mode are free-wheeling without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  5   c . Vertical supports  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  are rigidly secured to the top of platform  15 .  
     [0024] In FIG. 2, the torque elements from shaft  5   c  are transported by torque transporter means that is designated as numeral  4   x  to the high torque accumulator shaft  9  as follows: from shaft  5   c  to pulley  5   b , belt  8   c , pulley  8   b , shaft  8 , pulley  8   a , belt  8   d , pulley  9   b  with ratchet bearing  30   b , shaft  9 , speed multiplier gear  21 , to electric generator  20 . Without wind load on blade assemblies  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c  the ratchet bearing  30   b  of pulley  9   b  automatically disengages to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  9 . Electric generator  20  is rigidly secured to the top of platform  15 .  
     [0025] In FIG. 2, shaft  6  is horizontally and rotatably carried by bearing  14   a  at the top end of vertical support  14  and bearing  13   c  of vertical support  13 . Thrust bearing stoppers  6   a  and drive pulley  6   b  are rigidly secured to shaft  6 . In FIG. 3, shaft  6  is axial and rotatable about x′-x′ axis. Blade assemblies  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  with ratchet bearings  29   f ,  29   g ,  29   h ,  29   i ,  29   j  respectively are axial and rotatable about the shaft  6  axis. As the wind load rotates any one of the blade assemblies  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   f ,  29   g ,  29   h ,  29   i ,  29   j  automatically engage to drive mode and cooperatively rotate shaft  6 . Without wind load on either one of the blade assemblies  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   f ,  29   g ,  29   h ,  29   i ,  29   j  automatically disengage to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  6 . During operation not all blade assemblies have wind loads simultaneously. Only blade assemblies with wind load are cooperatively rotating shaft  6  while the blade assemblies without wind load are free wheeling without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  6 .  
     [0026] In FIG. 2, the torque elements from shaft  6  are delivered by torque transporter means that is designated as numeral  4   y  to the high torque main shaft  9  as follows: from shaft  6  to drive pulley  6   b , belt  6   c , pulley  9   c  with ratchet bearings  30   c , shaft  9 , speed multiplier gear  21 , to electric generator  20 . Without wind load on blade assemblies  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  ratchet bearings  30   c  disengage to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  9 .  
     [0027] In FIG. 2, shaft  7  is horizontally and rotatably carried on bearing  12   c  at vertical support  12  and bearing  11   a  at vertical support  11 . Thrust bearing stoppers  7   a  and pulley  7   b  are rigidly secured to shaft  7 . In FIG. 3 shaft  7  is axial and rotatable about x″-x″ axis. Blade assemblies  10   d ,  10   e  with ratchet bearing  29   d ,  29   e  respectively are axial and rotatable about shaft  7  axis.  
     [0028] As the wind load rotates either one of the blade assemblies  10   d  and  10   e , their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   d ,  29   e  automatically engage to drive mode and cooperatively rotate shaft  7 . Without wind load on either one of the blade assemblies  10   d  and  10   e  their corresponding ratchet bearings  29   d  and  29   e  automatically disengage to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  7 . During operation not all the blade assemblies have wind loads simultaneously. Only blade assemblies on drive mode are rotating shaft  7  cooperatively while the blade assemblies on neutral mode are free wheeling without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  7 .  
     [0029] In FIG. 2 the torque elements from shaft  7  are delivered by torque transporter means that is designated as numeral  4   z  to the high torque main shaft  9  as follows: from shaft  7  to pulley  7   b , belt  7   c , pulley  9   a  with ratchet bearing  30   a , shaft  9 , speed multiplier gear  21  and to electric generator  20 . Without wind load on blade assemblies  10   d ,  10   e  the ratchet bearing  30   a  of pulley  9   a  automatically disengages to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  9 .  
     [0030] Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, platform  15  is horizontally and rigidly secured to the vertical top end of swivel  15   a . Swivel  15   a  is mounted rotatably, concentrically, exteriorly to the vertical support  16   b  of tower  16 . Bearing  16   a  and  16   c  enhance the rotation of swivel  15   a  about the vertical support  16   b.    
     [0031] In FIG. 2, inasmuch as more blade assemblies are rotatably mounted on vertical supports  13  and  14  this permits the wind forces which are acting on blade assemblies  10   b ,  10   c ,  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  to also act to pivot platform  15  and orient the blade assemblies directly into the wind.  
     [0032] As can best be seen in FIG. 2 blade assemblies  10   a ,  10   b ,  10   c ,  10   d ,  10   e ,  10   f ,  10   g ,  10   h ,  10   i ,  10   j  are working cooperatively in harvesting more wind energy to supply more torque elements for rotating the electric generator to produce more electricity than conventional means. There is a low percentage of wind energy escapees because the wind energy that escapes capture by the front blade assembly is captured by the rear blade assemblies. In FIG. 2, the wind energy that escapes capture by blade assembly  10   a  is captured by the rear blade assembles  10   b  and  10   c . And the wind energy that escapes capture by the blade assemblies  10   a  and  10   b  is capture by the blade assembly  10   c . In addition the rear blade assemblies are simultaneously catching the front wind energy escapees and the fresh wind energy that is supplied by the side winds thus increasing the capture of wind energy by the present invention.  
     [0033] In FIGS. 1 and 4, by increasing the length and width of platform  15  and increasing the numbers and height of vertical supports  11 ,  12 ,  13 ,  14  tower  16  will expose more than 100 said blade assemblies to the wind at high elevation for rotating one electric generator  20  wherein, said expanded high torque wind machine  1  is capable of generating more electricity in low wind velocity areas because the low torque produced by each individual blade assembly is combined by the high torque main shaft  9  into a single big force to rotate electric generator  20  to produce more electricity than conventional means at lower cost.  
     [0034]FIG. 6 is the alternate embodiment of the present invention wherein the speed multiplier  21  and electric generator  20  are located at ground level in order to accumulate and combine the torque elements of wind power, water power, solar power, geothermal power and other power sources into a big single force for rotating the electric generator  20  to produce more electricity than conventional means. Bevel gear  9   d  is rigidly secured to shaft  9 . Bevel gear  9   d  rotatably engages top bevel gear  22   a  of vertical shaft  22 . Bevel gear  22   a  is rigidly secured to shaft  22 . Bevel gear  22   b  with ratchet bearing  22   g  is rotatably secured to shaft  22 . Shaft  22  is axial and rotatable about y-y axis. Bearings  22   c  and  22   f  enhance the rotation of vertical shaft  22 . Bearing  22   f  on top of platform  15  rotatably support vertical shaft  22 . Horizontal struts  22   d  are rigidly secured to tower  16  and radially hold bearings  22   c  which rotatably support vertical shaft  22 . Bevel gear  22   b  rotatably engages bevel gear  23   a  of horizontal shaft  23 .  
     [0035] Bevel gears  23   a ,  23   b  and speed multiplier  21  are rigidly secured to shaft  23 , Bearings  23   f  of vertical support  23   d  and bearings  23   g  of vertical support  23   e  enhance the rotation of horizontal shaft  23 . Shaft  23  is axial and rotatable about w-w axis.  
     [0036] Bevel gear  24   a  with ratchet bearing  24   f  is rotatably secured to horizontal shaft  24 . Bearing  24   c  of vertical support  24   d  and bearing  24   b  of vertical support  24   e  enhance the rotation of horizontal shaft  24 . Shaft  24  is axial and rotatable about k-k axis. The torque elements of water power, wave power, solar power, geothermal power and other power sources are supplied to shaft  24  and shaft  23  through bevel gear  24   a  which rotatably engages bevel gear  23   b  thereby rotating shaft  23 .  
     [0037] As the torque element load rotates shaft  24 , ratchet bearing  24   f  of bevel gear  24   a  automatically engages to drive mode and rotates bevel gear  23   b  and horizontal shaft  23 . Without torque element load on shaft  24 , ratchet bearing  24   f  automatically disengages to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  23 . The torque elements from shaft  9  and shaft  24  are accumulated and combined into a big single force in shaft  23  for rotating speed multiplier gear  21  and electric generator  20  to produce more electricity than conventional means at lower expenses. Tower  16 , vertical supports  23   d ,  23   e ,  24   d ,  24   e , electric generator  20  are rigidly secured to the ground.  
     [0038] In FIG. 6, the torque elements from shaft  24  are delivered by the torque transporter means that is designated as numeral  4   k  to the high torque accumulator shaft  23  as follows: from shaft  24  to bevel gear  24   a  with ratchet bearing  24   f , bevel gear  23   b , shaft  23 , speed multiplier gear  21  and electric generator  20 . Without torque element load on shaft  24  the ratchet bearing  24   f  automatically disengages to neutral mode without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  23 .  
     [0039] Also in FIG. 6, the torque element from shaft  9  are delivered by the torque transporter means that is designated as numeral  4   w  to the torque accumulator shaft  23  as follows: from shaft  9  to bevel gear  9   d , bevel gear  22   a , vertical shaft  22 , bevel gear  22   b  with ratchet bearing  22   g , bevel gear  23   a , shaft  23 , speed multiplier gear  21  and to electric generator  20 . Without torque element load on shaft  9  the ratchet bearing  22   g  of bevel gear  22   b  automatically disengages to neutral more without giving resistance to the rotation of shaft  23 .  
     [0040] As can best be seen in FIG. 6, the torque transporter means  4   x ,  4   y ,  4   z ,  4   w ,  4   k  have a wide area of applications for accumulating and combining the torque elements of wind power, water power, wave power, solar power, geothermal power and other power sources into a big single force for rotating the speed multiplier gear  21  and electric generator  20  to produce more electricity than conventional means wherein a plurality of horizontal shafts are connected in offline segments by belts, shafts and gears thereby enabling the present invention to produce large amounts of electricity at lower expenses in low wind velocity areas as well as in high wind velocity areas.  
     [0041] The features and combinations illustrated and described herein represent a more advance concepts in wind power machine designs and they are significant elements of the present invention. These include all alternatives and equivalents within the broadest scope of each claim as understood in the light of the prior art.