Improvements in Wind-mills or Wind-motors.
Year: 1895

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wind-mills or Wind-motors.
I, HENRY SUTTON HOPPER, of 472 West Fort Street, Detroit, Michigan,
United States of America, Manufacturer of Wooden Ware, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide a wind-mill or wind-motor adapted to
drive light farm or other machinery, without veering around out of the wind when
crowded with work, but which will continue to give its full power regardless of
load, even in a gale. Also to provide a horizontal wind-mill which will automatically
vary the sail area exposed to the wind in proportion to the strength of the wind.
And further to provide a reliable, convenient and economical means for communi-
cating power from the wind-mill to various machines located at different distances
therefrom.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my wind-mill with the upper portion of the tower,
the full lines showing the wind-mill in working position, and the dotted lines
showing its position when out of the wind.
Figure 2 is a vertical fractional section, drawn to an enlarged scale, through the
centre of the shaft and sails, and in line with the vane, showing the principal parts
in detail and in working position.
Figure 3 is a similar enlarged section showing the position of the principal parts
when thrown out of the wind.
Figure 4 is an elevation of the principal parts at right angles to the position
shown in Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 5 is a plan or top view of the entire wind-mill; and
Figure 6 is a side elevation of the wind-mill and tower, showing the mode of
transmitting motion to different machines.
The principal features of my invention will be readily understood from the
following description
The vane A is carried on the rectangular frame a, a, a, which is connected at b
by horizontal pivots to the top of a hollow vertical mast B, which is journalled upon
the top of the tower C at c, c, so as to be turned by the vane A as the direction of
the wind changes. The counterbalance weight A' is attached to a bracket
suspended from the front or windward end of the vane-frame a' a³, and is adapted
to hold the vane-frame in a horizontal position.
Each of the sails D has passed through its centre a vertical shaft d, jou nalled in
the extremities of the spider-arms E E, which are attached to the hubs E' E' on
the main vertical shaft E, thus forming wheels or frames between which the sails
are located, and to the periphery of which the said sails are pivotally attached.
The shaft E is journalled upon the vane-frame a a³ at e and e³. Attached to the
sails Dare sprocket-wheels a connected together by the chain F, which also runs
over the sprocket-wheel, whien is rigidly attached to the vane-frame a³ at e³, where
it forins the lower bearing for the main shaft E2 which it encircles.
G is a vertical shaft rotating in the centre of the hollow mast B, and Journalled
upon it at b¹.
Its lower end is journalled upon the tower at g. It is connected to
the main shaft E by the links H, H1, H2, so as to form a universal coupling, which
will permit the main shaft E' to be inclined at an angle with the vertical tower
shaft G. In the universal coupling the link H is rigidly attached to the end of the
tower shaft G, and the link H2 to the end of the main shaft E in the same manner,
while the ring H¹ loosely engages both the links H and H. The tower-shaft G is

page_text: provided with a bevel gear-wheel. g', which meshes with another bevel gear-
wheel J on the end of the borizontal jack-shaft j. The bevel-gear J is
provided with a crank-pin, to which the pump-rod 3 is connected. The
horizontal jack-shaft j extends a considerable distance beyond the side of the tower
and carries at its extremity a grooved pulley K. K' (Figure 6) is a similar grooved
pulley attached to the machine to be driven, and K' is a grooved tightener pulley
with counterweight attached. It hangs upon one loop of the rope or cable k,
which runs in the grooves of the pulleys K. K'.
The lower portion of the hollow mast B is slotted, as at b². It is encircled at
this point by the sliding collar L, which is connected by means of a cord, chain or
cable 1, passing through the slot in the hollow mast B and over the sheave 6³, to
the vane-frame a', to which it is attached at . The shifter-fork L' engages the
groove in the sliding collar L, and is attached to a vertical rod L, which slides in
guides L, L, upon the tower. L' is a rod, rope, or other means for extending the
rod L' so as to operate it from the ground, to throw the wind-mill out of the
wind.
M indicates a dash-pot attached to the weight braces a³ of the vane-frame.
The plunger m fits loosely in the dash-pot, as indicated by the dotted lines in
Figure 1, and is rigidly attached to the mast B at m¹. To the vane-frame a³ a³ is
attached a fulcrum piece a*, which is connected to the mast head 61 by the pivot
bolts b, b, Figure 4. Both the fulcrum piece a and the mast head b¹are provided
with weather guards a, b.
One of the sails D is provided with two sprocket-wheels and all the others
have but one.
I prefer to pass one continuous chain F around all the sprocket-
wheels. That is, commencing with the chain F about the small sprocket-wheel /,
it is passed around the upper sprocket-wheel d, thence around the outside of the
said sprocket-wheels d', d³, d', ds and do, in succession to and around the lower sail
sprocket-wheel d¹, where it is connected to the other end of the chain F, from the
small sprocket-wheel f. However, two separate chains may be used, one of them
connecting the small sprocket-wheelf to the upper sail sprocket-wheel d¹, while the
other passes around and engages the sail sprocket-wheels d², d³, dª, d³, aº, and the
lower sail sprocket-wheel d¹ only.
The chain F holds the sails D', D³, D³, Dª, D' and D in the positions shown in
Figure 5; that of D¹ being in line with the spider-arm or spoke E and at right
angles to the vane-frame a a² and also to the direction of the wind, as shown by
the arrows N. It also holds the sail D2 at an angle of 30° to the spider-arm E,
and 60° to the vane-frame; D³ at an angle of 60° to the spider-arm E and 30° to
the vane-frame; D at right angles to the spider-arm and parallel with the vane-
frame and the direction of the wind; D' at an angle of 60° to the spider-arm and
30° to vane-frame; and D° at an angle of 30° to spider-arm and 60° to vane-
frame.
It is evident that as the sails De, D' and D2 stand at greater angles to the wind
than the sails D³, D' and D5, the wind-wheel will revolve in the direction indicated
by the arrows O, and as the small sprocket-wheelf is one-half the diameter of the
sprocket-wheels d', and as it is held stationary by the vane A, the chain F will
draw the sails into new positions, D₁ taking the position of D2, when it has made
one-sixth of a revolution, and that of D³ at one-third of a revolution, and so on
around, making one half a revolution about its own axis d, while it is making a
complete revolution about the main shaft E³, returning to its original position D¹,
with its opposite side to the wind.
In other words, the sails take exactly the same positions that the sails of a vessel
would take in sailing around a circle.
The weight A' is heavy enough to hold the vane-frame a a³ horizontal, and the
shaft E' and sails D vertical, in moderate to stiff winds. However, as the force of
the wind increases and the pressure on the sails becomes great enough to overcome
the resistance of the weight A', the forward or windward end of the vane-frame a a³
rises, and the vane A descends, thereby inclining the main shaft E' and the sails D

page_text: from the vertical, so as to spill the surplus wind over the top of the sails. As the
weight A is located at some distance below the fulcrum b of the vane-frame, it is
evident that its resisting effect increases as the wind-wheel is inclined further from
a vertical position by the pressure of the wind, and, consequently, that the effective
sail area will be adjusted automatically by the weight A' to the pressure of the
wind, even when said wind is very unsteady or gusty.
The dash-pot M forms a cushioned stop, against which the weight A¹ holds the
mill while at work, and obviates the jar that would otherwise be destructive when
the wind-mill rights up after a heavy gust of wind has passed by. In case of a
storm, or extra heavy wind, the vane-frame is swung down by the wind against the
stop m' on the mast B opposite to the dash-pot M, in which position the sails D
present only their bottom edges to the wind, thus reducing the resistance to the
wind to a minimum. When it is not desired to run the wind-mill it may be drawn
down to this position from the ground by the rod L, which is then secured to a
stop (not shown) on one of the posts of the tower.
It is evident that this wind-mill will not stop working until the force of the wind
becomes destructive, as the universal coupling H, H¹, H' will transmit the power
from the wind-wheel shaft to the tower-shaft, at any inclination of the main
shaft E', until the sails take the position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1,
when they present only their lower edges to the wind and consequently produce no
power.
By placing the jack-shaft j as near the top of the tower as practicable, the length
of the tower-shaft G, as well as its weight, and consequently the friction upon its
bearings, are reduced to a minimum. This also raises the grooved driving pulley K
far enough above the ground to give considerable range of motion to the weighted
tightener pulley K, which in turn allows the power to be transmitted to the
pulley K, located on various machines which may be directly under the wind-mill,
or at a considerable distance therefrom, as. shown in Figure 6, in which, when the
rope k is connected to a machine P, located close to the tower, the position of the
tightener sheave K2 is shown by the full lines to be near the ground at K2; while,
when the rope is connected to drive the machine p, located at the greatest distance
possible from the tower, its position is shown by the dotted lines to be close to
the grooved driving pulley K, near the top of the tower.
It is obvious that this arrangement would permit the application of power to
machines placed at points between those shown in Figure 6, as well as to machines
placed on the opposite side of the tower, or at different elevations.
The bevel-gear J is, as above stated, provided with a crank-pin, to which the
pump-rod 13 may be connected when the pump is located beneath the wind-mill.
However, it is not necessary to locate the mill over the well and pump as is usual,
as power may be transmitted to a pump located at a considerable distance from the
wind-mill by means of the endless rope k. This arrangement is particularly
advantageous where it is desired to pump water from a lake or stream, in which
case the wind-mill may be located high up on the bluff or embankment where a
steady wind pressure is available, and the pump may be placed at the water's edge.
By this arrangement the wind-mill is of incalculable value for irrigation purposes,
because many rivers, located in sections where irrigation is necessary, are apparently
dry when water is most needed, though quite a quantity of water may be flowing
through the coarse gravel in the bed of the streain out of sight, and by placing a
pump over said running water, and in the bed of the stream, sufficient water may
be raised to make much now worthless land productive.
However, it would not be practicable to place a wind-mill in the bed of the
stream, for the reason that great damage would be done to it during high water,
and also on account of the expense necessary to raise it high enough to secure an
effective wind pressure. But by placing the wind-mill and tower upon the bank
exposed to the wind and above high water, and transmitting motion therefrom
to a pump in the bed of the stream by means of the rope k and grooved pulleys,
a constant supply of water may be had when most needed, as the position of the

page_text: pump in the stream may be changed, when necessary, to accommodate it to the
stage or level of the water.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane connected by
horizontal pivots to a hollow vertical mast adapted to turn with the vane, and a
wind-wheel adapted to rotate a vertical shaft journalled upon the said vane,
substantially as described.
Second. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane connected by
horizontal pivots to a hollow vertical mast adapted to turn with said vane, a wind-
wheel adapted to rotate a shaft journalled upon the said vane, a rotary vertical
power-shaft within the hollow mast, and a universal coupling connecting the wind-
wheel shaft with the power-shaft, substantially as described.
Third. In a wind-mill or witd-motor, the combination of a vane connected by
horizontal pivots to a hollow vertical mast adapted to turn with the vane, a wind-
wheel adapted to rotate a shaft journalled upon the said vane, a counterbalance
weight adapted to hold the wind-wheel shaft vertical in ordinary winds, and a
universal coupling communicating motion to a vertical power-shaft rotating within
the hollow mast, substantially as described.
Fourth. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane pivotally
connected with a hollow vertical mast adapted to he turned thereby, a wind-wheel
adapted to rotate a shaft journalled upon the said vane, a weight suspended from
the windward end of the vane, a chain or cable attached to the leeward end of the
vane and extending through the hollow mast and through a slot in the lower
portion thereof to a sliding collar, a shifter-fork engaging a groove in the sliding
collar, and means for drawing it and the sliding collar downward to incline
the wind-wheel and shaft from the vertical, substantially as, and for the purpose,
described.
Fifth. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane pivotally
connected to a hollow vertical mast adapted to be turned thereby, a wind-wheel
adapted to rotate a shaft journalled upon the vane, a ring or link rigidly attached
to one end thereof, a vertical power-shaft rotating within the hollow mast, a ring or
link rigidly attached to the upper end thereof, and a loose ring engaging the
rigid rings upon the said shaft, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
Sixth. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane connected by
horizontal pivots to a vertical mast adapted to be turned thereby, a wind-wheel
adapted to rotate a vertical shaft journalled upon the said vane, a weight attached
to a bracket suspended from the windward end of the vane, a dash-pot attached to
the said bracket, and a plunger attached to the vertical mast and adapted to fit
into the dash-pot and form a cushioned stop against which the vane is held in.
ordinary winds, substantially as described.
Seventh. In a wind-mill or wind-motor, the combination of a vane connected by
horizontal pivots to a vertical mast adapted to be turned thereby, a counterbalance
weight attached to the windward end of the vane, a shaft journalled upon the said
vane, having wheels attached thereto, and sails located between the said wheels and
pivotally attached to the periphery thereof, substantially as described.
Eighth. The improved wind-mill or wind-motor constructed substantially as
described with reference to the accompanying drawings and operating as above
specified.
Dated the fith day of August 1895
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.