Patent ID: 7311496

Claim:
An apparatus for generating electrical energy in a fluid environment, the apparatus comprising: a wing member for disposition in the fluid and pivotally movable about a hydrodynamic center axis in response to flow of the fluid thereabout; connector rods each pivotally mounted at a first end thereof on said wing on opposite sides of the hydrodynamic center axis; a crank member attached to a second end of each of said connector rods and rotatable by the attached connector rod about a crank member axis; a housing supporting said wing member; a gear system disposed in said housing; an axle interconnecting each of said crank members and said gear system; and an electrical generator disposed in said housing and driven by said gear system; wherein the hydrodynamic center axis about which said wing is pivotally movable is aft of a leading edge of said wing by about ¼ of the wing fore-and-aft dimension and extends substantially from wing tip to wing tip.