Patent ID: 7550865

Claim:
A wind turbine, comprising: a rotatable frame; a plurality of airfoils mounted to the rotatable frame, the wherein the airfoils extend parallel to an axis of rotation of the rotatable frame, and wherein the airfoils are individually pivotable with respect to the rotatable frame; a mechanism that holds each of the airfoils in a high lift/high drag position when the airfoil moves in a direction of air flow, wherein the airfoils are dimensioned such that leading and trailing edges of successive airfoils are in contact with one another when the airfoils move in a direction opposite to the direction of air flow; and a rotational stop connected to each of the airfoils to limit pivoting of the airfoils with respect to the rotatable frame to prevent rotation of the air foil from a high drag position to a low drag position when the airfoil is moving in the direction of the air flow.