Patent ID: 7654082

Claim:
A power generation system adapted to provide power output from water flow, the system comprising: a frame; a plurality of carriages linked in series along a pathway, the pathway lying substantially in a plane; a track supporting the carriages and being attached to the frame, wherein the track comprises a rectangular channel having opposing side track plates and a bottom track plate, and wherein the carriage comprises a body, a first wheel assembly having a pair of wheels, each wheel adapted to roll along an edge of one of the side track plates and a second wheel assembly having a wheel adapted to roll along an inner surface of one of the side track plates; a plurality of foils, each mounted on one of the plurality of carriages, wherein the foils are adapted to propel the carriages along the pathway in response to water flow acting on the foils in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane, wherein each of the foils is formed from two splayed wings and a connection arm; and a power take-off operatively adapted to extract power from the movement of the carriages along the pathway.