Patent ID: 8573937

Claim:
A system for providing pitch control in a wind turbine, comprising: a turbine shaft that is adapted to rotate about its longitudinal axis to generate electrical power; a plurality of blades coupled to the shaft, and oriented to receive wind power and cause rotation in the turbine shaft, wherein each of the plurality of blades can be pitched about its longitudinal axis to expose more or less of the blade to the wind power; a pitch control mechanism including a combination of springs and mass, which pitches the blades at a lower starting wind speed into the wind to start the turbine, and then as the wind speed increases to a running wind speed uses the centripetal force of the mass, counterbalanced by a limit spring, to pitch the blades to the run position and increase the power output of the wind turbine; wherein the pitch control further comprises a beam that is generally linear, and that includes one or more couplings so that the beam has a first portion and a second portion, and so that the beam can be deformed in a direction transverse to its length, and wherein the beam is connected to a spider that in turn can be used to control the pitch of the turbine's blades; wherein the first portion of the beam is held close to the shaft using a start pitch spring, and a limit pitch spring, and wherein the beam further includes a coupling approximately central to the beam that includes a center mass, and wherein the second portion of the beam is connected to the spider; and wherein the pitch control further comprises a retaining member together with a stop that ensures that in a first position of the beam, only the start pitch spring has operable tension on the beam, with the stop preventing the retaining member and its limit pitch spring from having any considerable tension on the beam.