Patent ID: 6872045

Claim:
A fluid drive conversion system for converting a flow of fluid into usable energy, comprising: a base assembly; a vertical shaft, having a top end and a bottom end, extending upward from said base assembly, said vertical shaft being rotatable about a longitudinal axis of said base assembly and said vertical shaft; a plurality of foils, each said foil being a flat panel and having a top side, a bottom side, an exterior side, an interior side, a front side, a back side, a length, and a width; a plurality of radial arms connected to the top end of said vertical shaft; a means for pivotally connecting said plurality of foils to said plurality of arms such that said plurality of foils are generally vertical in position, each foil being pivotally connected to one radial arm such that the interior side of each said foil is a predefined distance, at least about one quarter of the width of one said foil, from said vertical shaft thereby creating a central space and each said foil pivots in relation to said one radial arm; and a means for converting the flow of fluid into usable energy; a plurality of wings, wherein each of said plurality of wings has a first end and a second end and is secured to a distal end of one of said plurality of radial arms in generally a vertical position such that each of said plurality of wings pivots about a vertical axis at its first end and its second end pivots in a direction of the flow of fluid; wherein said plurality of foils are positioned about said vertical shaft such that the fluid flows through said central space and simultaneously pushes the back side of at least one foil while pushing the front side of one or more remaining foils, resulting in all said plurality of foils rotating about the longitudinal axis of said base assembly, resulting in all said plurality of foils contributing to the conversion of the flow of fluid into usable energy.