Patent ID: 8469663

Claim:
A method of converting the kinetic energy of a fluid stream into useful work, said method comprising the steps of: positioning a parallel array of foils within said fluid stream; mounting said foils for having at least two degrees of freedom, each foil being mounted by an individual suspension bar in cantilever mode; maintaining all of said suspension bars parallel to each other and; allowing said stream of fluid to move through the array of foils for causing said foils to undergo flutter oscillations; and maintaining verticality and parallelism of said foils which is achieved by mounting means for providing rotational and translational motion while rigidly holding said foils vertical and parallel by a two-point suspension of each foil; wherein: said foils are connected through said suspension bars to a hydraulic actuator through which the instantaneous positioning of said foils in translation and pitch is governed by an external controller for ensuring antiphase motion of adjacent foils, and transferring the energy output resulting from the foils oscillating in flutter to an accumulator.