Stator wind turbine

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a wind turbine intended, in particular but not exclusively, to actuate an electricity generator.

Description of the prior art:

In order to establish the degree of novelty and patentability of the invention, a search has been made in the prior art which revealed the following patents:

French Patents Nos .:

515,879 593,840 1,111,673 US Patents Nos .:

918,364 1,365,371 4,047,834 4,415,814 4,486,143 4,551,631 This research makes it possible to note, in a surprising way moreover, the unimportant importance granted by the inventors to aerodynamics, which is nevertheless essential in the case of a machine intended to use the wind as a source of energy. 'energy.

If one compares, for example, the Dutch mill and the two-bladed propeller that both work according to the concept of 2018 ~ 99 the propeller, we see that the aerodynamic efficiency of the mill is 18% while that of the two-blade propeller is 45%. The reason for this is that the latter is the result of a careful aerodynamics while it is practically non-existent in the design of the mill.

It is also noted in these patents that all rotors without exception are wheels that operate on the drag principle, these machines being considered to have a low aerodynamic efficiency not exceeding 20% ​​and that their characteristics make them unsuitable for producing power. electricity.

It is also remarkable that all these machines use, in one form or another, the principle of the funnel. The Applicant has experimented with this principle and in his opinion there is no power to withdraw from such a construction because the pressure at the inlet, that is to say in the part with the largest diameter is the same as that at the inlet of the turbine, the part with the smallest diameter. The same applies to the exit funnel, although the flow of air there is in the opposite direction.

In addition, the control and regulation systems of the machines described in the US patents

4,415,814 and 4,551,631 are provided with shutters located between the stator and the rotor. In operation, the shutters parallel to the direction of the wind are closed and those perpendicular to the direction of the wind are open which results in forming a funnel at the inlet of the turbine and another at the exit; they must be maneuvered each time the wind changes direction.

In summary these machines are dependent on the direction of the wind and the addition of a series of flaps increases the size and decreases the yield.

With regard to US Pat. No. 1,365,371, there is described Z018199 an apparatus for propelling a boat or an airplane rather than a wind turbine.

It should also be noted that one of the faces of the blade has a convex shape while the other face has a concave shape.

The other patents have only a remote interest with respect to the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the invention consists in producing a rotor and stator wind turbine whose transverse profile of the rotor as well as that of the stator is aerodynamised in order to improve its efficiency.

Another object is that the wind turbine according to the invention is of the lift type whose efficiency can reach 45%, as opposed to those of the above patents which are dragged and which have a yield not exceeding 20%. as mentioned above.

An additional object is to make a wind turbine which is not dependent on the direction of the wind and the presence of flaps between the stator and the rotor, as is the case for example in US Patents 4,415,814 and 4,551,631, as it is mentioned previously.

Finally, the wind turbine according to the invention makes use of a rotor with curved or convex faces; a form that determines that the wind turbine is of the lift type and not the drag type.

More precisely, and in accordance with the foregoing, the wind turbine according to the invention comprises:

- a lower tray and an upper tray;

a rotor in the form of a long curved blade having two opposite sharp edges, this blade being symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal axis;

2018199 - means mounting the blade on the plates, in free rotation about its longitudinal axis; and a set of identical elongate blades with aerodynamic profile, arranged at equal spacing around the same circle coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the rotor and mounted at their ends on the plates, these blades being oriented by an equal angle relative to the diameter of said circle so as to optimize the thrust on the rotor to cause rotation.

According to a particular and preferential version, the wind turbine is characterized in that each of the blades comprises an outer flap leading edge; this component being fixed, at its ends, the lower and upper trays; and a trailing edge inner flap mounted so that it can pivot between an active position, where it is lined up with the outer flap and forms with it the aerodynamic profile, and an inactive position where it is angled relative to the outer flap.

According to another embodiment, the wind turbine is characterized in that:

- The plates are interconnected by cylindrical poles arranged at equal angular spacing around the same circle coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the rotor and whose ends are fixed to the plates;

- The blades are mounted free to pivot, each on one of these masts; and means are provided which make it possible to control simultaneously and with the same angularity the degree of pivoting of the blades.

The following is a description of these preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

These embodiments are however indicative of ~ 018199 the invention and do not limit it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a wind turbine according to a first embodiment;

Figure 2 is a top plan view; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line III-III in Figure 1 with the stator blades in the operating position;

Figure 4 is a view similar to that of Figure 3 but with the stator blades in the inactive position;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the rotor blade;

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the flow of air in the wind turbine;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a type of stator;

Figure 8 is a cross sectional view similar to that of Figure 3 but according to another embodiment of the invention;

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of this other embodiment in the closed or inactive position of the wind turbine;

Figure 10 is a partial vertical sectional view of only one side of the wind turbine of Figures 8 and 9;

Figure 11 is an operation diagram of the wind turbine according to the second embodiment;

Figure 12 is a plan view of another servo system applicable to both embodiments of Figures 1 and 8, with Figures 13 and 14 Z018199 being front and rear views. 1 to 5, the vertical wind turbine 1 is constituted by a stator 3 and a rotor 5.

The stator comprises a lower plate 7 which acts as a base; an upper plate 9 and a set of eight identical vertical blades 11 connecting them, each blade being formed of a fixed outer flap 13 and a movable inner flap 15.

A mechanism 17, or servo means, is responsible for the angular orientation of the movable inner shutters 15.

The rotor 5 has the shape of a long curved (or convex) one-piece blade with a double sharp edge 19;

it is symmetrical about a central plane extending along its longitudinal axis 21 as can be seen in Figure 5.

It is pivotally mounted on the plates 7, 9 by means of a shaft 23 whose end flares freely rotate in a thrust bearing 25 of the base 7, on the one hand (Figure 1), and a bearing of rocket 27 of the plate 9, on the other hand; both bearings being of conventional construction and anti-friction.

The rotor is therefore entirely free to rotate with the wind around its longitudinal axis 21.

It is further connected to an electricity generator, not shown, by means of any known coupling symbolized here by a gear wheel 29 at its lower end.

The mode of operation of the rotor is comparable to that of an aircraft wing whose angle of attack would vary constantly.

On the other hand, the eight blades 11 of the stator 3 are elongate parts with an aerodynamic profile and are spaced apart around the same circle coaxial with the axis 21 of the rotor. In the full power position, as in Figure 3, the blades are oriented at an angle of 45 to the diameter of the circle of S so as to optimize the thrust on the rotor to cause rotation, as explained further here. -after, in connection with the description of Figure 6.

In the particular form of this embodiment, the outer flaps 13 are fixed at their ends to become integral with the plates 7 and 9 and complete the stator. On the other hand, the inner flaps are fixed to shafts 31 whose end flares are journalled in bearings of the trays 7 and 9 in the same way as the end flares of the shaft 23 of the rotor 5.

Note that the leading edge 33 of each outer flap 13 is rounded and that the trailing edge of each inner flap 15 has a sharp edge. In the full power position, the flaps 13 and 15 are locked in alignment along oblique surfaces 37 and 39. In this way, and by means of a servo mechanism described below, it is possible to rotate the inner shutters simultaneously and at equal angles between an active position of the wind turbine, where the shutters are aligned and follow a profile. aerodynamic wing (Figure 3), and an inactive position of the wind turbine where the inner flaps intersect the outer flaps (Figure 4).

The servo mechanism mentioned above comprises pinions 41 (Figure 2) attached to the upper end of the shafts 31 and meshing with an internally toothed crown 43 and rotatable in supports 45 provided with anti-friction pads. The crown and the pinions are rotated, manually Z018199 or mechanically, by another pinion 47 mounted on the upper plate 9. This is a conventional mechanism that obviously has nothing inventive.

The orientation of the blades 11, in FIG. 3, with respect to the diameter of the radius of the circle of said blades, makes it possible to regulate the flow of the air inside the wind turbine so as to draw maximum power of the device. Here, all the blades are put to contribution. This shape is almost the same everywhere around the rotor and remains whatever the direction of the wind, since the stator is completely symmetrical. In Figure 4, where the wind turbine is at rest, this shape is modified and the air flow inside decreases considerably.

Referring now to the diagram in Figure 6, the configuration of the flow of air in the wind turbine which is the graphical representation of the air currents flowing in the space between the blades 11, representation obtained by the so-called wool strand method, which consists of floating a piece of wool around or inside an object subject to wind action, it can be observed that the combined action of the blades 11 of the stator and the wind engages a swirling motion about 3/4 in the space in which the rotor 5 moves. This makes it possible to conclude that the rotor 5 is biased on both sides at a time over 3/4 of its stroke.

Figure 7 illustrates the stator 49 of a wind turbine of the type described above where the blades 51 each consist of a fixed flap 53 and a movable flap 55. In this case, the blades are inclined uniformly towards the rotor towards the upper plate 57 so that the stator has a frustoconical shape. In addition, the fixed flaps 53 are connected 2018199 to each other by a spacer ring 61, between the plates 57 and 59. The inclination of the fixed shutters 53 in truncated cone, in a large installation, allows to take into account the factor of increase of the wind speed due to the elevation and keeps the wind force constant on the axis of the rotor.

Figures 8, 9 and 10 illustrate, as has been said above, a second embodiment of the invention.

In this, the trays 63 and 65 are interconnected by cylindrical masts 67, the ends of which are fixed to the trays.

These masts are arranged at equal angular spacing around the same circle coaxial with the longitudinal axis 69 of the rotor 71.

The blades 73 are here monobloc and mounted free to pivot on the masts 67.

They are pivoted by a mechanism similar to that of Figure 2, shown in Figure 9.

This mechanism here takes the form of L-shaped sprockets 75 whose vertical limb slides around the masts 67 and is fixed to the ends of the blades 73.

The horizontal branch of the pinions is toothed and meshes with an internally ring gear 77 supported by a support 79 fixed under the upper plate 63.

An additional gear that is not illustrated, similar to the drive gear 47 of Figure 2, also meshes with the ring 77 and allows, when actuated by any suitable means, to simultaneously control the degree of pivoting of the blades 73 .

These last rest on anti-friction bearings 81 provided on the lower plate 6S.

It will be noted that here each blade 73 is a long, double-edged curved blade and that it is symmetrical with respect to a central plane extending along its longitudinal axis.

It has the same shape as the rotor 71.

2018199 In this case, it is therefore no longer blades (11) with fixed flaps (13) supporting trays (7 and 9) and movable flaps (15) controlling the orientation of the wind but of fixed masts 67 supporting the trays 63 and 65 and around which the monobloc blades 73 can rotate.

The operation is similar in both embodiments except that the movable blades 73 of the second embodiment can pivot on 90 which allows to reverse the direction of rotation of the rotor 71 as shown in the diagram of Figure 10.

If the blades 73 are rotated, as in a, the rotor 71 will turn in the counterclockwise direction according to the arrow a '; if they are according to the arrow b, the rotor will rotate according to the arrow b '.

In this second embodiment, and by giving the blades 73 a suitable width, they may constitute a closed circular enclosure, as shown in Figure 8, which will prevent any air from circulating inside when the wind turbine is at rest.

If the angles corresponding to the positions a 'and b' are 45, on the horizontal axis 83, then the rotor 71 will turn to the maximum power.

If, against the other hand, the blades 73 are progressively displaced towards the horizontal axis 83, the power will also gradually decrease until the rotor 71 is substantially fanned.

It will be remembered from what has been said above that the blades are synchronized by the servo mechanism and that they are at the same angle with respect to the diameter of the circle around which they are inscribed.

Figures 12, 13 and 14 propose, alternatively, another servo system applicable to one or other of the two embodiments described above.

According to this system, a control cable 91, preferably of steel, connects actuating pulleys 93a to _ fixed at the bottom of the movable inner flaps 15 of the first embodiment (Figure 3) or at the bottom of the blades movable 73 of the second embodiment (Figure 8), in the extensions of their pivot axis respectively 31, 67 through the trays 7, 65 for example.

As can be seen from Figs. 12, 13 and 14, the cable 91 winds upwardly around a pulley 93a, exits at the bottom and then coils downwardly around the pulley. 93b, as shown clearly in Figure 14, in part, and so on until all the pulleys are interconnected, the two ends of the cable being connected to form an endless cable.

A control handle 95 is fixed under one of the pulleys and tightening screws 97 which firstly allow a precise adjustment of the angle of each flap 11 or blades 73 so as to obtain a better efficiency of the wind turbine and secondly in order to prevent that the cable 91 does not slide on the pulleys 93.

Finally, the applicant is of the opinion that the wind turbine described above qualifies as an engine to propel a boat. Indeed, it works regardless of the direction of the wind. The control of the power is done by "throttling", that is to say that it is simply a question of changing the angle of the blades of the stator. When these are closed, as in Figure 9, the wind turbine offers little wind gain because it becomes a kind of round tower thus completely isolating the rotor.

As we have seen, it is easy to reverse the direction of rotation of the rotor, so the drive shaft, which is a great advantage during maneuvers. Finally, the wind turbine has a solid stability because it is supported by eight poles.

This wind turbine, if mounted on a boat, would capture wind energy even at anchor or dock either to recharge batteries or to provide 2018199 electricity needed for life on board.

However, it is not a question of restricting the invention to its use on a boat. However, besides being used for pumping water and generating electricity, the wind turbine according to the invention and as claimed may propel a boat or land vehicle.