Untitled record

No. 104,918.

C- H. ST. CLAIR.

WIND WHEEL.

Patented June 28, 1870.

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MniiPil states patent (i^ffire.

CHARLES H. ST. CLAIR, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

Letters Patent Νο1.ίΟ4,ϋ18, dated June 28, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN WIND-WHEELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Charles II. St. Clair, of the city and county of New Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wind-Wheels; and I do hereby declare tlie following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing of the same, which makes part of this specification, in which—

Figure 1 represents a view, in perspective, of a windwheel, embracing my improvements.

Figure 2 represents a vertical section, taken through the axis of the wheel-shaft.

It often occurs, in driving mills, pumps, &amp;c., by wind-power, that the force of the wind is not sufficient to overcome the resistance of the machinery to revolve the wind-wheel.

It is the object of my improvement to remedy this difficulty; and

It consists in. encircling the wings of the wheel with a flaring rim, projecting in front thereof a sufficient distance to gather and concentrate the wind directly upon the wings, and preveiit its escape over the ends thereof, in connection with oblique buckets, arranged on the inner side of the flaring rim, so as to catcli the wind concentrated by the latter, and direct it obliquely against the surface of said wings, in such mariner as to form au auxiliary circumferential wind-wheel in advance of the radial wings, whereby the force of the wind concentrated by the rim and its buckets can only escape from the wheel through the openings between the wings, and thus cause the wheel to be revolved by a less force of wind than it otherwise would.

My improvement also consists in securing the centering and carrying-plate of the wind-wheel shaft to a double-flanged casting, by arranging the anti-friction rollers between the said flanges, in such- manner as to support the centering turuiug-plate thereon, and also serve as the means of securing it in position, and allowing it full freedom to turn and be controlled by the action of its wind'-vane.

It will be seen,· therefore, that the rollers serve the two purposes of supporting the carrying-plate upon the lower and locking it between the upper flange of the centering base-plate, and this arrangement, while being cheap, is also durable,’and allows the carryingplate to turn with little friction.

In the accompanying drawing—

A represents the frame, upon which the several parts of the mill are arranged and supported.

A vertical casting, B, is secured to the top of this frame, aud forms the base, upon which the wind-wheel is mounted.

It is constructed with an upper,«, and a lower flange, l>, so as to leave an annular space between them, for a purpose to be presently described.

Upon this base the carrying-plate of the wind-wheel is supported and centered, so as to prevent it touching the upper flange «of the base; and the shaft I) of the wind-wheel is fitted, in bearings 0 .thereon, and carries, at one end, the winged wheel, and at the other a balance-wheel, E.

The wings F are secured to radial arms, G, attached to a hub, 11, so that their inclination may be adjusted and set as desired; aud the vane I, for keeping the wheel always to the wind, is secured to the carryingplate K by a yoke_Tframe, L, as shown in. fig. 1 of the drawing.

The carrying-plate lias an annular opening, M, and the upper side of the base B is fitted witli four verth. cal anti-friction rollers, c, arranged at equal distances from the center, for the purpose of maintaining the central position of the carrying-plate.

The wings of the wheel are encircled by a rim, N, secured to the armsG, so as to project in front thereof a short distance, and. flare outward, for the purpose of concentrating and holding the wind directly upon the. wings, and thus prevent it from passing off at their ends.

The interior flaring surface of this rim N is provided with oblique wings or buckets P, arranged so . as to form a continuation of the wings of the wheel, and constitutes an auxiliary annular wheel surrounding the oblique wings. As the wind strikes the oblique buckets P, they act in connection with the inner flaring face of the rim N, and deflect it, in two directions, directly upon the. face of the wings, and they, therefore, act in conjunction to obtain a double action of the wind, so that the wheel must be turned with a much less force of wind than would be required to turn a wheel having only radial wings.

The rim'N should not project enough to cause the wind against its outer side to interfere with the action of the vane, and its flaring position assists in producing tliis result.

The wings of the wheel are secured to tire hub and rim in any suitable manner that will allow them to beadjusted to vary their inclination.

The mill, thus constructed, is arranged to work a pinup, Q, the connecting-rod K of which is attached to the sucker-rod S by a swiveling or universal joint, T, aud its vertical movement obtained by an eccentric, U, on the wheel-shaft, so that the connecting-rod K will revolve with the turning of the carrying-plate without interfering with the working of the pump.

A brake may may be applied to the shaft U or bid ance-wheel, in any suitable manner, for the purpose of preventing the too great velocity of the wheel when the wind is high.