Wind driven power system

Claim 2

A wind driven power system having a rotor rotating about a vertical axis and power generating means operatively coupled to said rotor, said rotor having at least one blade, said blade being bowed in a vertical plane and torsionnaly soft along the full length thereof and provided with means for varying the pitch thereof according to a predetermined cyclic law of variation which has a frequency of pitch variation equal to the frequency of rotation of the rotor.

Claim 3

A wind driven power system according to claim 1, wherein said blade has a flexural rigidity which is distributed along the span thereof between a root portion in the vicinity of the rotation axis and a tip portion remote from said rotation axis, said root portion being substantially horizontal or having an ascending slope, whereas the tip portion is substantially vertical.

Claim 4

A wind driven power system according to claim 2, wherein the cross-section of said blade has the shape of an aerodynamic airfoil, with a torsion axis laying ahead of the aerodynamic center.

Claim 5

A wind driven power system according to claim 2, wherein at least one flap is associated with each blade, said flap being located at the rear portion, of said blade and movable about a hinge parallel to the span of said blade.

Claim 6

A wind driven power system according to claim 4, wherein said flap is hinged freely between first and second stops which respectively define first and second positions of the flap on the respective sides of said blade.

Claim 7

A wind driven power system according to claim 4, further comprising means formonitoring the position of said flap as a function of at least one of the operational parameters of the system.

Claim 8

A wind driven power system according to claim 2, wherein the chordwise curvature of the cross-section of said blade is variable.

Claim 9

A wind driven power system according to claim 7 wherein each blade comprises two spars and a flexible membrane secured between said spars, each spar having an airfoil like cross-section.

Claim 10

A wind driven power system according to claim 8, wherein said membrane is reinforced by means of flexible rods transversely arranged with respect to the blade.

Claim 11

A wind driven power system according to claim 7, including a plurality of blades wherein each blade comprises a main frontal spar and a flexible sheet attached at one side to said spar, at least at the outer portion thereof said sheet having an opposite side and being chordwisely bent under wind action, and means for stretchedly attaching said sheet between said main spar and the corresponding main spar of an adjacent blade, said attaching means being located along the said opposite side.

Claim 12

A wind driven power system according to claim 3, wherein each blade comprises: a spar; a plurality of transverse elements completing the cross-sectional shape of the blade; an outer skin made of shaped panels of sandwich like construction forming at least part of the border of the blade cross-section; and an abrasion strip on the leading edge of the blade; said spar comprising a plurality of longitudinal tubes of substantially rectangular cross-section, said tubes being assembled side by side and each formed of longitudinally arranged strips and of helically arranged strips, said strips being made of unidirectional fibers impregnated with a thermosetting resin.

Claim 13

A wind driven power system, according to claim 1, further including a vertical rotor supporting body having an enlarged base floating on a fluid allowing rotational motion thereof, other motions of the base on the fluid being restricted through bearing means cooperating with anchoring means.

Claim 14

A wind driven power system, according to claim 12, having a plurality of blades and further including binding means connecting said blades to said base.

Claim 15

A wind driven power system, according to claim 12, wherein the said fluid is water and wherein said base is provided with an axial passage having an inlet located under the water line of the base, and with a plurality of radial ducts communicating with the axial passage and ending in curved nozzles each having an outlets in the vicinity of the outboard of said base.

Claim 16

A wind driven power system according to claim 14, wherein a hydraulic turbine driving an electro-generator is located in said axial passage.

Claim 17

A wind driven power system according to claim 14, wherein a plurality of independently operating turbine driven electro-generators are located in said radial ducts.

Claim 18

A wind driven power system according to claim 12, wherein said fluid is a pressurized gas forming an air cushion under said base, in a chamber formed between said base and a firm ground surface, and a sealing liquid ring sealing the said chamber.

Claim 19

A wind driven power system according to claim 1, wherein the rotor is rigidly connected to a vertical supporting body having an enlarged base which is rotatably mounted on a firm ground surface through a circular row of carrying wheels, a further row of centering wheels guiding said base on a circular track on the ground surface.