US4536125A — Wind lift generator

Claim 1

Independent Claim 115 words

A fluid power generator comprising: a support frame, a plurality of coaxially disposed pairs of support and drive sprockets rotatably mounted in spaced relations on said frame, a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted on separate ones of said pairs of said sprockets, and a plurality of fluid responsive lift blades mounted on and extending between said chains, said sprockets being positioned to define a first lift stage of said blades followed by an impact stage, and a downward lift stage, and a neutral stage on said support frame to be oriented by said support into a predetermined fluid stream wherein each of said stages presents a plurality of blades to said fluid stream.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 115 words

A fluid power generator comprising: a support frame, a plurality of coaxially disposed pairs of support and drive sprockets rotatably mounted in spaced relations on said frame, a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted on separate ones of said pairs of said sprockets, and a plurality of fluid responsive lift blades mounted on and extending between said chains, said sprockets being positioned to define a first lift stage of said blades followed by an impact stage, and a downward lift stage, and a neutral stage on said support frame to be oriented by said support into a predetermined fluid stream wherein each of said stages presents a plurality of blades to said fluid stream.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 27 words

The fluid power generator of claim 1 wherein said frame is mounted for pivotal movement on a vertical axis for self-orientation into a direction of fluid flow.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 34 words

The fluid generator of claim 2 wherein said frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically oriented planar panels defining directional vanes for orienting said frame into a direction of fluid flow.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 29 words

The fluid generator of claim 3 wherein said first lift stage of said blades are defined by a path sloped at an angle of about 7.5° from the vertical.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 28 words

The fluid generator of claim 3 wherein said impact stage is defined by a path of said blades traveling at an angle of about 64.5° to the horizontal.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 29 words

The fluid generator of claim 3 wherein said downward lift stage is defined by a path of said blades traveling at an angle of about 15° to the vertical.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 29 words

The wind generator of claim 4 wherein said impact lift stage is defined by a path of said blades traveling at an angle of about 64.5° to the horizontal.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 31 words

The fluid power generator of claim 7 wherein said downward lift stage is defined by said blades traveling in a path at about an angle of about 15° to the vertical.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 19 words

The fluid power generator of claim 8 including an electrical generator driven by at least one of said sprockets.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 96 words

A wind power generator, comprising: a support frame pivotally mounted for self-orientation into an air stream of a prevailing wind, a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted for continuous movement in spaced quadrilateral paths defining an uplift path, an impact path, a down lift path and a neutral path, and a plurality of air foils connected between said chains in each of said paths and extending into said air stream for driving said chains along said paths for driving said chains along said paths in response to a flow of air acting on said foils.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 96 words

A wind power generator, comprising: a support frame pivotally mounted for self-orientation into an air stream of a prevailing wind, a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted for continuous movement in spaced quadrilateral paths defining an uplift path, an impact path, a down lift path and a neutral path, and a plurality of air foils connected between said chains in each of said paths and extending into said air stream for driving said chains along said paths for driving said chains along said paths in response to a flow of air acting on said foils.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 21 words

The wind generator of claim 10 wherein the uplift path is sloped at an angle of about 7.5° from the vertical.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 20 words

The wind generator of claim 11 wherein the impact path is at an angle of about 64.5° to the horizontal.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 20 words

The wind generator of claim 12 wherein the downlift path extends at an angle of about 15° to the vertical.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 22 words

The wind generator of claim 13 wherein said support frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically disposed planar panels.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 21 words

The wind generator of claim 14 wherein the angle of transition between the uplift and impact path is lesser than 90°.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 27 words

The wind generator of claim 15 further comprising speed control means for partially negating the effect of wind on said blades for thereby controlling the speed thereof.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 50 words

The wind generator of claim 16 wherein said speed control means comprises pivot mounting means for pivotally mounting said blades to said chains, and resilient means for biasing said blades to a normal lift position and for permitting said blades to pivot to a stall position under excess fluid force.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 30 words

The wind generator of claim 16 wherein said speed control means comprises movable shield means for moving between a neutral nonshielding position relative to said blades and a shielding position.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 43 words

The wind generator of claim 18 wherein said shield means comprises a foldable cover moveable to a shielding position of said blades in said uplift path for at least partially negating the effect of wind on said blades thereby controlling the speed thereof.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 36 words

The wind generator of claim 19 wherein said cover is mounted on a pair of parallel tracks, and includes a wind responsive wind blade mounted on said track for lifting said cover to said shielding position.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 156 words

A fluid power generator comprising: a support frame that is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis located substantially at the front of the device and said frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically-oriented planar panels defining directional vanes for self-orientation of the device into a direction of fluid flow of a fluid stream; a plurality of coaxially disposed pairs of support and drive sprockets rotatably mounted in spaced relations on said frame; a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted on separate ones of said pairs of said sprockets; and a plurality of fluid responsive lift blades mounted on and extending between said chains, said sprockets being positioned to define a first lift stage of said blades followed by an impact stage, a downward lift stage, and a neutral stage wherein each of said stages is defined by a plurality of blades extending into and acted on simultaneously by a common fluid stream.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 156 words

A fluid power generator comprising: a support frame that is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis located substantially at the front of the device and said frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically-oriented planar panels defining directional vanes for self-orientation of the device into a direction of fluid flow of a fluid stream; a plurality of coaxially disposed pairs of support and drive sprockets rotatably mounted in spaced relations on said frame; a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted on separate ones of said pairs of said sprockets; and a plurality of fluid responsive lift blades mounted on and extending between said chains, said sprockets being positioned to define a first lift stage of said blades followed by an impact stage, a downward lift stage, and a neutral stage wherein each of said stages is defined by a plurality of blades extending into and acted on simultaneously by a common fluid stream.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 116 words

A wind power generator comprising: a support frame that is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis that is located substantially at the front of the device and said frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically-oriented planar panels defining directional vanes for self-orientation of the device into a direction of wind flow; a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted for continuous movement in spaced quadrilateral paths defining an uplift path, an impact path, a downlift path, and a neutral path; and a plurality of air foils in each of said paths connected between said chains for driving said chains along said paths in response to a flow of air acting on said foils.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 116 words

A wind power generator comprising: a support frame that is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis that is located substantially at the front of the device and said frame is defined by a pair of spaced apart vertically-oriented planar panels defining directional vanes for self-orientation of the device into a direction of wind flow; a pair of spaced apart endless chains mounted for continuous movement in spaced quadrilateral paths defining an uplift path, an impact path, a downlift path, and a neutral path; and a plurality of air foils in each of said paths connected between said chains for driving said chains along said paths in response to a flow of air acting on said foils.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 18 words

The wind generator of claim 22 including an electrical generator driven by at least one of said chains.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 24 words

The wind generator of claim 22 wherein said vertical axis is a hollow column to accommodate passage of electrical communication means with the device.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1988-08-19	1989-02-18	1989-08-20	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1992-08-19	1993-02-18	1993-08-20	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1996-08-19	1997-02-18	1997-08-20	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Wind lift generator

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