WO2015102010A1

WO2015102010A1 - Flat louvered/shuttered wind mill

Info

Publication number: WO2015102010A1
Application number: PCT/IN2014/000101
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chawla SURESH
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-01-01
Filing date: 2014-02-19
Publication date: 2015-07-09
Anticipated expiration: 2016-07-01
Also published as: IN2014DE00001A

Abstract

This invention of flat louvered/shuttered wind mill relates to utilizing full potential of free flowing wind energy using flatter and longer blades/louvers/shutters as compared to present wing mills using thinner blades, the system characterized as one which uses long and wide flat surfaced louvers/profiled shutters placed in such a way that half portion of blades/louvers/shutters are fixed to frames above a horizontal shaft, the frames are fixed to shaft through bearings and half portion of frame is fixed below the shaft called one set with every subsequent set fixed next to set one on shaft at right angle or at an appropriate angle to previous set, the shaft placed in horizontal way is supported properly on number of props having wheels fixed on bottom to rotate props on steel rails or on ground, number of props have a central prop fixed in foundation having bearing fixed to it to revolve all props around it along with entire wind mill, the louvers/shutters fixed on bigger diameter pipes over smaller pipes are fixed to frame from above are allowed to close with force of wind and gravity in upper half portion of frames by providing a stopper on frames to stop it from swinging beyond vertical position, the louvers/shutters again fixed on bigger pipes over pipes with smaller diameter fixed to frames on reverse direction in lower portion of frames are allowed to open again because of gravity acting on shutters and wind pressure to allow wind to pass through freely in lower portion of frames, wind pushes only upper half portions of frames, as the wind falls on broader surfaces and turns the vertical set of blades/louvers /shutters above the shaft to horizontal" position, the subsequent set of louvers/shutters automatically becomes vertical and process continues in same way for set 2 to provide continuous rotation to the blades/louvers/shutters, there by generating higher energy which is further multiplied by placing number of such wind mills in rows and columns, even the blades/louvers /shutters can be made collapsible by shifting stoppers fixed to frames to position where a cut is provided in shutters to swing the shutters in all direction in case of storms, with change in wind direction the whole wind mill along with louvers and shutters revolve around central prop to face the wind at all times,the smaller version of wind mills can be fixed behind/on roofs of vehicles to charge batteries of vehicles while in motion or on roofs of trains to generate energy to illuminate trains/ provide air conditioning/heating to trains, solar cells can also be fixed to shutters on both sides and other places to generate solar energy along with wind energy..

Description

FLAT LOUVERED/SHUTTERED WIND MILL

Field of the invention This invention of flat louvered/shuttered wind mill is in continuation to patent application filed on 1-1-14 vide receipt no 1/D EL/2014 relates to utilizing the free flowing wind energy to its maximum potential rather than under utilization by the existing technologies. In particular, this invention relates to generation of energy for production of electricity & upliftment of underground water by utilizing wind at lower speed, lower cost but with higher

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efficiency. The smaller versions of the wind mill can charge batteries of electrical vehicles while in motion.

Prior Art There are systems known in the art right from old ages to present times where by the wind energy is being utilized by wind mills of various types and sizes. In particular energy is being harvested by the fan type mills in general in present times which are placed in such a way and in direction that the wind forces its blades/rotors to rotate at a speed which is directly related to the wind speed.

To have greater out put of energy thorough the wind, a number of wind mills are placed in a wind farm to have the desired results. To put a number of wind mills, it is important in any wind farm that there is lot of distance between each wind mills in all directions so that the air utilized by one wind mill which gets diverted after exit from one wind mill, does not interfere with the free flowing wind in the wind farm for another wind mill.

The wind/ air utilized by one wind mill is deflected by the Rotors and it further deflects the flow directi on of wind to a certain distance, it is therefore necessary that the distance between two wind mills is about 3 times the height of each wind mill. The disbursement of wind mills at such distances results in placement of only few wind mills over large areas and it results in generation of out put which is far from satisfaction as lot of investment is required for such systems. The other disadvantage of putting up Fan Type Wind Mills is the fact that the very high towers are required to hold the Rotors which makes it difficult to correct any thing which goes wrong at such heights on a single tower. Yet another disadvantage of putting up such towers is the fact that the out put from such wind mills gets limited to a few MWs say 1/2 MW at 100 ft height to 5 MW at 400 ft height maximum on a single tower as compared to conventional power stations which can produce huge energy as compared to wind mills.

t There are another kinds of wind mills known in the art like Persian wind mills made in 600 AD to grind grains and were like merry go round with blades placed in vertical position having walls around with fixed inlet and out let gates. The change in wind direction resulted in stoppage of output and are out dated in comparison to present wind mills. There are yet another types of wind mills known in the art and by the 1100s, windmills had spread throughout Europe. About this time, it was discovered that wind mills had more power when the sails or blades turned on a horizontal shaft, like the great Dutch windmills that used four blades and could pump large amounts of water. Over time, windmills began to be built bigger and became more ornate. In fact, some even became homes for the millers who owned and worked in them.

There are yet more kinds of wind mills invented with vertical members rotating , balloon type wind mills flown at height to rotate etc. In spite of so much of advancement in wind technology, there is no system in the world which can utilize full potential of wind energy.

OBJECTIVES The primary objective of present invention is to utilize maximum potential of free flowing wind. Yet another objective of this invention is to generate higher out put like conventional generation systems.

Yet another objective of this invention is to provide stable infrastructure for wind mills at higher output of energy.

Yet another objective of present invention is to put wind mills in rows and columns so that more wind mills can be put up in small areas.

t Yet another objective of present invention is to obtain higher output at lower cost.

Yet another objective of present invention is to provide single shaft attachment to number of wind mills to generate higher out put from single generator in place of individual generator attached to each wind mill, the higher out put from single generator will reduce the cost considerably.

Yet another objective of present invention is to create solid wind mills which can be shifted from one location to another using foldable and detachable members for reassembly at new locations where seasonal wind is available.

Yet another objective of present invention is to utilize the difference in wind speeds that exist in upper height say beyond 1000ft and at ground level to run the wind mills for more months than existing wind mills Yet another objective of present invention is to fix solar cells to shutters of wind mill on both sides to generate solar energy along with wind energy.

Yet another objective of present invention is to use smaller version of wind mills to be fixed behind/above electric /hybrid vehicles/trains to charge batteries of veh icles while in motion

Yet another objective of present invention is to miniaturize wind mills to charge electronic items DESCRIPTION At the outset of the description which follows, it is to be understood that the ensuing description only illustrates a particular form of this invention, however such a particular forrn is only an exemplary embodiment, and without intending to imply any limitations on the scope of this invention. Accordingly the description is to be understood as an exemplary embodiment and teaching of the invention and not intended to be taken restrictively.

In accordance with this invention this system consists of open-able flat surfaced

sheets/shutters which can utilize wind energy to its maximum efficiency because of wide and huge surfaces being exposed to wind in place of thin and long blades used in present technologies. The system also can work at lower wind speed. The flat surfaced

sheets/shutters are fixed on a shaft in such a way that each set of flat surfaced sheets/shutters balanced at center are placed one after the other at right angle or angle that is better for the system to utilize the wind to maximum use. If set one of flat surfaced sheets/shutters fixed on frame is placed half above the shaft and half below the shaft , the set two of flat surfaced sheets/shutters fixed on frame is at right angle or at an appropriate angle to set one. The idea is to see that as the flat surfaced sheets/shutters of set one is pushed to flat position by the wind, the set two of flat surfaced sheets/shutters comes up to right angle or appropriate angle to set one for the rest of job to be done in continuation. All the surfaces of the wind mill are made of louvers/shutters . The louvers/shutters are similar to window louvers which are framed openings in the window, fitted with movable horizontal members for admitting air and light and keeping the rain out. The flat surfaced sheets/shutters with louvers in this wind mill are again divided in two forms for each set that too in right opposite position to each other in two portions. One above the central shaft and one below the central shaft. If one portion of louvers/shutters above the central shaft are in closing position with regards to wind direction , the portion two below the shaft remains in open position with regards to wind direction to let the wind pass freely in portion below the shaft.

As portion above the shaft is hit by wind with closed louvers to push the upper half to flat position. The louvers/shutters below the shaft remain open to let wind pass through lower half with out creating any resistance at all. The set two again comes at right angle to wind direction with its louvers/shutters closed in upper portion of central shaft to be hit by wind and lower portion of set two is in open position. The process makes the two sets of louvers/. shutters rotate one after the other in continuous motion. The upper portion of louvers/shutters are there fore placed in inverse position to louvers in lower portion of each\ set of wind mill. The central shaft again has a central vertical member dividing the entire length of central shaft with bearings to let the whole wind mill rotate with sets of flat surfaces attached to it with the change of direction of wind. The opposite sides of sets of wind mills also have vertical members to support at the ends/in between for the entire wind mill to be stable.

The closing and opening of louvers/shutters as required for particular portions is effected using simple mechanisms. In case of shutters the shutters close and open due to the hanging & revolving of shutters from top of small shafts provided on the frames with hinges/ bearings or using pipes of lower and higher diameter with sheets attached to higher diameter revolving over the pipe of lower diameter. A stopper is attached to frame to not let the sheet move beyond vertical position while facing the wind but shutter should open when the front portion of set one on wind mill goes at back sidet. When the position of frames change due to wind the shutters automatically take the shape required for the wind mill to revolve continuously. The closing of shutters is effected by pressure of wind on shutters and due to gravity and opening of shutters in lower position is again effected by gravity and wind force.

The central horizontal shaft has gear box attached to the shaft which further has generator attached to it for generation of electricity or the shaft of gear box has pump attachment for up liftmen of under ground water. The smaller versions of wind mills can be fixed behind/on top of vehicles to charge batteries of vehicles while in motion. Even solar cells can be fixed on flat surfaces to generate wind energy as well as solar energy.

For a better understanding of the nature of this invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which W will make the working of the system more clear.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The wind mill works on basis of gravity and wind pressure. The wind mill generates higher out put because of larger surface areas being exposed to wind. To explain the working Fig(l) shows the section of the wind mill or the side view of the wind mill where as Fig(2 )shows the front view of the wind mill. FIG (1) left side drawing shows two frames of wind mill and right side shows four frames to explain the way the wind mill works in its simple form. FIG (2) left side drawing shows elevation of two frames and right side drawing shows view of four frames. Wind mill frames have number of louvers or shutters which can swing in frames to and fro through bearings/ hinges or shutters fixed to pipes of bigger diameter on pipes of smaller diameter. The pipes are fixed in vertical rows as shown in

FIG(l) and FIG (2). The frames with louvers /shutters are fixed on inclined supports having steel wheels or other wheels which run on steel rails or on ground. The inclined supports are connected to a central shaft through bearings which support the frames. The central shaft has another vertical support at center of the shaft. The central vertical support revolves the whole wind mill with frames and shutters etc with change in direction of the wind.

FIG(l) left side drawing- shows four portions of two frames._. PORTION A , PORTION B PORTION C AND PORTION D. With wind direction marked in FIG (1) PORTION A has its shutters in closed position, the shutters get closed because of gravity acting on shutters due to hinges on top and shutter below, the shutters also get closed because of wind pressure acting on shutters. The shutters are not allowed to go beyond vertical position because of stoppers fixed to frame which stop the shutters as they fall. The PORTION B has its shutters in open position. The shutters are forced to open by wind pressure acting on surfaces of shutters and gravity acting on shutters as in PORTION B the hinges are below and shutters above. PORTION C has its shutters in open position due to gravity acting on shutters as hinges are on right side and shutters have to fall. The wind pressure acting on surfaces of shutters in this portion however try to shut down the shutters when wind pressure is enough to do so. PORTION D has its shutters in closed position because of shutters falling o stoppers of frames and wind pressure keeps shutters in closed position.

The wind falls on PORTION A and pushes the vertical portion to position where PORTION D has been shown as the wind can act on PORTION A alone because PORTION B has its shutters in open position providing no resistance at all from lower portion. In the process the PORTION B comes up to position as shown for PORTION C. The PORTION D goes down to position as shown for PORTION B. As PORTION C and PORTION D are at right angle to PORTION A and PORTION B and frames are located one after the other in horizontal spacing as shown in FIG (2). The wind pressure acting on PORTION A and PORTION B are independent of pressures acting on either of frames or portions PORTION C and PORTION D The revolving of FRAME 1 due to gravity and wind pressure makes FRAME 2 to revolve with it because of placing of two frames one after the other at right angle and wind acting on PORTION A alone. As PORTION A becomes flat at back side , the PORTION C becomes vertical at top , PORTIO B becomes flat in front and PORTION D comes down with shutters opening up due to gravity and wind pressureA

The process continues with now PORTION C acting the same way the PORTION A was acting due to wind pressure and gravity acting on shutters of each portion independently.

The right side diagrams of FIG(l) and FIG (2) show four frames which work in similar way as described for two frames.

The wind mill/ wind mills can also have multiple frames with single central shaft attached to single generator in place of single generator with each wind mill. In case of storms, all the shutter can open by pushing the stoppers to one side where an open space /cut is provided in shutters for shutters to swing to and fro in frames as shown in detail in FIG (3) in small portion of frame for bigger frames to follow the same process of opening and closing of multiple shutters in larger wind mills. Motors are attached to a plate which has attachment of all stoppers through connecting rods attached to stoppers on one side and plate on other side of frames of shutters , the connecting rods pierce through the frames to remain free to move in either direction. When storms occur, the motor unscrews the nut bolts provided on plate and stopper is pushed in the process to go adjacent to frame where cut is provided in shutters to swing to and fro and the motors screw the nut bolts to push the stoppers inside the frames for shutters when storms diminish for shutters to stop again in vertical position on closing due to wind and gravity. The lower portions of course remain open and do not create any problem in case of storms. Due to swinging of upper shutters in open position due to storms and shutters remaining open as it is in lower portions , the storm passes through all the open shutters in all the frames..

The Flat wind mill with large flat surfaces very wide and very high as shown in FIG (4) -all ways face wind head on or remains at right angle to wind direction because - slight change in wind direction pushes one end of wind mill to one side the equal wind pressure on other end pushes it back to other direction, there by maintaining balance of direction always. The flat surfaces keep rotating around the central shaft due to wind pressure acting on all upper portions with equal intensity and all lower portions of wind mills remain open always, while inclined supports with wheels -rotate around central vertical support with change in direction of wind - as it occurs. The wind mill does not stop working with change in direction of wind as it happens in existing technologies.

The present wind mills require large empty spaces in between each wind mill on all sides because wind hits the blades of fan type wind mills at an angle and wind changes direction after coming out of blades. This is not required in present Flat wind mills, which can be set up neck to neck, in rows and with higher heights in columns as shown in FIG(5)

The surfaces of shutters/louvers can be in curvature as well in place of being flat to increase the surface area exposed to wind in lesser spaces where ever required as shown in FIG (6) The smaller sizes of the same wind mills can be fixed as externa] attachments to vehicles on back side/on top of roofs of vehicles to produce energy to charge batteries of electric vehicles/ hybrid vehicles/trains as shown in FIG (7) where wind mills have been shown for mounting on 6 kinds of transport systems. For trains air Conditioning heating and illumination can be done by generating energy while motion. The miniaturizing of these wind mills can charge electronic items as well. Solar cells can also be fixed on both sides of shutters to generate solar energy along with wind energy.

Claims

I claim a flat louvered/shuttered wind mill connected to pump for water extraction is also connectable to generator to produce electricity, the wind mill characterized as one which uses long and wide flat surfaced sheets/shutters /blades fixed to frames through hinges, the shutters are fixed one above the other, the louvers/shutters are fixed in such a way that half of shutters are above the central shaft to which the frames are fixed through bearings and half below the central shaft, the upper shutters close against a stopper fixed to frames while moving up because of pressure from wind on upper shutters and also because of hinges fixed to shutters on upper side of shutters providing gravity on shutters to become vertical with frames becoming vertical, the lower shutters open because of hinges fixed on shutters on lower side of shutters fixed on opposite direction to shutters fixed in upper potion of frames and wind forcing shutters to open with wind pressure, the shutters fixed on frame no 1 called set no 1 is proceeded by another set of shutters fixed to central shaft at second position to position of set nol through bearings at an angle or at right angle to set no one, when set one becomes flat due to wind pressure acting on closed shutters fixed in upper portion of frame and lower portion not providing any resistance, the set no2 becomes vertical to repeat the process again because of close shutters in upper portion and open shutters on lower portion of frames, the louvers/shutters fixed on to frames of wind mill are made out of metal alloy so as to swing louvers/shutters on both sides when storms occur by shifting the stoppers fixed on frames to a position where a cut in shutters is provided for shutters, all the sets are fixed to shaft placed in horizontal position, are supported properly on number of props made out of structural steel/metal alloys through bearings, the props have wheels which move on rails on ground/ground , the props have a central prop fixed to ground with foundation, the whole wind mill with props move around the central prop with change in direction of wind every now and then, the props could be just two props with two blades/flat sheets/shutters one on either side or number of blades/flat sheets/shutters to revolve around central prop, the central shaft has a gear box fixed to it which is further attached to generator or pumps, the wind mills can be set up in rows and in columns with higher heights of wind mills in successive rows to previous rows, number of in motion to charge batteries while i motion or provide heating/cooling/illumination for trains. .

2. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of smaller versions which can be fixed on electric vehicles to charge batteries of electric vehicles while in motion , can be miniaturized to charge electronic items..

3. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of blades/flat surfaces/shutters which are all collapsible/open-able as the speed of wind goes above normal the blades/flat sheets/shutters are collapsed or placed in open form by shifting stoppers to a corner where cut in shutters is provided ,

4. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of shaft /shafts which are maneuverable to rotate along with shutters to receive wind even when the wind changes the direction.

5. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of blades/flat sheets/shutters which are very high and wide to utilize full potential of wind and to generate energy comparable to conventional generating systems which is much higher than preset day wind mills and also using difference in air velocity at height and at ground level, . solar cells can also be attached on both sides of shutters to generate solar energy along with wind energy.. .

6. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of props/supports which are made of various materials such as fibre glass, aluminum, steel, reinforced cement concrete, metal alloys, wood, bamboos etc to provide stable supports to shaft and blades at higher out put of energy but can have hinges or other means to lower down the entire structure in case of storms.

7. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of shaft made of various materials such as aluminum, steel, bamboos, wooden , metal alloys ..

8. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of number of louvers/shutters made out of various materials such as wood, ply, aluminum sheets/ alloy sheets/bamboos etc which can be arranged in rows with single shaft to generate energy from a single bigger generator in place of individual generators required for existing wind mills.

9. A flat louvered/shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of blades/flat sheets/shutters which can be of curvatures and not flat to generate higher outputs.

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10. A flat louvered shuttered wind mill as claimed in claim 1 consisting of folding

/collapsible members which can be easily dismantled or re-assembled to shift the windmills to different locations depending upon the availability of wind in different parts of cities/ in a country or in countries of the world.