1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns novel means for the production of electricity from moving fluids. More particularly, this invention is directed to wind and/or water power generation employing drag responsive constant voltage generating devices.
The generation of electric power from moving fluids such as wind or water has achieved prominence in recent years. In such generation, the moving fluid is generally caused to impel a set of rotors or blades which are connected to a rotatable shaft. The shaft is fixedly associated with a set of coil means which are held in juxtaposition with a means for generating a magnetic field. The "cutting" of the magnetic field lines thus provided by the rotating coils engenders an electric current in the coils. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in the alternative, the field generation means may be caused to rotate while holding the coil stationary to result in a similar generation of electric current in the coils. Similarly, it is known to provide a plurality of field means and coil assemblies to multiply the power generation capacity of such devices.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the voltage generated by such a generation system will be proportional to the angular velocity of the rotating shaft and, to the coil means or field means attached thereto. It will similarly be appreciated that the resulting voltages will be inversely proportional to the linear distance between each set of coils and the juxtaposed field means.
In prior generating systems, it has been found to be impractical to harness the energy available in moving fluids over a full range of velocities. This is so because present voltage and phase control equipment can not conveniently handle wide variations in input voltage. Accordingly, such equipment is conventionally been designed for the control of fluid generation electrical output over higher speed ranges, where most efficient use of the available energy in moving fluids may be accomplished. Thus, low speed operations of such generation means are usually deemed to be impractical.