In a rotating machine having a fluidic rotor, the rotor comprises at least one blade mounted on an arm rotating about a rotor shaft forming a main axis of the rotor, the rotor being kept by a supporting structure in an orientation such that said axis is substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow of the fluid, the blade being mounted so as to pivot about an axis of rotation of the blade parallel to the main axis. The machine comprises means for generating a relative oscillation movement of the blade with respect to the arm at the axis of rotation of the blade, in order in this way to vary the inclination of the blade during the rotation of the rotor. Said means comprise, at the arm end, a mechanism comprising a first rotating element (A; B) known as the drive element and a second rotating element (B; A) known as the driven element, the elements being mounted on mutually parallel axes of rotation and separated by an inter-axis distance, the orientation of the drive element being controlled depending on the orientation of the rotor shaft while the orientation of the driven element determines the orientation of the blade, one of the rotating elements comprising a finger (D) spaced apart from its axis of rotation and the other rotating element comprising a groove (C) which receives the finger and in which the finger can slide. Application notably to wind turbines, to marine turbines and to nautical and aircraft propellers.

Pitch system (1) comprising at least one pitch motor drive (3) connected an electrical network (5). Each pitch motor drive (3) is connected to a power bank, and the pitch system comprises a test module adapted to be activated in a test position. The test module comprises a brake module (8) each connected to a pitch motor drive (3), and each brake module (8) is adapted to load a pitch motor drive (3) with a certain load Rb. Hereby a voltage drop takes place over the power bank (6). The power bank (6) is separated into a number of power blocks (9) and the voltage drop V of each power block (9) is adapted to be registered by the test module when the brake module (8) is activated.

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to a runner unit of a tidal power plant, and more particularly to a device for reversing a blade of the runner unit. The device according to the embodiments is lighter and more efficient with respect to known solutions which involve articulated mechanisms as it is based on a reversing servomotor including an annular piston which acts on the blade to be reversed.

The present invention provides a turbine sub-runner that is positioned to be within the vortex zone of a turbine wicket gates (zone S-R, FIG. 1). The sub-runner includes at least two sub-runner blades, configured to monitor the relative flow of the vortex created by the wicket gates. A control mechanism is connected to the sub-runner shaft via gear and threaded interface, and is capable of transferring the relative (vs main-runner) rotational energy of the sub-runner into angular movement of the main runner blades. As the sub-runner interacts with the changing conditions of the main vortex within the zone S-R, it will act to automatically regulate, adjust, and control the angle of the main runner blades to optimize the performance of the turbine. The sub-runner uses the energy of the vortex existing in the zone S-R to perform the monitoring, regulation, adjustment and control of the main runner through regulating angular position of main runner blades.

This method is for orientating the blades (40) of a turbine (4) past a non-reachable range of positions (1, 2) in a power plant (2), said blades (40) being rotatable around orientation axes (X40) distinct from a rotation axis (X) of the turbine (4), the turbine (4) comprising means (42, 44, 46) for orientating the blades (40), said means being adapted to exert an adjustable torque on the blades (40). The method comprises steps consisting in a) stopping the energy production of the turbine (4), b) setting a water flow which runs the turbine (4) to a value inferior to a normal energy production value, c) rotating the turbine (4) in a motor mode using energy from a grid, d) adjusting the torque delivered by the means for orientating the blades (40) to a reduced value while the turbine (4) is still rotating, so that the blades (40) are free to rotate around their orientation axes (X40), under action of a hydraulic torque exerted by the water, past the non-reachable range of positions, e) once the blades (40) have overcome the non-reachable range of positions, adjusting the torque delivered by the means for orientating the blades (40) to a normal value superior to the reduced value, so that the rotation of the blades (40) around their orientation axis (X40) is stopped in a determined position.

A controllable-pitch centrifugal fan apparatus comprising a rotor system having a fan-blade assembly constraining a plurality of fan blades that are radially distributed by an equal distance to the rotor system's axis of rotation. Each fan blade is free to rotate about an axis of rotation fixed in the fan-blade assembly. A fan-blade pinion is affixed to each fan blade's axial extremity and has a gear profile capable of mating to a blade-pitch manipulating ring. This ring has a helical gear pattern affixed to its exterior cylindrical surface and a thread applied to an inner cylindrical cavity allowing it to threadedly mate to a pitch control base rigidly affixed to the fan-blade assembly concentrically with the plurality of fan blades. In its most optimal form, the blade-pitch manipulating ring consists of a ferromagnetic material subjected to fields generated by stator-born electromagnets in order to manipulate each fan blades pitch.

The present invention provides a turbine sub-runner that is positioned to be within the vortex zone of a turbine main runner. The sub-runner includes at least two sub-runner blades, configured to monitor the relative flow of the vortex created by the main runner. A sub-runner hub will be positioned downstream of the main runner blades. A sub-runner shaft, having a threaded section, will also be a part of the sub-runner, and will be connected to the sub-runner hub housing adjustable sub-runner blades and the mechanism enabling to regulate angular position of sub-runner blades. A main runner blades control mechanism will be connected to the sub-runner shaft via threaded interface, and is capable of transferring the rotational energy of the sub-runner into angular movement of the main runner blades. As the sub-runner interacts with the changing conditions of the main runner vortex, it will act to automatically regulate, adjust, and control the angle of the main runner blades to optimize the performance of the turbine. The sub-runner uses the energy of the sub-runner blades to perform the monitoring, regulation, adjustment and control of the main runner through regulating angular position of main runner blades.

A water or wind turbine in which fatigue fracture is less likely to be generated in a rotation shaft is provided. A wind turbine comprises: a rotation shaft extending in the vertical direction; a plurality of arms extending horizontally from the rotation shaft and formed at equal intervals along the rotation direction; and a plurality of wings attached to tips of the arms and extending in the upper/lower direction, and the rotation shaft is rotated by lift generated on the wings, wherein cross sections of the wings have a uniform shape and a uniform area from upper ends of the wings to lower ends of the wings, wherein seen from the extending direction of the rotation shaft, the plurality of wings are projected on the entire circumference of a single virtual circular ring C whose center is on the rotation shaft, and wherein lengths of the wings in the vertical direction are equal over the entire circumference.

A hydrokinetic turbine system for harvesting energy from riverine and tidal sources, including a first floating dock, a marine hydrokinetic turbine mounted on the first floating dock, and a second floating dock. The system further includes a winch assembly mounted on the second floating dock and operationally connected to the first floating dock and a linkage assembly operationally connected to the first floating dock and to the second floating dock. The linkage assembly may be actuated to pull the first floating dock into contact with the second floating dock. The linkage assembly may be actuated to distance the first floating dock from the second floating dock, and the winch assembly may be energized to orient the first floating dock into a position wherein the marine hydrokinetic turbine is above the first floating dock and wherein the winch assembly may be energized to orient the first floating dock into a position wherein the marine hydrokinetic turbine is below the first floating dock.

The invention describes a mechanism to cause an actuator born on a rotating shaft to modulate backwards and forwards independently of the motion of the rotating shaft. This mechanism is then used to realize a controllable-pitch blade fan. The axial modulating mechanism is achieved by mounting a thread on the rotating shaft onto which an axial modulator, with a cylindrical cavity having a mating thread, is mounted; magnets induce the axial modulator to rotate independently of the shaft's rotation in turn causing the axial modulator to move linearly along the shaft. This mechanism's linear motion is then used to force blades rotatably mounted on the shaft to rotate and consequently vary their pitch.