The invention relates to a wind turbine blade having a leading edge erosion shield. The erosion shield comprises an inner layer of a first thermoplastic material, the inner layer being an integral part of the shell body of the wind turbine blade. The erosion shield further comprises an outer layer of a second thermoplastic material attached to the inner layer.

A wind turbine is provided. The turbine includes a support having an axis of rotation, a generator, a plurality of blades rotatably mounted on the support about the axis of rotation, the blades being moveable between a retracted position generally parallel with the axis of rotation and a fully deployed position generally perpendicular with the axis of rotation, the blades being connected to the generator such that rotation of the blades in a direction induced by wind causes the generator to produce electricity, and the provision of electricity to the generator rotates the blades, and a controller connected to the generator and configured to deliver a flow of current to the generator that is sufficient to move the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position and insufficient to move the blades all the way to the fully deployed position. The flow of current induces rotation of the blades in the direction induced by wind, which creates a centrifugal force that moves the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position. As the blades move from the retracted position, the blades have increasing exposure to ambient wind to receive additional rotational force from ambient wind, and the additional rotational force being sufficient to, either alone or in combination with the flow of current, move the blades into the fully deployed position.

The invention generally relates to two-bladed turbine nacelles and associated teetering hinges. In certain embodiments, the invention provides a hinge assembly encompassing a hub and two double elastomeric teeter bearings. In some aspects, the bearings are self-contained elements that can be preloaded in a controlled manner prior to their incorporation into the larger assembly.

The present invention relates to a blade pitch control apparatus for a small size wind power generator. More specifically, the present invention relates to a blade pitch control apparatus for a small size wind power generator configured to accomplish continuous generation by continuously maintaining the necessary rotating force of the blade by systematically operating the ball screw, spinner driver, and pitch angle controller when the rotation number of blades exceeds the reference rotation number by over wind speed, so that the blade pitch is automatically controlled. To this end, the present invention comprises a blade combined with an outer circumference surface of a rotator, rotating by wind; a spinner box installed and fixed in the middle of the front surface of the blade; a ball screw formed with speed control wings at one end in a state positioned in the longitudinal direction in the middle of the spinner box and having screws at the other end; a spinner driver screwcombined with the screw of the ball screw, and moving to the front and back when the rotation number of blades exceeds the reference rotation number by over wind speed or when the wind speed decreases; and a pitch angle controller connected between the spinner driver and blade, folding and unfolding the blade according to the movement direction of the spinner driver to control the pitch angle of the blade.

An upwind wind turbine includes: a hub provided so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis; a plurality of blades configured to rotate together with the hub; a tilting mechanism configured to couple the hub and the blades such that the blades are tiltable relative to a rotational plane around the rotation axis; a driving device configured to drive the tilting mechanism to switch between a standing state where the blades stand and a tilted state where the blades are tilted; and a fixing/supporting mechanism provided independently from the tilting mechanism and the driving device and configured to be switched between a locked state where the blades in the standing state are prevented from tilting and an unlocked state where the blades are allowed to tilt to become the tilted state.

What is disclosed is a vertical-axis wind turbine that looks somewhat similar to a vertical pole during no-wind or relatively low-wind conditions, i.e., when the turbine is waiting for relatively windy conditions, and that transitions between its waiting state and wind harnessing state automatically. Yet, to automatically transition between states, the turbine uses relatively few moving mechanical assemblies and uses no electric parts. The turbine has levers attached radially to a vertical mast and one or more wings attached to each lever. Each wing's mounting angle causes the wing to move the lever to which it is attached to deploy the wing(s) attached to that lever to rotate the mast. At an approximate rotation point of the mast, to avoid the deployed wing(s) from unduly opposing the mast's rotation, the wing's angle facilitates the retraction of the wing(s). The net drag of the wing(s) serves to rotate the mast.

A wind turbine hub assembly including: a plurality of radially arranged blade attachment members for attaching blades with a radially outer blade section with a leading edge and trailing edge wherein each blade extends outwardly from and about a central axis of rotation; a central hub assembly configured to rotate about the axis of rotation with the plurality of blade attachment members being radially arranged and hingedly connected relative to the central hub assembly by respective hinge arrangements to allow relative movement of the blade attachment members relative to the central hub assembly; one or more biasing structures operatively coupled with each blade attachment member wherein a first end of said each biasing structure is attached to the central hub assembly and a second end of the biasing structure is attached to a respective blade attachment member for applying a biasing force.

A contra-rotating wind turbine (10) is disclosed comprising a first turbine rotor (36) mounted on a first turbine shaft (37) and a second turbine rotor (47) mounted on a second turbine shaft (48) where the first turbine shaft (37) is rotatable about a rotational axis (A) and the second turbine shaft (48) is rotatable in the opposite direction about the same rotational axis (A). The first turbine rotor (36) comprises at least one first turbine blade (38) extending in an outwards direction from the first turbine shaft (37) and the second turbine rotor (47) comprises at least one second turbine blade (49) extending in an outwards direction from the second turbine shaft (48). The at least one first turbine blade (38) further forms a first blade angle (40) relative to the first turbine shaft (37) and the at least one second turbine blade (49) forms a second blade angle (51) relative to the second turbine shaft (48) where the first blade angle (40) and the second blade angle (51) are both acute when the wind turbine (10) is operating.

A wind turbine is provided. The turbine includes a support having an axis of rotation, a generator, a plurality of blades rotatably mounted on the support about the axis of rotation, the blades being moveable between a retracted position generally parallel with the axis of rotation and a fully deployed position generally perpendicular with the axis of rotation, the blades being connected to the generator such that rotation of the blades in a direction induced by wind causes the generator to produce electricity, and the provision of electricity to the generator rotates the blades, and a controller connected to the generator and configured to deliver a flow of current to the generator that is sufficient to move the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position and insufficient to move the blades all the way to the fully deployed position. The flow of current induces rotation of the blades in the direction induced by wind, which creates a centrifugal force that moves the blades from the retracted position toward the fully deployed position. As the blades move from the retracted position, the blades have increasing exposure to ambient wind to receive additional rotational force from ambient wind, and the additional rotational force being sufficient to, either alone or in combination with the flow of current, move the blades into the fully deployed position.