Vertical shaft type wind power generator

Abstract

To provide a vertical shaft type wind power generator which can improve operation efficiency of a rotary shaft with blades attached thereto in a reliable manner and effectively improve power generation efficiency.SOLUTION: Each blade is attached to a support frame in a manner such that the blade may swing at the upstream side of the support frame in a rotation direction when viewed from above. When viewed from above, in the blade located at the leeward side relative to the support frame, the other end part of the blade swings in a direction opposite to the rotation direction against a biasing force to reduce resistance to wind. The blade attached to the support frame arranged parallel to a wind direction is swung in the same direction as the rotation direction by the biasing force to be engaged with the support frame. The blade located at the windward side relative to the support frame receives wind, kept in a state that the blade is engaged with the support frame by the biasing force to rotate the rotary shaft integrally with the support frame. A vertical shaft type wind power generator is configured to have the above-described structure.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vertical axis wind turbine generator. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the development of power generation devices that use renewable energy has become more active due to the growing interest in global environmental issues and concerns about the depletion of fossil fuels. Among them, wind turbines have multiple blades attached to a rotating shaft that extends in the vertical direction, catch wind with the blades, and convert the wind energy into electricity. One well-known example is the so-called vertical axis wind turbine, which operates with the rotating shaft positioned perpendicular to the wind direction (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6463860 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A vertical axis wind turbine has the advantage of being able to rotate regardless of the wind direction, but has a weakness in that when one blade is receiving a tailwind, the blade closest to the opposite pole is receiving a headwind. To overcome this weakness, the above-mentioned conventional turbine is designed so that the blades bulge outward when the wind hits it from behind, and dent inward when the wind hits it from the front.

[0005] However, it cannot be said that it effectively dissipates the wind coming from the front, and there is room for improvement in terms of efficiently rotating the rotating shaft.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide a vertical axis wind turbine generator that can reliably improve the operating efficiency of the rotating shaft to which the blades are attached and effectively improve the power generation efficiency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention relates to a vertical axis wind power generating device, comprising: a rotating shaft provided so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis extending in a vertical direction and in a predetermined rotation direction; a generator which generates electricity by rotating the rotating shaft; a frame structure in which a plurality of support frames extending in a vertical direction are attached to the rotating shaft in a state of being radially arranged about the rotation axis; a blade attached to each support frame such that one end of the blade is swingable about a swing axis parallel to the rotation axis and the other end of the blade is swingable in a rotation direction and a counter-rotation direction depending on the wind direction; and a biasing force supplying unit for each support frame which applies a biasing force to the blade in the same direction as the rotation direction. and the blades are attached to the support frame so as to be swingable upstream of the support frame in the direction of rotation when viewed from above, and for a blade located downwind of the support frame when viewed from above, the other end of the blade swings in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation against the urging force to reduce wind resistance, and for a blade attached to the support frame parallel to the wind direction, the urging force causes the blade to swing in the same direction as the direction of rotation and is engaged with the support frame, and for a blade located upwind of the support frame, the urging force causes the blade to receive wind while remaining engaged with the support frame, causing the rotation shaft to rotate integrally with the support frame.

[0008] In the invention configured in this way, in each support frame, a plurality of blades are attached to the support frame on the upstream side of the support frame in the rotation direction so as to be able to swing freely. Therefore, when viewed from above, the action of the blade differs according to the relative position of the blade with respect to the wind direction. That is, for the blade located downwind of the support frame, the other end of the blade swings in the direction opposite to the rotation direction against the biasing force to reduce wind resistance. On the other hand, for the blade located upwind of the support frame, the biasing force causes the blade to receive the wind while being engaged with the support frame, and the rotating shaft rotates integrally with the support frame. Note that for the blade attached to the support frame parallel to the wind direction, the biasing force causes the blade to swing in the same direction as the rotation direction and is engaged with the support frame, and the wind flows along the surface of the blade. In this way, compared to the conventional device, the wind received from the front can be effectively released, and the rotating shaft can be efficiently rotated. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the above invention, the operating efficiency of the rotating shaft to which the blades are attached can be reliably improved, and the power generation efficiency can be effectively improved. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a vertical axis wind turbine generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a top view of a vertical axis wind turbine. [Diagram 3] 11 is a diagram showing a schematic view of a state in which the blades are attached to a support frame. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the rotational position and the swing state of the blades of a vertical axis wind turbine when there is no wind and when the rotor is rotated at 30 degrees and 60 degrees. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the schematic configuration of a vertical axis wind power generator according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, this wind power generator 1 includes a vertical axis wind turbine 10 and a generator 20. In the wind power generator 1, the rotational driving force of a rotating shaft 11 generated in the vertical axis wind turbine 10 is transmitted to the generator 20, and the generator 20 generates electricity. Note that in Fig. 1 and the drawings described later, the dimensions and intervals of each part are partially exaggerated in order to clearly show the positional relationship of each part, and these do not represent the actual dimensional relationship.

[0012] The generator 20 includes a gear section (transmission section) 21 to which rotation is transmitted from the rotating shaft 11, a power generation section 22 that generates electricity, and a support section 23 that supports the gear section 21, the power generation section 22, and the vertical axis wind turbine 10. The gear section 21 transmits the rotation of the rotating shaft 11 to the generator 20, and converts the rotation speed of the rotating shaft 11 into a rotation speed suitable for generating electricity in the generator 20. The gear section 21 includes a large gear 21a that is attached coaxially to the rotating shaft 11, and a small gear 21b that is attached coaxially to the rotating shaft of the power generation section 22 and meshes with the large gear 21a.

[0013] The large gear 21a is attached near the lower end of the rotating shaft 11 and is supported by the support 23 to be rotatable around the rotation axis AX together with the rotating shaft 11. More specifically, the support 23 includes a base 23a that supports the generator 22, a rotation support (not shown) that supports the large gear 21a attached to the rotating shaft 11 rotatably around the rotation axis AX of the rotating shaft 11 together with the rotating shaft 11, a top plate 23b that covers the large gear 21a with the rotating shaft 11 loosely fitted into a through hole 23b1 provided in the center, and four pillars 23c. The base 23a is a plate-shaped member that supports other components provided in the generator 20, and the generator 22, the rotation support, and the pillars 23c are directly attached to the base 23a. The rotation support is disposed substantially in the center of the base 23a and rotatably supports the large gear 21a and the rotating shaft 11 from the base 23a side. The rotation support portion also has a function of adjusting the relative position between a large gear 21a attached to the rotating shaft 11 and a small gear 21b attached to the generator 22, and supporting the two gears so that they mesh with each other.

[0014] The small gear 21b is attached to an end of the rotation shaft of the power generation unit 22 and is rotatable together with the rotation shaft of the power generation unit 22. The large gear 21a and the small gear 21b are disposed in mesh with each other, and the rotation of the large gear 21a is transmitted to the small gear 21b.

[0015] The power generating unit 22 generates electricity based on the rotational driving force transmitted from the rotating shaft 11 via the gear unit 21. In this embodiment, the power generating unit 22 is a coreless generator configured with a permanent magnet and a coil. Note that the power generating unit 22 may be a coreless generator or another type of generator, and is not particularly limited.

[0016] Next, the configuration and operation of the vertical axis wind turbine 10 will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. Figure 2 is a diagram of the vertical axis wind turbine as seen from above, with (a) being a view taken along line AA in Figure 1, and (b) being a view taken along line BB in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a diagram showing the mounting state of the blades on the support frame. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the rotational position and the swinging state of the blades of the vertical axis wind turbine at no wind, 30° rotation, and 60° rotation.

[0017] The vertical axis wind turbine 10 includes a rotating shaft 11, a frame structure 12, a plurality of (nine in this embodiment) blades 13, and a biasing force supply unit 14. As shown in Fig. 1, the rotating shaft 11 is provided so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis AX extending in the vertical direction Z and in a predetermined rotation direction R with respect to a rotation support unit.

[0018] A plurality of (three in this embodiment) support frames 121 are attached to the rotating shaft 11. Each support frame 121 has a blade support portion 121a extending in the vertical direction Z, an upper connecting portion 121b that connects the upper end of the blade support portion 121a to the rotating shaft 11, and a lower connecting portion 121c that connects the lower end of the blade support portion 121a to the rotating shaft 11. As shown in Fig. 3, the blade support portion 121a has a diagonal ladder structure in which two diagonal members provided to move away from the rotating shaft 11 as they proceed from top to bottom are connected to each other by five connecting members extending in the horizontal direction with a distance of three blades between each other. In order to clarify the structure of the blade support portion 121a, dots are added to the blade support portion 121a in Fig. 3 for reference.

[0019] The three blade support parts 121a thus configured are arranged radially at equal angular intervals (120° intervals in this embodiment) around the rotation axis AX as shown in FIG. 1, and are attached to the rotation axis AX in this arrangement by the upper connecting part 121b and the lower connecting part 121c. Of these connecting parts 121b and 121c, the lower connecting part 121c is longer than the upper connecting part 121b, and the distance between the rotation shaft 11 and the blade support parts 121a increases from top to bottom. In this embodiment, in order to increase the mounting strength of the support frame 121, the rotation shaft 11 and the connecting parts 121b and 121c are connected by the support arms 122. In this manner, the frame structure 12 is configured by the three support frames 121 and the six support arms 122 to rotatably support the nine blades 13 around the rotation axis AX.

[0020] In this embodiment, three blades 13 are attached to one support frame 121. As shown in Fig. 3(a), three swing hinge portions 123a are fixedly arranged at intervals corresponding to the horizontal size of the blades 13 at an upper end portion of the blade support portion 121a located on the upstream side in the rotation direction R. In addition, three swing hinge portions 123b are fixedly arranged at intervals corresponding to the horizontal size of the blades 13 at a lower end portion of the blade support portion 121a located on the upstream side in the rotation direction R.

[0021] As shown in Fig. 1(a), when viewed from the rotation direction R, each blade 13 is a parallelogram-shaped lightweight frame with a sheet of canvas, film, or the like attached thereto, and the upper end and lower end on the side away from the rotation shaft 11 (the left hand side in Fig. 1) are pivotally supported by swing hinge parts 123a, 123b, respectively. Therefore, in each support frame 121, with the three blades 13 arranged horizontally, one end (the end away from the rotation shaft 11) is pivotally supported by the support frame 121 so as to be able to swing about the swing axis BX, while the other end (the end closer to the rotation shaft 11) is able to swing in the rotation direction R and the counter-rotation direction (-R) depending on the wind direction. Furthermore, the other ends of the three blades 13 on the upper side are connected to each other by an upper connecting wire 141 of the force supply unit 14, and the other ends of the three blades 13 on the lower side are connected to each other by a lower connecting wire 142 of the force supply unit 14.

[0022] Three connecting wires 141, 142 are provided for each support frame 121. In the biasing force supply unit 14, a guide pulley 143 and a weight 144 are provided for each upper connecting wire 141, and a guide pulley 145 and a weight 146 are provided for each lower connecting wire 142.

[0023] 3, the guide pulley 143 is rotatably attached to an upper portion of the support frame 121 close to the rotating shaft 11. The central portion of the upper connecting wire 141 is wound around the guide pulley 143, one end of which extends toward and is connected to the upper end of the blade 13, and the other end of which extends vertically along the rotating shaft 11 and is connected to the weight 144.

[0024] 3, the guide pulley 145 is rotatably attached to a portion of the support frame 121 that is lower and close to the rotating shaft 11. The center portion of the lower connecting wire 142 is wound around the guide pulley 145, one end of which extends toward and is connected to the lower end of the blade 13, and the other end of which extends vertically along the rotating shaft 11 and is connected to the weight 146.

[0025] In the vertical axis wind turbine 10 thus configured, all of the blades 13 are biased in a direction such that the other end thereof approaches the support frame 121 and comes into contact with the blade support portion 121a. Therefore, as will be described below, in a windless state, all of the blades 13 are supported in contact with the support frame 121, whereas when the wind is blowing, some of the blades 13 receive the wind while contacting the support frame 121, and the remaining blades 13 swing to let the wind go, depending on the wind direction and the rotation angle in the rotation direction R. Hereinafter, the operation of the wind power generation device 1 will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 4.

[0026] In the wind power generation device 1 configured as described above, the stress applied to the vertical axis wind turbine 10 differs for each support frame 121 depending on whether the blade 13 is located downwind of the support frame 121 supporting it when viewed from above (downwind state), located upwind (windward state), or the support frame 121 and the blade 13 are integrally parallel to the wind direction (parallel state). In a windless state where there is no wind, for example, as shown in Fig. 4(a), in each support frame 121, a biasing force acts on the other end of the blade 13, that is, the end opposite to the swing axis BX, in a direction approaching the support frame 121 due to the weight of the weights 144, 146, and the blade 13 is integrated with the support frame 121. Here, in order to individually describe the state of the three blades 13 relative to the support frame 121, the one extending to the right among the three blades 13 will be referred to as "blade 13a," and the remaining two blades 13 along the rotation direction R will be referred to as "blade 13b" and "blade 13c," respectively. In a windless state, as shown in Fig. 4(a), all of the blades 13a to 13c are biased in the rotation direction R about the swing axis BX, and are engaged with the blade support portion 121a on the upstream side of the support frame 121 in the rotation direction R.

[0027] Then, when the wind W blows, for example, as shown by the white arrow in FIG. 2, the blade 13a is located upwind of the support frame 121, and receives the wind while being engaged with the support frame 121 by the biasing force. As a result, a rotational driving force acting in a direction to rotate the rotating shaft 11 in the rotation direction R is generated. On the other hand, the blades 13b and 13c are located downwind of the support frame 121, and receive the wind W. Therefore, the blades 13b and 13c swing around the swing axis BX while resisting the biasing force. In other words, the other ends of the blades 13b and 13c swing in a direction away from the support frame 121, and the blades 13b and 13c assume a posture approximately parallel to the wind direction. As a result, the blades 13b and 13c do not resist the wind W, and the vertical axis wind turbine 10 rotates in the rotation direction R. For example, when wind W starts blowing from a windless state and vertical axis wind turbine 10 rotates 30° in rotation direction R, blades 13a to 13c respectively assume the upwind state, the downwind state, and the parallel state as shown in Fig. 4(b). While blades 13a and 13b maintain the upwind state and the downwind state, blade 13c rotates from the downwind state to the parallel state, and when blade 13c becomes free from the influence of wind W and assumes the parallel state, the biasing force of weights 144 and 146 itself moves the other end of blade 13c to support frame 121 and is locked there.

[0028] Furthermore, when the wind W continues to blow, the vertical axis wind turbine 10 rotates in the rotation direction R, and for example, as shown in FIG. 1(c), both blades 13a and 13c are in the upwind state, and receive the wind W to drive the rotating shaft 11 to rotate in the rotation direction R. Note that the blade 13b remains in the downwind state, but the other end is maintained in a position away from the support frame 121 so as not to provide resistance to the wind W.

[0029] Then, when the wind W continues to blow, the blade 13a transitions from the above-mentioned upwind state to the downwind state via the parallel state (not shown), the blade 13b transitions from the above-mentioned downwind state to the upwind state via the parallel state, and the blade 13c transitions from the above-mentioned upwind state to the downwind state via the parallel state. While such a cyclical operation is repeated, a rotational driving force is given from the vertical axis wind turbine 10 to the generator 20 via the rotating shaft 11. As a result, the energy of the wind W is converted into electrical energy.

[0030] As described above, when in the windward state, each blade 13 receives the wind W while being engaged with the support frame 121 due to the biasing force (the weight of the weights 144, 146), and rotates the rotating shaft 11 integrally with the support frame 121. On the other hand, when in the downwind state, each blade 13 swings the other end in the direction opposite to the rotation direction R against the biasing force, thereby reducing the resistance of the wind W. Moreover, when transitioning from the downwind state to the upwind state, each blade 13 immediately becomes parallel due to the biasing force, making it possible to smoothly transition to the upwind state, and the wind W flows along the surface of the blade 13. As a result, compared to the conventional device, the wind W received from the front can be effectively used to rotate the rotating shaft 11 efficiently, and a larger amount of power generation can be obtained than in the conventional device.

[0031] In the above embodiment, as shown in Fig. 3(a), for example, the anti-rotation shaft side of the blade 13 (the left hand side in the figure) is configured to be pivotally supported by the swing hinge parts 123a, 123b, so the following action and effect can be obtained. That is, when the vertical axis wind turbine 10 rotates in the rotation direction R, centrifugal force is generated and acts on the blade 13. In particular, when the blade 13 is in a downwind state, the other end of the blade 13 easily separates from the support frame 121 against the biasing force due to the centrifugal force, which is advantageous in reducing the resistance of the wind W.

[0032] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, the vertical axis wind turbine 10 is configured such that the blades 13 move away from the rotation axis 11 as they move downward. Therefore, for example, if the wind power generation device 1 is installed on the slope of a mountain, it is preferable because it can efficiently capture the wind W blowing along the slope.

[0033] The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the vertical axis wind turbine 10 is configured using three support frames 121 and nine blades 13, but the number of support frames 121 is arbitrary as long as it is plural, the number of blades 13 per support frame 121 is arbitrary, and the total number of blades 13 is also arbitrary.

[0034] In addition, in the biasing force supplying section 14 of the above embodiment, the biasing force is generated by the weight of the weights 144, 146, but the biasing force may be applied by other methods, for example, by a spring or the like. [Industrial Applicability]

[0035] The present invention can be applied to vertical axis wind turbine generators in general. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1. Wind power generation equipment 10...Vertical axis wind turbine 12...Frame structure 13,13a~13c...Feathers 14...Biasing force supply section 20…Generator 121…Support frame AX: axis of rotation BX: Swing axis R…Rotation direction W…Wind Z…Vertical direction

Claims

1. A rotation shaft that is rotatable about a rotation axis that extends in the vertical direction and in a predetermined rotation direction; a generator that generates electricity by rotation of the rotating shaft; a frame structure in which a plurality of support frames extending in the vertical direction are attached to the rotating shaft in a state in which the support frames are radially arranged around the rotating shaft; a blade attached to the support frame such that one end of the blade can swing freely around a swing axis with respect to the support frame and the other end of the blade can swing in the rotation direction and the counter-rotation direction according to the wind direction; a biasing force supplying unit for supplying a biasing force to the blade in the same direction as the rotation direction to each of the support frames, When viewed from above, the blade is attached to the support frame so as to be swingable on the upstream side of the support frame in the rotation direction, When viewed from above, For the blades located downwind with respect to the support frame, the other ends of the blades swing in a direction opposite to the rotation direction against the biasing force to reduce wind resistance, The blades attached to the support frame parallel to the wind direction are swung in the same direction as the rotation direction by the biasing force and are engaged with the support frame, a rotor blade that is positioned upwind of the support frame and receives wind while being engaged with the support frame by the biasing force, thereby rotating the rotating shaft integrally with the support frame.

2. 2. The vertical axis wind turbine according to claim 1, A vertical axis wind power generating apparatus, wherein each blade is arranged such that the one end is located on the opposite side of the rotation axis relative to the other end.

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