Hanging Windmill Center of Gravity Suspension
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing windmills require expensive towers for installation and maintenance, are often prohibited by ordinance, and are prone to lightning damage due to their tall, open structure, making maintenance costs unjustified by the small power output.
Innovation Solution
A hanging windmill design suspended by a hanger at its center of gravity, eliminating the need for a tower, with a stop mechanism to prevent downward tipping and allowing for easy maintenance, portability, and directional stability through a windward and leeward configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If windmills are mounted on tall towers to reach higher velocity wind, then power generation is improved, but construction and maintenance costs increase, and they become prohibited by ordinance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional horizontal-axis windmills mounted on towers to a vertical-axis hanging windmill design suspended from an overhead attachment point. This dimensional change eliminates the need for tall tower structures while capturing wind energy, directly resolving the contradiction between power generation capability and tower-related costs/ordinances
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting the windmill on a tower reaching upward to catch wind, the invention inverts the approach by hanging the windmill from an overhead structure and allowing it to rotate vertically. This inversion eliminates tower requirements while maintaining wind capture effectiveness
2Power
If windmills are sited in the open and made tall to reach higher velocity wind, then power generation is improved, but they are struck by lightning and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By changing from a tall, exposed horizontal-axis design to a compact vertical-axis hanging design, the invention reduces the structure's exposure to lightning while maintaining effective wind capture through vertical blade rotation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the tall tower structure that makes windmills vulnerable to lightning strikes, retaining only the essential wind capture and power generation components in a compact hanging configuration
3Power
If windmills are mounted on towers, then wind capture is improved, but they require expensive construction and are difficult to move
Solution Approach 1:
The hanging vertical-axis design eliminates the permanent tower foundation requirement, allowing the windmill to be suspended from portable overhead structures and easily relocated by simply moving the suspension point
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces dynamic adaptability by allowing the windmill to be easily deployed and relocated at different sites without permanent installation, contrasting with the static, permanent tower installations of traditional designs
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The hanging windmill design reduces maintenance costs, increases power generation by allowing longer blades and self-orientation for better wind capture, and can be easily moved or deployed in remote areas for various applications.
Implementation Method 1
A wind turbine/electrical generator unit is mounted on the elongated member
Implementation Method 2
wind turbine/electrical generator unit
Implementation Method 3
suspended by the hanger at its center of gravity
Data Source
AI summary
A hanging windmill has a wind turbine and a generator mounted on an airframe supported by a hanger at the center of gravity of the assembly. A stop is provided for preventing the tipping of the airframe on the hanger beyond a point where the blades of the wind turbine strike the hanger.