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An impeller for a windmotor consists of a rigid hub attached to a rotatingly mounted shaft, an outer rim concentric with the hub and a number of radial vanes of a flexible material, such as fabric, stretched between the hub and the rim, whereby their angle of inclination decreases from their inner t

An impeller for a windmotor consists of a rigid hub attached to a rotatingly mounted shaft, an outer rim concentric with the hub and a number of radial vanes of a flexible material, such as fabric, stretched between the hub and the rim, whereby their angle of inclination decreases from their inner to their outer ends. The rim is likewise made of a flexible, non-permeable fabric or other material in the shape of a hollow torus, which is filled with a gas at a pressure sufficient to maintain the shape of the torus under the stresses of wind and other forces. The torus may be filled with hydrogen or helium, whereby the entire impeller becomes lighter than air, thus eliminating the weight factor with regard to impellers with very large diameters.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An impeller for a wind motor, said impeller comprising: a rigid hub attached to a rotatably mounted shaft of a wind motor, a hollow inflatable outer rim in the shape of a torus and made from a flexible, non-permeable material, vanes extending radially from the rigid hub to the hollow inflata

1. An impeller for a wind motor, said impeller comprising: a rigid hub attached to a rotatably mounted shaft of a wind motor, a hollow inflatable outer rim in the shape of a torus and made from a flexible, non-permeable material, vanes extending radially from the rigid hub to the hollow inflatable outer rim, said vanes being made of a flexible material and the inner end of each vane being connected to said rigid hub and the outer end of each vane being connected to said hollow inflatable outer rim, said vanes being bent in a rearward direction when subjected to wind forces, means for maintaining the torus shape of the hollow inflatable rim when the hollow inflatable outer rim is under the stress of wind forces for stretching and pretensioning said vanes to concentrically position the hollow inflatable outer rim around said rigid hub, and said hollow inflatable outer rim brakes its speed of revolution to a safe margin of stress when said hollow inflatable outer rim is directed into the direction of the wind forces driving said hollow inflatable outer rim rearwardly of said rigid hub a distance dependent on the wind velocity to stretch and reinforce said vanes without deforming said hollow inflatable rim. 2. An impeller as claimed in claim 1, wherein the angle of inclination of each vane decreases from its inner end towards its outer end. 3. An impeller according to claim 1, wherein the vanes are made of flexible cloth or plastic sheeting. 4. An impeller according to claim 1, wherein the vanes are hollow and of aerodynamic configuration. 5. An impeller as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the vanes include a sleeve surrounding said hollow inflatable outer rim and are connected to the outer end of each vane. 6. A wind-motor comprising an impeller as claimed in claim 1, mounted on a vertical pivot on the top of a tower, said impeller being connected to the shaft of a generator of electricity, means being provided for turning the impeller into the direction of the wind. 7. A wind-motor as claimed in claim 6, comprising a generator mounted on a vertical pivot at the top of a tower, horizontal pivot means adapted to permit inclination of said generator in a vertical plane, said impeller being filled with a lighter-than-air gas and attached to said generator shaft by means of a flexible torque transmitting cable. 8. A wind-motor comprising an impeller as claimed in claim 1, comprising a generator and impeller coupled together and mounted in an annular housing of light material, said housing being hollow and filled with a lighter-than-air gas adapted to raise said wind-motor into the air, the unit being anchored to the ground by a cable provided with means for transmitting electricity. 9. A wind-motor comprising an impeller as claimed in claim 1, comprising a generator of electricity coupled to the impeller, carried aloft by a balloon anchored to the ground. 10. An impeller as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for maintaining the torus shape of the hollow inflatable outer rim includes a light porous material. 11. An impeller as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for maintaining the torus shape of the hollow inflatable outer rim includes a gas lighter than air at a pressure greater than the surrounding atmosphere for inflating the hollow inflatable outer rim into a semi-rigid body of sufficient strength to withstand the forces of the vanes acting thereon.