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An apparatus and method for harvesting fluid energy including a wave turbine consisting of a long shaft having pairs of buckets positioned at intervals along the shaft and rotated 90 degrees from each adjacent pair. Each bucket is connected at an offset angle with respect to a plane that is normal t

An apparatus and method for harvesting fluid energy including a wave turbine consisting of a long shaft having pairs of buckets positioned at intervals along the shaft and rotated 90 degrees from each adjacent pair. Each bucket is connected at an offset angle with respect to a plane that is normal to the shaft. When adapted for harnessing wave energy, the shaft is elevated above water surface and positioned at an oblique angle to the prevailing wave fronts. Each bucket is positively buoyant, so that buckets capture both potential and kinetic wave energy.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A turbine system (10) for extracting energy from waves in a body of water, said body of water characterized by a direction of prevailing waves (24), the turbine system comprising:an elongate shaft (12) rotationally disposed above the surface of said body of water, said shaft d

What is claimed is: 1. A turbine system (10) for extracting energy from waves in a body of water, said body of water characterized by a direction of prevailing waves (24), the turbine system comprising:an elongate shaft (12) rotationally disposed above the surface of said body of water, said shaft defining a longitudinal shaft axis (13); anda plurality of bucket pairs (30, 31, 32, 33) connected at intervals along the axial length of said shaft, each of said plurality of bucket pairs including a first bucket (30A, 31A, 32A, 33A) and a second bucket (30B, 31B, 32B, 33B) that is disposed 180 degrees about said shaft with respect to said first bucket, said first and second buckets defining first and second longitudinal bucket axes (21), respectively, each of said plurality of bucket pairs being oriented at a different radial position about said shaft than an adjacent one of said plurality of bucket pairs, said bucket axis of each bucket in each of said plurality of bucket pairs being oriented so that said bucket axis does not lie in a plane that is normal to said shaft axis.