Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F03—MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; WIND, SPRING, OR WEIGHT MOTORS; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • F03D—WIND MOTORS
  • F03D5/00—Other wind motors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63H—MARINE PROPULSION OR STEERING
  • B63H9/00—Marine propulsion provided directly by wind power
  • B63H9/04—Marine propulsion provided directly by wind power using sails or like wind-catching surfaces
  • B63H9/06—Types of sail; Constructional features of sails; Arrangements thereof on vessels
  • B63H9/069—Kite-sails for vessels
  • B63H9/071—Kite-sails for vessels for use in combination with other propulsion means, e.g. for improved fuel economy
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F05—INDEXING SCHEMES RELATING TO ENGINES OR PUMPS IN VARIOUS SUBCLASSES OF CLASSES F01-F04
  • F05B—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
  • F05B2270/00—Control
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
  • Y02E10/70—Wind energy
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02T—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION
  • Y02T70/00—Maritime or waterways transport
  • Y02T70/50—Measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to the propulsion system
  • Y02T70/5218—Less carbon-intensive fuels, e.g. natural gas, biofuels
  • Y02T70/5236—Renewable or hybrid-electric solutions

Definitions

• the present invention refers to a device for performing commands of a suitable automatic control system of the flight of power wing profiles (generically designated herein below by the term "kites") , particularly for optimising the conversion of wind energy into electric or mechanical energy through the flight of kites connected through cables to ground converting devices .
• the control of the flight of kites is obtained through systems like the one shown in the enclosed FIG. 1, in which the control system 1 generally comprises: detecting means 3 on board the kite 2, adapted to detect first pieces of information dealing at least with position and orientation in space of the kite 2 itself and three-axes accelerations to which it is subjected; detecting means 5 on the ground adapted to detect second pieces of information dealing at least with the amount of tension on driving cables of the kite 2 and their relative position, direction and intensity of a wind current W inside which the kite 2 is immersed; processing and controlling means 7 of the first and second pieces of information, adapted to transform the contents of such information into a suitable control action that is performed in a mechanical drive operating on the driving cables 6 of the kite 2 through an actuating unit 4; the actions that such unit 4 must perform on the cables 6 are substantially of two types: parallel unwinding or rewinding of the two cables 6 and differential control of the position of the cables 6.
• object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems by providing a system in which at least two mutually independent motors are used, respectively one for performing the action of unwinding-rewinding the cables and the other one for performing the differential control action.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of a control of the flight of kites according to the prior art
• FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the system for performing the automatic control of the flight of kites according to the present invention.
• system 10 for performing the automatic control of the flight of at least one kite 11 comprises :
• each cable 13 can be driven in a length thereof included between kite 11 and respective winch 14a, 14b by a suitable system of transmissions 20; in order to exert an unwinding- rewinding action of cables that is synchronous and equal, in a preferred embodiment, the winches 4a, 4b have a drum with the same diameter and are both keyed-in onto the same drive shaft 12a of the first actuating motor 12;
• the second actuating motor 15 adapted to control a translation movement (for example, along the direction shown by arrow F ⁇ ) of at least one slide 16, such slide being equipped with at least two blocks 17 for the diverging transmission of the cables 13 in order to perform a differential control action of the two cables 13.
• the second actuating motor 15 can cooperate with the slide 16 through at least one rack-type mechanism 15a, made of at least one driving toothed wheel 15b actuated by the second actuating motor 15 meshing on at least one rack 15c integral with the slide 16, the direction of the translation movement F x of the slide 16 obviously depending on the rotation direction (designated as an example by arrow F R ) of the toothed wheel 15b.
• system 10 could also comprise:
• At least one load sensor 19 made for example as a load cell, adapted to allow evaluating the instantaneous values of the traction forces, values that can be used by a control system of the flight of the kite both for optimising the generated powers, and for performing interventions to minimise the risks of structural overloads in case of high wind turbulences.
• the powers required by the first actuating motor 15 are very low, since the traction forces exerted on the slide 16 by the two cables 13 through the blocks 17 are mostly cancelled. Moreover, inertias involved in the movement of the slide 16 are very low (with respect to those of the winches 14a, 14b) , allowing a high response readiness in controlling the flight of the kite 11.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Sustainable Development (AREA)
• Sustainable Energy (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Toys (AREA)
• Control Of Position, Course, Altitude, Or Attitude Of Moving Bodies (AREA)
• Wind Motors (AREA)
• Investigating Or Analysing Biological Materials (AREA)
• Acyclic And Carbocyclic Compounds In Medicinal Compositions (AREA)
• Steroid Compounds (AREA)

Priority Applications (11)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Cited By (9)

Families Citing this family (25)

Citations (15)

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• 2006
  • 2006-12-11 IT IT000874A patent/ITTO20060874A1/it unknown
• 2007
  • 2007-11-30 DE DE602007009419T patent/DE602007009419D1/de active Active
  • 2007-11-30 EP EP07849771A patent/EP2091809B1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-11-30 CA CA2673089A patent/CA2673089C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-11-30 BR BRPI0720026-9A patent/BRPI0720026B1/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-11-30 US US12/518,577 patent/US8100366B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-11-30 AT AT07849771T patent/ATE482138T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-11-30 NZ NZ577101A patent/NZ577101A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-11-30 JP JP2009539879A patent/JP4928614B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2007-11-30 AU AU2007331022A patent/AU2007331022B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-11-30 WO PCT/IT2007/000834 patent/WO2008072269A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2007-11-30 RU RU2009126561/11A patent/RU2448864C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2007-11-30 CN CN2007800456309A patent/CN101553397B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2009
  • 2009-05-20 ZA ZA200903465A patent/ZA200903465B/xx unknown
  • 2009-07-07 NO NO20092559A patent/NO337708B1/no not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (16)

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