"P.O.R.T.E.R."

Horizontal axis wind machines are readily available commercially. They range in size, for hobbyist applications to gigantic sizes supplying power to the national grid. Commercial vertical axis machines are being attempted, mostly off-shore, and a Google search can locate some.

Enter the United States Patent and Trademark web site and search Letters Patent Titles which include "vertical" and "turbine" or "wind" or "axis" for instance, and you will find abundant current art. All will reference additional prior art and enough sleuthing will lead you back to the nineteenth century. Enormous creative energy has been expended on the search for a practical vertical axis machine. Many upon inspection could be readily seen as impractical either for their method of capturing energy or for the mechanics, which would be difficult to reduce to practice. Indeed, one might conclude that the inventor proceeded to develop their working prototype while the patent was in the process approval, hence no successful commercial development followed.

In 1975 I was involved with V.I.T.A. Volunteers for International Technical Assistance. Our team task was to develop a practical windmill for pumping water that employed local materials readily available to indigenous peoples. We accomplished this and the design was distributed to all who were interested. In this activity I became really aware of windmill history and development. Practical vertical axis windmills were first used in Persia for grinding grain. Prevailing winds from a more or less single direction allowed an effective wind break around half the mill leaving exposed half of the sails. Not very effective in other parts of the world where the wind came from random directions. Hence, with the crank, the development of horizontal axis wind machines for pumping water blossomed fully. Vertical axis machines re-surfaced with Savonius and Flettner in the 1930's but never blossomed.

In all humility I suggest that a functional vertical axis machine is practical. After this activity concluded, I thought that a simpler answer to pumping water might be possible with a vertical axis application. Simple gear pumps were readily available so that a direct drive apparatus could be arranged. Also, a basic design was a must, which could be easily fabricated with simple tools and materials. A plywood prototype evolved with a stator of four (4) feet in diameter and a rotor of three (3) feet in diameter. It incorporated flat plate airfoils and flat plate stators and had simple bearings supporting the rotor. The central shaft, driven by the rotor, had a gear pump attached. The apparatus worked quite successfully! It rotated in gentle breezes, developing substantial torque, and was operational in a 55MPH wind. Needless to say, due to the increased frontal area, my vehicle suffered serious clutch fatigue.

V.I.T.A published a brief of my apparatus and not one inquiry was ever received. I had other pressing matters to attend to and my attention to this activity was side tracked. Now 32 years later I need to answer some questions about this apparatus for my self which I should have pursued long ago. Stay posted, if interested. Some photos and sketches accompany this piece.

Again, in all humility, I like to refer to my apparatus thus:

Pneumatic Omni-directional, Rotary, Turbine, Energy, Re-claimer.