US988098A - Windmill. - Google Patents

Description

S. I'0T'IEER.

WINDMI'LL. v APPLIOATION FILED man, 1910.' 988,098'. Patented Mams, 1911'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wl l Jawa/Z 270# f? THE Nopzms PETERS co4, WASHINGTON. D. n.

S. HOFFER.

WINDMILL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 12, 1910.

"Paten-m11 11111.28, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v I l v me/wko@ fafzz Haj SAMUEL HOEEER, 0F HAIGLER, NEBRASKA.

WINDMILL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. as, i911.

Application filed March 12, 1910. Serial No. 548,842.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL Honrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at I-Iaigler, in the county of Dundy and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in IVindmills, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wind mills, the object of the invention being to provide a wind mill embodying a novel construction, arrangement and mode of mounting and controlling the sails or vanes of the mill, whereby a simple, eicient and reliable type of mill may be inexpensively produced and one which will supply sufficient power for various purposes.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wind mill embodying my invention, showing some of the sails closed or folded to an inoperative position. Fig. 2 is a top plan view. of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a detail view of one of the sails showing its mode of mounting.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the wind mill tower or frame, which may be of any suitable construction, and is provided with bearings for a hollow vertical shaft 2, which shaft carries at its lower end a beveled gear 3 for transmitting power to a similar gear 1 on a transmitting shaft 5, which may be provided with a fly wheel 6. The gear a carries the usual crank or wrist pin 7 for communicating motion to a reciprocating rod 7 ,which may be the operating -rod of a pumping mechanism.

'Ihe shaft 2 carries at its upper end a collar or head 8 provided with hollow radial arms 9, in which are secured, by set screws 10, radial rods 11 supporting the sails or vanes 12. The rods 11 carry at their outer ends collars 13 each secured thereto by a set screw 14 and provided with upwardly and downwardly extending eyes 15 and 16 receiving the ends of stay wires or braces 17 connecting the outer ends of said rods with the outer ends of the adjacent rods in front and rear thereof in the direction of rotation of the wheel. rIhe collar 13 is also provided with a lug 18, for a purpose presently described.

Each sail or vane 12 comprises a rectangular frame over which may be stretched a body of sheet metal, fabric or other suitable' material. The sails'are pivoted eccentrically upon the rods 11, and are provided upon their shorter arms with balancing weights 19 operating to return them to a horizontal or inoperative position upon an absence'of wind pressure or reduction of the wind pressure below a determined degree. By the'action of the weights, the sails, while held normally out of the wind, when there is a lack of proper pressure, are forced to an operative position by suiicient wind pressure against the resistance of the weights, whereby the sails will be arranged vertically to the wind to receive the force of the same but are allowed to turn horizontally or edgewise on the return side of the wheel by the eect of the wind on the longer sides of the sails, allowing high speed and power to be obtained with a minimum amount of air pressure. The sails are held from outward sliding movement on the rods 11 by the collars 13 and they are held from inward sliding movement on the rod by collars 20, each of which is adjustably secured upon its rod by a set screw 2l and is provided with a lug 22 projecting outwardy and arranged to lie in the plane of the lug 18 of the collar 13. The two lugs 18 and 22 have vertical stop faces 18a and 22a, respectively, properly disposed to act as stops or abutments to limit the swinging movement of the sail to a vertical position under the pressure of the air thereon, so that excess pivotal movement of the sail will be prevented, while, when in operative position, the full effect of the air pressure thereon may be obtained. The lugs are also formed with horizontal stop faces 18b and 22h, respectively, to impart the swinging movement of the sail from a vertical to a folded position. If desired, the collars may have their lugs provided with guide flanges 18c and 22C, respectively, to cooperate with the inner ends of the sleeves for the purpose of guiding the sail in a fixed path, thus securing increased stability.

Devices are provided for holding two or more of the sails or vanes in an inoperative or horizontal position, through which the required number of sails may be thrown out of the wind at any time to stop the operation of the mill. In the present instance, I have shown the use of four sails or vanes arranged at an angle of 90o about the center of their carrier trame, and devices for holding two of these sails located diametrically opposite each other out of operation, when desired. Each of these devices comprises a bell crank lever 23 pivotally mounted upon the supporting sleeve 9 of the sail, one arm of which lever is connected by a cord or its equivalent 2d with a pivoted locking or engaging member 25 having a hooked end 2G, arranged to engage the sail in an obvious manner, so that bya swinging movement of said device the sail when swung to a horizontal position by the action of the wind may be locked in such position. The other arms of the two levers 23 are connected with a rope or cord 27 extending downward through the hollow shaft 2, by which said devices may be simultaneously operated.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the construction and mode of operation ol" my improved wind mill will be readily understood and it will be seen that it provides a mill which is simple of construction, eliicient in use, inexpensive of production, and capable of supplying a large amount of power and being easily controlled.

It will be apparent, or" course, that the weight-s permit the sails to yield to the pressure of a strong wind, to reduce the amount of propelling` surface exposed thereto, and permit the sails to swing open to their fullest extent when a light wind is blowing, whereby a largely automatic speed control of the wind wheel is secured.

Having described the invention, I claim A wind mill comprising a frame, a vertical shaft journaled thereon, rods radiating from the said shaft, inner and outer collars upon each rod, the outer collar being provided with eyes and both collars with stop lugs, a sail or vane eccentrically mounted upon each rod between said collars and limited in swinging movement by said lugs, guide flanges upon the inner ends of the lugs, each of said sails being provided upon its shorter arm with a counterbalancing weight, stay wires connecting the rods and coupled to the eyes of the outer collars, and means for holding certain of the sails in an inoperative position.

ln testimony whereof l affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAll/UEL HOFFER. lWitnesses C. L. VILL, WM. H. LARNED.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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