About Slingshot WEST and Venturi Powered WindBine TM

Company: Slingshot WEST, also Slingshot Wind Energy Systems Inc, was formed as a private Alberta, Canada company in 2003. The company was formed to develop an efficient and ‘environmentally friendly’ set of wind powered electrical generator part designs which the INVENTOR has assembled into a machine he calls the 'WindBine TM' and is presently using on his residential acreage. The ‘art’ such as drawings, electronic files for making parts presently on the Slingshot WEST Store, and some of the components such as props, alternators, software and circuit boards that are planned to be made available on the Store, are sold individually and not as any particular group, each under single-use-Copyright. How these designs and components are used is entirely up to the Copyright User so long it is single-use and according to Copyright rules and according the the Policies on this site. The term 'User/Builder' refers to the individual who purchases and uses Copyrighted art purchased from the Slingshot WEST Store.  Slingshot does not recommend any particular arrangement of these designs or components and only shows images of the assemblies that the Inventor of these designs used to assemble various designs and components for his own system. The term 'WindBine TM' therefore refers to the Inventor's wind powered electrical generator and his choice for assembling the various drawings, electronic files, parts and components into a machine for generating electrical power from wind. The Inventor believes that his choice of integrating all of the various art presented in the Slingshot WEST Store is the best integration for wind power capture however, your use of this art may be different and even better suited for your implementation of this art!  This is fine and even encouraged!  Art exists after all to inspire and to engender new ideas!  Again however, understand that you are using Copyrighted material and in some countries, patented material as well that must be obtained from the Slingshot WEST Store and nowhere else! If you choose to use the art, such as drawings and electronic files made available on the Slingshot WEST Store to produce your version of the Inventor's WindBine TM machine, you are very welcome to do so for individual and single use! As staged in the Policies, you must be an individual purchasing product from the Slingshot WEST Store and not an institution or company! Important to stress however is that Slingshot WEST is not selling or recommending any particular implementation of the Inventor's WindBine TM machine, what you make of it is up to you!

The Inventor’s ‘WindBine TM’ application of the Art:

When the term WindBine TM is used in the Slingshot WEST Store, it refers ONLY to the assemblage of designs and components that the Inventor of these various designs and components chose to make into a wind generator machine he calls the WindBine TM. Slingshot WEST does not support, recommend or warrant any particular assemblage of designs or components including the one that the Inventor chose to implement that he calls the WindBine TM.  The User/Builder may build whatever he or she wishes to build whether a machine that converts wind energy to electrical energy or even for a waterwheel to convert the flow of water to electrical energy. The Slingshot WEST Store only sells art in the form of drawings and electronic CAD or machine files, and as well plans to sell physical components such as props, alternators, circuit boards, software and so forth that may be useful to the Copyright User. The alternators are planned to be sold as kits to be assembled however the User/Builder intends, and according to whatever skills he or she may possess. The material on the Slingshot WEST Store presents how the Inventor chose to assemble these alternator kits, just as the Inventor shows how he assembled his WindBine TM machine, but does not support or recommend how the User/Builder chooses to assemble any of the alternator components or other drawings or components he or she acquires from the Slingshot WEST Store!

The particular assemblage of components that the Inventor chose to group together as his implementation of the art is presented on this website. Although the User/Builder using the art is of course free to assemble whatever components or designs he purchases from the Slingshot WEST Store however he or she wishes, the Inventor has already extensively tested, modified and re-tested his application of the art to build his WindBine TM machine after exposure to many years of testing in harsh wind and storm conditions.  If this is important to you, you may wish to apply the art available on the Slingshot WEST Store in a similar fashion!

Inventor's experience of his WindBine TM machine:

The following is a description of the Inventor’s application of the art that he calls the WIndBine TM and his opinions relative to his particular and unique application of the art. The particular assemblage of the art that the Inventor chose to make utilizes the principles of ‘flow-through’ shrouding, or ‘accelerator wings’ that act to speed the flow of wind through the 3 triple bladed props of his WindBine TM as much as 2 X’s the speed of the free flowing wind!  The accelerator wings also serve to direct the wind generator into wind without the need of complex and higher maintenance servos as are required by conventional ‘upwind’ wind generators.  The faster flowing wind allows the use of smaller diameter props (10 feet) that are stronger, less costly to produce, easier to maintain and as well allow a far wider range of prop RPM’s (prop rotations per minute) than conventional wind generators.  In addition to the ‘wings’, this wider range of prop RPM makes his WindBine TM substantially more efficient than the big HAWT (Horizontal Axis WInd Turbine) wind generators as the prop RPM is permitted to increase in step with the increase in wind speed. This is because the power of wind is potentially equivalent to the cube (power of 3) at all wind speeds, but only if the prop rotation is able to increase with the wind speed! The much, much larger commercial HAWT wind turbines alter the shape (pitch) and the blades to maintain their aerodynamic efficiency in changing wind speeds.  This changing of the pitch of the prop, involves complex mechanisms that are more prone to mechanical problems and is in fact NOT as efficient as allowing the prop RPM to keep pace with the wind speed as much of the power of wind is lost between the gaps of the prop blades when they continue to plod along at typically 11 RPM for the ‘big’ turbines regardless of wind speed! The Inventor would always recommend that you combine solar with any implementation of the art you may find on the Slingshot WEST Store to build a wind powered electrical generator. Together, wind and solar make a great combination!  Usually, when the sun isn’t shining; such as during the night or during periods of inclement weather, a breeze is blowing to keep the wind generator going and pumping up your battery supply!

Designing for YOUR ownership and independence:  It may be that your goal is to be independent of publicly supplied electrical power from a public electricity grid.  In this same spirit, the Inventor built his version of the art and provides you with the means to build your version with this idea in mind - that you will be independent of any one supplier for parts and components should you produce a wind generator machine such as the Inventor’s WindBine TM!  How is this so? A main design criteria implemented in the Inventor’s WindBine TM is that, as much as possible, all parts are designed such that you, the User/Builder can in your particular design, acquire all of the parts from suppliers local to you and assemble these components as you see fit to do!  Most of the parts are designed to be punched out or laser or waterjet cut from drawings and electronic files (DXF) that you may provide to your sheet metal punch shop, waterjet shop or machinist!  This means that you DON’T need the Slingshot WEST Store to provide you with the majority of parts you may need, and you don’t need us to charge for shipping parts you can just as well acquire locally or, depending on your skills, make yourself! As well, except for the base that did require professional welding, the Inventor’s WindBine TM implementation has been designed to be ‘bolt-together’ with minimal welding! And a final note on this - when you build something like the Inventor build from the basics of drawings and parts, you know come to know your machine in detail and should be able to much more easily understand, maintain and repair any issues that may arise.  You will be building a machine that you understand in intimate detail and will therefore have the mastery to attend to any requirement of that machine!

The list of parts that you may wish to purchase from the Slingshot WEST Store include: custom alternators, custom props, custom electronic components (charge controller and circuit boards) and the software package! The software package, as you will see, is full of features for running in full Auto-mode, has a wonderful User-Interface, and is fully internet capable, meaning you can monitor and have full access to the operation of your implementation of the art from ANYWHERE!

Inventor’s WindBine TM  Specifications:

Expected Power Production (watts):

25 kmph = 1,500

35 kmph = 4,100

45 kmph = 8700

55 kmph = 16,000

Maximum for three 6,000 watt alternators is 18 kW

Inventor will be testing the larger 13 kW alternators for operation in higher winds!

Accelerator Wings:

·  The distinctive and characteristic ‘wings’ of the Inventor’s WindBine TM doesn’t allow it to fly, but the props certainly do fly as a result of them!  The wings are a part of the patented features of the Inventor's WindBine TM machine. These ‘wings’, generate a venturi effect to accelerate the wind through the props, increasing the power production versus not having these ‘wings’! This is highly significant and a 2 X’s increase in wind speed results in an 8 X’s increase in power production as power results from a volume of wind travelling at a velocity and then converted to electrical energy! The ‘wings’ also direct the Inventor’s WindBine TM accurately into the on-coming wind as do the props mounted on the downwind side of the fuselage body. The ‘wings’ and the ‘fins’ they are attached to allow for both colour and design choices according to the artistic preferences of the User/Builder should he or she choose to copy the version of the Inventor’s WindBine TM that he chose to use!  The accelerator wings started as punched and powder coated flat aluminum sheets and automatically formed into shape as they were assembled onto the Inventor’s WindBine TM. They are of a Rogallo style, much like a hang-glider, with flatter leading edge and more curved trailing edges.  They are securely yet flexibly attached to the 10 fins that are braced from one side to the other and directly to the fuselage body. They are pretensioned in assembly by the use of 5/16” diameter steel rod turnbuckles, locking at each end. The ‘wing assembly’ is supported by the top fin that is internally bolted to the fuselage bulkheads and by a strong thrust bearing at the very top of the internal tower that the Inventor’s WindBine TM body rotates around.  A series of 5 roller stations down the fuselage body allow the WindBine TM to smoothly roll on the internal tower tube as it rotates to follow the wind direction.

Custom Generators:

·         Alternators, three, 3 phase AC

·         2 stage, 8 pole, brushless, inductive

·         Two versions, 6 kW and 13 kW

·         Up to 280 Volts RMS rectified to DC

·         Field control from 0 – 4 amps DC at 24 VDC

These alternators are a very special part of the design offering and are planned to be made available in kit form. 

These kits are planned to be a very special part of the design offering. They have been designed to be easily assembled and maintained by the User/Builder with simple tools. The high voltage, high efficiency, low heat loss Slingshot WEST Store alternator kits are ideally designed for personal wind power and renewable energy applications. Two versions are planned to be offered with maximum 6 kW and 13 kW alternating current outputs. Both versions are brushless having a smaller stage of stator/rotor using a small field input (0 – 4 amps at 24 VDC) then through a shaft mounted rotating rectifier, a second power stage stator/rotor to output clean 3 phase AC power.

These kits may be assembled to produce brushless and reliable alternators that utilize a proprietary technology of Slingshot WEST called AlignEXT TM.

This technology provides several significant advantages to both the manufacturer and the end-user:

1.      Housing components are made as aluminum/alloy extrusions requiring minimal post-machining. This facilitates the manufacture of a wide range of large and cost-effective rotor diameters for alternators and other wound electric motors.

2.      The AlignEXT TM technology accurately self-aligns the rotors with the stators and extruded housings without the costly step of machining the inner housing surfaces.

3.      The AlignEXT TM technology precludes the requirement to press-fit the stators into the housing as the extruded housings sections squeeze and locate the stators with 'lock and key' automatically during assembly. This provides for quick assembly and disassembly for maintenance. This also maintains stator/rotor precise clearances under harsh mechanical vibrations both in operation and transport.

4.      The AlignEXT TM technology also includes improvements to the shaft carrying the rotors and rotating rectifier assembly that decrease cost of assembly and increase reliability and service life.

Props: 

·       Three, 3 bladed fiberglass, fixed pitch.  10’ diameter sweep

·        Prop RPM range from 140 RPM (cut-in) to 1,200 RPM maximum

·    Gear ratio from prop to alternator is 6.36 times using Gates® Poly Chain® GT™ Carbon™ long life synchronous belts!

·   Note: Props to be made available as per sufficient customer orders allow. Pricing to be made available.

Brakes: 

·         Disk brakes

·        Electric over hydraulic activation with individual hydraulic valves for each prop. This allows the running of the Inventor’s WindBine TM to operate with 1 to 3 props for added redundancy should any one or two prop systems require maintenance. Valving each prop also allows brakes to be held without the use of power.

Furling: 

·       Not required for the Inventor’s WindBine TM.  Prop shaft lock-up braking allows free passage of higher winds. The Inventor’s WindBine TM has been designed and extensively tested, modified and re-modified to handle very strong and storm winds with the props braked and locked. Our testing location is in the foothills of southern Alberta, west of High River, where we frequently have winds in excess of 120 km/hr. It is not possible to say what extreme winds may cause damage to the Inventor’s WindBine TM.  A direct hit from a tornado would likely damage or destroy it, but then the same would occur to the nearby house and shop!

Inventor’s WindBine TM Electronic Sensing:

  • Prop RPM sensing with proximity sensors
  • Alternator Temperature sensing
  • Alternator Field Current sensing
  • Voltage, Current and Power output sensing
  • Wind speed sensing
  • Temperature sensing of alternators and outside air temperatures
  • Direction sensing for wind direction and counting turns of                       WindBine TM with electronic compass module (see auto-unwind)
  • Vibration sensing for each prop/power centre in event of prop               over-icing

Auto-unwind:

·     This is a simple extension spring mechanism that assures that the Inventor’s WindBine TM will unwind itself should it make wind direction changes that would cause it to turn the electrical cables running up the inner tower. Should the Inventor’s WindBine TM accumulate one or two turns of rotation, when the wind has died down, it will automatically unwind excessive turns. The built in electronic compass module keeps track of these number of turns.

Control and Data Interface:

·         Auto and remote sensing via secure internet communication

·         Data logging and data access via secure Internet

·         Computer interface and internet Graphical User Interface

Note: The WindBine TM GUI  is an application that is used to view live and historical data, and configure and control the WindBine TM. The WindBine TM GUI application runs on a commercial off-the-shelf Human Machine Interface (HMI) program known as PeakHMITM. The PeakHMITM program has been customized to work with the WindBine TM system. To use the PeakHMITM based WindBine TM GUI, each user will need to purchase a USB dongle from PeakHMITM.  For an overview of the WindBine TM GUI, see the WindBine TM GUI pdf document.

Supporting Electrical System:

Very important to state here that the Supporting Electrical System means the system the Inventor used for his WindBine TM machine!  There are many different ways that a User/Builder may choose to use the art purchased from the Slingshot WEST Store!  The Inventor developed his WindBine TM machine to support conventional lead acid battery charging. This is not to say that a User/Builder could not develop his own version of the Supporting Electrical System to charge other types of batteries such as lithium, or be used as ‘grid-tie’ but the Inventor chose to develop his own machine for battery charging of a 48 VDC system only.  All of the circuit boards used by the Inventor to build his WindBine TM machine are planned to be made available for purchase on the Slingshot WEST Store.  Your expression of interest in these physical products will determine their availability!