Rotatable blade apparatus with individually adjustable blades

Abstract

The lengths and/or chords and/or pitches of wind turbine or propeller blades are individually established, so that a first blade can have a length/chord/pitch that is different at a given time to the length/chord/pitch of a second blade to optimize performance and/or to equalize stresses on the system.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wind turbine, comprising:
 a rotor;   a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor;   an actuator coupled to each blade and capable of altering a pitch of said blade; and   a controller coupled to said actuators for independently controlling said pitch of each blade in response to signals indicating a speed of wind approaching each blade.   
     
     
         2 . The wind turbine of  claim 1 , comprising one or more sensors configured for generating the signals. 
     
     
         3 . The wind turbine of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise respective wind speed sensors associated with the respective first and second blades. 
     
     
         4 . The wind turbine of  claim 1 , wherein the controller independently controls a chord of each blade. 
     
     
         5 . The wind turbine of  claim 1 , wherein the controller independently controls a length of each blade. 
     
     
         6 . The wind turbine of  claim 1 , wherein said pitch of each blade is based on a respective angular position of the respective blade with respect to the rotor. 
     
     
         7 . A wind turbine, comprising:
 a rotor;   a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor;   an actuator coupled to each blade and capable of altering a pitch of said blade;   a controller coupled to said actuators for independently controlling said pitch of each blade in response to signals indicating a speed of wind approaching each blade and a fluid pressure on each blade.   
     
     
         8 . The wind turbine of  claim 7 , comprising one or more sensors configured for generating the signals. 
     
     
         9 . The wind turbine of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more wind speed sensors and one or more pressure sensors. 
     
     
         10 . The wind turbine of  claim 7 , wherein the controller independently controls a chord of each blade. 
     
     
         11 . The wind turbine of  claim 7 , wherein the controller independently controls a length of each blade. 
     
     
         12 . The wind turbine of  claim 7 , wherein said pitch of each blade is based on a respective angular position of the respective blade with respect to the rotor. 
     
     
         13 . A wind turbine, comprising:
 a rotor;   a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor;   an actuator coupled to each blade and capable of altering a respective pitch of the respective blade;   a controller that independently controls, via the actuators, a respective pitch of each blade in response to fluid pressure on at least one blade.   
     
     
         14 . The wind turbine of  claim 13 , comprising one or more sensors, wherein the fluid pressure is sensed by the one or more sensors. 
     
     
         15 . The wind turbine of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise one or more pressure sensors for sensing the fluid pressure. 
     
     
         16 . The wind turbine of  claim 13 , wherein the controller independently controls a chord of each blade. 
     
     
         17 . The wind turbine of  claim 13 , wherein the controller independently controls a length of each blade. 
     
     
         18 . A wind turbine, comprising:
 a rotor;   a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor;   an actuator coupled to each blade and capable of altering a pitch of said blade;   a controller coupled to said actuators for independently controlling said pitch of each blade to thereby reduce load imbalances on the blades.   
     
     
         19 . The wind turbine of  claim 18 , comprising one or more sensors, wherein the controller independently controls said pitch of each blade based on signals from the one or more sensors. 
     
     
         20 . The wind turbine of  claim 18 , wherein the controller independently controls a chord of each blade and/or independently controls a length of each blade.