| 摘要 |
A winch 1 for generating power using a tethered airborne device, which may be a kite, comprises a drum 2 and a guide 5, 6 which guides a tether 101 to wind around the drum 2. The drum 2 is rotatable relative to a pivot point P to move in a first plane and the guide 5, 6 is placed relative to the drum 2 to move along an orbital path in a second plane perpendicular to the main axis of the drum 2, allowing alignment of the winch 1 and tether 101. The drum 2 may have a centre of gravity between pivot point P and the tether 101. The guide 5, 6 may move on a curved track 9, 10 and may comprise a guide piece 6 to guide the tether 101 on to the drum 2 near the guide piece 6 when winding and away when unwinding. The drum 2 may be mounted on a turntable 11 rotatable around a vertical axis A and may have a fixed mast. There may be rails 12 along which a carriage 3 carrying the drum 2 can shuttle using a screw thread with a crossing helix. The drum 2 may be secured to a cradle (52 fig 4) allowing the drum (51 fig 4) to rotate in a vertical plane. The tether 101 may be a ribbon. Also disclosed is a winching system (500 fig 5) comprising a plurality of turntables (510 fig 5) coupled to a central column with a winch (505 fig 5) on each turntable (510 fig 5). The turntables may be coupled to the central column by movable arms (520 fig 5). |
