The Wind-Smile Generator's single most important feature is found in the structure of the blades that capture the wind.
Wind-Smile uses the same wind twice
The many different types of windmill operate on either of two basic principles-namely, lift or drag. Wind-Smile's J-Blade is unusual in that it employs both lift and drag, or in other words, it uses the same wind twice, thereby improving its rotational efficiency and allowing it to begin operating in even a gentle breeze. The technology used in the J-Blade is registered as Japanese patent No. 3451085.
The above figure illustrates the operation of the windmill from directly above. The wind is blowing from the right, while the rotation of the upper blade is being powered by drag and the rotation of the lower blade is being powered by lift. This figure shows in a simplified fashion how the mill efficiently employs the forces of lift and drag.
9.3 m/s is the wind speed at which under the Japan Meteorological Agency's wind scale, the leaves of shrubs begin to shake. In comparison, 1.0 m/s(2.23mph) is a gentle breeze in which it is necessary to observe a trail of smoke or steam in order to ascertain the direction of the wind.
There is a major difference between conventional type windmill blades and the J-Blade. The former have a closed pouch-like structure like that of an airplane wing, while the J-Blade feature a cut out section towards the rear off the blade, giving the overall blade cross section a J shape. As a result of this J-shaped bag structure, the J-Blade operates at both lift and drag of the wind simultaneously both pushed and dragged by the wind.
