Rotor blade and connecting device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10077757-B2
Application number	US-201214363241-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2012
Priority date	Dec 8, 2011
Publication date	Sep 18, 2018
Grant date	Sep 18, 2018

Abstract

A rotor blade of a wind power installation for fixing to a rotor hub and having a rotor blade longitudinal axis, including a rotor blade inner part towards the rotor hub, and a rotor blade outer part away from the rotor hub, wherein the rotor blade inner part and the rotor blade outer part are connected together by means of at least one connecting device and the connecting device includes at least one anchoring element anchored in the rotor blade outer part, at least one counterpart element anchored in the rotor blade inner part, and at least one connecting bolt which extends through the counterpart element and is fixed in the anchoring element.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rotor blade of a wind power installation for fixing to a rotor hub and having a rotor blade longitudinal axis, the rotor blade comprising:
a single, integral rotor blade inner part having an end configured to be coupled to the rotor hub or an adaptor coupled to the rotor hub;
a rotor blade outer part located away from the rotor hub; and
at least one connecting device that couples the rotor blade inner part and the rotor blade outer part together, the at least one connecting device including:
at least one anchoring element anchored in the rotor blade outer part,
at least one counterpart element anchored in the rotor blade inner part, and
at least one connecting bolt that extends through the at least one counterpart element and is fixed to the at least one anchoring element, wherein:
at least one of the rotor blade outer part and the rotor blade inner part has in a region of the at least one anchoring element or the at least one counterpart element, respectively, an anchoring region with increased material thickness of a rotor blade shell in relation to material thickness of a remainder of the rotor blade shell, and wherein provided in the anchoring region for the at least one connecting device is a longitudinal bore extending parallel to the rotor blade longitudinal axis, wherein:
the longitudinal bore in the rotor blade inner part extends from an abutment surface for connecting to the rotor blade outer part completely through the anchoring region to end in an inner region of the rotor blade inner part, a thickness of the rotor blade inner part, at radial positions, gradually reduces from the anchoring region to the inner region allowing an end of the longitudinal bore to emerge completely in the inner region so that the at least one connecting bolt can extend through the longitudinal bore from the abutment surface into the inner region, wherein an end of the longitudinal bore emerges into the inner region through a portion of the rotor blade inner part in which the thickness gradually reduces, and wherein the at least one connecting bolt extends through the longitudinal bore in the portion in which the thickness gradually reduces.

2. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein at least one of the rotor blade inner part and the rotor blade outer part comprise a fiber-reinforced plastic.

3. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the anchoring element includes at least one of:
a transverse bolt having a bolt axis transverse to the rotor blade longitudinal axis, and
a bore arranged transversely relative to the bolt axis and parallel to a rotor blade surface and having a female thread for fixingly receiving the at least one connecting bolt.

4. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the at least one counterpart element includes at least one of:
a transverse bolt having a bolt axis transverse to the rotor blade longitudinal axis, and
a through bore arranged transversely relative to the bolt axis for passing the at least one connecting bolt therethrough.

5. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the at least one connecting bolt is fixed to the at least one anchoring element and projects from the at least one anchoring element through the at least one counterpart element, and further comprising a clamping means located at a side of the at least one counterpart element that is away from the at least one anchoring element, the clamping means being configured to brace against an expansion sleeve, wherein in response to the clamping means bracing against the expansion sleeve, the expansion sleeve braces against the at least one counterpart element to pull the at least one anchoring element and the at least one counterpart element against each other.

6. The rotor blade according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one connecting bolt is screwed to the at least one anchoring element, wherein the clamping means is a screw nut.

7. The rotor blade according to claim 6 wherein a through bore of the at least one counterpart element has a flattened contact surface for receiving the expansion sleeve.

8. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the at least one connecting device is one of a plurality of connecting devices, wherein a plurality of anchoring elements and counterpart elements are arranged in a plurality of rows and having a connecting bolt therein.

9. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the at least one connecting bolt is fixed to the at least one anchoring element by a threaded coupling.

10. The rotor blade according to claim 1 wherein the at least one connecting bolt extends through the at least one anchoring element and in to an expansion sleeve and is threadedly coupled to the expansion sleeve at a fixing portion.

11. The rotor blade according to claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal bore in the rotor blade outer part extends from an abutment surface for fitting the rotor blade inner part to a transverse bore and is configured to receive the anchoring element so that the at least one connecting bolt can extend from the abutment surface to the anchoring element.

12. A connecting device for connecting a single, integral rotor blade inner part to a rotor blade outer part, the connecting device comprising:
an anchoring element to be anchored in the rotor blade outer part,
a counterpart element to be anchored in the single, integral rotor blade inner part, and
a connecting bolt that extends through the counterpart element and is configured to be fixed to the anchoring element thereby fixing the counterpart element to the anchoring element, wherein:
at least one of the rotor blade outer part and the rotor blade inner part has in a region of the anchoring element or the counterpart element, respectively, an anchoring region with increased material thickness of a rotor blade shell in relation to material thickness of a remainder of the rotor blade shell, and wherein provided in the anchoring region for the connecting device is a longitudinal bore extending parallel to the rotor blade longitudinal axis, wherein:
the longitudinal bore in the rotor blade inner part extends from an abutment surface for connecting to the rotor blade outer part completely through the anchoring region to end in an inner region of the rotor blade inner part, a thickness of the rotor blade inner part, at radial positions, gradually reduces from the anchoring region to the inner region allowing an end of the longitudinal bore to emerge completely in the inner region so that the connecting bolt can extend through the longitudinal bore from the abutment surface into the inner region, wherein an end of the longitudinal bore emerges into the inner region through a portion of the rotor blade inner part in which the thickness gradually reduces, and wherein the connecting bolt extends through the longitudinal bore in the portion in which the thickness gradually reduces.

13. The connecting device according to claim 12 wherein the connecting device has a plurality of anchoring elements, a plurality of counterpart elements and a plurality of connecting bolts for connecting the anchoring element to the counterpart element.

14. The connecting device according to claim 12 , wherein the longitudinal bore in the rotor blade outer part extends from an abutment surface for fitting the rotor blade inner part to a transverse bore and is configured to receive the anchoring element so that the connecting bolt can extend from the abutment surface to the anchoring element.

15. A wind power installation comprising:
a rotor hub; and
a rotor having at least one rotor blade that includes:
a single, integr

Assignees

• Wobben Properties Gmbh

Inventors

• Kannenberg Johannes
• Hoffmann Alexander

Classifications

• F03D1/0675

  of the blades · CPC title

• F05B2260/301

  Retaining bolts or nuts · CPC title

• F03D1/0658 Primary

  Arrangements for fixing wind-engaging parts to a hub · CPC title

• F05B2240/302

  Segmented or sectional blades · CPC title

• Y02E10/721

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic