Bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine, wind turbine and method for mounting a bearing support arrangement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11761430-B2
Application number	US-202117534195-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 23, 2021
Priority date	Nov 23, 2020
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

A bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine includes a support structure and a bearing housing. The bearing housing is arranged within the support structure. The arrangement further includes a bearing radially supported by the bearing housing. A rotor shaft is radially supported by the bearing and a removable wedge is arranged between the support structure and the bearing housing to clamp the bearing between the rotor shaft and the bearing housing. A method for mounting the bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine is also disclosed as is a wind turbine incorporating the bearing support arrangement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine, the bearing support arrangement comprising:
a support structure;
a bearing housing arranged within said support structure;
a first bearing radially supported by said bearing housing;
a rotor shaft radially supported by said first bearing;
a first wedge being removable and arranged between said support structure and said bearing housing to clamp said first bearing between said rotor shaft and said bearing housing;
a second bearing radially supported by said bearing housing; and,
a second wedge being removable and being arranged between said support structure and said bearing housing to clamp said second bearing between said rotor shaft and said bearing housing.

2. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said first wedge has an annular configuration and surrounds said first bearing.

3. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said first wedge has a mounting interface for removably fixing said first wedge to at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure.

4. The bearing support arrangement of claim 3 , wherein said mounting interface includes a radial projection extending to at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure.

5. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of first fixing elements for removably fixing said first wedge to at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure.

6. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said bearing support arrangement defines a longitudinal axis; said support structure has an outer side and an inner side along said longitudinal axis; and, said first wedge has a radial thickness decreasing along said longitudinal axis from said outer side of said support structure toward said inner side of said support structure.

7. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising:
said bearing support arrangement defining a longitudinal axis;
said support structure having an outer side and an inner side along said longitudinal axis;
a cone ring arranged radially between said bearing housing and said first wedge; and,
said cone ring having a radial thickness increasing along said longitudinal axis from said outer side of said support structure toward said inner side of said support structure.

8. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said bearing support arrangement defines a longitudinal axis; at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure defines a contact surface in contact with said first wedge; and, said contact surface is inclined with respect to said longitudinal axis.

9. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein:
said support structure has a first axial end and a second axial end lying opposite each other; and,
said first bearing and said first wedge are arranged at said first axial end of said support structure and said second bearing and said second wedge are arranged at said second axial end of said support structure.

10. The bearing support arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said first wedge is removable along a first axial direction and said second wedge is removable along a second axial direction; and, said first and second axial directions are opposite to each other.

11. The bearing support arrangement of claim 10 , wherein said rotor shaft is rotatable relative to said support structure and said bearing housing.

12. A wind turbine, comprising:
a nacelle; and,
a bearing support arrangement arranged within said nacelle;
said bearing support arrangement including:
a support structure;
a bearing housing arranged within said support structure;
a first bearing radially supported by said bearing housing;
a rotor shaft radially supported by said first bearing;
a first wedge being removable and arranged between said support structure and said bearing housing to clamp said first bearing between said rotor shaft and said bearing housing;
a second bearing radially supported by said bearing housing; and,
a second wedge being removable and being arranged between said support structure and said bearing housing to clamp said second bearing between said rotor shaft and said bearing housing.

13. The wind turbine of claim 12 , wherein said wind turbine includes a rotor hub having rotor blades mounted thereon and said rotor shaft is connected to said rotor hub.

14. The wind turbine of claim 13 , further comprising a tower and said support structure being rotatably mounted atop said tower.

15. A method for mounting a bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine, the method comprising:
inserting a first wedge along a first axial direction between a support structure and a bearing housing, and thereby clamping a first bearing between a rotor shaft and the bearing housing;
fixing the first wedge to at least one of the support structure and the bearing housing;
inserting a second wedge along a second axial direction between the support structure and the bearing housing, and thereby clamping a second bearing between the rotor shaft and the bearing housing;
fixing the second wedge to at least one of the support structure and the bearing housing.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising: tightening of fixing elements to fix the first wedge.

17. A method for removing a rotor shaft from a bearing support arrangement for a wind turbine, the bearing support arrangement including a support structure; a bearing housing arranged within said support structure; a first bearing radially supported by the bearing housing; a rotor shaft radially supported by the first bearing; a first wedge being removable and arranged between the support structure and the bearing housing to clamp the first bearing between the rotor shaft and the bearing housing; a second bearing radially supported by the bearing housing; and, a second wedge being removable and being arranged between said support structure and said bearing housing to clamp said second bearing between said rotor shaft and said bearing housing; a first removable fixing for securing said first wedge to at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure; a second removable fixing for securing said second wedge to at least one of said bearing housing and said support structure; and,
for removing the rotor shaft, the method comprising:
releasing the first removable fixing of the first wedge to at least one of the support structure and the bearing housing;
releasing the second removable fixing of the second wedge to at least one of the support structure and the bearing housing;
removing the first wedge along an axial direction between the support structure and the bearing housing;
removing the second wedge along a further axial direction between the support structure and the bearing housing; and,
removing the rotor shaft out of the support structure.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising loosening of the first and second removable fixing to release the first and second removable fixing.

Assignees

• Nordex Energy Se & Co Kg

Inventors

• Muhamad Ibrahim
• Festner Gerald

Classifications

• F16C19/36 Primary

  with a single row of rollers · CPC title

• F03D80/70 Primary

  Bearing or lubricating arrangements · CPC title

• F16C35/077

  between housing and outer race ring · CPC title

• F16C35/042

  Housings for rolling element bearings for rotary movement · CPC title

• F16C2226/16

  by wedge action, e.g. by tapered or conical parts · CPC title