Wind turbine with bearing support

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9371822-B2
Application number	US-201113877109-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 27, 2011
Priority date	Sep 30, 2010
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

A wind turbine generator with a bearing system is disclosed. The bearing system includes a lockable connection having a bearing surface and a support surface which surfaces are engaged when the lockable connection is locked. Forces from the shaft are transferred via the bearing into the support through the bearing surface, wherein a support angle of the support surface, relative to a shaft plane formed by rotating the shaft around a first axis, which first axis is perpendicular to the center axis and which first axis is comprised in a vertical plane, is in a range from and including 5 degrees to and including 70 degrees.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wind turbine comprising a bearing system, the bearing system comprising:
a bearing for bearing a shaft having a centre axis, the bearing comprising at least one bearing surface;
a support for supporting the bearing, the support comprising at least one support surface; and
a lockable connection between said bearing and said support, where the lockable connection comprises the at least one bearing surface and comprises the at least one support surface, wherein the support surface is directly and rigidly engaged with and supports the bearing surface when the lockable connection is locked and where forces from the shaft are transferred via the bearing and into the support through said bearing surface being engaged with said support surface, and where said lockable connection ensures a fixed distance between the bearing and the support by the surfaces being directly and rigidly engaged, and wherein a support angle of said support surface, relative to a shaft plane formed by rotating the shaft around a first axis, which first axis is perpendicular to the centre axis and which first axis is comprised in a vertical plane, is in a range from and including 5 degrees to and including 70 degrees.

2. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein said bearing surface and said support surface are adapted so that the support surface and the bearing surface are flush and parallel with each other.

3. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the support angle is set to an angle in a range from and including 5 to and including 60 degrees.

4. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the support angle is set to an angle in a range from and including 10 to and including 45 degrees.

5. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the support angle is set to an angle in a range from and including 15 to and including 30 degrees.

6. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of support surfaces is provided and where each of the plurality of support surfaces is arranged in order for each surface to form a part of a side of a virtual prism with a number of sides.

7. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein the bearing is provided in a plurality of sections and where at least one of the plurality of sections comprises a bearing surface connected to the support surface.

8. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein at least two support surfaces are provided and where the support angle of at least one of the at least two support surfaces is measured in a plane comprising a radial direction of the shaft.

9. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein at least two support surfaces are provided and where the support angle of at least one of the at least two support surfaces is measured in a plane comprising an axial direction of the shaft.

10. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , where in the bearing system comprises a bearing with a set of two oppositely positioned bearing surfaces with a distance between the two bearing surfaces and two corresponding support surfaces, where the two corresponding bearing and support surfaces are provided with the same or substantially the same angle relative to the shaft plane.

11. The wind turbine according to claim 1 , wherein two bearings are provided for bearing the shaft, one adjacent to a rotor of the wind turbine and one less adjacent to the rotor and where the shaft is a main shaft of the wind turbine.

12. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the support for supporting the bearing most adjacent to the rotor comprises two symmetrically angled support surfaces relative to the first axis.

13. The wind turbine according to claim 12 , wherein the support surfaces are provided and adapted so as to be engaged with two corresponding bearing surfaces on a lowermost half part, relative to the direction of gravity, of the bearing.

14. The wind turbine according to claim 11 , wherein the support for supporting the bearing less adjacent to the rotor comprises at least one support surface with a support angle which is measured in a plane comprising an axial direction of the shaft.

Assignees

• Demtroder Jens
• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Demtroder Jens

Classifications

• F16C2360/31

  Wind motors · CPC title

• Y02E10/722

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F05B2260/301

  Retaining bolts or nuts · CPC title

• F05B2260/30

  Retaining components in desired mutual position · CPC title

• F16C23/06

  Ball or roller bearings · CPC title