Production facility comprising a transport system for processing elongated products, in particular wind turbine blades, with elongated mould assemblies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689266-B2
Application number	US-201214235390-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2012
Priority date	Jul 28, 2011
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A production facility for forming elongated products, in particular wind turbine blades, includes elongated mould assemblies that may be accessed on the basis of an appropriate transport system which includes at least one support member laterally positioned between the elongated mould assemblies. The support member is positioned so as to enable a rotational movement of an arm or is configured to change position or includes a rotatable carrier element. The support member may be positioned in a non-interference position, in which one or both mould assemblies can be moved into a position so as to form a composite mould assembly.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A production facility comprising:
a first elongated mould assembly,
a second elongated mould assembly extending in parallel to said first elongated mould assembly, and
a transport system, wherein the transport system comprises:
an elongated support member extending along and laterally between said first and second elongated mould assemblies, wherein the elongated support member extends along a significant portion of the first and second elongated mould assemblies,
a movable part configured to be positioned at least along said first and second elongated mould assemblies by using said elongated support member, and
a drive mechanism coupled to said elongated support member and configured to change a position of said elongated support member with respect to said first and second elongated mould assemblies,
wherein said drive mechanism is configured to perform a change of position by initiating at least a translational movement of said elongated support member, and
wherein said translational movement includes a vertical movement.

2. The production facility of claim 1 ; further comprising a mould drive mechanism configured to position said second elongated mould assembly relative to said first mould assembly so as to form a composite mould assembly,
wherein said elongated support member further comprises a plurality of support members extending along and laterally between said first and second elongated mould assemblies, said elongated support member and said plurality of support members forming at least one gap,
wherein said movable part is configured to be positioned at least along said first and second elongated mould assemblies by using said elongated support member and said plurality of support members as a carrier, and
wherein said mould drive mechanism comprises at least one interface member configured to temporarily bridge said at least one gap, and wherein activation of the mould drive mechanism causes movement of the at least one interface member.

3. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein said at least one interface member of said mould drive mechanism is configured to bridge said at least one gap at least in a first position of said mould drive mechanism, in which said first and second mould assemblies are separated and do not form said composite mould assembly.

4. The production facility of claim 3 , wherein said at least one interface member of said mould drive mechanism is further configured to bridge said at least one gap in a second position, in which said first and second mould assemblies form said composite mould assembly.

5. The production facility of claim 4 , wherein a first surface area and a second surface area are provided for each of said at least one gap so as to bridge each of said at least one gap in said first and second positions.

6. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein said mould drive mechanism comprises at least one arm connected to said second mould assembly and wherein said interface member is a part of said at least one arm.

7. The production facility of claim 6 , wherein said at least one arm comprises said at least one interface member as at least one surface area that is configured to carry said movable part.

8. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein said transport system comprises an outer elongated support member extending along one of said first and second elongated mould assemblies.

9. The production facility of claim 8 , wherein said transport system comprises a second outer elongated support member extending along the other one of said first and second elongated mould assemblies.

10. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein said at least one interface member is mechanically coupled to said at least one arm.

11. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein a first interface member and a second interface member are provided for each of said at least one gap so as to bridge each of said at least one gap in said first and second positions.

12. The production facility of claim 2 , wherein said first and second mould assemblies are configured to enable formation of a wind turbine blade.

13. The production facility of claim 1 , further comprising a mould drive mechanism coupled at least to said second elongated mould assembly and configured to position said second elongated mould assembly relative to said first mould assembly so as to form a composite mould assembly.

14. The production facility of claim 13 , wherein said drive mechanism is configured to perform the change of position of said elongated support member so as to position said elongated support member at a non-interference position that avoids interference with the positioning of said second elongated mould assembly relative to said first mould assembly so as to form a composite mould assembly.

15. The production facility of claim 13 , wherein said mould drive mechanism is configured to rotate said second mould assembly around an axis of rotation extending along said first and second elongated mould assemblies.

16. The production facility of claim 13 , wherein said drive mechanism is configured to lift said elongated support member into said non-interference position.

17. The production facility of claim 1 , further comprising a mould drive mechanism coupled at least to said second elongated mould assembly by at least one arm and configured to position said second elongated mould assembly relative to said first mould assembly so as to form a composite mould assembly, wherein the transport system further comprises:
a plurality of support members positioned along and laterally between said first and second elongated mould assemblies and forming at least one gap for enabling said rotational movement of said at least one arm,
wherein the movable part configured to be positioned at least along said first and second elongated mould assemblies by using said elongated support member and said plurality of support members as carriers, and
wherein each of said plurality of support members comprises a rotatable carrier element for carrying said movable part.

18. The production facility of claim 17 , wherein each two adjacent support members of said plurality of support members form a respective gap therebetween.

19. The production facility of claim 18 , wherein said movable part is configured to span at least two adjacent gaps.

20. The production facility of claim 17 , wherein an extension of each of said plurality of support members along a length direction (L) of said elongated first and second mould assemblies is less than an extension (P) of said gaps along said length direction.

21. The production facility of claim 1 , wherein said transport system comprises an outer elongated support member extending along one of said first and second elongated mould assemblies.

22. The production facility of claim 21 , wherein said transport system comprises a second outer elongated support member extending along the other one of said first and second elongated mould assemblies.

23. The production facility of claim 1 , wherein said translational movement includes a horizontal movement.

24. The production facility of claim 1 , wherein said first and second mould assemblies are configured to enable formation of a wind turbine blade.

25. A production facility comprising:
a first elongated mould assembly,
a second elongated mould assembly extending in parallel to said first elongated mou

Assignees

• Bech Anton
• Garcia Tapia Raul
• Petersen Aksel
• Vestas Wind Sys As

Inventors

• Bech Anton
• Garcia Tapia Raul
• Petersen Aksel

Classifications

• B29C33/26 Primary

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