Provide is a wind turbine hub including at least a main body portion realized for connection to a plurality of rotor blades, and including an interior cavity dimensioned to accommodate service personnel; a removable access hatch arranged at the front of the hub; a locking arrangement realized to lock the access hatch in place and to release the access hatch from its locked state to expose an access opening at the front of the hub; and wherein the access hatch and locking arrangement are constructed to allow the released access hatch to be moved only into the interior cavity of the main body portion. Also provided is a method of operating an access hatch of such a wind turbine hub and a wind turbine.

Provided is a pitch bearing arrangement of a wind turbine, including an outer bearing ring and an inner bearing ring arranged coaxially to each other and including a common symmetry axis, and at least one reinforcement plate arranged at the inner ring and at least one plate-like or beam-like stiffening means coupled to the outer ring axially adjacent to the at least one reinforcement plates and adapted to be coupled to a positioning means to be arranged at the other side of the at least one reinforcement plate used for pivoting the outer ring relative to the inner ring, with the at least one reinforcement plate including at least one hole through which the stiffening means is mechanically connectable or connected to the positioning means.

A wind turbine includes a main shaft (34), a rotor hub (22), a plurality of blades coupled to the rotor hub (22), and a rotor locking disc (32), (32). The main shaft (34) includes a front end portion (34a), and the front end portion (34a) includes a first connecting structure (36). The rotor hub (22) includes a second connecting structure (40). The first connecting structure (36) of the main shaft (34) is fixed to the second connecting structure (40) of the rotor hub (22). The rotor locking disc (32), (32) is integrally formed on the front end portion (34a) of the main shaft (34), and includes a peripheral region. A plurality of rotor locking elements (50), (50) are located in the peripheral region for receiving one or more rotor locking pins (30).

A fluid-redirecting structure includes a rigid body having an upstream end, a downstream end, and an axis of rotation, the rigid body incorporating a plurality of troughs each spiralled from a tip at the upstream end to the downstream end about the axis of rotation, the troughs being splayed with respect to the axis of rotation thereby to, proximate the downstream end, direct incident fluid along the troughs away from the axis of rotation.

A device for mounting a line pipe in a rotor shaft of a wind turbine. The invention also relates to a rotor shaft for a wind turbine and to the wind turbine itself. The device includes a rotor shaft which is configured to be partially hollow and in which the line pipe is arranged. In the line pipe, different media are routed from a fixed nacelle of the wind turbine in the direction of a rotor hub connected to the rotor shaft. These can be not only electrical lines but also optical waveguides and media lines for gases and liquids. The mounting of the line pipe is achieved by a device having a plurality of eccentric fixing elements, wherein the line pipe is oriented concentrically by rotating the eccentric fixing elements.

A joint (1) for the oscillating connection of the rotary shaft (S) of a wind turbine, comprising a box-shaped hub (2) which defines a longitudinal axis (L) and is provided with one pair of holes (4) longitudinally opposite and aligned with each other, a shaft head (3) suited to be connected to the rotary shaft (S) and having one pair of pivots (7) which are designed to be inserted in the holes (4) of the hub (2) and have a cylindrical outer surface (8) and a transverse end edge (9), and one pair of hinges (10) placed at the level of the pair of holes (4) to promote the oscillating connection of said pivots (4) to the hub (2). Each hinge (10) comprises at least one plain bearing (13) mounted on the outer surface (8) of a corresponding pivot (7), a plurality of damper elements (14) operatively interacting with the edge (9) of the hub (2) and connection means (15) suited to mutually connect said at least one plain bearing (13) with the plurality of damper elements (14) in such a way as to obtain a unitary assembly (16).

A support system for a spinner of a rotor hub for a wind turbine, in particular to the attachment of a spinner to the rotor hub. It is an object of the disclosure to provide a spinner for a wind turbine with a suitable support system. The support system should be inherently resistant to shear and should thereby reduce the stress on the spinner. A rotor hub of a wind turbine includes a spinner, wherein the rotor hub is connected mechanically to the spinner. The spinner includes at least three spinner components. A support system is provided via which two spinner components disposed in spaced relationship to each other are supported by the rotor hub in each case. A respective third spinner component is arranged between the two spinner components and is connected to the components.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a new and less expensive method of creating a horizontal axis wind turbine for electrical power generation. This approach is based on a tensioned support ring in the shape of a regular polygon. This support ring is well suited to the construction of large wind turbines because it is very light, strong, and cost efficient to create. Also provided are two types of rotor supporting tower structures including a wheeled version for land use and another that floats on water. Additionally, a method of using the support ring to generate electrical power from underwater currents. Further provided is a rope drive method of transmitting energy from the support ring to a generator below. Finally, two methods of controlling blade pitch. Both methods have similar automatic feathering systems to protect against excessive rotational speeds.

An electrical connector for providing power between a nacelle and a hub of a wind turbine. The electrical connector includes a first electrical connector part for connection to one of the nacelle or the hub, and a second electrical connector part for connection to the other of the nacelle or the hub. The electrical connector further includes an actuator for moving the first or second electrical connector parts in a first direction between an extended position in which the first and second connector parts are in contact and form an electrical connection between the nacelle and the hub, and a retracted position in which the first and second electrical connector parts are spaced apart and do not form an electrical connection. The first and/or second electrical connector parts include one or more magnets arranged to secure the first and second parts together when the respective parts are in contact.

An aerodynamic dome component that is placed in front of a wind turbine hub includes an outer ring, a central axle disposed relative to the outer ring, a plurality of radially extending tensioning members and a skin-like covering. The plurality of radially extending tensioning members are coupled to the outer ring at a first end and to the central axle at a second end. The outer ring, the plurality of radially extending tensioning members and the central axle together form an underlying dome support structure. The skin-like covering is configured to envelop at least a portion of the underlying dome support structure to form at least a portion of the aerodynamic dome component and define a front dome portion. The skin-like covering enveloping at least a portion of the underlying dome support structure may further define a rear dome portion, wherein the rear dome portion is configured downwind from the front dome portion.