A wind turbine has a drive train that comprises a rotor shaft and a planetary gear train having a first gear stage, the rotor shaft being connected to the planet carrier of the first gear stage in a fixed and backlash-free manner. The rotor shaft is supported, on the side that faces away from the first gear stage, by means of a toroidal roller bearing, on a first carrying structure. The planet carrier that is connected to the rotor shaft in a fixed and backlash-free manner is supported by means of a moment bearing, as a fixed bearing. The outer ring of the moment bearing is connected to a housing. The combination of the outer ring of the moment bearing and the housing is connected to a second carrying structure via at least three elastic suspension elements arranged in an annular manner around the rotor axis.

The invention relates to a spur gear transmission with at least two intermeshing spur gears the teeth of which are in meshing engagement with one another, and each of which are rotatable via an axis of rotation. The spur gear transmission has an enveloping wall which surrounds the two spur gears in circumferential direction and in the direction of the axes of rotation. The enveloping wall has an inner contour which is adapted to the outer diameter of the spur gears in such a manner that two annular gaps which merge into each other are formed between the enveloping wall and the spur gears. One annular gap respectively is arranged at least substantially concentrically with respect to a respective axis of rotation. The enveloping wall is formed by a two-part housing which is closed along a parting line and which has an upper part and a lower part.

The invention relates to a system for rotating a fan (2) of a turbojet engine (1) about a first rotation axis , including a reduction gear (3) made up of a planetary gearset placed at the centre of the fan (2), which includes: a central sun gear (31); an outer planet gear (33) attached to the fan (2); at least one satellite gear (32) arranged between the central sun gear (31) and the outer planet gear (33) in order to transmit a rotary movement between the central sun gear (31) and the outer planet gear (33); characterised in that the outer planet gear (33) includes an inner portion (33a) which meshes with the satellite gear (32), as well as an outer portion (33b) to which blades (21) of the fan (2) are directly attached.

A method of identifying a fault in a system of gears in a wind turbine is provided. The method determines a first centre harmonic frequency amplitude according to vibrations of the system of gears and determines a plurality of sideband amplitudes of the first centre harmonic frequency amplitude. Further, the method calculates an average sideband amplitude from the plurality of sideband amplitudes and determines a value indicative of damage incurred by the system of gears based upon the first centre harmonic frequency amplitude and the average sideband amplitude. The centre harmonic frequencies may be harmonic tooth mesh frequencies and the value indicative of damage may be a ratio of the centre harmonic frequency amplitude and a difference between the centre harmonic frequency amplitude and the associated average sideband amplitude or vice versa. The method may analyse the value of any ratio obtained and use the ratio values to identify, and monitor the progress of, a fault.

A planetary drive assembly includes a first housing that is coupled a top end of a stanchion. A drive unit is rotatably positioned in the first housing. A plurality of wind propellers is coupled to the drive unit thereby facilitating the wind propellers to rotate the drive unit. A planetary driven unit is rotatably positioned in the first housing. The planetary driven unit is in mechanical communication with the drive unit such that the drive unit rotates the planetary driven unit when the wind propellers rotate the drive unit. The planetary driven unit is mechanically discrete from the first housing. Thus, the planetary driven unit inhibits the first housing from being exposed to rotational torque. The planetary driven unit is coupled to a generator thereby facilitating the wind propellers to rotate the generator.

A planet wheel assembly includes a planet shaft, a planet wheel having radial contact surfaces and axial contact surfaces, bushings connected to the planet shaft, radial sliding elements between radial contact surfaces of the bushings and the radial contact surfaces of the planet wheel, and axial sliding elements between axial contact surfaces of the bushings and the axial contact surfaces of the planet wheel. The planet wheel is shaped to constitute a circumferential projection which protrudes radially towards the planet shaft, is axially between the radial sliding elements, and forms the first and second axial contact surfaces of the planet wheel. This arrangement, where the radial sliding elements are axially outmost and the axial sliding elements are on the middle, improves the ability of the radial sliding elements to act against forces tilting the planet wheel.

An assembly (400) for a horizontally mounted planetary gearbox comprises high speed components of the gearbox; a housing (402) for the high speed components; and a collar (404) located at the output end of the housing and extending radially inward from an outer surface of the housing (402). This arrangement means that the collar retains lubricant (406) in the gearbox when the gearbox is stationary. The collar includes a gap (502), which means that one or more of the high speed components pass through the gap in the collar. It also means that components offset from the central axis of the gearbox are not impeded by the collar. The high speed components include a high speed shaft (408) and a mechanical pump (410), both of which are offset from the central axis of the gearbox. The housing comprises a cover (410) comprising one or more holes (510). This means that one or more of the high speed components can pass through the holes in the collar. The high speed components include a high speed shaft (414), a mechanical pump (412), and a high speed intermediate shaft (408). The first two of these are offset with respect to the central axis of the gearbox, and the third is coaxial. The cover comprises means for reversible connection to the collar. This means that the cover has a diameter which is smaller than the diameter of the housing, which facilitates its removal from the housing.

A slew drive comprises a slew drive housing which includes a first distal housing section and a second distal housing section. The first distal housing section includes a threaded section, operative to receive a threaded plug and the second distal housing section includes a groove operative to receive a retaining ring. A worm gear is secured to the slew drive housing by a first tapered roller bearing and a second tapered roller bearing. The worm gear comprises a central threaded section, a first distal shaft section having a first shoulder, and a second distal shaft section having a second shoulder. The central threaded section engages the teeth of a worm wheel, the first tapered roller bearing is seated on the first distal shaft section, abutting the first shoulder and the plug, and the second tapered roller bearing is seated on the second distal shaft section, abutting the second shoulder and the retaining ring.

A slew drive comprises a worm gear which is integrated with a reducer assembly. One end of the worm gear operates as a carrier which engages a plurality of planetary gears which are part of the reducer assembly. The carrier may be a separate component that is coupled with the worm gear. Alternatively, one end of the worm gear can be machined to operate as the carrier. The carrier engages a plurality of planetary gears via a plurality of holes.

A planetary gearbox includes a first planetary stage with a component, a sun gear, and a planet gear meshing with the sun gear via a toothing system, a second planetary stage, and a lubricant transfer device arranged between the first planetary stage and the second planetary stage. The lubricant transfer device includes a discharge component arranged in a co-rotating manner on a component of the second planetary stage, and a receiving component designed to receive lubricant and arranged in a co-rotating manner on the component of the first planetary stage. A lubricant conduit communicates with the lubricant transfer device and is configured to extend over an entire axial extent of a tooth engagement region of the sun gear of the first planetary stage radially within the toothing system of the sun gear with the planet gear of the first planetary stage.