MOLD ADAPTED FOR PRODUCING AT LEAST A PART OF A WIND TURBINE BLADE

Abstract

Provided is a mold adapted for producing at least a part of a wind turbine blade, including a support and shell fixed to the support for accommodating blade building elements to be embedded in a resin matrix, wherein the shell includes at least one main body shell element and several diverse tip shell elements, which are exchangeably fixable to the support.

Claims

1. A mold adapted for producing at least a part of a wind turbine blade, comprising a support and shell fixed to the support for accommodating blade building elements to be embedded in a resin matrix, characterised in that the shell comprises at least one main body shell element and several diverse tip shell elements, which are exchangeably fixable to the support.

2. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the tip shell elements vary at least in their length.

3. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the tip shell elements have a standardized connection interface for connecting each tip shell element to a respective connection interface of the adjacent main body shell element.

4. The mold according to claim 3, wherein each connection interface is a flange having several bores, in which, when the flanges abut each other and the bores are aligned, a bolt is inserted for fixing the shell elements with a bolt-screw-connection.

5. The mold according to claim 3, wherein each connection interface is a slanted surface having several bores, in which, when the slanted surfaces abut each other and the bores are aligned, a bolt) is inserted for fixing the shell elements with a bolt-nut-connection.

6. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises a tip shell element support part for receiving a tip shell element, the length of which tip shell element support part corresponds to the length of the longest tip shell element.

7. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises at least one main body shell element support part and several diverse tip shell element support parts for receiving a tip shell element, with each tip shell element support part corresponding to the length of an assigned tip shell element, whereby the tip shell element support parts are exchangeable fixable to an adjacent main body shell element support part.

8. The mold according to claim 7, wherein the tip shell element support parts and the main body shell element support part have a standardized connection interface for connecting each tip shell element support part to the adjacent main body shell element support part.

9. The mold according to claim 8, wherein each connection interface is a flange having several bores, in which, when the flanges abut each other and the bores are aligned, a bolt is inserted for fixing the shells with a bolt-nut-connection.

10. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the support, the tip shell element support parts or the at least one main body shell element support part are frame constructions built from several beam or rod elements.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0020] Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with references to the following Figures, wherein like designations denote like members, wherein:

[0021] FIG. 1 depicts a principal illustration, in part, of an inventive mold;

[0022] FIG. 2 depicts a part of the inventive mold with a framework support and a tip shell element and a main body shell element;

[0023] FIG. 3 depicts a principal illustration of a shell element connection according to a first element;

[0024] FIG. 4 depicts a principal illustration of a shell element connection of a second embodiment;

[0025] FIG. 5 depicts a partial view of an inventive mold having a standardized tip shell element support adapted to receive tip shell elements of different lengths; and

[0026] FIG. 6 depicts an inventive mold having exchangeable tip shell element support parts adapted to receive respective assigned tip shell elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] FIG. 1 shows an inventive mold 1, adapted for producing a complete wind turbine blade, comprising a support 2 and shell means or shell 3 fixed to the support 2 for accommodating blade building elements to be embedded in the shell means or shell 3 respectively on the upper surface 4 of the shell means or shell 3. The support 2 and the shell means or shell 3 are arranged in a trough 5.

[0028] The support 2 comprises one or more main shell element support parts 6. When several main shell element support parts 6 are provided, they are arranged in line and fixed to each other, depending on the length of the blade body part to be produced.

[0029] The support 2 further comprises a tip shell element support part 7, which is attached to the adjacent main body shell element support part 6 and which is the end of the support 2.

[0030] The support 2 is adapted to receive respectively carry the shell means or shell 3. The shell means or shell 3 itself comprises several shell elements, i.e., at least one or more main body shell elements 8, which are received by the at least one main body shell element support part 6, with the number of main body shell elements 8 depending on the total length of the main body part which is produced by these main body shell elements 8.

[0031] Furthermore, the shell means or shell 3 comprises at least two, more tip shell elements 9, two of which are shown in FIG. 1. Arranged on the tip shell element support part 7 is a first tip shell element 9a, which is the longest tip shell element within the set of tip shell elements 9 having different lengths. It extends over the whole length of the tip shell element support part 7.

[0032] Also shown is a second tip shell element 9b, which is remarkably shorter than the first tip shell element 9a. As shown by the arrow P1, the tip shell element 9b can be attached to the tip shell element support part 7 in exchange to the tip shell element 9a, which element exchange changes the whole length of the blade part produced with the mold 1 respectively the shell means or shell 3. By simply changing the respective tip shell element 9 it is possible to easily change the length of the mold 1 respectively the shell means or shell 3 in order to adapt it to any changes in the blade design, especially the blade length.

[0033] It is to be noted, that the diverse tip shell elements differ in their lengths. In an alternative or in addition it is also possible that they for example differ in their cross-section, which may for example be lower or narrower etc., with the length of the tip shell elements 9 being the same. Also, with these set of tip shell elements it is possible to adapt the mold 1 to any changes in the blade design.

[0034] As shown, all shell elements, the main body shell elements 8 and the tip shell elements 9, have a respective rim 10, 11, with which they rest on the respective support part 6, 7, so that it is easily possible to arrange the respective shell element on the support 2.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the mold 1 with the tip shell element support part 7 and, in part, the adjacent main bodyshell element support part 6. They are all built as a framework made of several beams or rods 12 made of any suitable material. As is shown, the adjacent main body shell element support part 6 and the tip shell element support part 7 comprise respective interfaces 13, 14, here respective flanges 15, 16 having respective bores 29, which are aligned and which receive respective bolt connections not shown in detail in FIG. 2. This allows for a simple but firm connection of this support part 6, 7.

[0036] Also shown in this embodiment is the connection of the main body shell element 8 and the tip shell element 9. As shown, they both have respective connection interfaces 17, 18, see also FIG. 3, in the form of slanted surfaces 19, 20, which abut or overlay each other, and which are provided with respective bores 21. The bores 21 are in alignment and receive a respective bolt-nut-connection 22, as shown in FIG. 3. The head 23 of the bolt 24 is sunk in the inner surface of the tip shell element 9, so that it does not interfere with the smooth surface of the blade body part to be built.

[0037] The arrangement is such that both the main body shell element 8 and the tip shell element 9 can be arranged only in a defined lateral position, so that, when they are both attached to the support 2 from above, they are automatically aligned in a lateral direction. It is only necessary to bring the respective interfaces 18, 19 above each other, which may also be automatically done when the tip shell element 9 is in place, so that then all bores 21 are automatically aligned.

[0038] FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the respective interfaces 17, 18 for attaching the main body shell element 8 to the tip shell element 9. Here, the interfaces 17, 18 are respective flanges 25, 26 having respective bores receiving respective bolt-nut-connections 22. Different to the embodiment of FIG. 3, where the respective bolt-nut-connection 22 is vertically arranged, the bolt-nut-connection 22 according to FIG. 4 is arranged in a horizontal direction.

[0039] Also shown is the possibility to bring a glue or any other sealing means 27, which may also be a lamination means or laminate, right into the interface zone for sealing this interface slit between the respective shell elements 8, 9.

[0040] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of an inventive mold 1, where the support 2 comprises a tip shell element support part 7 having a length which corresponds to the length of the longest tip shell element 9a (as explained with regard to FIG. 1), while, as shown in FIG. 5, a shorter tip shell element 9b is arranged on the tip shell element support part 7. As clearly shown, the tip shell element support part 7 is much longer than the short tip shell element 9b, but, if need be, the longer or longest tip shell element 9a can be arranged on the tip shell element support part 7 in exchange to the tip shell element 9b without changing anything at the tip shell element support part 7. Thus, the tip shell element support part 7 is a universal support part.

[0041] In an alternative, as shown in FIG. 6, where again an inventive mold 1 is shown, it is possible to use a modular support 2. The figure shows the main body shell element support part 6 with the main body shell element 8 arranged on it. It furthermore shows two different tip shell element support parts 7a, 7b. Both are adapted to receive a certain tip shell element 9a, 9b, which also differ in their lengths. The length of the respective tip shell element support part 7a, 7b is adapted to the length of the respective tip shell element 9a, 9b, so that they are perfectly fit to the respective tip shell element support part 7a, 7b. As shown by the arrows P2, it is in this embodiment possible to also exchange the respective tip shell element support part 7 respectively 7a, 7b, when a change of the respective tip shell element 9 respectively 9a, 9b is necessary.

[0042] The respective main boy shell elements 8 and the tip shell elements 9 respectively 9a, 9b may be simple shell elements, but they may also be provided with a heating means or heater 28, as shown in FIG. 5. This heating means or heater may be a tube, through which hot water or the like circulates, or it may be a wire for providing an electric resistance heating or the like. Although the heating means or heater 28 is only shown at the respective tip shell elements 9a, 9b, any such heating means or heater 28 may also be provided at the respective adjacent main body shell elements 8. In an embodiment, the heating means or heater 28 of neighbouring shell elements, no matter if it is a tip shell element or a main body shell element, are connected with each other, so that for example a long heating pipe is provided, which extends over the whole length of the shell means or shell 3, or that a respective long electric heating wire is realized extending over the whole length of the shell means or shell 3, so that the respective heating fluid or electrical connection is provided at one certain point for heating the whole shell means or shell 3.

[0043] The above depicted various embodiments of an inventive mold are adapted to produce a single complete wind turbine blade. Nevertheless, such a mold setup can also be used for producing only a part of a wind turbine blade in form of a half upper or lower shell. In any embodiment the inventive modular mold setup allows for a simple change of the mold respectively shell design to adapt the mold to certain changes in the blade design, especially changed in the blade length.

[0044] Although the present invention has been disclosed in the form of preferred embodiments and variations thereon, it will be understood that numerous additional modifications and variations could be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0045] For the sake of clarity, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an” throughout this application does not exclude a plurality, and “comprising” does not exclude other steps or elements.