Method for installing or uninstalling a component of a wind turbine

Abstract

Provided is a method for installing or uninstalling a component of a wind turbine, which component is moved with a lifting device at which the component is fixed with cables, whereby two ropes are fixed to the component, with each rope running to a winch attached at a previously installed component of the wind turbine, with the ropes crossing each other and being moved around the winches for tensioning the rope while the component is lowered to its installation position or is lifted from its installation position.

Claims

1. A method for installing or uninstalling a component of a wind turbine, which wherein the component is moved with a lifting device to which the component is fixed with cables, comprising: fixing at least two ropes to the component, with each rope running to a winch attached at a previously installed component in a nacelle of the wind turbine, with the ropes crossing each other and being moved around the winches for tensioning the ropes, and; one of lowering the component to an installation position of the component or lifting the component from the installation position, wherein the installation position is in the nacelle of the wind turbine.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ropes are manually pulled or slackened when the component is moved.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the winches are motor driven for moving and tensioning the respective rope.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein four ropes and respective winches are used, with two ropes being attached to each of opposite sides of the component.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the component to be installed or uninstalled is a gear box.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein two ropes run from fixation means at the gear box to two winches attached to a generator or nacelle frame and/or wherein two ropes run from fixation means at the gear box to two winches attached to a main shaft bearing.

7. A lifting arrangement for installing and uninstalling a component of a wind turbine, comprising: a component configured to be installed into and/or uninstalled from within a nacelle of the wind turbine; a lifting device for moving the component; cables fixing the component to the lifting device; and at least two ropes fixed to the component, with each rope running to a winch attached at a previously installed component in the nacelle of the wind turbine, with the ropes crossing each other and being moved around the winches for tensioning the ropes while the component is lowered to its installation position or is lifted from its installation position.

8. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the ropes are configured to be manually pulled or slackened when the component is moved.

9. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the winches are motor driven for moving and tensioning the respective rope.

10. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein four ropes and respective winches are provided, with two ropes being attached to each of opposite sides of the component.

11. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the ropes are fixed to shackles or to fixation means connecting a cable to a shackle attached to the component.

12. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein each winch is attached to a mounting console attached to a previously installed component of the wind turbine.

13. The lifting arrangement according to claim 12, wherein each mounting console comprises a component mounting part fixed to the component and a winch mounting part to which the winch is fixed.

14. The lifting arrangement according to claim 13, wherein the winch mounting part is pivotable and fixable in different orientations relative to the component mounting part.

15. The lifting arrangement according to claim 7, wherein guide consoles are attached to a previously installed component of the wind turbine for interacting with the component to be installed while lowering the component to its mounting position.

16. The lifting arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the guide console comprises a base plate and a guide plate extending from the base plate at one of an angle between 100-170°, and an angle between 120-150°.

17. The lifting arrangement according to claim 16, wherein one or more shim plates are arranged below the base plate for adjusting a height of the guide console.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

(1) Some of the embodiments will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein like designations denote like members, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an inventive lifting arrangement;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a component hanging on the lifting device being lowered into the nacelle and being secured by means of four ropes, in a perspective view;

(4) FIG. 3 shows the relevant items of the arrangement according to FIG. 2 in a side view;

(5) FIG. 4 shows an enlarged perspective view of two stabilization ropes attached to the component and two winches;

(6) FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the two winches of FIG. 4 arranged at the main shaft bearing;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the other side of the component according to FIG. 4 with two ropes crossing each other and being secured to two winches attached next to a not shown generator;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a winch with a mounting console; and

(9) FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a guide console.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(10) FIG. 1 shows an inventive lifting arrangement 1 comprising a lifting device 2, here a crane 3. The lifting device 2 comprises at least one cable 4, to which a fixation means or an attachment 5, for example a hook or a frame, is attached. The fixation means or an attachment 5 is connected via further cables 6 to the component 7 which is to be installed within a nacelle 8 already mounted on a tower 9. The component 7, for example a gear box 10, is secured via four ropes 11 which are attached to the component 7 and to respective winches not shown in FIG. 1.

(11) FIG. 1 is a principle sketch. Certainly the set up for attaching the respective component 7 to the lifting device 2 may comprise several other components like a handling tool 10, for example a handling yoke or handling frame or the like. Also the component 7 shown as a gear box 10 can be another component like a generator, a main shaft or the like.

(12) FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the arrangement of FIG. 1 showing the nacelle 8 having a top opening 12 into which the component 7, here the gear box 10, is lowered by means of the crane 3. As can be seen the gear box 10 is attached to the crane 3 via several cables 6, which are fixed to respective shackles 13 which are for example provided at the fixation means or an attachment 5. The cables 6 are fixed to respective shackles 14 arranged at the front side of the gear box 10 and to respective fixation means or an attachment 15 connecting the cables 6 to the respective shackles 16 at the other side of the gear box 10.

(13) Attached to the shackles 14 two ropes 11 are shown, which ropes 11 cross each other as can be seen in FIG. 2. On the other side of the gear box 10 two further ropes 11 are attached to the respective fixation means or an attachment 15, with also these ropes 11 crossing each other.

(14) The respective pairs of ropes 11 run to respective winches 17, see for example FIG. 3 showing a side view of the arrangement of FIG. 2.

(15) The winches 17 shown on the right side of FIG. 3 are attached to the main bearing 18 of the main shaft 19, which components are already installed. The gear box 10 shall be attached to the main shaft 19, it therefore needs to be lowered and positioned relative to the main shaft 19.

(16) As can be clearly seen in FIG. 4 the two ropes 11 cross each other when running from the respective shackles 14 to the respective winches 17. They entangle the winches one or several times, their free end is hanging loosely from the winches 17. This free end can be handheld by a worker and can be pulled for tensioning the respective rope 11, when the gear box 10 is lowered for keeping the respective rope 11 on tension between the fixation point at the shackle 14 and the fixation point at the winch 17, or it can be slackened when the distance between the gear box 10 and the respective winch 17 rises. As is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 the respective winches 17 are firmly fixed to the respective main bearing 18, so that the respective load from the ropes 11 can be taken by the winches 17.

(17) FIG. 6 shows the respective gear box 10 from the other side. The two ropes 11 run from the fixation means or an attachment 15 to two further winches 17 which are attached to a frame 20 for holding a generator, which may for example be installed afterwards. Also these ropes 11 entwine the winches one or several times, their respective ends also hanging free. They can be held by workers for tensioning or slackening the respective rope 11 just as needed for maintaining the tension and fixing the orientation and position of the gear box 10.

(18) FIG. 7 shows an enlarge view of a winch 17. It comprises a wheel 21 which can rotate in both directions. The wheel is rotatable via a not shown bearing. The winch 17 may comprise a motor 22 which is shown as an option by means of the dashed line in FIG. 7 for automatically rotating the winch 17 respectively the wheel 21. This enables an automatic tensioning or slackening operation, for example due to respective measurement values of a load sensor attached to the winch 17 measuring the respective load exerted from the respective rope 11 on the wheel 21, which load is a measure for determining the tension of the rope 11. If such a motor 22 is not installed, the operation is manually performed by the respective worker, who can easily tension or slacken the rope as the rope is fixed at the pivot point realized by the winch 17.

(19) The winch 17 is arranged on a console 23 having a base plate 24 mounted on the respective component like the frame 20. The base plate 24 is part of a component mounting part 25, to which a winch mounting part 26 is pivotably but fixably attached to. The component mounting part 25 comprises two fixation plates 27 between which the winch mounting part 26 realized as a longitudinal carrier 28 is provided. The fixation plates 27 are provided with respective pairs of holes 29, while the carrier 28 is also provided with at least two through bores. In the first bore a first bolt 30 is arranged running through respective holes 29 on the plates 27. This bolt 30 provides a pivot axis.

(20) In the second through bore a second bolt 31 is provided running through a respective pair of holes 29. It is obvious that the carrier 28 can pivot around the pivot axis realized by means of the bolt 30, so that the orientation of the carrier 28 relative to the component mounting part 25 can be changed and adjusted. When the respective orientation is found the bolt 31 is inserted in the respective holes 29 and the through bore for finally fixing the chosen position. The fixation of the respective bolts 30, 31 is realized by means of respective nuts screwed on the bolts 30, 31. With this pivot means or pivot the orientation of the winch 17 relative to the direction from which the respective cable runs the winch can be adjusted before the operation begins.

(21) The mounting console shown in FIG. 7 is only an example. As is obvious from FIG. 5 the respective mounting consoles 23 shown in FIG. 5 used for arranging the respective winches 17 the main bearing 18 are different in their setup to the setup shown in FIG. 7.

(22) In the shown embodiment the respective gear box 10 is fixed and stabilized by four ropes 11 running to respective four winches 17. As the ropes 11 cross each other, and as the ropes are fixed at the gear box 10 and the respective winches 17 the gear box 10 is fixed at eight separate locations while being lowered into the nacelle. This arrangement allows a perfect and seen from its handling point of view simple stabilization of the component 7 respectively the gear box 10 against any movement induced by external forces. This is possible as the ropes 11 can easily be held on tension while the gear box 10 is lowered. It is only necessary for the worker or by automatic operation to keep the respective rope 11 always tensioned, so that any swinging movement of the gear box 10 is prohibited.

(23) Finally FIG. 8 shows a guiding console 40 attached to a previously installed component 41 for interacting with the gear box 10 while lowering the gear box 10 into its mounting position. The guide console 40 comprises a base plate 32 and a guide plate 33 extending from the base plate 32 in an angle especially between 120-150°. Between the base plate 32 and the previously installed component 41 several shim plates 34 are arranged for adjusting the height of the guide console 40 in view of the final fixation points of the gear box 10. It is obvious that on both sides of the gear box 10 one or several respective guide consoles 40 are arranged.

(24) When lowering the gear box 10 respective guiding extensions 35 abut the respective guide plates 33 and slide along the guide plate 33 until the gear box 10 rests in its final mounting position.

(25) 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.

(26) 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.