Abstract
A planetary gearbox includes an input shaft configured to introduce a driving torque of at least 1500 kNm, and three consecutively connected gearing stages operably connected to the input shaft for supply of the driving torque unbranched through each of the gearing stages. A first one of the gear stages and a second one of the gear stages are configured as planetary stages, respectively. Each of the planetary stages includes a ring gear embodied as a stationary gearing component. A third one of the gear stages is embodied as a planetary stage having a stationary gearing component. The first one of the gearing stages includes at least five planetary gears.
Claims
1.-14. (canceled)
15. A planetary gearbox, comprising: an input shaft configured to introduce a driving torque of at least 1500 kNm, and three consecutively connected gearing stages operably connected to the input shaft for supply of the driving torque unbranched through each of the gearing stages, with a first one of the gear stages and a second one of the gear stages being configured as planetary stages, respectively, each of the planetary stages including a ring gear embodied as a stationary gearing component, and with a third one of the gear stages being embodied as a planetary stage having a stationary gearing component, said first one of the gearing stages including at least five planetary gears.
16. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, wherein the third one of the gearing stages is configured for direct coupling to a generator.
17. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, further comprising a fourth gearing stage embodied as a spur gear stage, said third one of the gearing stages being connected to the fourth gearing stage.
18. The planetary gearbox of claim 17, wherein the fourth gearing stage is configured for direct coupling to a generator with three, four, eight or 16 pole pairs.
19. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, wherein the second one of the gearing stages includes at least four planetary gears.
20. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, wherein the third one of the gearing stages includes at least three planetary gears.
21. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, wherein the first one of the gearing stages has a fixed carrier train ratio of 2.5 to 4.4 and/or the second one of the gearing stages has a fixed carrier train ratio of 2.5 to 6.
22. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, wherein the second one of the gearing stages includes a planetary carrier which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a sun gear of the first one of the gearing stages.
23. The planetary gearbox of claim 15, further comprising: a housing, and a bearing attached to a wall of the housing and configured to accommodate a planetary carrier of the first one of the gear stages for rotation, and/or a bearing attached to a wall of the housing and configured to accommodate a planetary carrier of the third one of the gear stages for rotation.
24. The planetary gearbox of claim 17, wherein at least one of the first, second, third and fourth gearing stages is embodied to couple-in a regulating power.
25. A drive train, comprising: a generator; a gearbox connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the generator, said gearbox being configured as a planetary gearbox which comprises an input shaft configured to introduce a driving torque of at least 1500 kNm, and three consecutively connected gearing stages operably connected to the input shaft for supply of the driving torque unbranched through each of the gearing stages, with a first one of the gear stages and a second one of the gear stages being configured as planetary stages, respectively, each of the planetary stages including a ring gear embodied as a stationary gearing component, and with a third one of the gear stages being embodied as a planetary stage having a stationary gearing component, said first one of the gearing stages including at least five planetary gears; and a rotor shaft connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the input shaft of the gearbox.
26. A wind turbine, comprising: a nacelle; a rotor attached to the nacelle; and a drive train connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the rotor and arranged in the nacelle, said drive train comprising a generator, a gearbox connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the generator, said gearbox being configured as a planetary gearbox which comprises an input shaft configured to introduce a driving torque of at least 1500 kNm, and three consecutively connected gearing stages operably connected to the input shaft for supply of the driving torque unbranched through each of the gearing stages, with a first one of the gear stages and a second one of the gear stages being configured as planetary stages, respectively, each of the planetary stages including a ring gear embodied as a stationary gearing component, and with a third one of the gear stages being embodied as a planetary stage having a stationary gearing component, said first one of the gearing stages including at least five planetary gears, and a rotor shaft connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the input shaft of the gearbox.
27. An industrial application, comprising: a gearbox coupled in a torque-transmitting manner to a mechanical application; and a drive unit connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the gearbox, wherein the gearbox is embodied as a planetary gearbox as set forth in claim 15.
Description
[0022] The invention is described below with reference to individual embodiments. Herein, the features of the individual embodiments can be combined with one another. The figures should be read as mutually complementary insofar that the same reference characters in the figures also have the same technical meaning. In the individual figures:
[0023] FIG. 1 shows a schematic depiction of a first embodiment of the claimed planetary gearbox;
[0024] FIG. 2 shows a schematic depiction of a second embodiment of the claimed planetary gearbox;
[0025] FIG. 3 shows a schematic depiction of a first embodiment of a gearing stage of a claimed planetary gearbox in cross section;
[0026] FIG. 4 shows a schematic depiction of a second embodiment of a gearing stage of a claimed planetary gearbox in cross section;
[0027] FIG. 5 shows a sectional oblique view of an embodiment of the claimed wind turbine with the claimed drive train;
[0028] FIG. 6 shows a schematic depiction of an embodiment of the claimed drive train;
[0029] FIG. 7 shows a schematic depiction of a claimed industrial application.
[0030] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the structure of a first embodiment of the claimed planetary gearbox 10 embodied inter alia to be used in a wind turbine 70, not depicted in any further detail. The planetary gearbox 10 has a first, a second and a third gearing stage 20, 30, 40 embodied as planetary stages 19. The gearing stages 20, 30, 40 embodied as planetary stages 19 in each case have a plurality of gearbox components 11. For each planetary stage 19, the gearbox components 11 include inter alia a ring gear 12, a planetary carrier 14 to which a plurality of planetary gears 16 are rotatably attached and a sun gear 18. The planetary gearbox 10 has an input shaft 22 which, when the planetary gearbox 10 is used in a wind turbine 70 can be connected to a rotor shaft 62, not depicted in further detail, or is embodied in one piece with the rotor shaft 62. Drive power 25 can be introduced into the planetary gearbox 10 via the input shaft 22. The input shaft 22 is provided with stub toothing 28 that engages with corresponding stub toothing 28 on a so-called long hub 24 of the planetary carrier 14 of the first gearing stage 20. In the region of the stub toothing 28, the planetary carrier 14 of the first gearing stage 20 is accommodated such that it can rotate in a bearing 27 attached to a wall 31 of a housing 17. Herein, the bearing 27 is embodied as a two-row roller bearing. The drive power 25 is introduced into the planetary gearbox 10 via the stub toothing 28 and the planetary carrier 14 of the first gearing stage 20. The ring gear 12 of the first gearing stage 20 is connected in a rotationally rigid manner to the housing 17 so that the ring gear 12 does not rotate about a main axis of rotation 15 of the planetary gearbox 10 during operation. Planetary gears 16 that are in each case accommodated such that they can rotate on a planetary gear axis 26 engage with the ring gear 12 of the first gearing stage 20. The first gearing stage 20 has a fixed carrier train ratio 33 of substantially 2.5 to 4.4.
[0031] The planetary gears 16 of the first gearing stage 20 are in turn engaged with a sun gear 18 provided with stub toothing 28. The sun gear 16 of the first gearing stage 20 is also connected to the long hub 24 of the planetary carrier 14 of the second gearing stage 20. The second gearing stage substantially has the same structure as the first planetary stage. The first gearing stage 20 has at least five, preferably six or seven planetary gears 16, which influence the fixed carrier train ratio 33 of the first gearing stage 20. The second gearing stage 30 has at least four, preferably six or seven planetary gears 16. As with the first gearing stage 20, the number of planetary gears 16 also defines the fixed carrier train ratio 33 of the second gearing stage 30. The second gearing stage 30 has a fixed carrier train ratio 33 of substantially 2.5 to 6.0. Similarly to the first and second planetary stage 20, 30, the third gearing stage 40 is connected behind the second gearing stage 30. Hence, the drive power 25 introduced via the input shaft 22 into the planetary gearbox 10 is further transported during operation from the first gearing stage 20 to the second gearing stage 30 and from there to the third gearing stage 40. The third gearing stage 40 is also embodied as a planetary stage 19 and has a planetary carrier 14 accommodated such that it can rotate in a bearing 27. The bearing 27 is embodied as a two-row roller bearing and is fastened to a wall 31 of the housing 17. Furthermore, the third gearing stage 50 has at least three planetary gears 16, preferably four or five planetary gears 16. The three gearing stages 20, 30, 40 are mounted on the side of the input shaft 22 and an output shaft 23 in only two bearings on the housing 17. This reduces the mechanical constraints acting on the gearbox components 11 during operation. During operation, a state of equilibrium is established between the gearbox components 11, primarily by the introduced drive power 25, and the forces resulting therefrom. This reduces the noise generated during operation.
[0032] The sun gear 18 of the third gearing stage 40 is furthermore connected to a fourth gearing stage 50 embodied as a spur gear stage 21. The spur gear stage 21 comprises a spur gear 51 and a corresponding pinion 52 and has a fixed carrier train ratio 33. The spur gear stage 21 furthermore has an output shaft 23 from which an output power 29 can be discharged from the planetary gearbox 10. Taking into account mechanical losses, the output power 29 substantially corresponds to the drive power 25. The speed of the output power 29 is increased compared to the speed of the drive power 25 corresponding to an overall gear ratio 35, which is in turn determined by the fixed carrier train ratios 33 of the four gearing stages 20, 30, 40, 50. The overall gear ratio 35 of the planetary gearbox 10 achieved is embodied such that the output shaft 23 can be coupled directly to a generator 64, not depicted in further detail, which only has two or three pole pairs 67, not depicted in further detail in FIG. 1. Due to the corresponding number of planetary gears 16 in the planetary stages 19 of the first, second and third gearing stage 20, 30, 40, the first, second and third gearing stage 20, 30, 40 have substantially the same outer diameter 42. As a result, the greatest outer diameter 43 decisive for the transportation of the planetary gearbox 10 is minimized. The dimensions of torque arms 37 fastened to the housing 17 are not taken into account in this consideration.
[0033] FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of the structure of a second embodiment of the claimed planetary gearbox 10 designed to be used in a wind turbine 70, not depicted in further detail. The planetary gearbox 10 has a first and a second gearing stage 20, 30, which are in each case embodied as planetary stages 19. Each of the planetary stages 19 has a plurality of gearbox components 11 including inter alia in each case a ring gear 12, a planetary carrier 14 and a sun gear 18. In the planetary carrier 14 in each of the two planetary stages 19, a plurality of planetary gears 16 is in each case accommodated such that they can rotate on a planetary gear axis 26 and engage with the associated ring gear 12 and the associated sun gear 18. Furthermore, the planetary gearbox 10 has an input shaft 22 that can be connected to a rotor shaft 62, not depicted in further detail, embodied in one piece therewith. The input shaft 22 is provided with stub toothing 28 that engages with corresponding stub toothing 28 on a so-called long hub 24. Drive power 25 is introduced into the first gearing stage 20, namely into the associated planetary carrier 14 via the input shaft 22 and forwarded to the second gearing stage 30. The planetary carrier 14 of the first gearing stage 20 is accommodated such that it can rotate in a bearing 27 attached to a wall 31 of the housing 17. Herein, the bearing 27 is embodied as a two-row roller bearing. A sun gear 18 of the first gearing stage 20 is provided with a stub toothing 28 with which a long hub 24 of the planetary carrier 14 of the second gearing stage 30 engages. For this purpose, the planetary carrier 14 on the long hub 24 is equipped with corresponding stub toothing 28. The second gearing stage 30 substantially has the same structure as the first gearing stage 20. In addition, the sun gear 18 of the second gearing stage 30 is coupled to the third gearing stage 40 via a sun shaft 32. The third gearing stage 40 is embodied as a spur gear stage 21 and has as a gearbox component 11 a spur gear 51, which meshes with a pinion 52. The pinion 52 of the third gearing stage 40 also belongs to the fourth gearing stage 50, which is also embodied as a spur gear stage 21. Furthermore, the fourth gearing stage 50 has a spur gear 51, which engages with a pinion 52, which is in turn connected to an output shaft 23 of the planetary gearbox 10. The third and fourth gearing stage 40, 50 in each case have a fixed carrier train ratio 33 by means of which the speed of the sun gear 18 of the second gearing stage 30 is further increased. A generator 64, not depicted in further detail, which advantageously only has two pole pairs 67, not depicted in further detail in FIG. 2, can be attached to the output shaft 23 of the gearbox. Output power 29 substantially corresponding to the drive power 25, taking mechanical losses into account is output to the generator 64 via the output shaft 23. Compared to the drive power 25, the prevailing speed of the output power 29 is increased according to an overall gear ratio 35. The overall gear ratio 35 is determined by the concatenation, i.e. the consecutive connection of the four gearing stages 20, 30, 40, 50.
[0034] Furthermore, FIG. 3 depicts a cross section of a first embodiment of a gearing stage 20, 30, 40 embodied as a planetary stage 19. The planetary stage 19 comprises as a gearbox component 11 a ring gear 12 which meshes with five planetary gears 16. For this purpose, each of the planetary gears 16 is accommodated such that it can rotate on a planetary gear axis 26. Each of the planetary gear axes 26 is connected to a planetary carrier 14. During operation, the planetary gears 16 rotate about a main axis of rotation 15 of a planetary gearbox 10, not depicted in further detail. The planetary gears 16 in turn mesh with a sun gear 18 via which a drive power 25 can be further transported in a torque-transmitting manner to an adjacent gearing stage 20, 30, 40. The planetary stage 19 in FIG. 3 can be used as a first, second or third gearing stage 20, 30, 40 in a planetary gearbox 10 and offers a fixed carrier train ratio 33.
[0035] Corresponding with FIG. 4, FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a second embodiment of a planetary stage 19 that can be used as a first, second or third gearing stage 20, 30, 40. In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the same reference characteristics have the same technical meaning. In contrast to FIG. 3, the planetary stage 19 in FIG. 4 has seven planetary gears 16. The planetary gears 16 in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 have substantially the same sizes and can be manufactured from the same blank. This considerably simplifies the manufacture of the associated planetary gearbox 10. In addition, mechanical stresses in the planetary gears 16 are distributed over a corresponding number of contact points on the ring gear 12. The higher the number of planetary gears 16, the more uniform the distribution of mechanical stress.
[0036] FIG. 5 depicts a sectional oblique view of an embodiment of a wind turbine 70 according to the invention. The wind turbine 70 comprises a rotor 63 that can be set into rotation by wind. The rotor 63 is connected in a torque-transmitting manner via a rotor shaft 62 to a gearbox 66. The gearbox 66 is in turn connected in a torque-transmitting manner to a generator 64. The rotor shaft 62, the gearbox 66 and the generator 64 belong to a drive set 60 accommodated in a nacelle 65 of the wind turbine 70. The generator 64 has two, three or four pole pairs. The gearbox 66 is embodied according to one of the above-described embodiments. A correspondingly embodied gearbox 66 increases the efficiency of the wind turbine 70. In particular, a claimed planetary gearbox 10 offers a reduced diameter 42, which facilitates the installation of the wind turbine 70.
[0037] FIG. 6 shows a schematic structure of a further embodiment of the claimed drive train 60 that can be used in a wind turbine 70, not depicted in further detail, or an industrial application 80, not depicted in further detail. The drive train 60 comprises a gearbox 66 connected on the input side to a drive means 82 or a rotor 63 of the wind turbine 70 and to which in this way a drive power 25 is supplied. In a wind turbine 70, this takes place by means of a rotor shaft 62. The gearbox 66 is embodied as a planetary gearbox 10 and comprises a first, second, third and fourth gearing stage 20, 30, 40, 50 in each case comprising a plurality of gearbox components 11. The first, second and third gearing stage 20, 30, 40 are in each case embodied as planetary stages 19. The fourth gearing stage 50 is embodied as a spur gear stage 21. The gearing stages 20, 30, 40, 50 are consecutively connected and output an output power 29 to a generator 64 or a mechanical application 84. The third gearing stage 40 has as a gearing component 11 a ring gear 12 embodied such that it can rotate. Overall, the third gearing stage 40 does not have a stationary gearing component 11. The third gearing stage 40 is coupled to a regulating apparatus 57 embodied to couple a regulating power 55 into the third gearing stage 40. For this purpose, the regulating apparatus 57 is connected in a torque-transmitting manner to the ring gear 12 of the third gearing stage 40. The regulating apparatus 57 is embodied as an electric machine and is suitable to provide either a driving or a braking torque as a regulating power 55. Thus, fluctuations in the drive power 25 provided by the drive means 82 or the rotor 63 can be at least temporarily compensated. Alternatively or supplementarily, this enables a desired operating point to be set for the generator 64 or the mechanical application 84. The regulating apparatus 57 is embodied to implement a closed regulation loop or open regulation loop, i.e. a control system, or also a combination of the two.
[0038] FIG. 7 is a schematic depiction of the structure of an embodiment of an industrial application 80 with a drive means 82. The drive means 82 is embodied to provide a drive power 25 transported by a torque-transmitting connection to a gearbox 66. The gearbox 66 is in turn connected in a torque-transmitting manner to a mechanical application 84 in order to transport an output power 29 to the mechanical application 84. For this purpose, the gearbox 66 is embodied as a planetary gearbox 10 according to one of the embodiments outlined above.
