Method for anchoring a holding means in a wind turbine and adapter

Abstract

A method for anchoring a sling of a rope for supporting loads, in a wind turbine, the wind turbine includes at least two components connected via a bolt-and-nut arrangement includes multiple pairs of bolts and nuts at opposing flanges, the nuts fastening to the bolts at the upper flange, wherein at least one adapter includes a cylindrical outer holding surface for receiving the sling is placed atop of at least one nut covering its edges, and the sling is fastened to the adapter is provided.

Claims

1. A method for anchoring a holding means of a transport tool for supporting loads, in a wind turbine, the wind turbine comprising at least two components connected via a bolt-and-nut arrangement comprising multiple pairs of bolts and nuts at opposing flanges, the nuts fastening to the bolts at an upper flange of the opposing flanges, the method comprising: placing at least one adapter comprising a cylindrical outer holding surface defined between an upper rim and a lower rim for receiving the holding means atop of at least one nut of the nuts, covering edges of the at least one nut, wherein the holding means is fastened to the at least one adapter; wherein the adapter further comprises an upper projecting part having a quadratic shape disposed on a top surface of the upper rim, the upper projecting part being structurally integral with the upper rim; wherein the at least one adapter has an upper portion comprising an inner thread matching an outer thread of a bolt onto which the at least one nut is fastened and the at least one adapter is screwed onto a part of the bolt projecting over the at least one nut such that a lower portion of the at least one adapter comprising at least a part of the outer holding surface houses the at least one nut.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lower portion has at least a height of the at least one nut.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one adapter has an inner profile shaped to interlock with the at least one nut and is positioned onto the at least one nut.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one adapter is made of steel.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein at least one mat is placed on the opposing flanges around a nut-and-bolt pair on which the at least one adapter is to be placed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least two components comprise components of a tower and/or a nacelle and/or a hub and/or a canopy.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transport tool is used for holding a sliding tool and/or a further component of the wind turbine to be installed or exchanged and/or a tool for use in an elevated position of the wind turbine.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transport tool is a sling of a rope.

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 two components of a tower of a wind turbine attached to each other;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an inventive adapter;

(4) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an inventive adapter;

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates the usage of the adapter of FIGS. 2 and 3; and

(6) FIG. 5 schematically shows lifting of a further component in the wind turbine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 illustrates the attachment of two components 1, 2 of a tower of a wind turbine in the vicinity of an upper tower platform 3. Each of the components 1, 2 comprises a circular inner flange 4, 5 having drilled vertical holes extending therethrough. Bolts 6 extend through these holes and are fixed using corresponding nuts 7. While, in the state of the art, at least one of these pairs of nut 7 and bolt 6 had to be removed and replaced by an adapter comprising a swivel eye bolt to provide an anchorage point for a holding means, in particular a sling, of a transport tool, in particular a rope, the embodiments of the invention provide a simplified method for creating such an anchorage point.

(8) Instead of replacing a pair of nut 7 and bolt 6, an adapter 8 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is provided. The adapter 8 is made of steel and comprises an upper portion 9 and a lower portion 10. The upper portion 9 comprises an inner thread 11 meshing with the outer thread 12 (see FIG. 4) of the bolt 6 projecting through the nut 7. An upper projecting part 13 of the adapter 8 has a quadratic shape so that tools, for example plyers or a wrench, can be used to screw the adapter 8 onto a projecting bolt 6 such that the adapter 8 covers the corresponding nut 7 below by virtue of an inner cavity 14 of the lower portion 10. The lower portion 10 is dimensioned to cover the whole nut 7 such that the height of the cavity 14 is at least the height a nut 7. In this manner, when the adapter 8 is screwed atop of a nut, the edged surface of the nut 7 is replaced by an outer cylindrical holding surface 15 of the adapter 8 which is delimited on its upper and lower boarder by rims 16, 17, preventing the slippage of a sling from the outer holding surface 15 and thus the adapter 8.

(9) FIG. 4 shows the adapter 8 in use. Before the adapter 8 has been screwed onto the projecting portion of a bolt 6, a mat 18 made of a soft material, for example rubber, has been placed on the flange 4 to further protect a holding means 19, in this embodiment a sling 20 of a rope, which has been wrapped around the adapter 8 subsequently screwed atop a corresponding nut 7, as shown in FIG. 4.

(10) As can be seen, no sharp edges of the now covered nut 7 damage the sling 20 which is firmly held by virtue of the rim 16.

(11) FIG. 5 is a principle drawing of the usage of the current embodiments of the invention in lifting loads inside a tower 21 of a wind turbine. At two horizontally opposing pairs of bolts 6 and nuts 7, an adapter 8 has been placed, respectively. The so-created anchorage points are used to attach transport means 22, in this case ropes 23 with corresponding slings 20. The ropes 23 can now be used to lift and/or guide a further component 24 of the wind turbine, for example a generator, which is to be installed or replaced, inside the tower 21. Multiple further applications are conceivable.

(12) Although the invention has been illustrated and described in greater detail with reference to the preferred exemplary embodiment, the invention is not limited to the examples disclosed, and further variations can be inferred by a person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.

(13) 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.