ROTOR BLADE HUB FOR A WIND TURBINE, AND WIND TURBINE HAVING SAME

Abstract

Provided is a rotor blade hub for a wind turbine. The rotor blade hub includes a connecting portion for torque-transmitting coupling of the rotor blade hub to a main shaft of the wind turbine. The rotor blade hub has a single-stage transmission which is non-rotatably mounted to the rotor blade hub at the drive input side and has the connecting portion at the drive output side.

Claims

1. A wind turbine, comprising: a main shaft; a generator for generating electric power including: a generator rotor coupled to the main shaft; and a generator stator; and a rotor blade hub, coupled to the main shaft, including: a connecting portion for torque-transmitting coupling of the rotor blade hub to the main shaft; and a single-stage transmission that is non-rotatably mounted to the rotor blade hub at a drive input side and has a connecting portion at a drive output side, wherein the single-stage transmission is in a form of an attachment transmission and is mounted at a side of the rotor blade hub that is remote from a machine carrier, wherein the rotor blade hub is arranged on a first side of the machine carrier, the generator is arranged on a second side of the machine carrier opposite to the first side, and the main shaft is passed through the machine carrier and is non-rotatably coupled to the generator rotor.

2. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the single-stage transmission is a planetary transmission having a sun gear, a planetary carrier having a plurality of planetary gears, and a ring gear, wherein the plurality of planetary gears engage the sun gear and the ring gear.

3. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the sun gear is non-rotatably coupled to the connecting portion of the single-stage transmission at the drive output side.

4. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the planetary carrier is non-rotatably coupled to the rotor blade hub at the drive input side.

5. The wind turbine as set forth in claim 3, wherein the connecting portion of the single-stage transmission is a first connecting portion and the ring gear has a second connecting portion for non-rotatable coupling to a journal of the wind turbine.

6. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the connecting portion of the single-stage transmission is a first connecting portion and the planetary carrier has a second connecting portion for non-rotatable coupling to a journal of the wind turbine.

7. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ring gear of the planetary transmission is non-rotatably coupled to the rotor blade hub at the drive input side.

8. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the single-stage transmission is a magnetic transmission having an inner permanent-magnetic ring in place of the sun gear, a ferromagnetic intermediate ring in place of the planetary carrier, and an outer permanent-magnetic ring in place of the ring gear.

9. (canceled)

10. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the generator is a synchronous generator.

11. (canceled)

12. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 1, comprising: a journal mounted on the machine carrier, wherein a generator module including the generator is mounted directly on the machine carrier, and the rotor blade hub is rotatably mounted on the journal.

13. The wind turbine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main shaft is a hollow shaft.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying Figures by means of preferred embodiments by way of example. In the Figures:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of a wind turbine,

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through a pod of the wind turbine of FIG. 1 in a first embodiment, and

[0026] FIG. 3 shows a diagrammatic cross-sectional view through the pod of the wind turbine as shown in FIG. 1 in a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a wind turbine 100. The wind turbine 100 has a pylon 102 and a pod 104 on the pylon 102. Provided on the pod 104 is an aerodynamic rotor 106 having three rotor blades 108 and a spinner 110. In operation of the wind turbine 100 the aerodynamic rotor 106 is caused to rotate by the wind and thus also rotates the generator rotor or rotor member 115 (FIG. 2) of a generator 113 (FIG. 2) directly or indirectly coupled to the aerodynamic rotor 106. The electric generator 113 is disposed in the pod 104 and generates electric power.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the pod 104 according to a first embodiment. The rotor blades 108 shown in FIG. 1 are connected to a rotor blade hub 1. The rotor blade hub 1 is mounted rotatably on a journal 112. The rotor blade hub 1 has a single-stage transmission connected to the rotor blade hub 1 by way of a corresponding connection 5. At the drive output side the single-stage transmission 3 has a connecting portion 7, at which the single-stage transmission 3 is non-rotatably coupled to a main shaft 111 of the wind turbine 104. The main shaft 111 constitutes the drive train to the generator 113.

[0029] The single-stage transmission 3 has a ring gear 9. A planetary carrier 11 is moved relative to the ring gear 9 by means of a number of planetary gears 13 which are in engagement with the ring gear. As a result a sun gear 15 of the single-stage transmission 3 which has the connecting portion to the main shaft 111 is driven in a stepped-up ratio. Preferably the ratio of the single-stage transmission is in the range of 1:2.5 to 1:5.

[0030] The main shaft 111 is passed through the journal 112 and a machine carrier 114 of the wind turbine 100 and non-rotatably connected to the generator rotor 115 of the generator 113. The generator rotor 115 is driven in rotation relative to a stator 117 by means of the hub 1, in which case the single-stage transmission 3 brings about a moderate step-up transmission effect and an increase in the rotary speed of the generator rotor 115 relative to the rotor blade hub 1.

[0031] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the generator 113 is arranged in opposite relationship to the rotor blade hub 1, relative to the machine carrier 114. The generator 113 is fixed to the machine carrier 114 by means of a first connecting flange 119 while the journal 112 supporting the rotor blade hub 1 is connected to the machine carrier 114 at an oppositely disposed second connecting flange 118. The machine carrier 114 is connected to the pylon 102, preferably by means of a rotary connection (not shown). Reference A identifies the axis of rotation of the rotor blade hub 1 and the generator 115.

[0032] In the embodiment of FIG. 2 the single-stage transmission is connected to the main shaft at the sun gear 15 by means of a first connecting portion 7 and the sun gear 9 is non-rotatably connected to the journal 112 by means of a second connecting portion so that the sun gear 9 does not rotate about the axis A. By virtue of the connection at the connection 5 the planetary carrier 11 rotates at the same speed of rotation as the rotor blades connected to the rotor blade hub 1, about the axis A. A transmission step-up ratio acts on the sun gear 15 by means of the planetary gears 13.

[0033] FIG. 3 is structurally similar to the embodiment of FIG. 2, in particular in regard to the arrangement of the generator 113 relative to the rotor blade hub 1 on different sides of the machine carrier 114. What distinguishes the embodiment of FIG. 3 from the embodiment of FIG. 2 is the connection of the single-stage transmission 3. In the FIG. 3 embodiment the ring gear 9 is connected directly to the rotor blade hub 1 by means of the connecting portion 5 and is synchronized therewith while the planetary carrier 11 is connected to the journal 112 by means of the second connecting portion 17 and is thus fixed. In this variant by way of a rotational movement of the ring gear 9 and a rotational movement of the otherwise stationary planetary gears 13 there is a step-up transmission action on the sun gear 15 which drives the main shaft 111 at an increased speed in comparison with the speed of rotation of the rotor blades 108.

[0034] In both embodiments shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 the single-stage transmission 3 is arranged in the form of an attachment transmission 10 at the front end on the rotor blade hub 1 and is thus accessible from the end at any time without influencing the rest of the drive train.

[0035] As was described in detail hereinbefore the use of the single-stage transmission 3, in particular in its configuration in the form of the attachment transmission 10, permits uncomplicated adaptation of the respectively required transmission ratio to the installation conditions and the desired power class of the wind turbine 100, wherein different step-up transmission ratios in conjunction with always the same generator 113 can lead to different power yields. In comparison with a direct drive without transmission smaller generators can be used for the same power class, which affords massive savings in regard to the costs and the weight of the wind turbine 100, in particular the pod 104. The assembly costs, in particular in conjunction with the cranes required for that purpose and the assembly time, are also reduced by virtue of using the single-stage transmission 3 as smaller loads have to be conveyed up to the pod 104 of the wind turbine 100.