System for assembling a generator, generator vertical assembly device and corresponding assembling method

Abstract

A system for assembling a generator, preferably a permanently excited generator of a wind turbine, comprising a rotor and a stator. A vertical assembly device connectable to the rotor and the stator is proposed, for guiding the rotor in parallel and coaxially aligned to the stator during assembly, the vertical assembly device comprising a first assembly element being connectable to the rotor, a second assembly element being connectable to the stator, and guiding means for guiding the first assembly element coaxially aligned to the second assembly element.

Claims

1. A system comprising: a vertical assembly device configured to be connected to a rotor and a stator, the vertical assembly device being configured to guide the rotor in parallel and coaxially aligned with the stator for assembly of a generator of wind turbine, the vertical assembly device comprising: a first assembly element configured to be coupled to the rotor; a second assembly element configured to be coupled to the stator; a guide configured to guide the first assembly element with the second assembly element such that the rotor is parallel and coaxially aligned with the stator, and driving means comprising an actuator hydraulic cylinder, wherein the driving means is configured to vertically move at least one element of the first assembly element and the second assembly element relative to one another.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second assembly element comprises an outer tube, and wherein the first assembly element comprises an inner tube that is coaxially arranged and longitudinally movable within the outer tube.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the guide is a linear guide configured to inhibit a rotation of the first assembly element and the second assembly element relative to one another.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the linear guide comprises a radially adjustable linear guide configured to fine-tune a position of the rotor relative to the stator in a radial direction.

5. The system according to claim 3, wherein the linear guide comprises angular guiding elements arranged on one of the first assembly element or the second assembly element, and wherein an angular guide arranged on the other assembly of the first assembly element or the second assembly element, wherein the angular guide is configured to receive the angular guiding elements.

6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a support configured to hold at least one of the rotor or the stator.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the support comprises a rotor support and a stator support, wherein the stator support is configured to hold the stator coaxially above the rotor.

8. The system according to claim 1, comprising spacing means temporarily arranged in an air gap between the rotor and the stator, wherein the spacing means are configured for guiding the rotor relative to the stator during lifting and assembling, wherein the spacing means is selected from the following list: sliding plates arranged at the rotor; sliding plates arranged at the stator; or guiding rollers arranged at the stator.

9. A method comprising: assembling a generator of a wind turbine using a system comprising: a vertical assembly device configured to be connected to a rotor and a stator, the vertical assembly device being configured to guide the rotor in parallel and coaxially aligned with the stator for assembly of a generator of wind turbine, the vertical assembly device comprising: a first assembly element configured to be coupled to the rotor; a second assembly element configured to be coupled to the stator; a guide configured to guide the first assembly element with the second assembly element such that the rotor is parallel and coaxially aligned with the stator, and driving means comprising an actuator hydraulic cylinder configured to vertically move at least one element of the first assembly element and the second assembly element relative to one another, wherein the assembling comprises: connecting the first assembly element of the vertical assembly device to the rotor; connecting the second assembly element of the vertical assembly device to the stator; connecting the first assembly element to the second assembly element; and moving at least one of the stator or the rotor towards the other, wherein the vertical assembly device aligns the rotor and stator relative to one another during the movement.

10. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: spacing the stator relative to the rotor by disposing spacing means in an air gap between the rotor and stator for guiding the rotor relative to the stator; and removing the spacing means after positioning the rotor within the stator.

11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising radially positioning the rotor in the stator by using positioning means arranged around a contact diameter of the rotor with the stator.

12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: arranging the rotor on a rotor support; and arranging the stator on a stator support above and coaxially aligned with the rotor; wherein the moving at least one of the stator or the rotor towards the other comprises lifting the rotor into the stator.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: lifting the stator above the rotor; and wherein moving at least one of the stator or the rotor towards the other comprises lowering the stator after connecting the first assembly element of the vertical assembly device to the second assembly element.

14. The method according to claim 13, where lifting the stator above the rotor comprises using a lifting crane to lift the stator above the rotor.

15. The method according to claim 9, wherein the generator is a permanently excited generator.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) These and other aspects, features and/or technical effects will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the illustrations described hereafter, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of a system for assembling a generator in a perspective view;

(3) FIG. 2 shows the system for assembling a generator according to FIG. 1 in a sectional view;

(4) FIGS. 3, 4a, and 4b show the system for assembling a generator according to FIG. 1 in a sectional view in different operating states and levels of detail; and

(5) FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a system for assembling a generator in a perspective view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows a system 2 for assembling a generator 3. The generator 3 comprising a rotor 16 and a stator 10. The generator 3 is preferably a permanently excited generator 3 of a wind turbine (not shown).

(7) The system 2 comprises a support 24 having a rotor support 14 and a stator support 12 for coaxially holding the stator 10 above the rotor 16 and a vertical assembly device 4. The stator support 12 and the rotor support 14 are arranged on a common plate 20. The vertical assembly device 4 is connectable to the rotor 16 and the stator 10.

(8) The vertical assembly device 4 comprises a first assembly element 26 (see FIG. 2) being connectable to the rotor 16 and a second assembly element 6, having the form of an outer tube 22, being connectable to the stator 10. The first assembly element 26 is guided relative to the second assembly element 6 by guiding means 28 (or a guide). The vertical assembly device 4 moreover comprises a driving means 30 (or an actuator) for moving the first assembly element 26 relative to the second assembly element 6. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the driving means 30 comprises four hydraulic cylinders 8.

(9) Spacing means 40 are arranged temporarily in an air gap 42 between the rotor 16 and the stator 10 for guiding the rotor 16 relative to the stator 10 during lifting and assembling. As spacing means 40, sliding plates 44 arranged at the rotor 16 are visible in FIG. 1.

(10) FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the system 2 in an initial state at which the rotor 16 rests upon the rotor support 14 and the stator 10 rests on the stator support 12. The stator support 12 comprises a radially resilient support 50. The first assembly element 26 is connected to the rotor 16, the second assembly element 6 to the stator 10.

(11) From this figure, the detailed structure of the vertical assembly device 4 can be obtained. The second assembly element 6 is configured as an outer tube 22 and the first assembly element 26 is configured as an inner tube 32 being coaxially arranged to and longitudinally movable within the outer tube 22. The linear guide 34 may optionally be configured as an adjustable linear guide 34 for fine-tuning the positioning of the rotor 16 relative to the stator 10. The linear guide 34 comprises angular guiding elements 36 arranged on the first assembly element 26 and an angular guide 38 arranged on the second assembly element 6 for receiving the angular guiding elements 36 and for inhibiting a rotation of the first assembly element 26 relative to the second assembly element 6.

(12) The system 2 moreover comprises the spacing means 40 arrangeable temporarily in the air gap 42 between the rotor 16 and the stator 10. The spacing means 40 comprise sliding plates 44 arranged at the rotor 16, sliding plates 18 arranged at the stator 10 and guiding rollers 46, preferably adjustable guiding rollers 46, arranged at the stator 10. The spacing means 40 furthermore comprise a coating and/or intermediate layer 48 for reducing friction, the coating and/or layer 48 being arranged at the rotor 16, the stator 10 and/or the sliding plates 44, 46.

(13) FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 in an assembling state at which the rotor 16 has been lifted about halfway into the stator 10 by the vertical assembly device 4. The rotor 16 no longer rests on the rotor support 14. The rotor sliding plates 44 and the stator sliding plates 18 are utilized—together with the linear guide 34—to align and center the rotor 16 during the lifting process. Furthermore, optional rotor studs 52′, arranged at the rotor 16 are shown in FIG. 4. These were not part of FIGS. 1 and 2.

(14) In the assembling state shown in FIG. 4a, the lifting process has been completed. The rotor 16 is mounted in the stator 10 and the spacing means 40, such as the rotor sliding plates 44 and the stator sliding plates 18, have been removed. The generator rests on the radially resilient support 50 of the stator support 12.

(15) FIG. 4b shows a detailed view of the extract labelled with Z in FIG. 4a. FIG. 4b shows an additional means for fine-tuning the relative positioning of the rotor 16 with respect to the stator 10. In this regard, the stator 10 comprises machined surfaces 62 against which a protective wedge 58 and a shim plate 60 rests. Preferably, four protective wedges 58 and shim plates 60 are arranged equidistantly around a contact diameter of the stator 10 and the rotor 16. By utilizing protective wedges 58 and shim plates 60 of different sizes, rotor 16 and stator 10 may be positioned radially with regard to one another.

(16) FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of an assembling system 102 utilizing a vertical assembly device 104 for assembling a generator 103. The generator 103 and its components rotor 116 and stator 110 are identical to the one shown in FIGS. 1-4b.

(17) The rotor 116 rests on a support 124 which is connected to a floor plate 120. A first assembly element 126 is connected to the rotor 116. The first assembly element 126 is configured as an inner tube 132 and comprises angular guiding elements 136.

(18) The stator 110 is lifted by a lifting crane 108 with the help of lifting eyes 164 arranged at the stator 110. A second assembly element 106 is connected to the stator 110. The second assembly element 106 is configured as an outer tube 122. The vertical assembly device 104 moreover comprises a guiding means 128 (or guide) for guiding the first assembly element 126 relative to the second assembly element 106, comprising a linear guide 134 having an angular guide 138 arranged at the second assembly element 106.

(19) When lowering the stator 110 from the position shown in FIG. 5, the first assembly element 126 connects to the second assembly element 106 and aligns and guides the stator 110 with respect to the rotor 116. Rotor 116 and stator 110 comprise spacing means 140.

(20) In this regard, the stator 110 comprises stator sliding plates 118 and the rotor 116 comprises rotor sliding plates 144 in the proximity to an air gap 142. The stator 110 furthermore comprises guiding rollers 146. When the stator 110 approaches the rotor 116 during lowering of the lifting crane 108, the spacing means 140 assist in aligning and positioning the stator 110 with respect to the rotor 116.

LIST OF REFERENCES

(21) 2 Assembling System 3 Generator 4 Vertical assembly device 6 Second assembly element 8 Hydraulic cylinder 10 Stator 12 Stator support 14 Rotor support 16 Rotor 18 Stator sliding plate 20 Floor plate 22 Outer tube 24 Support means 26 First assembly element 28 Guiding means 30 Driving means 32 Inner tube 34 Linear guide 36 Angular guiding elements 38 Angular guide 40 Spacing means 42 Air gap 44 Rotor sliding plate 46 Guiding rollers 48 Coating/intermediate layer 50 Radial resilient support 52′ Rotor studs 54 Positioning means 56 Contact diameter 58 Protective wedge 60 Shim plates 62 Machined surfaces 102 Assembling System 103 Generator 104 Vertical assembly device 106 Second assembly element 108 Lifting crane 110 Stator 116 Rotor 118 Stator sliding plate 120 Floor plate 122 Outer tube 124 Support means 126 First assembly element 128 Guiding means 130 Driving means 132 Inner tube 134 Linear guide 136 Angular guiding elements 138 Angular guide 140 Spacing means 142 Air gap 144 Rotor sliding plate 146 Guiding rollers 164 Lifting eye

(22) The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.