WIND BLADE CLAMP

Abstract

An adaptable wind blade clamp for securely fastening and supporting a wind turbine blade during transportation. Walking beams are pivotably coupled to inner sides of the wind blade clamp jaws, and pads which contact the wind turbine are pivotably coupled to ends of the walking beams, resulting in a wind blade clamp which easily adjusts to the varying cross-sectional profiles of the wind turbine blade along its length. The wind blade clamp is optionally provided with an edge walking beam and edge pads to support and protect the leading edge of the wind turbine blade.

Claims

1. A clamping apparatus for securing a wind turbine blade, said clamping apparatus comprising: a lower jaw; an upper jaw; one or more lower pads connected to said lower jaw; and one or more walking beam assemblies pivotably coupled to said upper jaw, each of said one or more walking beam assemblies comprising: a walking beam, and a plurality of upper pads pivotably coupled to said walking beam, at least two upper pads of said plurality of upper pads pivotably coupled to respective ends of said walking beam.

2. The clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein said upper jaw further comprises a primary support beam depending from an inner surface of said upper jaw.

3. The clamping apparatus of claim 2 wherein said one or more walking beam assemblies comprises two walking beam assemblies pivotably coupled to respective ends of said primary support beam.

4. The clamping apparatus of claim 3 wherein said primary support beam is pivotably coupled to said inner surface of said upper jaw.

5. The clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein said upper jaw is pivotably connected to said lower jaw.

6. The clamping apparatus of claim 1, said lower jaw further comprising a side pad assembly pivotably connected to said lower surface jaw.

7. The clamping apparatus of claim 3, said side pad assembly comprising a side walking beam and two edge pads, each of said edge pads pivotably connected to a respective end of said side walking beam.

8. The clamping apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a base and a joint assembly connecting said lower jaw to said base.

9. The clamping apparatus of claim 8 wherein said base further comprises a plurality of wheels.

10. The clamping apparatus of claim 8 wherein said joint assembly permits one degree of freedom of rotational movement of said lower surface jaw relative to said base.

11. The clamping apparatus of claim 8 wherein said joint assembly permits two degrees of freedom of rotational movement of said lower surface jaw relative to said base.

12. The clamping apparatus of claim 8 wherein said joint assembly permits three degrees of freedom of rotational movement of said lower surface jaw relative to said base.

13. The clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of lower pads is repositionable along said lower jaw.

14. The clamping apparatus of claim 2 wherein said primary support beam is repositionable along said inner surface of said upper jaw.

15. The clamping apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of lower pads is pivotably connected to said lower surface jaw.

16. A transportation system for a wind turbine blade, said transportation system comprising: a tractor unit supporting a root of said wind turbine blade; and a trailer unit clamped to and supporting said wind turbine blade, said trailer unit comprising: a frame supported on a plurality of wheels; and a wind blade clamp connected to said frame, said wind blade clamp comprising: a lower jaw; an upper jaw pivotably coupled to said lower jaw; one or more lower pads pivotably coupled to said lower jaw; a primary support beam depending from said upper jaw; a first walking beam pivotably coupled to a first end of said primary support beam; a second walking beam pivotably coupled to a second end of said primary support beam; two leading edge pads pivotably coupled to respective ends of said first walking beam; and two trailing edge pads pivotably coupled to respective ends of said second walking beam.

17. The transportation system of claim 16 wherein said wind blade clamp further comprises a side walking beam assembly pivotably coupled to said lower jaw, said side walking beam assembly comprising a side walking beam and a plurality of edge pads pivotably coupled to respective ends of said edge walking beam.

18. The transportation system of claim 16, wherein said leading edge pads are contoured to substantially conform to a first cross-sectional profile of said wind turbine blade adjacent to a leading edge of said wind turbine blade.

19. The transportation system of claim 16 wherein said trailing edge pads are contoured to substantially conform to a second cross-sectional profile portion of said wind turbine blade adjacent to a trailing edge of said wind turbine blade.

20. The transportation system of claim 17 wherein said edge pads are contoured to substantially conform to a leading edge of said wind turbine blade.

21. The transportation system of claim 16 wherein said trailer unit further comprises: a turn table mounted to said frame; a first tilt table mounted to said turn table; a second tilt table mounted on and substantially orthogonal to said first tilt table; and wherein said wind blade clamp is mounted to said second tilt table.

22. The transportation system of claim 21 wherein said turn table is connected to at least two wheels of said plurality of wheels by a steering linkage.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.

[0029] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a representative wind blade;

[0030] FIGS. 1A-1C are cross sections of the representative wind blade of FIG. 1 taken at section lines A-A, B-B, C-C, respectively of FIG. 1;

[0031] FIG. 2 is a left perspective view of a first embodiment of a wind blade clamp according to the invention in the closed position;

[0032] FIG. 3 is a right perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 2;

[0033] FIG. 4 is a partial rear perspective view of the primary support beam and walking beam assembly of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 2;

[0034] FIG. 5 is a partial left perspective view of the primary support beam of FIG. 2;

[0035] FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 2 in the open position;

[0036] FIG. 7 is a partial top perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 6;

[0037] FIG. 8 is a partial left perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 2 holding a wind blade;

[0038] FIG. 9 is a partial right perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 8;

[0039] FIG. 10 is a partial bottom perspective view of the wind blade clamp of FIG. 8;

[0040] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a tractor transportation system using a wind blade clamp according to the invention;

[0041] FIG. 12. is a perspective view of the tractor transportation system of FIG. 11 with the wind blade clamp removed; and

[0042] FIG. 13 is a right view of the tractor transportation system of FIG. 11 with a wind blade installed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0043] Referring to FIG. 1, a wind blade 10 for a horizontal-axis wind turbine generally takes the form of an airfoil having, in cross section, a more bulbous, rounded leading edge 12, a thinner, sharper trailing edge 14, a pressure surface 16, and a suction surface 18. The cross section of the wind blade 10 differs among wind blades of different types as well as along the length of the wind blade 10, as shown by FIGS. 1A to 1C. Modern wind blades 10 generally taper to a tip 24 from a widest point 20 proximate to a root 22. The wind blade 10 may also curve along its length and in particular near the tip 24 as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 13, which may prevent the blade from contacting the wind turbine support tower when wind-loaded under operation. Therefore, the dimensions and curvature of the cross section of the wind blade 10 may differ significantly along the length of the wind blade 10.

[0044] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 10, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention a wind blade clamp 100 comprises a lower jaw 102, the lower jaw 102 having a lower hinged end 104 and a lower open end 105, connected to an upper jaw 106, the upper jaw 106 having an upper hinged end 108 and an upper open end 109. The lower hinged end 104 is connected to the upper hinged end 108 by one or more clamp pivots 110, allowing the upper jaw 106 to open and close over the lower jaw 104 as shown in FIG. 2 as compared to FIG. 6, for example.

[0045] A lower inner surface 112 of the lower jaw 102 is lined by one or more lower pads 114. Preferably, there are two lower pads 114 as shown. Each lower pad 114 has a lower pad eyelet 116, and at least one lower jaw eyelet 118 for each lower pad 114 extends from the lower inner surface 112. A lower pin 120 can be inserted through the lower pad eyelet 116 and the respective lower jaw eyelet 118 to attach each lower pad 114 to the lower jaw 102, as can be seen best in FIG. 4. This attachment means allows each lower pad 114 to pivot about the lower pin 120 and automatically angle to evenly distribute the weight of the wind blade 10 across substantially the entire lower pad 114, as can be seen in FIG. 10. Preferably, there are a plurality of lower jaw eyelets 118 associated with each lower pad 114, which allows each lower pad 114 to be repositioned along the lower inner surface 112 in order to adapt the wind blade clamp 100 based upon the size of the wind blade 10 to be inserted and the relative position along the length of the wind blade 10 at which the wind blade 10 is clamped.

[0046] A primary support beam 122 depends from an upper inner surface 124 of the upper jaw 106. The upper inner surface 124 has one or more upper eyelets 126 and the primary support beam 122 has a primary support pin 130 situated proximate to the midpoint of the primary support beam 122. The primary support pin 130 is inserted through collinear upper eyelets 126 to attach the primary support beam 122 to the upper jaw 106, as can be seen best in FIGS. 4 and 5. The primary support beam 122 is thus able to pivot on primary support pin 130 as can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9. The upper inner surface 124 preferably has multiple sets of collinear upper eyelets 126 as shown to allow the primary support pin 130 to be repositioned along the upper jaw 106 and thereby the pivot point of the primary support beam 122 is repositioned along the upper jaw 106) to adjust for varying cross sections of the wind blade 10 to be clamped. The primary support beam 122 will preferably be aligned substantially with the upper jaw 106 and therefore will be substantially perpendicular to the wind blade 10 when the wind blade clamp 100 is used on the wind blade 10, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

[0047] The primary support beam 122 terminates in a trailing-edge fulcrum 132 and a leading-edge fulcrum 134. The leading-edge fulcrum 134 is preferably positioned proximate to the upper hinged end 108. A trailing-edge walking beam 136 is pivotably coupled to the trailing-edge fulcrum 132 and a leading-edge walking beam 138 is pivotably coupled to the leading-edge fulcrum 134. Preferably, the trailing-edge walking beam 136 is pivotably coupled to the trailing-edge fulcrum 132 at or proximate to a first midpoint 137 of the trailing-edge walking beam 136. Likewise, the leading-edge walking beam 138 is preferably pivotably coupled to the leading-edge fulcrum 134 at or proximate to a second midpoint 139 of the leading-edge walking beam 138. Both the trailing-edge walking beam 136 and the leading-edge walking beam 138 are preferably oriented substantially perpendicular to the primary support beam 122 and the upper jaw 106. Therefore, the trailing edge walking beam 136 and leading-edge walking beam 138 will be substantially aligned with the wind blade 10 and positioned generally over the trailing edge 14 and leading edge 12, respectively, of the wind blade 10 when the wind blade clamp 10 is used on the wind blade 10, as can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9. Preferably, tension springs 140 extend from the trailing-edge fulcrum 132 to the trailing-edge walking beam 136 in opposing directions and from the leading-edge fulcrum 134 to the leading-edge walking beam 138 in opposing directions as shown to prevent the walking beams 136, 138 from freely pivoting on the respective fulcra 132, 134 when the wind blade clamp 100 is not holding the wind blade 10.

[0048] Two convex upper pads 142 are each pivotably coupled to a first end 144 and a second end 146 of the trailing-edge walking beam 136, respectively. Likewise, two concave upper pads 148 are each pivotably coupled to a third end 150 and a fourth end 152 of the leading-edge walking beam 138, respectively. The convex upper pads 142 generally match the curvature of the thinner cross-sectional portion of the wind blade 10 proximate to the trailing edge 14. Similarly, the concave upper pads 148 generally match the curvature of the thicker cross-sectional portion of the wind blade 10 proximate to the leading edge 12.

[0049] The lower jaw 102 preferably further comprises a side fulcrum 151 mounted on the lower inner surface 112 proximate to the lower hinged end 104. A side walking beam 153 is pivotably coupled at a third midpoint 155 to the side fulcrum 151. Two edge pads 154 are each pivotably coupled to a fifth end 156 and sixth end 158 of the side walking beam 153. The edge pads 154 are preferably concave to cradle and protect the leading edge 12 of the wind blade 10, as can be seen best in FIGS. 9 and 10. In other embodiments, the edge pads 154 may be designed to cradle the trailing edge 14 instead, although this is not preferred as the broader leading edge 12 spreads the reactionary force of the edge pads 154 out more. As no clamping force is provided through the side walking beam 153, there are preferably two lockout pads 159 provided, mounted to the lower hinged end 104 by way of threaded rods 161 and proximate to the fifth end 156 and sixth end 158, respectively. Once the wind blade 10 is positioned correctly against the edge pads 154, the lockout pads 159 can be extended on the threaded rods 161 to abut the fifth end 156 and sixth end 158, preventing the side walking beam 153 from inadvertently pivoting while the wind blade 10 is held by the wind blade clamp 100.

[0050] The trailing-edge walking beam 136, leading-edge walking beam 138, and side walking beam 152 preferably further comprise locking plates 160. The locking plates 160 may be extended and fixed in position against the convex upper pads 142, concave upper pads 148, and edge pads 154, respectively, in order to temporarily lock out any pivoting motion of the pads, which facilitates inserting the wind blade 10 into the wind blade clamp 100.

[0051] The wind blade clamp 100 preferably further comprises actuating means for opening and closing the wind blade clamp 100 and for providing some or all of the clamping force to hold the wind blade 10 in the wind blade clamp. Preferably, there are one or more hydraulic cylinders 163 extending from the lower hinged end 104 of the lower jaw 102 to the upper jaw 106. The hydraulic cylinders 163 are preferably double-acting to provide for finer control over opening and closing the wind blade clamp 100, and to provide some or all of the clamping force necessary to hold the wind blade clamp 100 closed.

[0052] The wind blade clamp 100 preferably further comprises locking means for holding the lower jaw 102 and upper jaw 106 together against transportation-induced shocks and vibration that might otherwise inadvertently release the wind blade 10. Preferably there are a plurality of toggle latches 162 attached to the lower open end 105 of the lower jaw 102 and a plurality of respective toggle keepers 164 attached to the upper open end 109 of the upper jaw 106. A toggle 166 of each toggle latch 160 is preferably attached using a threaded rod 168 to allow for the overall reach of the toggle latch 160 to be adjusted for wind blades 10 of different thicknesses. In some embodiments, the toggle latches 162 are attached to the upper open end 109 and the toggle keepers 164 are attached to the lower open end 105. However, this arrangement is not preferable as there is potential for the toggle latches 162 to release under gravity. When closed, the toggle latches 162 can provide some or all of the clamping force required to hold the wind blade 10 in the wind blade clamp 100.

[0053] Referring in particular to FIGS. 8-10, when the wind blade clamp 100 clamps the wind blade 10 at a given point, the primary support beam 122 pivots on the primary support pin 130 to generally match the slope of the pressure surface 16 of the wind blade 10 from the leading edge 12 to the trailing edge 14. Further, each walking beam 136, 138 pivots on the respective fulcra 132, 134 to generally align to the slope of the wind blade 10 along its length corresponding to the combined effects of tapering and curvature of the wind blade 10. Further still, the upper convex pads 142 and upper concave pads 148 pivot on the respective ends of the walking beams 136, 138 to engage with the pressure surface 16 proximate to the trailing edge 14 and leading edge 12. Additionally, the lower pads 114 pivot to generally match the slope of the suction surface 18 from the leading edge 12 to the trailing edge 14. All of these adjustments occur essentially automatically (that is, with minimal manual intervention) as the wind blade 10 is clamped. This is believed to be due to the shape of the wind blade 10 at the given point it is clamped and the clamping forces and reaction forces balancing across the various pivot points.

[0054] The wind blade clamp 100 is advantageously usable in conjunction with a variety of different forms of transportation. Generally, the wind blade clamp 100 is attached to a base structure. The details of the base structure and the attachment apparatus will vary depending on the size of the wind blade 10 and the transportation form.

[0055] Referring to FIGS. 11-13, according to the preferred embodiment, the base structure comprises a wheeled trailer 200. A turntable 202 is mounted to the wheeled trailer 200. The turntable carries a first tilt table 204 which has a first tilt axis 206. A second tilt table 208 is mounted on the first tilt table 204, and has a second tilt axis 210. The second axis of tilt 210 is preferably oriented substantially orthogonal to the first axis of tilt 206. The wind blade clamp 100 is then rigidly mounted to the second tilt table 208.

[0056] The rotation of both tilt tables about their respective tilt axes will preferably be controlled using pairs of tilt hydraulic cylinders 211 associated with each tilt table. Hydraulic power is supplied to the tilt hydraulic cylinders 211 by an auxiliary power unit 213 associated with the trailer 200. Advantageously, the auxiliary power unit 213 also provides hydraulic power to the hydraulic cylinders 163 on the wind blade clamp.

[0057] When in use, the root 12 of the wind blade 10 is held by a tractor unit (not shown) by any method already known in the art and the wind blade clamp 100 on the wheeled trailer 200 is clamped to the wind blade 10 at a point along its length. The arrangement of second tilt table 206 on first tilt table 202 on turntable 202 allows the wind blade clamp 100 to be angled relative to the wheeled trailer 200 to account for the curvature of the wind blade 10 as shown in FIGS. 13-14, and to allow the wind blade clamp to twist, yaw, and roll relative to the wheeled trailer 200 as necessary to allow the wheeled trailer 200 to navigate corners and hills during transportation without damaging the wind blade 10. Preferably, one or more wheel pairs 214 of the wheeled trailer 200 is connected to the turntable 202 by a steering linkage 216, which allows the wheeled trailer 200 to more smoothly follow the movement of the tractor unit and wind blade 10 and reduces the likelihood of the wheeled trailer 200 jackknifing relative to the wind blade 10.

[0058] According to some embodiments, the base structure comprises a ship deck of a ship. Alternatively, the base structure may comprise a rack which is fixed to the ship deck, which allows multiple wind blades 10 to be transported, one over or beside another. For sufficiently short wind blades 10, the rack may be located in the ship hold. In any of these cases, the wind blade clamp 100 can be rigidly fixed to the deck or rack by any of a number of well-known methods, including but limited to welding and bolting. The root 22 may be supported by any of the apparatus known in the art, and those apparatus may be likewise affixed to the ship deck, or to a longitudinally spaced apart root rack.

[0059] According to some embodiments, the base structure comprises a railcar. For wind blades approximately 30 metres or shorter, it may be possible for the wind blade clamp 100 to be mounted directly and rigidly to the railcar (comparable to the ship deck), as this length does not substantially exceed the length of the average railcar. For longer wind blades, it may be necessary to hold the root 22 on one railcar and the wind blade clamp 100 on the next consecutive railcar. In these situations, the base structure should comprise the railcar, a turntable, a first tilt table, and second tilt table, arranged in a manner comparable to the embodiments used with the wheeled trailer. This will allow the wind blade 10 to yaw, pitch and roll independently of the railcar in response to turns and hills, which reduces transportational stresses on the wind blade 10.

[0060] While the foregoing description is directed towards wind blades 10 used in association with horizontal-axis wind turbines, it will be apparent that the wind blade clamp 100 may also be used in conjunction with vertical-axis wind turbine blades with suitable modification known to the skilled technician. The wind blade clamp 100 may also be used with suitable modification to transport the support tower, or components of the support tower, of the wind turbine.

[0061] In the foregoing description, exemplary modes for carrying out the invention in terms of examples have been described. However, the scope of the claims should not be limited by those examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

[0062] While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.