JP2000274347A - Wind power generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the wear between a slip ring and a brush to extend the life and to reduce the weight or improve the wind direction follow-up property in a horizontal shaft type wind power generator having a wind direction follow-up mechanism by providing a slip ring device between a cable for transporting the generated power and a load device. SOLUTION: In a rotary joint part, a cable 15 is electrically and mechanically connected to a brush 6. Another brush 27 is fixed to a housing 33 having electric insulating property. Further, a plurality of slip rings 34 and 31 are fitted to a shaft 28, and a plurality of thrust washers 27 and 29 are arranged. On the other hand, both upper and lower covers 35 and 30 are fitted to the housing 33, and fixed by a thermally contractible cable 32. When the wind direction is frequenlty changed, each cable 15, 13 is twisted to some degree to generate a torque exceeding the static torque between the brush 26 and each slip ring 34, 31, these are relatively rotated. According to this, the unnecessary wear between the brush 26 with each slip ring 34, 31 can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric power transportation route for a wind power generator or the like, which facilitates following a wind direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a path for transporting electric power generated by a horizontal axis wind turbine type wind power generator, a wind power generator rotates in a horizontal plane following a wind direction by using a slip ring device composed of a slip ring and a brush. Mechanisms are known that prevent the power transport cable from kinking the machine.
In many cases, the term “slip ring” alone is used to mean the entire device constituted by the slip ring and the brush, but in the present specification, an assembly constituted by the slip ring and the brush is used for a clearer expression. Is called a slip ring device.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view, partly in section, of a conventional upwind type horizontal axis windmill type wind power generator. In order to explain the yaw device and the slip ring device, only this portion is particularly illustrated. The upwind type horizontal axis windmill type wind power generator supported by the support 63 is provided with a yaw device 61 which freely rotates in a horizontal plane following the wind direction. The rotation of the wind turbine blade 51 facing the wind direction causes the shaft 52 to rotate.
Through this, the generator 53 rotates. The generated power is transmitted to the brushes 54, 54 pressed by the brush holding springs 58, 58 by the cables 57, 57, and flows to the slip rings 65, 65. Cables 64, 64 are connected to the slip rings 65, 65. At this time, if the wind direction changes, the tail blades 56 work to rotate the wind turbine blades 51 around the yaw shaft 60 by the bearings 59, 59 so as to always become perpendicular to the wind. Set bolt 62
Is for fixing the yaw shaft 60 and the support 63.

[0004] The yaw device must be passed through a path for transmitting the generated power to a lower portion of a column supporting a wind power generator by a conducting wire (hereinafter referred to as a cable). Simple wind turbines simply pass the cable through the center of rotation of the yaw device and do not provide a special slip ring device. In a plain where the wind direction hardly changes, the cable does not twist.
Also, as the wind generator units do not rotate only in the same direction, the cable kinks are often unwound. In this case, a slip ring device is not particularly required. However, in mountainous areas and residential areas with many buildings, the wind direction changes frequently due to the topography, trees and buildings.
In regions where the columns are long enough and the wind direction changes randomly, the cable can be tolerated for some time without the slip ring device if it is within the allowable range of cable kinks. A typical horizontal axis wind power generator has a slip ring device in a yaw device so that it can be used in any place.

[0005] Since the conventional slip ring device is provided near the yaw device as in the above-described example, the rotating ring and the brush slide every moment when the wind direction changes. In addition, the frictional resistance of the brush impairs the ability to follow the wind direction in a slight wind. Since the ring and the brush are worn by sliding, the ring and the brush are designed to have a certain size in anticipation of a wear allowance and require a large space. The weight including the housing also increases.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been derived from years of experience in the field using wind power generators. In other words, I have noticed using a simple horizontal axis wind generator without a slip ring device. Without the slip ring device, there is little rotational friction, and the wind surface easily follows the wind direction even in a slight wind, and the rotating surface of the wind turbine faces the wind direction (the rotating surface of the wind turbine is at right angles to the wind direction). Can capture the power of the wind. 2. If the slipping device is not directly connected to the wind direction change, the cable will be kinked temporarily, but depending on the change in wind, the kinking may return naturally. 3. Based on the experience of operating wind power generators in various parts of Japan (several hundred locations in the northern hemisphere), the tendency after repeated clockwise and counterclockwise rotations is skewed to the left by looking up at the windmill from below. 4. Therefore, after a certain period of time has passed since the operation of the windmill, the connector of the lower cable was disconnected, and the windmill was turned counterclockwise.

[0007]

According to the above experience, it is more reasonable to mount the slip ring device in the middle of a load device located at a lower position away from the yaw device than to install the slip ring device near the wind generator yaw device. That was speculated.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an upwind type horizontal axis windmill type wind generator having a windmill blade 1, a generator 3 and a tail 4, a yaw device 6 for following the wind direction, and attached to a vertical support. The details around the column 7 are shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the whole wind power generator is supported by a support 7 and a joint 16 and a support 17, and the support 7 is vertically mounted on a ground 19 by at least three support lines 10 and 10 by distribution bolts 8 with anchor bolts 11, 11. It is fixed to. The column 6 is connected to the lower column 17 by a joint 16. In addition, the fixing metal 9 is for fixing the distribution metal 8 to the column 7. The lower end of the lower support 17 is made of a pointed object as shown in the figure, and is fixed to the ground 19 by a support plate 18 having a concave recess.
The entire wind generator is kept almost horizontal. The same operation is performed when a speed-increasing gear is inserted between the windmill rotating shaft 2 and the generator 3.

The electric power generated by the generator 3 passes through the inside of the column 7 with a cable 15, is connected to a rotary joint 14, and is connected to a load device 12 through a lower cable 13. Although the rotary joint 14 is a kind of slip ring device, the embodiment of FIG. 1 is not fixed to a rigid structure unlike a general slip ring device. Since the cable 13 in FIG. 1 is actually twisted, such a name is used. The distribution of the lengths of the cables 15 and 13 is not limited. The total kinking of the cables 15 and 13 flexibly limits unnecessary rotation of the rotary joint 13.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional perspective view for explaining a main part of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of the rotary joint. FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the rotary joint for further understanding. FIG. 5 shows A in FIG.
It is sectional drawing in alignment with -A.

A detailed description will be given with reference to FIG. The upwind-type horizontal axis windmill type wind power generator supported by the column 7 has bearings 22, 2 that freely rotate in a horizontal plane following the wind direction.
The yaw device 6 including the yaw shaft 2 and the yaw shaft 23 is provided. The rotation of the wind turbine blade 1 facing the wind direction causes the generator 3 to rotate through the shaft 2. The generated power is cable 1
5 guides the inner diameter of the column 7. The cable 15 is fixed to the support rod 5 fixed to the support fitting 20 at the upper part of the yaw device 6 by a binding band 21. The yaw shaft 23 is fixed to the column 7 by a set bolt 24. When the wind direction changes, the tail blades 4 always rotate the wind turbine blade 1 around the yaw shaft 23 by the bearings 22, 22 in an attempt to become perpendicular to the wind. This rotation is cable 1
5, but does not immediately serve as a force to relatively rotate the rotary joint 14 shown in FIG. The set bolt 24 fixes the yaw shaft 23 and the column 7.

The details of the rotary joint are shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, respectively. The cables 15, 15 are electrically and mechanically connected to small brushes 26, 26 made of phosphor bronze or the like by soldering or the like. Brush 27, 2
Reference numeral 7 is fixed to the housing 33 having electrical insulation by caulking or the like. Slip rings 34 and 31 are press-fitted on the shaft 28. Thrust washers 27, 29, 29 are arranged to receive the thrust load of the shaft 28. The upper cover 35 and the lower cover 30 are fitted into the housing 33 and are finally fixed by the heat shrink tube 32 or the like. The cables 15, 15 and the cover 35 are fixed with a sealing agent and are waterproofed. 36 is cable 1
5 and 15 are retaining. Slip ring 34 is electrically coupled to conductor 25. Before describing the operation, the characteristics of the cable used in this device will be described. When the cable is not twisted, no rotational torque is generated on the cable. Torque is generated in an almost proportionate manner to the twisting of the cable. Until the twisting of the cables 15, 15 reaches the rotation starting torque of the slip rings 34, 31 and the brushes 26, 26, the rotary joint 14 is rotated.
Does not work. Even if the wind direction changes frequently to the right and left, each time the slip rings 34 and 31 and the brush 26,
26 does not slide, and the cables 15, 15, 13, 1
The rotation of the brushes 26 and 26 and the slip rings 34 and 31 is started after the torque of the brush 3 and the slip rings 34 and 31 is increased to some extent. The slip rings 34, 31 and the brushes 26, 26 are used until the twists of the cables 15, 15, 13, 13 are returned and the torque is returned below the rotating torque (dynamic torque).
Operates relative rotation.

Further, in a large-scale wind power generator which needs to transport a large amount of electric power, the cross-sectional area of the cable is large, and the cable cannot be easily twisted. In this case, the same effect as described above can be expected even if a rotation absorbing device made of a flexible electric conductor separately from the cable is arranged between the yaw device and the rotary joint of the wind power generator. One embodiment is shown in FIG. The hard and less flexible cables 37, 37 are connected to one ends of the flexible film conductors 38, 38, and the other ends are connected to the conductors 39, 40. The conductors 39 and 40 are connected to the rotary coupling 14 described above. Even if the cables 37, 37 are not twisted, the bending of the film-like conductors 38, 38 causes the aforementioned cable 1 to be bent.
This has the same effect as twisting 5 and 15. Although FIG. 6 shows a film-shaped mainspring type, the same effect can be obtained even if the film is spirally or ribbon-shaped and rotationally absorbed.

The slip ring device combined with the above-described cable rotation absorbing mechanism or film-shaped rotation absorbing mechanism is used not only for wind power generators and related devices, but also for widely used slip ring devices. It can be applied to various application fields. For example, there are a joint mechanism of an industrial robot, a cable reel device, a surveillance camera device, an antenna rotating device of wireless equipment, and the like.

The rotary joint described above differs from a conventional slip ring device in that it utilizes the rotational absorption of input and output cables connected thereto. Therefore, it is not a single unit of the conventional narrow slip ring device.
In a narrow sense, the functions assigned to the slip ring device alone are also assigned to the cable. Simply combining a conventional slip ring device with a cable is not advantageous. Even if the conventional slip ring device is connected to the middle of the cable, it occupies a large space, so that it does not fit within, for example, the inner diameter of the column of a narrow pipe. Excessive tensile force is applied to the cable in terms of weight, and durability problems are likely to occur. That is, since the wear allowance can be greatly reduced, it is possible to design the brush spring allowance to be small.
The diameter of the slip ring can be designed to be small, and at the same time, the brush mechanism can be designed to be much smaller. Since the slip ring device can be made as compact as a part of the cable, it can be arranged as easily as wiring from the wind generator to the load device with only one cable.

[0017]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects.

Like the slip ring device in the yaw device, the sliding surface of the slip ring does not move every time the wind direction changes. The slip ring device does not operate until the cable twists in one direction and the slip ring and brush rotation starting torque is reached. Even if the wind direction changes frequently to the right or left, the slip ring and brush do not slide each time, and the cable twists only in one direction and turns after the slip ring and brush have more than the static torque. Then, the slip ring and the brush rotate relative to each other until the cable returns to a value lower than the dynamic torque. Therefore, unnecessary wear of the slip ring and the brush is prevented, and the service life is greatly increased.

In other words, if the life is designed to be the same in total, the wear cost of the slip ring and the brush can be estimated to be small, so that the entire slip ring device can be simply and lightweightly designed. As shown in the specific embodiment described above, the amount of wear can be estimated to be small, so that the spring action of the brush is small, and no separate coil spring is required. The actual prototype slip ring device was also weighed at 20 grams with a capacity of 7A. Size is diameter φ2
It is 0 mm × 40 mm long and can be easily arranged in the middle of the cable.

Since there is no need to dispose the slip ring device in the wind power generator, the upper object (the upper object on the yaw device that rotates around the support) can be designed to be lightweight. This means
Yaw and bearings can also be made lightweight, which improves wind direction tracking.

The light weight of the upper allows easy transport, installation and removal. This is particularly advantageous when used as a portable wind power generator.

Since the slip ring device is not incorporated into the upper object, maintenance becomes easy. There is no danger because the maintenance of the slip ring does not require access to the position of the wind generator and can be performed at the lower part. In addition, there is no hassle.

Since the amount of wear of the slip ring device is small, insulation failure due to abrasion powder of an electric conductor such as a metal is reduced.

Since the total number of revolutions of the slip ring device is reduced, a high-grade metal is not necessarily required as a material for the slip ring or the brush, and the range of material selection is increased.

The generator of the present invention can be replaced with a hydraulic pump or the like to convert wind energy to hydraulic energy or to directly agitate water to convert wind energy to heat energy. In this case, a fluid coupling is required, but since the frequency of rotation is low as in the case of the slip ring device for electric power transport, the wear of the rotating part can be suppressed to a small extent, and the same effect as the slip ring device can be expected.

[0026]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a wind power generator provided with a horizontal axis wind turbine type wind power generator.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view for explaining a main part of the horizontal axis wind turbine type wind power generator of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional perspective view of the rotary joint of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a rotary joint.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a main part of a rotation absorbing device made of a flexible film-shaped conductor.

FIG. 7 is a sectional perspective view showing a slip ring device of a conventional horizontal axis wind turbine type wind power generator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 51 Windmill blade 2, 52 Windmill rotating shaft 3, 53 Generator 4, 56 Tail 5 Support rod 7, 17, 63 Support post 8 Distribution fitting 10 Branch line 11 Anchor bolt 13, 15, 37, 41, 64 Cable 14 Rotary cup Ring 20 Support bracket 22, 59 Bearing 26, 54, Brush 31, 34, 65 Slip ring 38 Film-shaped conductor 58 Brush holding spring

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A wind power generator having a wind direction following mechanism, wherein a slip ring device is provided between a cable for transporting generated power and a load device. 2. A horizontal axis anemometer provided with a wind direction tracking mechanism and a device for following a wind direction such as a weather vane, wherein a cable for supplying power to a wind speed signal, an illumination sign, and the like, and a signal receiving device and a power supply device. An apparatus characterized in that a slip ring device is provided in the device. 3. A horizontal axis type wind power generator having a wind direction follow-up mechanism, wherein a rotation absorbing device made of an intermediately flexible electric conductor for transporting generated power is used as a yaw device and a slip ring device of a wind power generator. A wind power generator, which is arranged between the two. 4. A flexible cable or a rotation absorbing device made of a flexible electric conductor according to claim 3 is arranged between the device and a slip ring device used for supplying power to a device having a rotating mechanism or exchanging signals. Power supply and signal transmission device characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. The slip ring device according to claim 1, wherein a spring operation allowance is designed small so as to be easily connected to the middle of the cable.