JP2007198167A - Horizontal axial windmill - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively buffer yaw rotation action of a nacelle in relation to a tower. <P>SOLUTION: This windmill is provided with a rotor including a hub 2 and at least two blades 1, the nacelle 5 pivotally supporting the rotor, the tower supporting the nacelle in such a manner that the same can rotate in a yaw direction, and a rotary damper applying resistance torque increasing as rotation speed increases on yaw rotation of the nacelle. In an embodiment, a general purpose oil viscosity type rotary damper 10 is connected to a revolution gear 13 fixed on a tower top end via a gear box 1 and a pinion gear 12. In another embodiment, a gap is formed with continuing to a gap for retaining a yaw revolution bearing connecting the nacelle to the tower in such a manner that the same can rotate in the yaw direction, and silicone oil is filled in the gap to construct the oil viscosity type rotary damper. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a buffer mechanism for a yaw rotation operation of a horizontal axis wind turbine.

  As is well known, so-called horizontal axis wind turbines are widely used for commercial purposes such as wind power generation business. As shown in FIG. 5, a general horizontal axis wind turbine includes a rotor 3 in which at least two blades 1 are attached radially from a hub 2 and a main shaft connected to the hub 2 and extending in a substantially horizontal direction. 4, a nacelle 5 that pivotally supports the rotor 3 and a tower 6 that is installed in a substantially vertical direction and supports the nacelle 5 in a yaw-rotatable manner.

  The horizontal axis wind turbine needs to control the rotor at a predetermined angle with respect to the wind direction for the purpose of improving the efficiency of wind power use and avoiding storms. For this purpose, yaw angle control means such as a yaw driving device that drives and controls the yaw rotation of the nacelle and a yaw brake that brakes the yaw rotation is provided in the horizontal axis wind turbine.

The yaw brake is used not only for fixing the nacelle but also for yaw rotation. The use of the yaw brake during the yaw rotation is mainly for avoiding a sudden yaw rotation.
For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when wind 9 having different wind speeds on the left and right sides of the yaw axis 7 blows to the rotor 3, torque (yaw torque 8) is generated around the yaw axis 7. Further, yaw torque 8 is generated by changing the wind direction. If the yaw angle of the nacelle 5 is fixed by the yaw brake when the yaw torque 8 is relatively large, a large load is applied to the structure of the blade 1, the spindle 4, the tower 6 and the like, causing damage and deformation. Become. Nonetheless, if the yaw brake is completely released, the nacelle will rotate suddenly or rotate at an excessive speed, which is still large for the structure of the blade 1, the spindle 4, the tower 6, etc. It will put a burden. Therefore, the nacelle 5 is yaw-rotated according to the yaw torque 8 while applying the yaw brake to such an extent that the yaw angle of the nacelle 5 is not fixed. As a result, the load on the structure is reduced without excessive rotation and by suppressing the rapidly changing yaw torque 8.
Further, during yaw rotation using the yaw driving device, it is necessary to apply a yaw brake to avoid sudden yaw rotation due to natural wind.

Conventionally, as a yaw brake, for example, a disc brake of a type in which a disc as shown in Patent Document 1 is sandwiched between brake pads has been used.
JP-A-8-82277

  However, if the yaw brake is used during the yaw rotation, the brake pad will be worn out early and a brake noise will occur. In addition, since the brake torque is constant regardless of the yaw rotation speed and the yaw brake is applied during the yaw drive, there are various problems such as the capacity of the yaw motor must be increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a horizontal axis windmill having a yaw rotation mechanism that can effectively buffer the yaw rotation operation of the nacelle with respect to the tower.

The invention according to claim 1 for solving the above-described problems includes a rotor having a hub and at least two blades;
A nacelle that pivotally supports the rotor via a main shaft connected to the hub;
A tower that supports the nacelle in a yaw-rotating manner;
It is a horizontal axis windmill provided with the rotary damper which loads the resistance torque which increases as the rotational speed increases to the yaw rotation of the nacelle.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a pinion gear is fixed to a shaft through which rotation is transmitted to the rotary damper, a turning gear is arranged coaxially with the yaw axis of the nacelle, and the pinion gear and the turning gear are meshed and connected. The horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 1, wherein one of the rotary damper and the swivel gear is fixed to the nacelle and the other is fixed to the tower.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission for converting the shaft, on which the pinion gear is fixed, to a lower rotational speed with respect to the rotational speed of the output shaft of the rotary damper and interlocking both the shafts. It is a horizontal axis windmill described in 1.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the rotary damper is an oil viscosity type damper that generates the resistance torque by the viscous resistance of oil, according to any one of the first to third aspects. It is a horizontal axis windmill.

The invention according to claim 5 comprises a bearing for connecting the nacelle to the tower so as to be capable of yaw rotation,
The rotary damper is an oil viscosity type damper that includes a gap continuously formed in a gap holding the bearing and oil sealed in the gap, and generates the resistance torque by the viscous resistance of the oil. It is a horizontal axis windmill of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 4, wherein the rotary damper comprises a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the oil and a heating device for heating the oil. is there.

  According to the present invention, the rotary damper has a characteristic of increasing the resistance torque as the rotational speed increases, and the resistance torque having such characteristics is loaded on the yaw rotation of the nacelle. As a result, the yaw torque generated by the natural wind is suppressed at a higher rate by the resistance torque of the rotary damper, and the kinetic energy of the nacelle yaw rotation is dissipated by the work of rotating the rotary damper. The speed change is alleviated and the yaw rotation speed can be prevented from shifting to a high speed range. Further, since the resistance torque applied to the nacelle from the rotary damper is relatively small in the low speed region, there is an effect that it is possible to drive and control the yaw rotation of the nacelle without imposing a great burden on the drive motor.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following is one embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the present invention.

[First Embodiment]
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a main part of a horizontal axis wind turbine according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The horizontal axis wind turbine of the present embodiment is a horizontal axis wind turbine having three blades similar to that shown in FIG. 5, and includes a tower 6, a nacelle 5, a main shaft 4, a hub 2, and three blades 1. Is provided.
The nacelle 5 supports a rotor 3 composed of the hub 2 and the blade 1 via a main shaft 4 connected to the hub 2. The tower 6 supports the nacelle 5 in a yaw-rotatable manner.

Inside the nacelle 5 are housed power transmission devices such as a speed increaser, a generator, and a main shaft brake (not shown), and the main shaft 4 is connected to each of these power transmission devices.
The main shaft 4 has a tip protruding outside the nacelle 5, and the main shaft 4 has a rotor 3 at the tip.
Are attached to rotate together with the main shaft 4.
The rotor 3 has a hub 2 connected to the main shaft 4 at the center, and protrudes from the peripheral surface of the hub 2, and three blades 1 are attached radially.

As shown in FIG. 1, a ring-shaped turning gear 13 is arranged at the upper end of the tower 6. FIG.
As shown in part A, a rotary damper 10 and a gear box 11 are housed inside the nacelle 5.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the portion shown in FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG. 2, the gear box 11 is fixed to the nacelle 5. A shaft 25 protrudes from the upper part of the gear box 11 and a shaft 17 protrudes from the lower part. The output shaft 16 of the rotary damper 10 is coaxially connected to the shaft 25 at the top of the gear box 11 via the shrink fit 15. The output shaft 16 of the rotary damper 10 rotates integrally with the shaft 25 at the top of the gear box 11. A pinion gear 12 is fitted on the shaft 17 at the lower part of the gear box 11. The outer case 18 of the rotary damper 10 is fixed to the gear box 11 via a mount frame 29. A temperature sensor 14 is attached to the outer surface of the outer case 18 of the rotary damper 10. A heater 44 is attached so as to cover a portion of the outer case 18 where the temperature sensor 14 is not provided.
The gear box 11 is a transmission that converts the lower shaft 17 to a lower rotational speed with respect to the rotational speed of the upper shaft 25 and interlocks both shafts, and a gear mechanism for shifting is configured inside. .

The nacelle 5 is connected to the tower 6 via a yaw slewing bearing 19 so as to be able to rotate freely. The nacelle 5 is fixed to the inner cylinder 20 of the yaw slewing bearing 19, and the outer cylinder 21 is fixed to the tower 6. The rotational axis of the yaw slewing bearing 19 is naturally the yaw axis 7 of the nacelle 5. A turning gear 13 is provided around the outer cylinder 21, and the turning gear 13 is arranged coaxially with the yaw shaft 7. The lower shaft 17 of the gear box 11 protrudes to the outside through a hole 41 formed in the bottom of the nacelle, and the pinion gear 12 fitted to the protruding tip is meshed with the swivel gear 13.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the rotary damper, the shrink fit, and the upper portion of the gear box.
As shown in FIG. 3, silicone oil 42 is sealed inside the outer case 18, and the rotor 22 that rotates in contact with the silicone oil 42 is supported by bearings 23 and 24 so as to be rotatable together with the output shaft 16. Yes.

A resistance torque is generated with respect to the torque input to the output shaft 16 by the viscous resistance of the silicon oil 42. This resistance torque increases as the rotational speed of the output shaft 16 increases. That is, the resistance torque increases as the rotational speed increases, and the resistance torque decreases as the rotational speed decreases. The viscosity of the silicon oil 42 changes with temperature, and the characteristics of the damper also change. Therefore, based on the temperature of the rotary damper 10 detected by the temperature sensor 14, the required amount of the rotary damper 10 is heated by the heater 44, and the temperature of the rotary damper 10 is adjusted to an appropriate temperature range throughout the year. Thereby, the characteristic of a damper is maintained in a moderate range. For example, the impossibility of yaw rotation during cold weather can be avoided, and excessive resistance torque can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the shrink fit 15 includes an outer cylinder part 26 having a female taper surface, an inner cylinder part 27 having a male taper surface paired with the outer cylinder part 26, and an outer cylinder part 26. It consists of bolts 28 and 28 that press the inner cylinder part 27 in the axial direction. By inserting the tip of the output shaft 16 of the rotary damper 10 into a hole 43 provided in the shaft 25 at the top of the gear box 11 and tightening the bolts 28, 28 of the shrink fit 15 fitted on the shaft 25, the output shaft 16 and The shaft 25 is tightened and fixed together. The shrink fit 15 makes it easy to replace the rotary damper 10.

The pinion gear 12, the gear box 11, the shrink fit 15, and the mount frame 29 described above are set as one set, and two or more similar sets are provided around the turning gear 13. A rotary damper is mounted on one or more of them. If two or more sets are provided for the rotary damper, the rotary damper can be easily increased or decreased at any time thereafter. On the other hand, a drive motor is mounted on one or two or more of the above groups to form a yaw drive device. However, a gear box and a pinion that realize a gear ratio suitable for the drive motor to be used are combined.

  According to the first embodiment described above, the rotary damper 10 has a characteristic of increasing the resistance torque as the rotational speed increases. The resistance torque having such characteristics is loaded on the yaw rotation of the nacelle 5. That is, the rotary damper 10 generates resistance torque with respect to the yaw rotational movement of the nacelle 5. As a result, a rapid change in the yaw rotation speed of the nacelle 5 is mitigated, and the yaw rotation speed can be prevented from shifting to a high speed region. In the low speed range, the resistance torque applied to the nacelle 5 from the rotary damper 10 is relatively small, so that the yaw rotation of the nacelle can be driven and controlled without imposing a great burden on the drive motor.

  By providing a pinion gear 12 that meshes and connects with a swivel gear 13 used for yaw rotation driving of the nacelle 5 and transmitting this to the rotary damper 10, a gear box 11 having an appropriate gear ratio is further provided as necessary. By mounting, it can be selected from various types of general-purpose rotary dampers and can be easily mounted. Therefore, it is easy to select a rotary damper that meets various conditions such as wind turbine specifications and environmental conditions. Further, the rotary damper can be easily replaced, and can be easily replaced with a high-performance or inexpensive one.

  Since the rotary damper 10 is an oil viscosity type damper that generates the resistance torque by the viscous resistance of oil, it is excellent in quietness, has no wear of machine parts, and has a long life.

  Regardless of the above embodiment, it is a matter of course that the same object can be achieved even if the turning gear is fixed to the nacelle and the rotary damper is fixed to the tower.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a main part of a horizontal axis wind turbine according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is provided with a rotary damper different from the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the nacelle 36 is connected to the tower 40 via the yaw slewing bearing 30 so as to be capable of yaw rotation. An outer cylinder 31 that holds the yaw slewing bearing 30 is a tower 40.
Fixed to. An inner cylinder 32 holding the yaw slewing bearing 30 is fixed to the nacelle 36.
The outer cylinder 31 and the inner cylinder 32 form a gap continuously with the gap that holds the yaw slewing bearing 30, and the gap is filled with silicon oil 33. The gap filled with silicon oil 33 is sealed with seals 34 and 35.
Since the outer cylinder 31 and the inner cylinder 32 rotate relative to the silicone oil 33,
An oil-viscous rotary damper that generates resistance torque against yaw rotation of the nacelle 36 is formed by the viscous resistance of the silicon oil 33.

Even with the configuration of the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the rapid yaw rotation speed change of the nacelle 36 can be mitigated, and the yaw rotation speed can be prevented from shifting to a high speed range, In addition, the nacelle yaw rotation can be driven and controlled without imposing a very large load on the drive motor.
Moreover, according to this embodiment, a simple and space-saving rotary damper can be configured.

It is a side view which shows the principal part of the horizontal axis windmill which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the A section enlarged view of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the rotary damper, shrink fit, and gearbox upper part which concern on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the horizontal axis windmill which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The present invention can be applied to an external perspective view showing an example of a horizontal axis wind turbine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Blade 2 Hub 3 Rotor 4 Main shaft 5 Nasser 6 Tower 7 Yaw shaft 8 Yaw torque 10 Rotary damper 11 Gear box 12 Pinion gear 13 Turning gear 16 Output shaft 19 Yaw turning bearing 30 Yaw turning bearing 33 Silicon oil 34, 35 Seal 36 Nacelle 40 Tower 42 Silicon oil

Claims (6)

A rotor having a hub and at least two blades;
A nacelle that pivotally supports the rotor via a main shaft connected to the hub;
A tower that supports the nacelle in a yaw-rotating manner;
A horizontal axis wind turbine comprising a rotary damper that loads a resistance torque that increases as the rotational speed increases to the yaw rotation of the nacelle.   A pinion gear is fixed to a shaft to which rotation is transmitted to the rotary damper, a turning gear is arranged coaxially with the yaw axis of the nacelle, the pinion gear and the turning gear are meshed and connected, and the rotary damper and the turning gear The horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 1, wherein one is fixed to the nacelle and the other is fixed to the tower.   The horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 2, further comprising a transmission that converts the shaft, to which the pinion gear is fixed, to a low rotational speed with respect to the rotational speed of the output shaft of the rotary damper, and interlocks both shafts.   The horizontal axis wind turbine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the rotary damper is an oil viscosity type damper that generates the resistance torque by a viscous resistance of oil. A bearing that connects the nacelle to the tower in a yaw-rotatable manner,
The rotary damper is an oil viscosity type damper that includes a gap continuously formed in a gap holding the bearing and oil sealed in the gap, and generates the resistance torque by the viscous resistance of the oil. The horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 1, wherein the wind turbine is a horizontal axis wind turbine.   The horizontal axis wind turbine according to claim 4, wherein the rotary damper includes a thermometer that measures the temperature of the oil and a heating device that heats the oil.

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