KR101346173B1 - Windmill - Google Patents

Abstract

A wind turbine generator is disclosed. Wind turbine according to an embodiment of the present invention, the blade is connected to the nacelle (nacelle), rotated by the wind (blade); A tower supporting an axial load of the nacelle and the blade and having a cable disposed therein; And supporting the cable so that the cable can be moved up / down within a predetermined section, and the cable length is shorter than the initial state due to the twisting of the cable according to the yawing operation of the blade. And a short length compensation unit of the compensating cable.

Description

Wind Power Generators {WINDMILL}

The present invention relates to a wind power generator, and more particularly, even if the cable is not arranged in a long manner as in the prior art, the cable length due to the twisting operation due to the yawing operation is actively shortened from the initial state. In addition, the present invention relates to a wind turbine that can compensate for various problems such as cable damage, power transmission loss, and cable cost increase.

Wind power generators (or wind turbines) are devices that produce electrical energy from wind-based rotational energy, and their weight is increasing due to depletion of fossil fuels and environmental problems.

The wind turbine includes a rotor having a plurality of blades rotated by the wind connected to a hub and a nacelle cover for supporting and protecting a nacelle connected to the rotor. And a tower for supporting the nacelle cover.

For reference, the nacelle is a mechanical component that plays an important role in driving a wind power generator, such as a main shaft and a gear box, by receiving the rotational motion of the rotor and generating power to generate electric energy. ) Refers to a structure in which mechanical parts such as generators are structurally combined.

Meanwhile, in the case of a wind power generator, a wind turbine is provided with a system that adjusts the direction of the blade to the direction of the wind so as to output the maximum power according to the direction of the wind. Such a system is called a yaw system. The rotational operation (movement) of these blades is generally referred to as yawing operation.

This yawing operation is an indispensable element that must be applied to the wind turbine, but on the other hand, a power cable for communication and a communication cable (see Fig. 1), which are arranged in the wind turbine tower (see Fig. 1) due to the yawing operation, It causes twist on various cables, including cables. That is, during the yawing operation, a cable that is vertically long stretched in the tower 1 is twisted, that is, a twist occurs in the cable.

This twisting of the cable usually results in the cable being pulled upwards as the cable is twisted, i.e. the length of the cable is shorter (shorter) than the initial state. It cannot be fixed on the wall or cable tray inside.

Therefore, in the prior art, the cable is arranged in the tower 1 in a so-called free-tie manner in which the lower region of the cable is laid down by a certain length section as in the region A of FIG. 1.

On the other hand, when the cable is arranged as shown in Fig. 1, that is, only the upper region of the cable is fixed and the rest is stretched, but the length is excessively stretched while providing sufficient margin to the lower region of the cable as in the region A of FIG. Therefore, even if a twist occurs in the cable and is pulled upward, the cable is not disconnected because there is a compensation section equal to the margin of the area A of FIG. 1.

However, in the prior art of supporting the cable in the same manner as in FIG. 1, when the vibration or flow (left and right movement due to the wind load) is applied to the tower 1, the entire cable of the remaining sections except for the upper region of the fixed cable Can collide with walls in the tower 1 or surrounding structures in the tower 1, which can increase the cost of maintenance as the sheath of the cable is damaged, and also lower the operating rate of the wind turbine. There is a problem that adversely affects the reliability of the.

In addition, when the length of the cable is arranged excessively long as in the area A of FIG. 1, the additional cost is increased as much as the cable increase, and the product competitiveness due to the increase in power transmission loss is greatly affected. As it is pointed out as a disadvantage, structural improvement in consideration of this point is required.

Korean Patent Office Application No. 10-2009-0109637

Therefore, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention can actively compensate that the length of the cable is shorter than the initial state by the twist phenomenon of the cable according to the yawing operation, even if the cable is not arranged in a long manner as in the prior art, In addition, it provides a wind power generator that can solve various problems such as cable damage problem, power transmission loss problem, and cable cost increase problem.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a blade connected to a nacelle and rotated by wind; A tower supporting an axial load of the nacelle and the blade and having a cable disposed therein; And supporting the cable so as to be movable up / down within a predetermined section, and the length of the cable is initialized by a twist phenomenon of the cable according to the yawing operation of the blade. A wind turbine may be provided that includes a shortened length compensation unit of a cable to compensate for shortening.

The shortened length compensation unit of the cable is connected to the cable, the mover (mover) is moved up / down (up / down) with the cable during the yawing operation; And a mover driver fixed to the tower at a lower region of the tower and having one side connected to the mover to drive the mover up / down.

The apparatus may further include a short length measuring unit measuring a short length of the cable according to the factor driving.

The controller may further include a controller for controlling the operation of the mover based on the information of the shortened length measuring unit.

The mover may include a cable holder to which the cable is fixed; And a guide part connected to the cable holder and up / down guided with respect to the mover driver.

A plurality of cable ties may be provided on the circumferential surface of the cable holder to be spaced apart from each other to fix the cable.

The cable tie may have a ring shape or an open ring shape at one side thereof.

The mover driving unit includes a motor for generating a driving force for driving the up / down of the mover; A gear transmission assembly for transferring a rotational motion of the motor to the up / down linear motion of the mover; And it may include a gear box for supporting the movement transmission gear assembly.

The movement transmission gear assembly, the rack gear is connected to the mover; A pinion gear in gear engagement with the rack gear; A worm wheel coaxially connected by the pinion gear and the shaft; A first bevel gear having a worm gear engaged with the worm wheel; And a second bevel gear meshed with the first bevel gear and directly connected to the motor at the other side.

The mover driver may be a cylinder.

The shortened length compensation unit of the cable is connected to the cable in the lower region of the tower to support the cable to move up / down, the upper region of the cable is disposed in the nacelle region is the upper region of the cable Cable upper fixing portion for fixing the may be further provided.

According to the present invention, even if the cable is not arranged in a long manner as in the prior art, it is possible to actively compensate that the cable length is shorter than the initial state due to the twisting of the cable due to the yawing operation. , Problems with power transmission loss, cable cost increase, etc. can be solved.

1 is an exemplary view of the installation of the cable in the wind power generator according to the prior art.
2 is a side view of the wind power generator according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a side view of the state in which the wind turbine of FIG.
4 and 5 are perspective views of the short-length length compensation unit of the cable shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.
6 and 7 are perspective views of the mover driver shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.
8 is a control block diagram of a wind power generator according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
9 and 10 are schematic cross-sectional views of a motion transmission gear assembly in a wind power generator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
11 is a plan view of the mover in the wind power generator according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In order to fully understand the present invention, operational advantages of the present invention, and objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the wind power generator according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the wind power generator of FIG.

Referring to these drawings, the wind power generator of this embodiment is connected to a nacelle, and supports a blade 110, which is rotated by wind, and supports the axial loads of the nacelle and the blade 110. A tower 120 in which a cable is disposed and a cable are supported to be moved up / down within a predetermined section, and a yawing operation of the blade 110 (see FIG. 3). And a short length length compensation unit 130 of the cable for compensating that the length of the cable is shorter than the initial state by a twist phenomenon of the cable (see B of FIG. 3).

The blade 110 is a kind of wing that rotates by wind to generate a rotational motion.

The blades 110 disposed radially with respect to the hub 101 may have a streamlined wing shape to be easily rotated by wind, and two or more blades 110 may be applied. Three blades 110 are applied to the wind power generator of this embodiment, but the scope of the present invention is not limited by the number thereof.

Hub 101 is a place where a plurality of blades 110 are connected. The hub 101 and the plurality of blades 110 may be collectively referred to as a rotor.

The hub 101 may have a substantially circular shape when viewed from the front, and may have a dome shape when viewed from the side.

The hub 101 is connected to a nacelle (not shown) that generates electric power by receiving the rotational movement of the blade 110 and generates electric energy, and the nacelle is protected by the nacelle cover 103. .

As mentioned earlier, the nacelle is a mechanical component that plays an important role in driving a wind power generator, such as a main shaft (main) It is the collective name for a structure in which mechanical parts such as a shaft, a gear box (not shown) and a generator (not shown) are structurally combined.

The nacelle cover 103 is coupled to the outside of the nacelle serves to protect the nacelle. Since the nacelle cover 103 is exposed to the outside air as it is, it is always exposed to snow, rain or sunlight, so that some degree of rigidity must be ensured. Therefore, the nacelle cover 103 may be made of a plastic or metal composite material having excellent durability.

The tower 120 is an axis arranged vertically long and supports an axial load on a structure such as a plurality of blades 110, a hub 101, a nacelle and a nacelle cover 103. The tower 120 may be divided into a lower tower at a lower portion and an upper tower at an upper portion by position.

The interior of the tower 120 is empty as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and cables or the like are passed through the empty space. The cable may be various kinds of cables including power cables for power transmission, cables for communication, and the like.

Meanwhile, the short-length length compensation unit 130 of the cable supports the cable to be moved up / down within a predetermined section, and yawing operation of the blade 110 (see B of FIG. 3). The length of the cable is shortened by an initial state due to a twist phenomenon of the cable (see C of FIG. 3).

The short-length length compensation unit 130 of the cable, the cable is connected, the mover 140 is moved up / down (up / down) with the cable during the yawing operation, the mover 140 is connected to the mover 140 and the mover 140 It includes a mover driver 150 for driving up / down.

Thus, when the blade 110 yawing operation due to the wind direction as shown in FIG. 2 in FIG. 3 (see B of FIG. 3), the cable in the tower 120 is twisted in conjunction with the blade 110.

Due to the twisting of the cable (see C of FIG. 3), the length of the cable is inevitably shorter than that of the initial state, that is, the cable is pulled upward as the cable is twisted, wherein the mover 140 is moved together with the cable. When the up operation is performed from the height of H1 of FIG. 2 to the height of H2 of FIG. 3, the length of the cable may be shortened from the initial state.

Particularly, in the present embodiment, unlike the conventional FIG. 1, the short axis length of the cable is actively compensated. When the short length length compensation unit 130 of the cable is applied as in the present embodiment, the cable is excessive as shown in FIG. Even if the cable is not arranged long (see A in FIG. 1), it is possible to actively compensate that the cable is shorter than the initial state due to the twisting of the cable due to the yawing operation.

In other words, in the prior art, since the lower area of the cable is substantially overly stretched as in FIG. 1A to cope with yawing operation, various problems such as cable damage, power transmission loss, and cable cost increase Was forced to emerge.

However, in the present embodiment, even if the cable is not excessively stretched as in the area A of FIG. 1, the maximum number of yawing operations, for example, the minimum allowance of the length of the cable pulled in three times of yawing operation, that is, substantially corresponds to the area A of FIG. 1. After leaving only a much shorter length than the cable length, the cable shortening length compensation unit 130 can be installed to operate during yawing operation, thereby eliminating cable damage, power transmission loss, and cable cost. You can do it.

4 and 5 are perspective views of the short-length length compensation unit of the cable shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are perspective views of the mover driver shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, and FIG. A control block diagram of a wind power generator according to a first embodiment of the invention.

2 and 3 together, the short axis length compensation unit 130 of the cable is connected to the cable in the lower region of the tower 120 to support the cable to move up / down.

In this case, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper cable fixing part 105 is disposed in the nacelle area to fix the upper area of the cable.

Therefore, the short-length length compensation unit 130 of the cable of the present embodiment slightly lifts the cable in the lower area toward the cable upper fixing part 105 with respect to the cable upper fixing part 105, thereby twisting the cable according to the yawing operation. It is actively coping with the phenomenon.

Meanwhile, the mover 140 which is actually moved up / down with the cable is a cable holder 141 to which the cable is fixed and a guide part connected to the cable holder 141 to be guided up / down with respect to the mover driver 150. 143.

The cable holder 141 and the guide part 143 may be an integrated structure. For reference, although the cable holder 141 and the guide portion 143 have a circular cross-sectional structure, they may have a polygonal structure.

A plurality of cable ties 142 are provided on the circumferential surface of the cable holder 141 to be spaced apart from each other to fix the cable. In this embodiment, the cable tie 142 is provided in a ring shape that is fixed (supported) as the cable passes.

The mover driver 150 connected to the mover 140 to drive the mover 140 up / down includes a motor 151 for generating a driving force for up / down driving of the mover 140 and the motor 151. It includes a movement transmission gear assembly 153 for transmitting the rotational movement to the up / down linear movement of the mover 151, and a gear box 155 for supporting the movement transmission gear assembly 153.

While the mover 140 is configured to be connected to a cable, the mover driver 150 supports the mover 140 to be movable while being fixed to the tower 120 in the lower region of the tower 120.

In this embodiment, the motor 151 may be a servo motor. If a thermo motor is applied, the up / down movement distance of the mover 140 may be accurately adjusted.

In the present embodiment, the exercise transmission gear assembly 153 includes a rack gear 153a connected to the mover 140, a pinion gear 153b gear-engaged with the rack gear 153a, and a pinion gear 153b. A first bevel gear 153f having a worm wheel 153d coaxially connected by the shaft 153c, a worm 153e geared to the worm wheel 153d, and a first bevel gear 153f. And a second bevel gear 153g engaged with the gear and directly connected to the motor 151 on the other side.

Accordingly, when the motor 151 is driven, the driving force of the motor 151 is transmitted to the second bevel gear 153g, the first bevel gear 153f, the worm 153e, the worm wheel 153d, and the shaft 153c. Thus, the pinion gear 153b is rotated so that the rack gear 153a meshed with the pinion gear 153b drives the mover 140 up / down.

Accordingly, the mover 140 may be moved from the height of H1 to the height of H2 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Of course, the movement amount (length) of the mover 140 corresponds to a shorter length as much as the cable is twisted when the cable is twisted according to the yawing operation.

Therefore, in order to operate the shortened length compensation unit 130 of the cable, it is necessary to know the shortened length of the cable according to the factor driving. This may be measured by the short axis length measuring unit 160 as shown in FIG. 8.

The shortened length measuring unit 160 may be measured by a calculation based on the length of the tower 103, the number of revolutions of the maximum yawing operation, or the like, or may be measured by a method of detecting a distance in which the actual cable rises during the yawing operation. It may be. In the latter case, a position sensor can be used.

As shown in FIG. 8, the wind power generator of the present embodiment includes a controller 170 that controls the operation of the mover 140 based on the information of the short axis length measuring unit 160.

The controller 170 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. As described above, the controller 170 controls the operation of the mover 140 based on the information of the shortened length measuring unit 160.

The controller 170 performing this role may include a central processing unit 171 (CPU), a memory 172 (MEMORY), and a support circuit 173 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT).

The central processing unit 171 may be one of various computer processors that can be industrially applied to control the operation of the mover 140 based on the information of the short axis length measuring unit 160 in the wind power generator of the present embodiment. The memory 172 (MEMORY) is connected to the central processing unit 171. The memory 172 may be a computer-readable recording medium and may be located locally or remotely and may be any of various types of storage devices, including, for example, random access memory (RAM), ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, At least one or more memories. The support circuit 173 (SUPPORT CIRCUIT) is coupled with the central processing unit 171 to support the typical operation of the processor. Such a support circuit 173 may include a cache, a power supply, a clock circuit, an input / output circuit, a subsystem, and the like.

In the wind power generator according to the present embodiment, a series of processes for controlling the operation of the mover 140 based on the information of the short axis length measuring unit 160 may be stored in the memory 172. Typically, a software routine may be stored in memory 172. The software routines may also be stored or executed by other central processing units (not shown).

Although processes according to the present invention are described as being performed by software routines, it is also possible that at least some of the processes of the present invention may be performed by hardware. As such, the processes of the present invention may be implemented in software executed on a computer system, or in hardware such as an integrated circuit, or in combination of software and hardware.

It looks at the operation of the wind turbine having such a configuration.

In FIG. 2, when the blade 110 is yawing (due to B of FIG. 3) due to the wind direction as shown in FIG. 3, the cable in the tower 120 is twisted in conjunction with the blade 110.

Due to the twisting of the cable (see C of FIG. 3), the length of the cable is inevitably shorter than the initial state, that is, the cable is pulled upward as much as the cable is twisted. Measure

The measured information is transmitted to the controller 170, and the controller 170 controls the operation of the motor 151 so that the mover 140 moves up from the height H1 of FIG. 2 to the height H2 of FIG. up) to operate. This makes it possible to actively and efficiently compensate for the shortening of the cable from its initial state.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the cable is not long stretched as shown in the related art (see A of FIG. 1), the cable length can be actively compensated by the twisting of the cable due to the yawing operation. In addition, various problems such as cable damage, power transmission loss, and cable cost increase can be solved together.

9 and 10 are schematic cross-sectional views of a motion transmission gear assembly in a wind power generator according to a second embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

As shown in these figures, unlike the above-described embodiment, the movement transmission gear assembly 253 has a rack gear 253a connected to the mover 140 and a pinion gear 253b directly connected to a motor (not shown). It can be provided simply.

In this structure, as the motor is operated and the pinion gear 253b is rotated in place, the rack gear 253a may drive the mover 140 up and down, and even if such a structure is applied, the effect of the present invention may be achieved. Enough to give.

Of course, the gear transmission 153, 253 for movement transmission can be applied to a high pressure, hydraulic or hydraulic pneumatic compound cylinder, in this case, the rod of the cylinder may be connected directly to the mover 140.

11 is a plan view of the mover in the wind power generator according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

In the first embodiment described above, the cable tie 142 is provided in a ring shape that is fixed (supported) as the cable passes, but in the present embodiment, the cable tie 342 provided in the mover 340 as shown in FIG. ) Has a ring shape with one side open, and even if a cable tie 342 having such a structure is applied, it is sufficient to provide the effect of the present invention.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, such modifications or variations are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

101: hub 103: nacelle cover
105: cable upper fixing part 110: blade
120: tower 130: shortened length compensation unit of the cable
140: mover 141: cable holder
142: cable tie 143: guide part
150: mover drive unit 151: motor
153: gear assembly for transmission of motion 155: gearbox
160: shortened length measuring unit 170: controller

Claims (11)

A blade connected to a nacelle and rotated by wind;
A tower supporting an axial load of the nacelle and the blade and having a cable disposed therein; And
The cable is supported to be movable up / down within a predetermined section, and the length of the cable is smaller than the initial state due to the twisting of the cable according to the yawing operation of the blade. It includes a shortened length compensation unit of the cable to compensate for the shortened,
Shortening length compensation unit of the cable,
A mover connected to the cable and moving up / down with the cable during the yawing operation; And
The wind generator is fixed to the tower in the lower region of the tower, one side is connected to the mover and comprises a mover driving unit for driving the mover up / down. delete The method of claim 1,
And a short axis length measuring unit for measuring a short axis length of the cable according to the yawing operation. The method of claim 3,
And a controller for controlling the operation of the mover based on the information of the shortened length measuring unit. The method of claim 1,
The mover,
A cable holder to which the cable is fixed; And
And a guide part connected to the cable holder to guide up / down with respect to the mover driver. The method of claim 5,
Wind generators are provided on the circumferential surface of the cable holder spaced apart from each other is provided with a plurality of cable ties in which the cable is fixed. The method according to claim 6,
The cable tie has a ring shape or a wind turbine having an open ring shape on one side. The method of claim 1,
The mover driver,
A motor generating a driving force for up / down driving of the mover;
A gear transmission assembly for transferring a rotational motion of the motor to the up / down linear motion of the mover; And
A wind turbine comprising a gearbox for supporting the gear assembly for transmission of motion. 9. The method of claim 8,
The exercise transmission gear assembly,
A rack gear connected to the mover;
A pinion gear in gear engagement with the rack gear;
A worm wheel coaxially connected by the pinion gear and the shaft;
A first bevel gear having a worm gear engaged with the worm wheel; And
And a second bevel gear meshed with the first bevel gear and directly connected to the motor at the other side. The method of claim 1,
The mover driving unit is a wind turbine. The method of claim 1,
The short length compensation unit of the cable is connected to the cable in the lower region of the tower to support the cable to move up / down,
And a cable upper fixing part disposed in the nacelle area to fix the upper area of the cable in the upper area of the cable.

Images