Wind Turbine Rotor Blade Spar Cap Pre-Aligned Stack Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for producing rotor blade belts for wind turbines are inefficient, requiring laborious alignment and stacking of planks within the mold, which increases cycle times and complicates handling.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of U-shaped retaining clips and fixing devices attached to a lifting traverse to transport and position a stack of pre-aligned planks into a mold, maintaining their orientation and allowing for efficient insertion and positioning without significant reorientation, thereby simplifying the process and reducing cycle times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If planks are aligned and stacked within the mold using existing methods, then the rotor blade rib can be produced with proper orientation, but the process becomes laborious and cycle times increase
Solution Approach 1:
The planks are pre-aligned in a stack outside the mold before insertion. The retaining clamps are attached to the stack prior to mold insertion, maintaining the pre-aligned orientation during transport and positioning. This preliminary alignment action eliminates the need for laborious alignment operations inside the mold, thereby reducing cycle time while preserving manufacturing precision.
2Productivity
If planks are pre-aligned outside the mold and transported using lifting traverse with retaining clamps, then handling complexity is reduced and cycle time decreases, but additional equipment (retaining clamps, fixing devices) is required
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining clamps serve multiple functions: they attach to the lifting traverse for transport, secure the pre-aligned planks in the stack, and maintain orientation during insertion into the mold. The fixing devices similarly provide both securing and orientation-maintenance functions. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized equipment for each operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment operation is extracted from the mold interior and performed outside the mold before insertion. This separates the alignment function from the molding process, allowing the mold to be dedicated solely to forming operations while alignment is handled by external equipment (lifting traverse with retaining clamps), thereby simplifying the overall system division of labor.
3Device complexity
If traditional stacking methods are used within the mold, then equipment requirements are minimal, but handling complexity increases and time is lost during alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The stack of planks is pre-aligned and secured with retaining clamps outside the mold before insertion. This preliminary preparation of the plank stack with proper orientation and securing eliminates the need for complex manual handling and alignment operations inside the mold, significantly reducing handling complexity despite the addition of retaining clamp equipment.
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a rotor blade belt for a rotor blade of a wind turbine in a mold (6), comprising the steps of: - providing a stack (5) of mutually pre-aligned planks (7), - providing a lifting traverse (2) to which several retaining clips (4) for holding the stack (5) can be connected, - attaching the retaining clips (4) to the stack (5) distributed along the longitudinal axis (13) such that the stack (5) is positively enclosed from the top (11) and the two lateral sides (10) and the pre-aligned orientation of the planks (7) is maintained, - attaching a fixing device (17) to each retaining clip (4) such that the stack (5) is held in the retaining clip (4) at least from the bottom (12) and, together with the retaining clip (4), the pre-aligned orientation of the planks (7) is maintained.and - transporting the stack (5) to the mold (6) and placing the stack (5) into the mold (6) by means of the lifting traverse (2). The invention further relates to a system (1) for manufacturing a rotor blade belt.