Wind Turbine Tower Segment Coupling Device with Anti-Rotation Receiving Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coupling devices for connecting tower segments of wind turbine tubular towers are complex, expensive, and time-consuming to assemble, with limitations in utilizing tolerances and ensuring high reliability and load-bearing capacity.
Innovation Solution
A coupling device featuring a coupling plate with a fastening section and a connecting section, allowing for secure screw connections between tower segments without the need for external lifting equipment, and enabling assembly from one side, thus reducing assembly time and improving safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If horizontal and/or vertical connecting flanges are used to connect tower segments, then the connection ensures high reliability and load-bearing capacity, but the manufacture and transport become complex and expensive, and the assembly involves significant time and personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex flange structure and replaces it with a simplified connection element that has the essential function of joining tower segments but eliminates unnecessary structural complexity, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity while maintaining connection reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters and structural configuration of the connection element from traditional flange designs, optimizing the shape and dimensions to achieve both high reliability and simplified manufacturing
2Reliability
If screws are inserted from one side and screwed with a nut from the opposite side of tower segments, then a secure screw connection is achieved, but a lift car must be attached and lowered to the screw connection, making assembly time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional screwing approach by enabling access from one side only, reversing the conventional two-sided operation into a single-sided operation that eliminates the need for lift cars and significantly reduces assembly time while maintaining connection reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The connection element is designed to be self-sufficient, allowing the screwing operation to be completed from one side without requiring additional equipment or personnel on the opposite side, making the assembly process more efficient
3Ease of manufacture
If clinch nuts are pressed into bores and screwed with screws, then a connection is achieved, but tolerances, especially bore tolerances, can neither be compensated nor utilized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the geometric parameters of the connection element, particularly the bore dimensions and tolerances, to enable compensation of manufacturing variations while maintaining ease of assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The connection element incorporates design features that anticipate and compensate for tolerance variations before assembly, built-in compensation mechanisms that absorb dimensional variations and ensure proper fit without requiring tight tolerances
Data Source
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AI summary
A coupling device (200) for coupling adjacent tower segments (210, 220) of a tubular tower (102) of a wind turbine (100) with a coupling plate (300) for mounting on a circumferential surface (212, 222) of the adjacent tower segments (210, 220) in a joint area, comprising a fastening section (310) with a first mounting surface (311) for mounting on a circumferential surface (212) of a first tower segment (210) and a connecting section (320) with a second mounting surface (321) for mounting on a circumferential surface (222) of a second tower segment (220) and at least one through-opening (322).The coupling device (200) further comprises a receiving plate (500, 501) arranged on an outer surface of the connecting section (320) of the coupling plate (300) with at least one receiving element (510) for receiving a counter element that can be screwed to the threaded element, which is coaxial to the through-opening (322) of the coupling plate (300) and is designed as an anti-rotation device to prevent rotation of the counter element that would prevent it from being screwed to the threaded element.