IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0410226
(2009-03-24)
|
등록번호 |
US-8109722
(2012-02-07)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
- Gamble, Charles R.
- Taber, Steve
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
7 인용 특허 :
10 |
초록
▼
A turbine for use with a turbine generator, the turbine including at least one turbine blade for positioning in a flowpath, a hub mounting the at least one turbine blade, and a rotatable shaft in operational communication with the hub via a hinge assembly, an axis of the hub being independent of an
A turbine for use with a turbine generator, the turbine including at least one turbine blade for positioning in a flowpath, a hub mounting the at least one turbine blade, and a rotatable shaft in operational communication with the hub via a hinge assembly, an axis of the hub being independent of an axis of the shaft. The hinge assembly is disposed between the shaft and the hub and configured to adjust an angle therebetween. A controller assembly is configured to adjust at least one operational characteristic of the hinge assembly during turbine operation. In one embodiment the operational characteristic is a teeter angle of the hinge assembly. In one embodiment operational characteristic is a stiffness or damping force. Methods for using and controlling a fluid turbine are also disclosed.
대표청구항
▼
1. A turbine for use with a turbine generator, said turbine comprising: at least one turbine blade for positioning in a fluid flowpath;a hub mounting the at least one turbine blade;a rotatable shaft in operational communication with the hub via a hinge assembly, an axis of the hub being independent
1. A turbine for use with a turbine generator, said turbine comprising: at least one turbine blade for positioning in a fluid flowpath;a hub mounting the at least one turbine blade;a rotatable shaft in operational communication with the hub via a hinge assembly, an axis of the hub being independent of an axis of the shaft;wherein the hinge assembly is disposed between the shaft and the hub to allow the hub to teeter at an angle relative to the shaft, and the hinge assembly is configured to adjust at least one of the teeter angle and dampening of the teeter; anda controller assembly comprising: a control processor for processing input information and sending a control signal; anda control mechanism configured to adjust at least one operational characteristic of the hinge assembly, when the at least one blade is positioned in the fluid flowpath, in response to the input information. 2. A turbine according to claim 1, further comprising an elongated tower mounting the turbine, wherein the controller assembly is configured to adjust the teeter angle to increase a clearance distance as the at least one turbine blade passes the tower. 3. A turbine according to claim 1, the controller assembly being configured to adjust the teeter dampening by applying a dampening force to the hinge assembly. 4. A turbine according to claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to adjust a rotational velocity of the shaft based on the adjustment of the teeter dampening force. 5. A turbine according to claim 3, wherein the dampening of the hinge assembly is adjusted substantially continuously in response to at least one of the fluid flowpath and loading of the at least one turbine blade. 6. A turbine according to claim 5, wherein the turbine is a wind turbine and the loading is one of a fatigue loading, wind disturbance loading, wind shear loading, and rotational inertia loading. 7. A turbine according to claim 1, the hinge assembly including a pair of damping members on opposite sides of the shaft and positioned between a front side of the hinge member and an opposing surface of the hub. 8. A turbine according to claim 1, the shaft including a rigid mounting surface provided along and offset from a main rotating body, and the hub including a mounting surface opposing the hinge member, wherein the hinge assembly further includes a plurality of pairs of damping members, the hinge member including a plurality of mounting flanges equally spaced around a central axis of the hinge member and positioned between the shaft mounting surface and hub mounting surface, each pair of the damping members positioned on opposite sides of the mounting flange in a sandwich configuration between the flange and rigid surfaces of the hub or the shaft to provide the dampening force to the teeter movement. 9. A turbine according to claim 8, the hinge assembly including four flanges and four pairs of damping members. 10. A turbine according to claim 1, the damping member has a progressive rigidity (k), the controller being configured to apply a force to the damping member thereby selectively adjusting the rigidity of the damping member. 11. A turbine according to claim 10, wherein the damping member is an elastomeric material. 12. A turbine according to claim 10, wherein the controller comprises: a chamber adjacent to the shaft mounting surface;a piston having one end positioned inside the chamber and an opposite end in communication with the damping member, an axis of the piston being different than the hub axis,wherein actuation of the piston adjusts pressure on the damping member. 13. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the dampening of the hinge assembly teeter during one of acceleration and braking of the at least one blade. 14. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the control mechanism applies a bending moment to the hinge assembly to adjust the dampening of the hinge assembly. 15. A turbine according to claim 1, further including a feedback sensor configured to monitor performance of the turbine and transit information related to the performance to the controller as the input information. 16. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the input information is related to at least one of disturbance force, shear force, fluid acceleration, and fluid velocity of the fluid flowpath. 17. A wind turbine system according to. claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to adjust at least one of a yaw angle of turbine in the fluid flowpath, a pitch angle of the at least one blade, and shaft torque based on the hinge assembly adjustment. 18. A turbine according to claim 1, further comprising: a first sensor for measuring the pitch angle; anda second sensor for measuring a teeter angle of the hinge assembly,wherein the controller assembly adjusts the teeter angle or teeter dampening based on the pitch angle. 19. A turbine according to claim 1, further comprising a forward sensor for measuring a change n the flowpath upstream from the at least one blade in flowpath, wherein the controller adjusts the at least one operational characteristic in response to the measurement of the forward sensor. 20. A turbine according to claim 19, wherein the forward sensor is a LIDAR sensor. 21. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the turbine includes two symmetrical blades extending from opposite sides of the hub. 22. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the turbine is a wind turbine. 23. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the fluid field is a wind field, further wherein the shaft communicates with the hub via a hinge mechanism. 24. A turbine according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting means applies a bending moment to the hub. 25. A turbine according to claim 24, the hinge mechanism comprising a hinge plate provided with a transverse pivot axis in a sandwich configuration between a mounting surface of the hub and a mounting surface of the shaft, a plurality of damping members provided on opposite sides of the hinge plate for dampening pivotal movement of the hinge plate. 26. A turbine according to claim 25, wherein the adjusting means includes a hinge controller mechanism configured to adjustably load the plurality of damping members thereby adjusting the bending moment applied to the hub. 27. A turbine according to claim 25, wherein the hinge member is pre-loaded. 28. A turbine system for generating energy from fluid flow, said system comprising: a turbine according to claim 1; anda turbine generator coupled to the turbine for converting rotation of the shaft to power. 29. A wind turbine system according to claim 28, further comprising a generator converter system coupled to the wind turbine generator for converting the power to a form for distribution to a utility power grid. 30. A wind turbine System for generating electric power, comprising: a tower;a rotor assembly disposed on said tower including at least one blade positioned in a fluid flow and disposed for rotation about an axis;a hinge assembly configured to allow a change in a teeter angle of the rotor assembly;a hinge stiffness and dampening change mechanism for dampening movement of the teeter angle by the hinge assembly;a monitoring assembly for monitoring a measured value indicative of at least one of the fluid flow, rotation of the at least one blade, and a load on the at least one blade;a processor for generating an estimated value of actual power generated by said wind turbine system based on the rotation of the at least one blade, generating a control power value based on the measured value, determining if the control value is greater than the estimated value, and transmitting a control signal to the hinge stiffness and dampening change mechanism based on the determining. 31. A method of adjusting fluid turbine in a fluid flow, said method comprising: providing a fluid turbine including: at least one turbine blade positioned in a fluid flow;a hub connected to the at least one turbine blade along a rotational axis of the at least one blade;a rotatable shaft in operational communication with the hub via a hinge assembly;the hinge assembly disposed between the hub and the shaft, the hinge assembly configured to control an orientation of the hub in a direction of wind flow, the hinge assembly including:a hinge member forming a teeter angle between the shaft and the rotational axis of the at least one blade, the hinge member including a damping member configured to provide a biasing dampening force against angular teeter movement of the hub relative to the shaft; anda hinge controller configured to adjust the biasing force of the hinge member movement;the fluid turbine further including a controller assembly comprising a control processor for processing input information and sending a control signal; and a control mechanism configured to adjust at least one operational characteristic of the hinge assembly, when the at least one blade is positioned in the fluid flowpath, in response to the input information; andactively adjusting the dampening force of the hinge member in response to at least one of the fluid flow upstream from the turbine and present loading of the at least one blade. 32. A method according to claim 31, wherein the fluid flow is wind flow. 33. A method of generating power from a fluid flow, said method comprising: providing a turbine according to claim 31;providing a turbine generator in communication with the turbine, the turbine generator being configured to translate the mechanical rotation of the shaft into power;positioning the turbine in the fluid flow path; andcollecting the power from the turbine generator.
※ AI-Helper는 부적절한 답변을 할 수 있습니다.