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US 10,215,057 B2Granted
Rotor turning system and method
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsLukasz Sajdak, Anthony Paul Curran, John William Herbold, Michal Wojciech Wnuk
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotor turning system for turning a rotor is provided. The system may include a rotary driver including a rotating drive shaft. A removable rotor grasping element is configured to frictionally grasp at least a portion of an exterior circumference of a portion of the rotor. A drive linkage couples the rotating drive shaft to the rotor grasping element to impart a torque to the rotor with the rotor grasping element to turn the rotor. A rotor grasping element is also provided for grasping a substantially smooth exterior surface of a rotor to allow for turning of the rotor. A related method is also provided.
Claims20
A rotor turning system for a rotor, comprising:
- a rotary driver including a rotating drive element;
- a removable rotor grasping element configured to frictionally grasp at least a portion of a substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, the removable rotor grasping element including at least two grasping members configured to surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each grasping member of the at least two grasping members including a band body having a coupler for coupling adjacent ends of the at least one grasping member together and a friction element on an inner surface of the at least one grasping member to frictionally grasp the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor;
- a plurality of drive linkage engaging members configured to collectively surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members including a coupler for coupling with an adjacent drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members;
- a plurality of member couplers for coupling the at least two grasping members to at least one drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members;
- and
- a drive linkage coupling the rotating drive element to the removable rotor grasping element to impart a torque to the removable rotor grasping element to turn the rotor.
3 more elements
A removable grasping element for a rotor, the element comprising:
- at least two grasping members configured to surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each grasping member of the at least two grasping members including a band body having a coupler for coupling adjacent ends of the at least two grasping members together and a friction element on an inner surface of the at least two grasping members to frictionally grasp a portion of the rotor;
- a plurality of drive linkage engaging members configured to collectively surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members including a coupler for coupling with an adjacent drive linkage engaging member and a drive linkage engaging portion configured for engagement by a drive linkage for turning the rotor;
- and
- a plurality of member couplers for coupling at least one grasping member of the at least two grasping members to at least one drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members.
1 more element
A method of turning a rotor, the method comprising:
- frictionally grasping at least a portion of a substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor with a removable rotor grasping element, the removable rotor grasping element including:
- at least two grasping members configured to surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each grasping member of the at least two grasping members including a band body having a coupler for coupling adjacent ends of the at least one grasping members together and a friction element on an inner surface of the at least two grasping members to frictionally grasp the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor;
- a plurality of drive linkage engaging members configured to collectively surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members including a coupler for coupling with an adjacent drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members;
- and
- a plurality of member couplers for coupling the least two grasping members to at least one drive linkage engaging member of the plurality of drive linkage engaging members;
- coupling a drive linkage to an exterior of the removable rotor grasping element and to a rotating drive shaft of a rotary driver;
- and
- turning the rotor by operating the rotary driver to move the drive linkage to impart a torque to the rotor with the removable rotor grasping element.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.