Reinforcing strip for a wind turbine blade
AssigneeVestas Wind Systems A/S
InventorsJonathan Smith, Adrian Gill, Mark Hancock
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A strip of fiber-reinforced polymeric material for a longitudinal reinforcing structure of a wind turbine blade, the strip having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces and extending longitudinally between first and second transverse edges, wherein an end region of the strip tapers in thickness towards the first transverse edge, and wherein one or more slots are defined in the tapered end region, the or each slot extending longitudinally from the first transverse edge of the strip into the tapered end region.
Claims40
A strip of fibre-reinforced polymeric material for a longitudinal reinforcing structure of a wind turbine blade, the strip having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces and extending longitudinally between first and second transverse edges, wherein an end region of the strip tapers in thickness towards the first transverse edge, wherein one or more slots are defined in the tapered end region, the or each slot extending longitudinally from the first transverse edge of the strip into the tapered end region, wherein the first transverse edge of the strip is defined by a plurality of fingers that are mutually spaced apart by the or each slot, and wherein the fingers only extend within the tapered end region.
A method of making a strip for an elongate reinforcing structure of a wind turbine blade, the method comprising:
- (a) providing an elongate strip of fibre-reinforced polymeric material, the strip having upper and lower substantially flat surfaces and extending longitudinally between first and second transverse edges;
- (b) shaping an end region of the strip to form a tapered end region of the strip that tapers in thickness towards a transverse edge of the strip;
- and (c) forming at least one slot in the strip that extends longitudinally from the transverse edge of the strip into the tapered end region, wherein the transverse edge of the strip is defined by a plurality of fingers that are mutually spaced apart by the at least one slot, and wherein the fingers only extend within the tapered end region.
A strip of fibre-reinforced polymeric material for a longitudinal reinforcing structure of a wind turbine blade, the strip having substantially flat upper and lower surfaces and extending longitudinally between first and second transverse edges, wherein an end region of the strip tapers in thickness towards the first transverse edge, and wherein one or more slots are defined in the tapered end region, the or each slot extending longitudinally from the first transverse edge of the strip into the tapered end region and terminating at a closed slot end spaced from the first transverse edge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.