Field machining of wind turbine gearboxes
AssigneeRenew Energy Maintenance, LLC
InventorsCurt Eliason, Michael Sebert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gearbox repair assembly is disclosed herein. The gearbox repair assembly includes a sleeve having an inner diameter configured to receive a bearing assembly and an outer diameter configured to fit within a bore of a gearbox housing. The gearbox housing can be part of a gearbox of a wind turbine. The gearbox repair assembly further includes a retaining plate configured to be attached to the gearbox housing for preventing an outer race of the bearing assembly from rotating in the bore relative to the gearbox housing. Also provided are methods to repair such a gearbox. The gearbox repair assembly and related methods reduce the time and cost needed to repair the gearboxes.
Claims8
A method comprising:
- cutting a surface of a gearbox housing so as to increase a size of a bore in the gearbox housing, the gearbox housing being part of a gearbox;
- installing a sleeve in the bore;
- installing a bearing assembly in the bore, the bearing assembly including an outer race with an outer surface that contacts the sleeve when installed;
- and
- attaching a retaining plate to the gearbox housing adjacent the bore;
- wherein a retaining assembly is configured to prevent the outer race of the bearing assembly from rotating in the bore, the retaining assembly including a first portion that is part of the retaining plate and a second portion that is part of the bearing assembly, and
- wherein one of the first and second portions of the retaining assembly comprises a pin and the other of the first and second portions of the retaining assembly comprises a notch, wherein the retaining plate and the bearing assembly are positioned relative to one another such that the pin engages the notch so as to prevent the outer race of the bearing assembly from rotating in the bore relative to the gearbox housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.