Back to results
US 12,584,516 B2Granted
Bearing adapters for single-axis trackers
AssigneeOjjo, Inc.
InventorsKatie Pesce, Greg McPheeters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Bearing adapters for use with truss foundations supporting mechanically balanced single-axis trackers. The bearing adapter joins the free ends of a pair of adjacent truss legs to form a rigid A-frame shaped foundation structure. A bearing is formed in an upper portion of the bearing adapter to allow a torque tube to be suspended from a pin in the bearing and to swing through an arc bounded by the bearing adapter. The bearing may have a catenoid shape to compensate for misalignment in multiple directions.
Claims11
A bearing adapter for a single-axis tracker comprising:
- a main body portion having a cusp and a bearing formed proximate to the cusp wherein the main body portion defines a cardioid-shaped opening;
- a bearing pin in the bearing, wherein the bearing pin provides an axis of rotation for a torque tube suspended within the cardioid-shaped opening of the main body, and
- wherein the torque tube is suspended from the bearing pin such that the torque tube rotates about the bearing pin;
- and
- a pair of connecting portions, each connecting portion of the pair of connecting portions comprising a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, the pair of connecting portions angled apart from one another at a fixed angle of separation with the proximal end portion of each connecting portion projecting away from the main body portion at respective locations at the main body portion below and offset to opposite sides of the cusp, wherein the connecting portions are adapted at the distal end portion of each connecting portion to connect to a pair of angled truss legs extending into underlying ground to form an A-framed shape foundation structure with the ground for a single-axis tracker with an integral bearing, wherein the connecting portions are oriented with respect to the main body so that a line through the center of the distal end portion of each connecting portion substantially intersects the proximal end portion and the bearing, and wherein each connecting portion of the pair of connecting portions is configured at the distal end portion to connect to a respective angled truss leg of the pair of angled truss legs to orient the line to intersect the respective truss leg, wherein the connecting portions terminate in respective crimp connectors having at least one channel circumscribing an outer surface thereof.
2 more elements
A bearing adapter for a single-axis tracker having an offset drive assembly comprising:
- a main body defining a cardioid-shaped opening;
- a bearing formed in the main body proximate to a cusp of the cardioid-shaped opening;
- a bearing pin in the bearing, wherein the bearing pin provides an axis of rotation for a torque tube suspended within the cardioid-shaped opening of the main body, and
- wherein the torque tube is suspended from the bearing pin such that the torque tube rotates about the bearing pin;
- and
- a pair of connecting portions, each connecting portion of the pair of connecting portions comprising a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, the respective proximal end portion of each connecting portion projecting away from the main body in a common plane that extends between underlying ground and the bearing pin and at a fixed angle of separation, wherein the connecting portions are oriented with respect to the main body in the common plane so that a line through the center of the distal end portion of each connecting portion substantially intersects the proximal end portion and the bearing in the common plane, wherein the connecting portions are configured at the distal end portion of each connecting portion extending in the common plane to join to a pair of angled truss legs such that a central longitudinal axis of each of the pair of angled truss legs extend in the common plane and into underlying ground to form an A-framed shape foundation structure with the ground for a single-axis tracker with an integral bearing and such that the line is oriented to intersect the respective truss leg of the pair, and wherein the connecting portions terminate in respective crimp connectors having at least one channel circumscribing an outer surface thereof.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.