# US 2013/0157802 A1 · Modular gear unit for a wind turbine

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- Number: US 2013/0157802 A1
- Document ID: US20130157802A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/711,948
- Filed: 2012-12-12
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-16
- Assignees: Gamesa Innovation & Technology, S.L.
- Inventors: Luis ORDOÑEZ VICENTE; Jose Maria ZABALA ZABALA
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130157802A1

## CPC

- F16H 1/28: with gears having orbital motion
- F03D 15/00: Transmission of mechanical power
- F03D 15/10: using gearing not limited to rotary motion, e.g. with oscillating or reciprocating members
- F03D 80/70: Bearing or lubricating arrangements
- F16H 57/082: {Planet carriers}
- F05B 2260/40311: of the epicyclic, planetary or differential type
- F16H 2001/289: {comprising two or more coaxial and identical sets of orbital gears, e.g. for distributing torque between the coaxial sets}
- Y02E 10/72: Wind turbines with rotation axis in wind direction
- F16H: GEARING
- F03D: WIND MOTORS
- F05B: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO WIND, SPRING, WEIGHT, INERTIA OR LIKE MOTORS, TO MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS COVERED BY SUBCLASSES F03B, F03D AND F03G
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

A planetary gear unit (21) of a gearbox of a wind turbine comprising a sun gear (27), planet gears (25, 25′), a ring gear (24), a planet carrier (29) and an outer casing (31); the ring gear (24) being mounted on the outer casing (31) ; the planet carrier (29) comprising a bogie plate (35) where planet gears (25, 25′) are rotatably mounted on planet shafts (41); the planet carrier (29) comprising a main body (51) and a backplate (53) which can be joined/disjoined to the main body (51) for facilitating the assembly/disassembly of the planetary gear unit (21); the planet carrier (29) being rotatably mounted on said outer casing (31) by means of a first bearing (72) in contact with said main body (51) at the rotor side and by means of a second bearing (73) in contact with said backplate (53) at the generator side.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A planetary gear unit (21) of a gearbox of a wind turbine comprising a sun gear (27), planet gears (25, 25′), a ring gear (24), a planet carrier (29) and an outer casing (31) attached to the wind turbine nacelle; the ring gear (24) being mounted on the outer casing (31); the planet carrier (29) comprising a bogie plate (35) where planet gears (25, 25′) are rotatably mounted on planet shafts (41) by means of bearings (37, 37′) at both sides of said bogie plate (35), characterized in that the planet carrier (29) comprises a main body (51) and a backplate (53) which can be joined/disjoined to/from the main body (51) for facilitating the assembly/disassembly of the planetary gear unit (21) and in that the planet carrier (29) is rotatably mounted on said outer casing (31) by means of a first bearing (71) in contact with said main body (51) at the rotor side and by means of a second bearing (73) in contact with said backplate (53) at the generator side.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 1, wherein said main body (51) extends from the rotor sideup to, at least, a hypothetical vertical plane A-A by the end of the sun gear (27) at the generator side.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 1, wherein the main body (51) comprises a frontal carrier (61) and a plurality of supporting struts (63) of said bogie plate (35) that include, at the generator side, contact flanges (65) with said backplate (53) for joining/disjoining the backplate (53) to/from the main body (51).

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 3, wherein said backplate (53) comprises an annular-shaped part (71) comprising cooperating areas (73) with said contact flanges (65) for joining/disjoining the backplate (53) to/from the main body (51) and a tubular part (75) protruding from the inner border of the annular-shaped part (71) to be in contact with said second bearing (73).

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 4, wherein the backplate (53) is joined to said contact flanges (65) by means of screws.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 4, wherein the backplate (53) is joined to said contact flanges (65) by a combination of screws and pins.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 1, wherein said first bearing (72) is a cylindrical roller bearing or a taper rolling bearing or a ball bearing.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

A planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 1, wherein said second bearing (73) is a cylindrical roller bearing or a taper rolling bearing or a ball bearing.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A gearbox of a wind turbine comprising a planetary gear unit (21) according to claim 1.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

A wind turbine comprising a gearbox according to claim 9.