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, 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 a portion of the rotor;
- and
- a drive linkage coupling the rotating drive element to the rotor grasping element to impart a torque to the rotor grasping element to turn the rotor.
A removable grasping element for a rotor, the element comprising:
- at least one grasping member configured to surround the at least a portion of the substantially smooth exterior circumference of the rotor, each grasping member including a band body having a coupler for coupling adjacent ends thereof together and a friction element on an inner surface thereof 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 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 to at least one sprocket member.
A method of turning a rotor, the method comprising:
- frictionally grasping at least a portion of an exterior circumference of the rotor with a removable rotor grasping element;
- coupling a drive linkage to an exterior of the 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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.