JP2006009575A - Planetary gear device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a planetary gear device reducible in weight without affecting the dimensions of a required part or causing functional degradation by the weight reduction in the planetary gear device provided at a speed increasing gear for accelerating the rotation of a wind mill of a wind power generation facility. <P>SOLUTION: This planetary gear device 43 is provided at the speed increasing gear 38 for accelerating the rotation of the wind mill of the wind power generation facility, wherein a shaft 50 for supporting a planetary gear 48 is formed as a hollow shaft. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a planetary gear device provided in a gearbox that speeds up rotation of a wind turbine of a wind power generation facility.

As wind power generation equipment grows in size, it adopts a structure that does not use a gearbox that speeds up the rotation of the windmill (so-called gearless windmill), or has a simple structure by reducing the number of parts of the gearbox. In order to reduce the size and weight, a proposal has been made (for example, Patent Document 1).
However, since wind power generation facilities are generally difficult to repair locally, there is a problem with reliability when adopting a new structure as described above. From such a point of view, it is a reality that many wind power generation facilities with an output exceeding 1 MW employ many existing gearboxes.

  The speed-up gear has a planetary gear device composed of a shaft, a bearing, a planetary gear, and the like as its input part, but the whole speed-up gear and the main dimensions of each gear are designed with the rated power of wind power generation. Therefore, it is difficult to make a large size compact. Similarly, for bearings used in planetary gear systems, the bearing contact surface pressure due to bearing calculation life and load load set by insurance companies for wind power generation facilities and standards associations must be satisfied. In reality, it is difficult to reduce the size of the rolling element, that is, to significantly reduce the pitch circle diameter of the rolling elements. For these reasons, with the recent increase in the size of wind power generation equipment, the speed increaser used for such equipment has inevitably increased, and the planetary gear unit has been reduced in weight to reduce the number of equipment construction man-hours and costs. Therefore, reducing the weight and size of the tower is an important issue.

A typical example of a planetary gear support portion in a planetary gear device that has been conventionally applied is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the support shaft 66 of the planetary gear 65 is basically a solid shaft, and is provided with an oil supply hole 68 capable of supplying the lubricating oil to the bearing 67 for the sake of lubrication. is there. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the simplification as a reduction in the number of parts is known in a general-purpose reduction gear or the like in which a bearing outer ring is integrated with a planetary gear 65.
JP 2002-303254 A

  However, even if the support shaft 66 of the planetary gear 65 having the oil supply hole 68 is used as shown in FIG. 8, the support shaft 66 in this case is substantially a solid shaft and contributes to the reduction in weight. I can't think I can.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce the weight of a planetary gear device provided in a gearbox for increasing the rotation of a wind turbine of a wind power generation facility. It is to provide a planetary gear device that is not accompanied.

The planetary gear device according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the planetary gear device provided in the speed increaser that accelerates the rotation of the wind turbine of the wind power generation facility, the shaft that supports the planetary gear is a hollow shaft.
According to this configuration, since the shaft that supports the planetary gear is a hollow shaft, the shaft is reduced in weight, and the entire planetary gear device can be reduced in weight. Since the weight of the hollow shaft is reduced, unlike the case of reducing the diameter, the weight can be reduced without changing the bearing pitch circle diameter, and the strength such as the bending rigidity of the shaft can be easily secured. Since a plurality of planetary gears are provided on a common carrier, the shaft supporting the planetary gears has a relatively large strength. By using a hollow shaft, the weight can be reduced without causing a problem of insufficient strength. Further, since the plurality of planetary gear shafts are hollow shafts, the effect of reducing the weight of the entire planetary gear device is great. If the planetary gear unit is reduced in weight, construction man-hours and costs can be reduced, the tower can be made lighter and smaller, the gearbox can be assembled and transported more efficiently, and energy loss during driving can be improved. .

  In the present invention, the inner diameter hole of the shaft that supports the planetary gear may be a through hole. The hollow shaft that supports the planetary gear does not necessarily have to be hollow over the entire length, but when the inner diameter hole is a through hole, the weight of the shaft can be greatly reduced.

In the present invention, a rolling bearing for supporting the planetary gear on the shaft may be provided, and the outer ring and the planetary gear in the rolling bearing may be integrated.
In the case of this configuration, since the bearing outer ring and the planetary gear are integrated, it is possible to reduce not only the weight but also the number of parts.

  In the present invention, a rolling bearing for supporting the planetary gear on the shaft may be provided, and the inner ring and the shaft in the rolling bearing may be an integral part. Even if the bearing inner ring and the shaft are integrated, not only the weight can be reduced, but also the number of parts can be reduced.

In the present invention, a thinning recess may be provided on the width surface of the planetary gear. The thinning recess may be formed through the entire width of the planetary gear or may be provided in a part of the width dimension.
Since the planetary gear can be reduced in weight by removing the width surface of the planetary gear with the thinning recess, the weight reduction of the entire planetary gear device is further promoted.

  In the planetary gear device of the present invention, the shaft supporting the planetary gear is a hollow shaft in the planetary gear device provided in the speed increaser that accelerates the rotation of the wind turbine of the wind power generation facility. Thus, the shaft can be reduced in weight without reducing the function, and the entire planetary gear device can be reduced in weight. By reducing the weight of the planetary gear unit as a whole, construction man-hours and costs can be reduced, towers can be made lighter / smaller, gearboxes can be assembled and transported more efficiently, and energy loss during driving can be improved. .

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows an example of a wind power generator using the planetary gear device of the present invention. This speed increaser 38 includes a planetary gear unit 43 that accelerates the rotation of the input shaft 41 and transmits it to the low speed shaft 42, and a secondary speed increase that further accelerates the rotation of the low speed shaft 42 and transmits it to the output shaft 44. Device 45. The planetary gear device 43 and the secondary speed increasing device 45 are provided in a common casing 46. The input shaft 41 is connected to a main shaft in the windmill, and the output shaft 44 is connected to a generator.

  The planetary gear device 43 is provided with support shafts 50 at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction of the rotatable carrier 47, and planetary gears 48 are rotatably supported by the support shafts 50 via the rolling bearings 1. The support shaft 50 of each planetary gear 48 is a hollow shaft having an inner diameter hole 50a as a through hole.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the rolling bearing 1 includes a combination of two cylindrical roller bearings 1 </ b> A and 1 </ b> B in which rollers 4 are interposed in two rows between an inner ring 2 and an outer ring 3. Here, the cylindrical roller bearings 1A and 1B are full-roller type bearings, but the rollers 4 may be held by a cage. The inner ring 2 has a flange 2a between both ends and each row of rollers 4. The outer ring 3 has no wrinkles. Instead of the two cylindrical roller bearings 1A and 1B, a single multi-row cylindrical roller bearing may be used, or a single double-row cylindrical roller bearing or a self-aligning roller bearing may be provided. good.

  In FIG. 1, a carrier 47 is a member serving as an input portion in the planetary gear device 43, and is provided as an integral member with the input shaft 41 or integrally coupled. The carrier 47 is rotatably supported by the casing 46 via bearings 51 and 51A. Each planetary gear 48 supported by the carrier 47 meshes with a ring gear 52, which is an internal sun gear provided in the casing 46, and meshes with an external sun gear 53 provided concentrically with the ring gear 52. The ring gear 52 serves as a fixed-side sun gear, and may be formed directly on the casing 46 or fixed to the casing 46. The externally toothed sun gear 53 is a part that serves as an output part in the planetary gear unit 43 and is provided on the low-speed shaft 42. The low speed shaft 42 is rotatably supported by the casing 46 via bearings 54 and 55.

  The secondary speed increasing device 45 is constituted by a gear train. In the illustrated example, in the secondary speed increasing device 45, the gear 57 fixed to the low speed shaft 42 meshes with the small diameter side gear 58 of the intermediate shaft 61, and the large diameter side gear 59 provided on the intermediate shaft 61 is the output shaft 44. The gear train meshes with the gear 60. The intermediate shaft 61 and the output shaft 44 are rotatably supported on the casing 46 by bearings 62 and 72 and bearings 63 and 63A, respectively.

  The lower part of the casing 46 is a part that forms an oil bath 56 of the lubricating oil, and the oil level L of the oil bath 56 is a height at which the rolling bearing 1 that supports the planetary gear 48 enters and exits by turning the carrier 47. ing.

  The operation of the speed increaser 38 configured as described above will be described. When the input shaft 41 rotates, the carrier 47 integrated with the input shaft 41 turns, and the planetary gears 48 supported at a plurality of locations of the carrier 47 revolve. At this time, each planetary gear 48 revolves while revolving while meshing with the fixed ring gear 52, thereby causing rotation. An externally toothed sun gear 53 meshes with the planetary gear 48 that rotates while revolving, and therefore the sun gear 53 is rotated at a speed increased with respect to the input shaft 41. The sun gear 53 serving as an output part of the planetary gear unit 43 is provided on the low speed shaft 42 of the secondary speed increasing device 45, and the rotation of the sun gear 53 is increased by the second speed increasing device 45 and the output shaft. 44. Thus, the rotation of the wind turbine main shaft input to the input shaft 41 is greatly amplified by the planetary gear device 43 and the secondary speed increasing device 45 and transmitted to the output shaft 44. Therefore, even when the wind turbine rotates at a very low speed in a wind condition, the output shaft 44 can obtain a high-speed rotation capable of generating power.

  According to the planetary gear device 43 configured as described above, since the support shaft 50 that supports the planetary gear 48 is a hollow shaft having an inner diameter hole 50a, for example, cylindrical rollers can be used without changing the dimensions of each part of the planetary gear device 43. The weight can be reduced without changing the pitch circle diameter, the inner and outer diameters of the bearings 1A and 1B, and the overall speed-up gear 38 can be reduced. The weight reduction of the gearbox 38 contributes to the reduction in construction man-hours and costs of the wind power generation facility, the weight and size of the tower, and the work efficiency during the assembly and transportation of the gearbox. Further, energy loss during driving can be improved.

  The support shaft 50 that is a hollow shaft preferably has a shaft inner diameter of 30% to 60% with respect to the shaft outer diameter in consideration of the contribution of weight reduction and shaft rigidity. Further, the inner diameter hole 50a (FIG. 4) of the support shaft 50 may be a non-through hole as well as a through hole. When not penetrating, the length of the inner diameter hole 50a is preferably 50% or more with respect to the axial length.

For the purpose of reducing the weight of the speed-up gear 38 other than the planetary gear unit 43, each shaft can be a hollow shaft. For example, the low-speed shaft 42 has a large shaft diameter, so that a hollow shaft can be used. Is possible. However, since the intermediate shaft 61 and the output shaft 44 have a small shaft diameter and are greatly affected by the shaft deflection due to the load applied from each gear, even if the inner diameter holes are formed, the bearings and gears provided on those shafts. Only oil supply holes that can supply lubricating oil can be formed, and weight reduction by using a hollow shaft is not practical.
On the other hand, the support shaft 50 of the planetary gear 48 is relatively simple as compared with the case where the shaft itself and the surrounding structure are other shafts, so that it is easy to use the hollow shaft described above. There will be no inconvenience. Further, since the planetary gear unit 43 is on the input side due to the configuration of the speed increaser 38, a large torque is required for driving, and three to four planetary gears 48 are used. It can greatly contribute to weight reduction without lowering.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a wind turbine generator equipped with the speed increaser 38 of FIGS. 1 and 2. A nacelle 33 is installed on the support base 31 via a swivel bearing 32 so as to be horizontally rotatable. In the nacelle 33, a main shaft 36 is rotatably installed via a main shaft bearing 35 installed in a bearing housing 34, and a windmill blade 37 is attached to one end of the main shaft 36. The other end of the main shaft 36 is connected to the speed increaser 38, and the output shaft 44 of the speed increaser 38 is coupled to the rotor shaft of the generator 39. The speed increaser 38 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is used as the speed increaser 38.

  FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the planetary gear device 43 of this embodiment uses the inner ring 2 in the rolling bearing 1 as an integral part of the support shaft 50 and the outer ring 3 as an integral part of the planetary gear 48. It is what. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Thus, by making the inner and outer rings 2 and 3 of the rolling bearing 1 integral with the support shaft 50 and the planetary gear 48, not only can the planetary gear device 43 be reduced in weight, but also the number of components can be reduced. The planetary gear device can be made compact accordingly. In addition, not only both the inner and outer rings 2 and 3 of the rolling bearing 1 but only the inner ring 2 may be an integral part with the support shaft 50, or only the outer ring 3 may be an integral part with the planetary gear 48.

  6 (A) and 6 (B) show still another embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the planetary gear device 43 of this embodiment is formed in the planetary gear 48 with a thinning recess 6 including a through-hole penetrating in the axial direction from one width surface to the other width surface. Is formed. The thinning recesses 6 are provided at a plurality of locations in the circumferential direction. The cross-sectional shape of each of the thinning recesses 6 may be any shape that facilitates securing the strength. In this example, the thinning recesses 6 having a circular cross section and the thinning recesses 6 having a cross-sectional track shape are alternately provided. Yes. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In this way, by forming the thinning recess 6 including the through hole in the planetary gear 48, not only the support shaft 50 but also the planetary gear 48 can be reduced in weight, and the overall speed-up gear 38 can be further reduced in weight. it can.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B show still another embodiment of the present invention. The planetary gear device 43 of this embodiment is formed by forming a plurality of non-penetrating thinning recesses 7 on both width surfaces of the planetary gear 48 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. Each of the thinning recesses 7 has a fan shape, and its depth does not reach the width center of the planetary gear 48. A portion between adjacent thinning recesses 7 is a rib portion 8. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Thus, even when the non-penetrating thinning recess 7 is formed in the width surface of the planetary gear 48, not only the support shaft 50 but also the planetary gear 48 can be reduced in weight, and the overall speed-up gear 38 can be further reduced in weight. Can do.

It is a fracture side view of the step-up gearbox for wind power generation using the planetary gear device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a fracture front view of the planetary gear unit portion in the speed increaser for wind power generation. It is a schematic fracture side view of a wind power generator. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the planetary gear apparatus concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the planetary gear apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. (A) is a partial sectional view of a planetary gear device according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is a partial front view of the planetary gear device. (A) is a partial sectional view of a planetary gear device according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is a partial front view of the planetary gear device. It is a fragmentary sectional view of a prior art example. It is a fragmentary sectional view of other conventional examples.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rolling bearing 2 ... Inner ring 3 ... Outer ring 5 ... Inner diameter hole 6 ... Through-hole 7 ... Thickening recessed part 38 ... Speed increaser 43 ... Planetary gear apparatus 48 ... Planetary gear 50 ... Support shaft

Claims (5)

  A planetary gear device provided in a speed increaser that accelerates rotation of a wind turbine of a wind power generation facility, wherein a shaft that supports the planetary gear is a hollow shaft.   The planetary gear device according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter hole of a shaft that supports the planetary gear is a through hole.   3. The planetary gear device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a rolling bearing that supports the planetary gear on the shaft is provided, and an outer ring and the planetary gear in the rolling bearing are integrated.   The planetary gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a rolling bearing that supports the planetary gear on the shaft is provided, and an inner ring and the shaft in the rolling bearing are integrated. The planetary gear device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a thinning recess is provided in a width surface of the planetary gear.

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