WO2006116860A1

WO2006116860A1 - A connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower

Info

Publication number: WO2006116860A1
Application number: PCT/CA2006/000694
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pierre-Guy Charette; Christian Vezina
Original assignee: AAT Inc
Current assignee: AAT Inc
Priority date: 2005-04-29
Filing date: 2006-04-28
Publication date: 2006-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-29

Abstract

The present invention provides a connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower, thereby allowing to spread the torque impact on a wide section of the tower and thus providing an increased resistance to the tower to such torque impact transmitted by the support guy wires. Accordingly, the connector is provided with a collar for encircling the tower. The connector is also provided with fixing means cooperating with the tower for fixing the collar to the tower. The connector is also provided with at least two fasteners interdependent with the collar and distributed therearound, for respectively fastening the at least two wires in an evenly distributed manner around the tower.

Description

A CONNECTOR FOR CONNECTING AT LEAST TWO SUPPORT

WIRES TO A TOWER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to towers for wind assessment, meteorological studies and telecommunication for example, and more particularly to an improved connector for connecting at least two support wires to such a tower.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The usage of temporary and permanent towers is well spread in the meteorological, communication and wind assessment fields. The tower needs to be as light as possible and must be erected with basic tools such as a gin pole for example. Such a tower is generally installed in more or less remote areas and is often in place for a definite period of time, from one day to 5 years or more.

The necessity for higher towers is mainly dictated by the wind energy industry which uses more and more powerful wind turbines. Such turbines have to be installed on top of tapered towers that are built higher than conventional towers to gain more wind speed. Energy production goes to the cube of the wind speed and each increase in wind speed translates into greater energy production.

As in the mining or petroleum industry, wind energy needs prospecting prior to the investment of a full-scale wind farm. This prospecting is performed using temporary towers mostly erected in remote or hard to access virgin areas thus requiring light weight and relatively inexpensive installation. The measured height needs to be as close as possible to the wind turbine hub height. With taller turbines, the necessity of higher wind assessment towers is increased.

To prevent the collapse of these inexpensive wind assessment towers, improved solidity is required. Generally, such towers are provided with a plurality of support guy wires attached thereto through conventional connectors to prevent the collapse of the tower. However, various types of impact on any of said support guy wires can cause an instantaneous joint effect on the said tower that could lead to the collapse thereof.

It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved connector for connecting the support wires to the tower that would reduce the joint effect on the tower, and thus provide an improved solidity to the tower on which such connectors are mounted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a connector for connecting the support wires to a tower that reduces the joint effect on the tower, and thus provides an improved solidity to the tower on which such connector is mounted.

Accordingly, there is provided a connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower. The connector is provided with a collar for encircling the tower. The connector is also provided with fixing means cooperating with the tower for fixing the collar to the tower. The connector is also provided with at least two fasteners interdependent with the collar and distributed therearound, for respectively fastening the at least two wires in an evenly distributed manner around the tower.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A detailed description of preferred embodiments will be given hereinbelow with reference to the following drawings, in which like numbers refer to like elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an 80-meter tower provided with a plurality of connectors for connecting at least two support wires to the tower according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower, according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is another front view of the connector shown in FIG. 2, in relation to the tower and support wires.

FIG. 5 is a top view of another connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower, according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the connector shown in FIG. 5.

The objects, advantages and other features of the present invention would become more apparent upon reading of the following non-restricted description of preferred embodiments thereof, given for the purpose of exemplification only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals and in order to weight down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure.

The present invention concerns a connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower. The connector is particularly designed to reduce the joint effect on the tower, and thus provides an improved solidity to the tower on which such connectors are mounted. In fact, as it will be more clearly understood upon reading of the present description, the connector of the present invention advantageously distributes over a wide surface of the tower the torque transmitted by the support guy wires. This distribution of torque acts as reinforcement against the instantaneous joint effect that cause flexion and that is involved in the buckling of the tower.

Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown an 80-meter tower 10 which is composed of four independent sections 12 of definite length and which is supported by four sets of support guy wires 14 attached to the tower 10 by connectors 16 of the present invention shown in Figures 2 to 6. Of course, any length for the independent sections 12 could be envisaged and any number of such sections 12 can be assembled together via section junctions 40 to provide a tower 10 of the convenient height required by a particular application. Each section junction 40 is provided with a connector 16. With the use of the connector

16 of the present invention, the instantaneous torque caused by an impact on the support guy wires 14 for example is advantageously spread on a wide surface of the tower 10, thus increasing the resistance of the tower 10 to such impact. This increased resistance of the tower contributes to a superior ice loading limit.

The support guy wires 14 are attached to the ground via ground anchoring points. As illustrated, the same anchoring point can be used to anchor several support guy wires 14 to the ground. In the illustrated embodiment, two support guy wires 14 are anchored to the ground via the same ground anchoring point. Thus there are two anchoring points on both sides of the tower 10. It should be mentioned that in this illustrated embodiment, two other anchoring points are used in front of the tower and two other behind the tower. Of course, a person well versed in the art will understand that other arrangements could be used.

The tower 10 has a plurality of sections 12 that are joined end to end. Each section 12 is generally provided with at least one coupling end, preferably two. Each section 12 is then coupled to another through the corresponding coupling ends which define a section junction 40. The connectors are advantageously mounted at the section junctions 40, but they can also be installed at any desired position along the axis of a tower section 12. In fact, the connectors only need to be restricted from moving along the axis of the tower 10, with the help of the fixing means 24 shown for example in Figures 5 and 6. As mentioned above, a plurality of connectors of the present invention can advantageously be used in combination with the tower 10 and the support wires 14. In this case, the connectors 16 are preferably distributed along the tower 10.

Reference is now made to Figures 2 to 4, which show a connector 16 according to the present invention. The connector 16 is intended to connect at least two support wires 14 to the tower 10 but it should be understood that the connector 16 of the present invention can also be intended to connect any convenient number of support wires 14 to the tower 10. Generally, four support wires 14, preferably evenly distributed around the tower 10, are used, but of course, any other convenient arrangement could be used. The connector 16 is provided with a collar 18 for encircling the tower 10, as better illustrated in Figure 4, which shows a portion of a section 12 of the tower 10 on which the connector 16 is mounted.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in Figures 2 to 4, the connector 16 is preferably provided with an additional collar 20 for encircling the tower 10 and at least one linking element 22 for coaxially connecting together the two collars 18, 20 in a spaced-apart relationship. In the present case, there are four linking elements 22. The linking elements 22 allow to prevent the two collars 18, 20 to move relatively to each other and to force them to react as a single assembly. Preferably, the linking elements 22 are evenly distributed around the collars 18, 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the four linking elements 22 distributed at substantially 90 degrees from each others around the collars 18, 20 are preferably used but it should be understood that any other suitable number of linking elements 22 could be used. Fixing means (not shown) have to be provided for fixing the collars 18, 20 to the tower.

It is worth mentioning that each collar 18 or 20 has advantageously a sufficient length to distribute the torque applied to the tower 10 by the support wires 14 to a greater surface. The length of the collar has an influence on the stiffness of the region to be connected. The inertia of the tower 10, which depends on its diameter, its thickness and its Young's modulus of elasticity, also influences the length of each collar. As an example, a connector having a length of 60 cm mounted on a tower having a diameter of 16 cm could offer the same characteristics than a connector 30 cm long mounted on a tower having a diameter of 24 cm. In fact, people well versed in the art would easily understand that each collar 18 or 20 allows to increase the inertia of the tower 10. Moreover, in the case where two collars 18, 20 are used, the more distance between each of the collars 18, 20, the greater the torque spreading effect or anti-torque effect will be.

The connector 16 is also provided with at least two fasteners 34 interdependent with the collars 18, 20 and distributed therearound, for respectively fastening the wires 14 in an evenly distributed manner around the tower 10. In other words, these fasteners 34 will act as anchor points for the support guy wires 14. Preferably, each of the fasteners 34 has a guy attachment hole 36. However, it should be understood that any other convenient fasteners such as a hook could be contemplated. In the case where only two fasteners 34 are used, they preferably extend at or around 180 degrees from each other. However, it should be understood that any convenient number of support wires 14 could be used. If three support wires 14 are used, the connector 16 is provided with three fasteners 34, preferably extending at or around 120 degrees from each other. If four support wires 14 are used, as shown in Figures 2 to 4, then the connector 16 will be provided with four fasteners 34 advantageously distributed at or around 90 degrees from each other. Of course more than four fasteners 34 could also be used. Preferably, as illustrated, the fasteners 34 are respectively located on the linking elements 22. However, if a single collar is used, it could also be considered to provide the fasteners 34 on the collar. As it will be understood by people well versed in the art, a differential force applied, for example, on both right and left attachment holes 36 by a corresponding support guy wire 14 will result in a torque compensated by the leverage arm created by the particularly shaped connector 16 of the present invention. Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, as already mentioned, both of the collars 18, 20 are preferably linked together with four linking elements 22 substantially evenly distributed around the collars 18, 20. In this embodiment, each of the linking elements 22 is preferably provided with a guy attachment hole 36 which acts as a fastener 34. Each of the linking elements 22 can be made rectangular but it should be understood that any suitable shape, such as a triangular or an elliptical shape, could be considered.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the connector 16 can be specifically designed to be mounted on a cylindrical tower. In this case, both the tower 10 and the collars 18, 20 have cooperating cylindrical shapes. However, of course, the connector 16 of the present invention could also be used on any tower 10 having a predetermined cross-section. For example, the tower 10 could have a rectangular cross-section. In this case, the collar will also advantageously have a rectangular cross-section adapted to the tower 10.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, which show another preferred embodiment of the connector 16 of the present invention, the connector 16 is provided with fixing means 24 cooperating with the tower 10 for fixing the collars 18, 20 to the tower 10. As illustrated, in a preferred embodiment, each collar 18 or 20 has first and second complementary portions 26, 28. In this case, the fixing means 24 can have a clamp 30 cooperating with the portions 26, 28 of the collars 18, 20 for clamping the collars 18, 20 around the tower 10. The fixing means 24 may also be further provided with a bolt and nut assembly 32 for tightening the clamp 30. It should be mentioned that any fixing means 24 known in the art for fixing the collars 18, 20 to the tower 10 could also be used. For non-limitative example, the collars 18, 20 could be fixed to the tower 10 by bolting or with a plurality of screws.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A connector for connecting at least two support wires to a tower, said connector comprising: a collar for encircling the tower; fixing means cooperating with the tower for fixing the collar to the tower; and at least two fasteners interdependent with the collar and distributed therearound, for respectively fastening the at least two wires in an evenly distributed manner around the tower.

2. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the fasteners are located on the collar.

3. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein each of said fasteners comprises a guy attachment hole.

4. The connector according to claim 1 , further comprising an additional collar for encircling the tower and at least one linking element for coaxially connecting together the collars in a spaced-apart relationship.

5. The connector according to claim 4, wherein said at least one linking element comprises a plurality of linking elements substantially evenly distributed around said collars.

6. The connector according to claim 5, wherein the fasteners are respectively located on the linking elements.

7. The connector according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of linking elements comprises four linking elements distributed at substantially 90 degrees from each others around the collars, said at least two fasteners comprising four fasteners, the fasteners being respectively located on the linking elements.

8. The connector according to claim 6, wherein each of said fasteners comprises a guy attachment hole.

9. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein the collar comprises first and second complementary portions, said fixing means comprising a clamp cooperating with the portions of the collar for clamping the collar around the tower.

10. The connector according to claim 1 , wherein said fixing means comprise a bolt with nut.

11. The connector according to claim 1 in combination with the tower and the support wires, wherein the tower and the collar have cooperating cylindrical shapes.

12. The connector according to claim 1 in combination with the tower and the support wires, wherein said tower comprises at least two tower sections, each being provided with at least one coupling end, each of said sections being coupled to each others through the corresponding coupling ends defining a section junction.

13. The connector according to claim 12, wherein said connector is mounted at said section junction.

14. A plurality of connectors according to claim 1 in combination with the tower and the support wires, wherein the connectors are distributed along the tower.