Wind turbine drivetrain system

• Main Authors: BARNES, GARY R, JANSEN, PATRICK L, HARAN, KIRUBA, QU, RONGHAI, MINADEO, ADAM D
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 11.12.2013
• Subjects: BLASTING; HEATING; LIGHTING; MACHINES OR ENGINES FOR LIQUIDS; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; OR A REACTIVE PROPULSIVE THRUST, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PRODUCING MECHANICAL POWER; WEAPONS; WIND MOTORS; WIND, SPRING WEIGHT AND MISCELLANEOUS MOTORS

A wind turbine (100) is provided having a drivetrain (300) with a gearbox (302) and a gearbox housing, at least one gear stage (252) and an output shaft (540) coupled within the housing. The gear stage exerts an axial thrust force (525) on the output shaft (540) during operation of the wind turbine. A generator (304) includes a generator housing and an input shaft connected to the output shaft of the gearbox. The generator includes a rotor (508) and a stator (506) coupled to the generator housing. The rotor is coupled to the input shaft such that the rotor is positioned radially inward from the stator. At least one bearing (546) is shared between the gearbox output shaft and the generator input shaft, and this bearing carries a portion of the axial thrust force (525). The generator is skewed to exert an opposing axial thrust force (515) on the input shaft, so that the axial thrust force (525) carried by the bearing is reduced.