The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
May. 21, 2024

Filed:

May. 24, 2023
Applicant:

Array Technologies, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (US);

Inventors:

Nathan Schuknecht, Golden, CO (US);

Nikhil Kumar, Albuquerque, NM (US);

Assignee:

ARRAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Albuquerque, NM (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H02S 20/23 (2014.01); F16D 7/02 (2006.01); F16M 13/02 (2006.01); H02S 20/32 (2014.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F16D 7/021 (2013.01); F16M 13/022 (2013.01); H02S 20/32 (2014.12);
Abstract

Torque limiters prevent the transmission of excessive torque between moving components of one or more gears in a tracker drive assembly. When an amount of torque between these moving components exceeds a threshold, the torque limiter may slip, thus allowing the components to move relative to each other. Embodiments disclosed herein may include a drive motor configured to rotate a drive shaft, at least one gear configured to translate rotation of the drive shaft into rotation of a PV module mounting structure, and a torque limiter interposed between an interior surface of a first component of the at least one gear and an exterior surface of a second component of the at least one gear to allow the first component to slip relative to the second component when an amount of torque between the first and second components exceeds a threshold.


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