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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.

Patent No.:

US 12448952 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Oct. 21, 2025

Filed:

Jun. 24, 2022

System and method for repairing leading edge damage on a wind turbine blade

Applicant:

Bladerobots A/s, Skanderborg, DK;

Inventors:

Ivar J. B. K. Jensen, Hornslet, DK;

Christian Skov, Videbæk, DK;

Claus Engholm Nielsen, Ringkøbing, DK;

Rasmus Sole Nørgaard, Skanderborg, DK;

Aksel Petersen, Ringkøbing, DK;

Assignee:

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Aarhus N., DK;

Attorney:

Wood Herron & Evans LLP

Primary Examiner:

Jacob J Cigna

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B64D 1/22 (2006.01); B29C 73/02 (2006.01); B64U 10/16 (2023.01); B64U 80/70 (2023.01); F03D 1/06 (2006.01); F03D 80/50 (2016.01); B64U 80/50 (2023.01); B64U 101/26 (2023.01); B64U 101/67 (2023.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F03D 80/50 (2016.05); B64D 1/22 (2013.01); B64U 10/16 (2023.01); B64U 80/70 (2023.01); F03D 1/0688 (2023.08); B29C 73/02 (2013.01); B64U 80/50 (2023.01); B64U 2101/26 (2023.01); B64U 2101/67 (2023.01); F05B 2230/80 (2013.01); F05B 2230/90 (2013.01); F05B 2240/303 (2020.08); Y02E 10/72 (2013.01);
Abstract

A repair device and method for repairing damage around the leading edge of a wind turbine blade () are provided. The repair device includes a robotic maintenance device () and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) () that can move the maintenance device () between a storage position and an operation position, the former being mounted on a blade () of the wind turbine (). The UAV () hovers and remains connected to the maintenance device () during operations at the blade () to minimize a total operational downtime needed to conduct the repair actions. The UAV () is secured to the maintenance device () by at least one support line () that carries the weight load of the maintenance device () and at least two control lines () that prevent undesired rotations of the maintenance device (), thereby improving precision and accuracy of UAV-driven movements of the maintenance device (). A transport container () may also be provided to define the storage position, the transport container () including an elongated slot () for guiding movement of the lines () and the maintenance device () during movements into and out of a storage space within the container ().

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