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.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 30, 2011
Filed:
Dec. 23, 2009
Patrick L. Jansen, Scotia, NY (US);
Gary R. Barnes, Delanson, NY (US);
Kiruba S. Haran, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Ronghai Qu, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Adam D. Minadeo, Greenville, SC (US);
Patrick L. Jansen, Scotia, NY (US);
Gary R. Barnes, Delanson, NY (US);
Kiruba S. Haran, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Ronghai Qu, Clifton Park, NY (US);
Adam D. Minadeo, Greenville, SC (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A wind turbine is provided having a drivetrain with a gearbox and a gearbox housing, at least one gear stage and an output shaft coupled within the housing. The gear stage exerts an axial thrust force on the output shaft during operation of the wind turbine. A generator includes a generator housing and an input shaft connected to the output shaft of the gearbox. The generator includes a rotor and a stator 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 is shared between the gearbox output shaft and the generator input shaft, and this bearing carries a portion of the axial thrust force. The generator is skewed to exert an opposing axial thrust force on the input shaft, so that the axial thrust force carried by the bearing is reduced.