Patents Represented by Attorney Kanesaka Berner & Partners
  • Patent number: 8348598
    Abstract: In order to provide a rolling bearing for a wind turbine and a wind turbine which can prevent the deterioration of the lubrication condition even when the rolling bearing receives high load while the inner ring and the outer ring are kept still relative to each other, the wind turbine generator of the present invention for supporting a first member and a second member which rotates relative to the first member, comprises an inner ring to which the first member is fixed; an outer ring to which the second member is fixed; a center ring which is arranged between the inner ring and the outer ring and can rotate independently of the inner ring and the outer ring; rolling elements which are provided between the bearing rings in such a manner that the rolling elements can freely roll; and a center ring drive unit for rotating the center ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naota Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8352002
    Abstract: A superconductor cooling system has: a first superconductor; a first cooling conductor used for cooling the first superconductor; a first cooling unit configured to cool the first cooling conductor to a first temperature; and a current lead configured to supply a current to the first superconductor. Here, a part of a path of the current is formed of a second superconductor. The superconductor cooling system further has: a second cooling conductor used for cooling the second superconductor; a second cooling unit configured to cool the second cooling conductor to a second temperature; and a first thermal conduction switch connected between the first cooling conductor and the second cooling conductor to ON and OFF heat transfer between the first cooling conductor and the second cooling conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kawashima
  • Patent number: 8334613
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator includes: a main shaft for supporting a wind turbine rotor; a main bearing for rotatably supporting the main shaft; a generator having a generator rotor and a stator; a sleeve connected to the generator rotor and inserted onto the main shaft; and a hydraulic shrink fit provided outside the sleeve and tightening the sleeve to connect to the main shaft. The hydraulic shrink fit is constructed to reduce the inner diameter through a supply of hydraulic fluid to secure the sleeve to the main shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Numajiri
  • Patent number: 8324751
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to make use of wind energy as effectively as possible and increase the amount of generated energy that is supplied to a power system. A power storage apparatus is interposed between and electrically connected to a wind turbine generator and a power system. The wind turbine generator outputs, to the power system side, an amount of active power obtained by subtracting auxiliary machine loss, which is power consumed by an auxiliary machine, from the maximum active power that can be output by a generator, and if the amount of active power output from the wind turbine generator exceeds a limited power value set for the power transmission end, a charge/discharge controller that controls the power storage apparatus causes the power storage apparatus to be charged with part of the power output from the wind turbine generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Yasugi, Masayuki Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 8324852
    Abstract: It is an object to detect the axial position of a rotor without using a sensor. A method for detecting the position of a motor including a rotor and a stator around which armature windings of a plurality of phases are wound is provided, wherein a position detecting coil is disposed on one axial end face of a stator core, an induced voltage generated in the position detecting coil is detected, and the axial position of the rotor is detected on the basis of the detection result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: Yohei Kakiuchi, Takeshi Okubo, Yasuharu Yamamoto, Tatsuya Hidaka
  • Patent number: 8322975
    Abstract: A vibration control apparatus of a wind turbine generator that can be installed in a small space inside a tower, without a weight increase of the tower, and that can change the natural frequency thereof is provided. Included is a swinging rod extending in the vertical direction and suspended from beams provided on an upper part of the tower via a first universal joint; a flange part extending outward from the upper end outer surface of the swinging rod in the radial direction along the circumferential direction; a pendulum including a bob attached to the swinging rod and capable of moving up and down in the vertical direction; and a plurality of attenuation devices each of whose upper end is attached to the beams with a second universal joint and whose lower end is attached to the flange part with a third universal joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Minoru Kawabata, Atsushi Kubo
  • Patent number: 8322985
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator in which the temperature in a rotor head can be managed is provided. The wind turbine generator 1 includes, in a nacelle 3, a driving and generating mechanism that is connected to a rotor head 4 equipped with wind turbine blades 5, and devices are disposed inside the rotor head 4, wherein a rotary joint 30 is interposed on a driving shaft that joins the rotor head 4 and the nacelle 3, and fluid for regulating the temperature in the rotor head is supplied from the interior of the nacelle 3 into the rotor head 4 through the rotary joint 30.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd
    Inventors: Masahiro Kawai, Takatoshi Matsushita
  • Patent number: 8319474
    Abstract: Provided is a noncontact type power feeder system for feeding an electric power to a mobile object, which enables a quick charge and transmission of a high electric power and in which a power feeder and a power receiver can be readily manufactured at low cost, comprising a power feeder arranged along a running road surface for the mobile object 1, and a power receiver mounted to the mobile object, the power feeder and the power receiver being opposed face-to-face to each other for feeding an electric power, wherein the power feeder is secured on the running road surface for the mobile object and characterized in that magnets are mounted to the upper surface of the power feeder which is accommodated in a recess formed in the running road surface and which is supported by resilient springs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaya Mitake, Katsuaki Morita, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Yamashita, Masaomi Yamada, Kousuke Katahira
  • Patent number: 8313266
    Abstract: Provided is a construction apparatus for safe and smooth construction of a floating offshore wind turbine generator in deep sea. The construction apparatus for constructing the offshore wind turbine generator with a crane ship includes a guide member attached to the crane ship in a work position perpendicular thereto such that a bottom end of the guide member is disposed under the sea and at least one pair of arm units that include grippers capable of holding and releasing a tower member divided into a plurality of segments in an axial direction and that slide along the guide member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Numajiri
  • Patent number: 8308438
    Abstract: A wind power generator is provided in which a reduction in weight is achieved by reducing the wall thickness of a nacelle, and an increase in the amount of heat input to the interior of the nacelle from sunlight is suppressed. In a wind power generator in which driving/power-generating mechanisms linked to a rotor head to which wind-turbine blades are attached are accommodated and installed inside a nacelle, a coating of high-reflectivity paint is formed on at least part of the outer wall that receives sunlight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd
    Inventors: Takeshi Matsuo, Shinichi Miyamoto
  • Patent number: 8306776
    Abstract: In a method of calculating misalignment of a rotational body, radial displacement values are measured using a displacement gauge. A calculation part performs the steps of deriving radial displacement amounts of the rotational body for at least four or more measurement points along an outer surface while rotating the rotational body, selecting three arbitrary points to calculate a circle, calculating circle values for all the measurement points, calculating differences between the calculated circle values and the radial displacement amounts as error amounts, summing the error amounts to derive a total error amount, repeating circle calculation for different combinations and calculating a total error amount for each calculated circle, selecting a circle with a minimum total error amount as a most probable circle, and calculating deviation between the center of the most probable circle and the center of rotation of the rotational body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Keisuke Ihara, Toshiyuki Sakae
  • Patent number: 8299650
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator derives the gradient of a change in output power of a generator that generates power by rotation of a wind turbine rotor, and determines an increase/decrease in the output power of the generator on the basis of the derived gradient of the change in output power. Then, when the frequency of a utility grid has dropped, power control is performed on the basis of the determination results. Therefore, a decrease in the amount of power supplied to the utility grid can be more effectively compensated for by accurately detecting output power fluctuations of the generator, using a simple configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Yasugi
  • Patent number: 8299643
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator, an active damping method thereof, and a windmill tower in which vibrations of the wind turbine generator itself or the windmill tower can be reduced at low cost are provided. The acceleration due to vibrations of a nacelle is detected with an accelerometer attached to the nacelle. In an active damping unit, a pitch angle of windmill blades for generating a thrust on the windmill blades so as to cancel out the vibrations of the nacelle is calculated on the basis of the acceleration, and the pitch angle is output as a blade-pitch-angle command ??* for damping. On the other hand, in a pitch-angle control unit, a pitch angle of the windmill blades for controlling the output to be a predetermined value is calculated, and the pitch angle is output as a blade-pitch-angle command ?* for output control. The blade-pitch-angle command ??* for damping is combined with the blade-pitch-angle command ?* for output control using a subtracter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Wakasa, Kazunari Ide, Yoshiyuki Hayashi, Masaaki Shibata
  • Patent number: 8292568
    Abstract: In order to provide a wind turbine generator and an operation method of the wind turbine generator which is not subjected to damages caused by foreign objects inside a rotor hub, the wind turbine generator comprises blades, a rotor hub to which the blades are fixed, a rotating shaft such as a main shaft and a coupling being connected to the rotor hub and rotating with the rotor hub, a FO detection sensor arranged inside the rotor hub for detecting a foreign object inside the rotor hub, a brake device such as a pitch control unit and a parking brake for stopping the rotation of the rotating shaft, and a controller for controlling the brake device to stop the rotation of the rotating shaft when the FO detection sensor detects the foreign object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naota Watanabe
  • Patent number: 8281694
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a height of a circular slitter blade includes rotating the slitter blade and the receiving roll such that an outer circumferential surface of the slitter blade and the receiving roll move in the same direction as the traveling direction of the corrugated board web; emitting a light beam in a width direction of the corrugated board web to pass through a contact point of the outer circumferential surface of the receiving roll with the corrugated board web; determining a height of the slitter blade at which the circular outer edge of the slitter blade intercepts the light beam while moving the slitter blade toward the receiving roll; and setting the height of the slitter blade to the determined height as a slitting position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Toshinao Okihara
  • Patent number: 8278773
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator includes a synchronous generator that generates electric power via rotation of a rotor provided with blades that receive wind and that supplies the generated electric power to a utility grid, and a sea water resistor in which sea water serves as a resistive element. When the output power of the synchronous generator drops suddenly because of a momentary power interruption caused by a fault occurring on the utility grid, thus producing surplus energy, the sea water resistor consumes, in the form of electric power, the surplus energy that cannot be supplied to the utility grid from among the electric power generated at the synchronous generator. Because the sea water resistor uses sea water as the resistive element, the problem of heat generation hardly ever arises, and because the sea water can be easily exchanged, it is not affected by lifetime or on-time limitations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Naoto Murata
  • Patent number: 8276273
    Abstract: There are provided a method for removing a blade ring by pulling out the blade ring smoothly and surely while preventing damage to other components, and a member for removing a blade ring. By using a dummy blade ring, connection plates, and connecting bolts, work for removing and mounting a lower half section of the blade ring is performed. Thereby, work of rotation and the like can be performed while the lower half section of the blade ring and the dummy blade ring are connected to each other in both end portions. Therefore, during the work, the lower half section of the blade ring and the dummy blade ring are prevented from shifting from each other and therefore from interfering with the opposed rotor blade tip, a lower half section of a casing, and the like, thus preventing damage to the tip, distortion of the lower half section of the blade ring and the dummy blade ring, and the like. Consequently, a stator blade ring can be pulled out smoothly and surely.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsuhisa Shigemoto, Taichi Ozaki, Hitoshi Morimoto
  • Patent number: 8269363
    Abstract: Provided is a power generator, including a plurality of wind power generators generating electrical power using wind power energy, and variable-speed wind power generators connected between the power generator and an electrical power system. The variable-speed wind power generators equalize an output of the entire power generating system by outputting power for correcting for a drop in output of the power generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Arinaga
  • Patent number: 8271145
    Abstract: A handy terminal for a wind turbine generator, includes a connecting portion connectable to a connector provided in the wind turbine generator, an operating ends group including an operating button to generate an operating signal which selectively validates a control logic within a control circuit provided in the wind turbine generator, and a display portion for displaying the operating state of the operating ends group. The operating ends group includes a mode selecting button for selectively validates one of a maintenance mode and an operating mode of the wind turbine generator; and a rotor turning button for switching to the blades pitch control state in which blades of the wind turbine generator side are driven in the predetermined low speed with adjusting the pitch angle of the blades according to the rotational speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tohru Minami, Eiji Irie
  • Patent number: 8269366
    Abstract: A handy terminal for a wind turbine generator which the maintenance of the wind turbine generator, especially the maintenance work inside the nacelle, can be simplified while considering the safety of the maintenance operator. The handy terminal comprises a tower provided to stand on land or off-shore, a nacelle supported on the tower to be controlled to rotate in the yaw direction and a plurality of rotatable blades attached to the nacelle to be controlled to move their pitch, whereby the handy terminal is connectable to connecting ends respectively provided on the lower portion of the tower and the nacelle so as to perform various control of the wind turbine generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Tohru Minami, Eiji Irie