Patents Represented by Attorney William F. Heinze
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Patent number: 8202050Abstract: A wind turbine includes wireless system for receiving a control signal at a hub of the wind turbine.Type: GrantFiled: May 9, 2008Date of Patent: June 19, 2012Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Paul O. Caffrey
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Patent number: 8182731Abstract: A method of manufacturing a retrofit sleeve for a wind turbine blade, includes positioning at least a portion of a blade-shaped form in a mold; and applying a curable material to the space between the form and mold.Type: GrantFiled: March 18, 2011Date of Patent: May 22, 2012Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Jan W. Bakhuis, Klaus U. Koegler, Bart J. Veldkamp
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Patent number: 8143879Abstract: A multi-phase electrical power distribution network includes a substation; a signal generator for providing a different signal on each of a plurality of phases leaving the substation; and a signal discriminator for detecting each of the different signals at a consumer of the electrical power.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2008Date of Patent: March 27, 2012Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Kenneth J. Caird
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Patent number: 8113480Abstract: A support for a wind turbine having rear frame extending from a bedplate, where the support includes at least one tension member extending between the rear frame and the bedplate.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 2008Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: John P. Davis, James D. Antalek, Win Nguyen
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Patent number: 8113778Abstract: A wind turbine blade stowage arrangement includes a first section of the wind turbine blade nested at least partially inside a second section of the wind turbine blade; and a conformable spacer, arranged between the first and second sections of the wind turbine blade, for positioning the first section inside the second section.Type: GrantFiled: December 20, 2007Date of Patent: February 14, 2012Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Jamie T. Livingston, Nicholas J. Tobergte
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Patent number: 8082719Abstract: A wind turbine tower, includes a first substantially tubular wall section having a tapered edge; a second substantially tubular wall section, arranged substantially coplanar with the first wall section, having a flared edge for seating against the tapered edge of the first wall section; and at least one fastener for securing the tapered edge of the first wall section to the flared edge of the second wall section. The at least one fastener includes a bolt extending through the tapered edge and the flared edge, and the bolt is arranged substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the first and second wall sections.Type: GrantFiled: March 7, 2011Date of Patent: December 27, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Bharat S. Bagepalli
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Patent number: 8083464Abstract: A stackable nacelle for a wind turbine includes a first piece having a top wall and integral first side walls extending at a first obtuse angle from each edge of the top wall; and a second piece, for mating with the first piece, having a bottom wall and integral second side walls extending at a second obtuse angle from each edge of the bottom wall.Type: GrantFiled: January 29, 2008Date of Patent: December 27, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Bharat S. Bagepalli, Scott W. Blackwell
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Patent number: 8075275Abstract: A spar for a wind turbine blade includes at least one shear web extending between pressure and suction sides of the blade; and a joint, arranged substantially midway between ends of the shear web, for sizing the shear web. The joint may include a resilient and/or expandable spacer.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 2007Date of Patent: December 13, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Nicholas K. Althoff, Eric M. Jacobsen, Jan W. Bakhuis
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Patent number: 8061996Abstract: A blade for a wind turbine includes a total backward twist of between approximately 6 degrees and approximately 15 degrees between an outer approximately 1 percent to 10 percent of a rotor radius of the blade; and an approximate planform distribution within the following ranges r/R c/R(LE) c/R(TE) .96 0.60 to 0.65% ?1.42 to ?1.34% .968 0.54 to 0.59% ?1.31 to ?1.34% .974 0.39 to 0.58% ?1.36 to ?1.22% .9806 0.13 to 0.57% ?1.45 to ?1.06% .9856 ?0.23 to 0.56%?? ?1.56 to ?0.74% .9906 ?0.76 to 0.55%?? ?1.74 to ?0.24% .9956 ?1.44 to 0.54%?? ?1.99 to 0.23%?? 1.00 ?2.17 to 0.54%?? ?2.27 to 0.44%?? where “r/R” is an approximate normalized distance outward from a center of rotation of the blade along a span of the blade; and “c/R(LE)” and “c/R(TE)” are approximate relative positions of a leading (LE) and trailing edge (TE) of a chord “c” expressed as a percentage of a distance outward from the center of rotation at each r/R.Type: GrantFiled: May 30, 2008Date of Patent: November 22, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Stefan Herr, Kevin W. Kinzie, Brandon S. Gerber, Kevin J. Standish, Klaus Koegler, Benoit P. Petitjean
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Patent number: 8058740Abstract: A wind turbine having a nacelle, includes a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) sensor for determining a rotational displacement of the nacelle of the wind turbine.Type: GrantFiled: December 10, 2009Date of Patent: November 15, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Markus Altenschulte, Andreas Kirchner
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Patent number: 7988421Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes a body having a first surface characteristic; and a sleeve, arranged on the body, having a second surface characteristic which is different from the first surface characteristic.Type: GrantFiled: March 31, 2009Date of Patent: August 2, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Jan W. Bakhuis, Klaus U. Koegler, Bart J. Veldkamp
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Patent number: 7985047Abstract: A wind turbine includes a tower; a blade for rotating on the tower; a rotor shaft, connected to the blade, having an axial hole; a line, arranged in the hole, for carrying a signal; a support, wrapped around the line inside the hole, for spacing the line from the rotor shaft inside the hole; where the support expands radially to at least partially fill an annular space between the line and an inside wall of the axial hole.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 2008Date of Patent: July 26, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Jens Hennig, Patrick Achenbach
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Patent number: 7927445Abstract: A method of manufacturing a composite tower, includes at least partially filling a form with a curable resin; at least partially curing the resin in the form; raising the form partly over the at least partially cured resin; and at least partially filling the raised form with more curable resin applied against the cured resin.Type: GrantFiled: April 17, 2009Date of Patent: April 19, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Danian Zheng, Lawrence D. Willey, Wendy W. Lin
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Patent number: 7927078Abstract: A wind turbine includes a tower supporting a drive train with a rotor, at least one blade extending radially from the rotor; and a plurality of substantially flat flaps extending substantially perpendicular from a suction surface of the blade and along different chord lines near a tip of the blade for capturing and directing tip vortices toward a trailing edge of the blade.Type: GrantFiled: July 12, 2007Date of Patent: April 19, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Nishant Parsania, Kevin Standish
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Patent number: 7922448Abstract: A wind turbine includes a first vibration sensor for producing a first vibration signal; a second vibration sensor, displaced from the first vibration sensor, for producing a second vibration signal; and a processor for comparing the first vibration signal to the second vibration signal and controlling the wind turbine in response to the comparison.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2008Date of Patent: April 12, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Alvaro Calle Garrido, Eugenio Yegro, Manuel Huerta Crespo, Pedro L. Benito
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Patent number: 7922449Abstract: A method of operating a wind turbine having rotor with at least one blade, includes sensing an icing hazard for the blade; and moving the at least one blade into a position to reduce the icing hazard.Type: GrantFiled: July 14, 2009Date of Patent: April 12, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Hartmut A. Scholte-Wassink
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Patent number: 7901184Abstract: A torsionally loadable wind turbine blade, includes a loading member secured to a body of the wind turbine blade; and an adjuster for actively displacing the loading member and torsionally deforming the blade on a spanwise axis.Type: GrantFiled: June 16, 2009Date of Patent: March 8, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Jacob J. Nies, Axel Braicks
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Patent number: 7866951Abstract: A blade for a wind turbine includes a spar having a shear web, and at least one cross web extending from the spar.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2008Date of Patent: January 11, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Venkateswara Rao Kavala
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Patent number: 7861583Abstract: A system for estimating a freestream wind characteristic for a wind turbine having a rotor includes estimating a nacelle wind speed for the turbine; determining, from the estimated nacelle wind speed, at least one angular position of the rotor for measuring a nacelle wind characteristic for the turbine; and measuring the nacelle wind characteristic at the determined angular position of the rotor.Type: GrantFiled: January 17, 2008Date of Patent: January 4, 2011Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Saskia G. Honhoff, Donald M. Rogers, Felix C. Landwehr
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Patent number: 7857595Abstract: A method of producing a shear web for a wind turbine blade includes providing a mold generally conforming to a shape of at least a portion of a shear web; and filling the mold with a closed cell structural foam.Type: GrantFiled: September 12, 2008Date of Patent: December 28, 2010Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Dustin J. Wambeke, Nicholas K. Althoff