Patents by Inventor Mitsuya Baba
Mitsuya Baba has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11708816Abstract: A condition monitoring device for a wind turbine power generating apparatus provided with an auxiliary motor power supply system including a power-supply-side line connected to a power supply and a plurality of auxiliary-motor-side lines diverging from the power-supply-side line and connected to a plurality of auxiliary motors, respectively, comprises: a current measurement device for measuring a current flowing through the power-supply-side line; and a control device for controlling the plurality of auxiliary motors. The control device is configured to, when a generator of the wind turbine power generating apparatus is in a standby state where power generation is stopped at a low wind speed, execute a single sequential operation mode in which each of the plurality of auxiliary motors is singly and sequentially operated. The current measurement device is configured to measure a current flowing through the power-supply-side line during execution of the single sequential operation mode by the control device.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2021Date of Patent: July 25, 2023Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuya Baba, Yasushi Morishita, Minoru Sugiura, Kazuhiro Tsuyuki, Hideru Sakata
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Publication number: 20210332797Abstract: A condition monitoring device for a wind turbine power generating apparatus provided with an auxiliary motor power supply system including a power-supply-side line connected to a power supply and a plurality of auxiliary-motor-side lines diverging from the power-supply-side line and connected to a plurality of auxiliary motors, respectively, comprises: a current measurement device for measuring a current flowing through the power-supply-side line; and a control device for controlling the plurality of auxiliary motors. The control device is configured to, when a generator of the wind turbine power generating apparatus is in a standby state where power generation is stopped at a low wind speed, execute a single sequential operation mode in which each of the plurality of auxiliary motors is singly and sequentially operated. The current measurement device is configured to measure a current flowing through the power-supply-side line during execution of the single sequential operation mode by the control device.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 27, 2021Publication date: October 28, 2021Inventors: Mitsuya BABA, Yasushi MORISHITA, Minoru SUGIURA, Kazuhiro TSUYUKI, Hideru SAKATA
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Patent number: 11118566Abstract: Soundness and a sign of abnormality of a pitch mechanism of a wind turbine blade is quantitatively diagnosed. A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generation facility includes the steps of: rotating and fixing a wind turbine rotor including at least one wind turbine blade; providing, in a state where the wind turbine rotor is fixed, a pitch control command value to a pitch mechanism that changes a pitch angle of the wind turbine blade, to increase or reduce the pitch angle such that the pitch angle reaches a pitch angle target value from a reference angle; acquiring an actual pitch angular velocity or an actual pitch angle of the wind turbine blade corresponding to the pitch control command value; and diagnosing soundness of the pitch mechanism based on correlation between the acquired actual pitch angular velocity or the acquired actual pitch angle, and the pitch control command value.Type: GrantFiled: November 1, 2018Date of Patent: September 14, 2021Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10865772Abstract: A data collection system of at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus includes: at least one wind turbine controller including a control part for controlling each wind turbine power generating apparatus, a representative data memory part for storing representative data of at least one parameter indicating a state or operation history of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, and a representative data selection part configured to obtain data of the at least one parameter once in every control calculation cycle and determine whether to store the obtained data as the representative data for every control calculation cycle; and a data collection part configured to collect, from each wind turbine controller, the representative data of the at least one parameter related to the state of each wind turbine power generating apparatus stored in the representative data memory part of each wind turbine controller.Type: GrantFiled: March 27, 2018Date of Patent: December 15, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10794362Abstract: A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generating apparatus includes: an operation step of operating a pitch actuator corresponding to one of a plurality of wind turbine blades of the wind turbine power generating apparatus, without operating a pitch actuator corresponding to each of the wind turbine blades other than the one of the plurality of wind turbine blades; and a measurement step of measuring a response value indicating a response to operation of the pitch actuator corresponding to the one of the plurality of wind turbine blades. The operation step and the measurement step are performed repeatedly for each of the plurality of wind turbine blades, and the response value is obtained as data for health check of a blade pitch mechanism of the wind turbine power generating apparatus.Type: GrantFiled: March 27, 2018Date of Patent: October 6, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10704533Abstract: A method of operating a wind turbine power generating apparatus including a wind turbine rotor having a wind turbine blade includes: a step of obtaining a load applied to the wind turbine blade; and a step of selecting an operation mode of the wind turbine power generating apparatus on the basis of the load, from among a plurality of operation modes including a normal operation mode and at least one load-suppressing operation mode in which the load applied to the wind turbine blade is smaller than in the normal operation mode.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2016Date of Patent: July 7, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuya Baba, Yoshiyuki Hayashi, Wakako Ariki
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Patent number: 10697440Abstract: A method of detecting a damage of a wind turbine blade of a wind turbine rotor includes: a light input step of inputting light into a fiber-optic sensor mounted to the wind turbine blade; a light detection step of detecting reflection light from the grating portion; an obtaining step of obtaining a wavelength fluctuation index representing a fluctuation amount of a wavelength of the reflection light detected in the light detection step; and a detection step. The detection step includes detecting the presence or the absence of the damage of the wind turbine blade based on the wavelength fluctuation index taking account of a correlation between the wavelength fluctuation index of the wind turbine blade and a load index related to a load applied to the wind turbine blade, or a correlation between the wavelength fluctuation index and a temperature index related to a temperature of the wind turbine blade.Type: GrantFiled: August 8, 2017Date of Patent: June 30, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Yoshikatsu Ikawa, Katsuhiko Takita, Takao Kuroiwa, Mitsuya Baba, Kazunari Ide, Takuya Koyanagi
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Patent number: 10697429Abstract: A controller of a wind turbine for causing the wind turbine to perform rotor turning includes: an input part for receiving a target azimuth angle at which a rotor of the wind turbine is to be stopped; and a pitch control part configured to cause the wind turbine to perform a pitch control to stop the rotor at the target azimuth angle. The pitch control part is configured to: control a pitch angle of a wind turbine blade of the wind turbine so that the rotor rotates at a predetermined rotation speed which is constant, in a first period until the rotor reaches a control-switch azimuth angle immediately before the target azimuth angle; and control the pitch angle so that a rotation speed of the rotor decreases from the predetermined rotation speed in a second period after the rotor reaches the control-switch azimuth angle and before the rotor reaches the target azimuth angle.Type: GrantFiled: December 29, 2016Date of Patent: June 30, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10697481Abstract: A wind turbine includes a plurality of wind turbine blades; a plurality of hydraulic actuators for controlling respective pitch angles of the wind turbine blades; a first tank storing control oil for the hydraulic actuators; a first hydraulic pump disposed between the plurality of hydraulic actuators and the first tank, for pumping the control oil; a plurality of valves each of which is provided for corresponding one of the hydraulic actuators, for controlling a supply state of the control oil to the hydraulic actuator; and a control part for controlling each of the valves. The control part is configured to, in warm-up of a pitch hydraulic system of the plurality of wind turbine blades, perform an oil transfer operation of changing the pitch angle of the wind turbine blade from a feather side toward a fine side and then returning the pitch angle to the feather side.Type: GrantFiled: February 29, 2016Date of Patent: June 30, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10677220Abstract: A method of operating a wind turbine power generating apparatus includes a step of obtaining a wind direction of a wind; a step of obtaining at least one of a wind velocity of the wind or an index of turbulence degree of the wind velocity; and a step of selecting an operation mode of the wind turbine power generating apparatus from among a plurality of operation modes including a normal operation mode and at least one load-suppressing operation mode in which a load applied to a wind turbine blade is smaller than in the normal operation mode, on the basis of whether the at least one of the wind velocity or the index of turbulence degree is at least a threshold. The threshold of the at least one of the wind velocity or the index of turbulence degree is variable in accordance with the wind direction.Type: GrantFiled: December 29, 2016Date of Patent: June 9, 2020Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuya Baba, Yoshiyuki Hayashi, Wakako Ariki
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Publication number: 20200011294Abstract: Soundness and a sign of abnormality of a pitch mechanism of a wind turbine blade is quantitatively diagnosed. A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generation facility includes the steps of: rotating and fixing a wind turbine rotor including at least one wind turbine blade; providing, in a state where the wind turbine rotor is fixed, a pitch control command value to a pitch mechanism that changes a pitch angle of the wind turbine blade, to increase or reduce the pitch angle such that the pitch angle reaches a pitch angle target value from a reference angle; acquiring an actual pitch angular velocity or an actual pitch angle of the wind turbine blade corresponding to the pitch control command value; and diagnosing soundness of the pitch mechanism based on correlation between the acquired actual pitch angular velocity or the acquired actual pitch angle, and the pitch control command value.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 1, 2018Publication date: January 9, 2020Inventor: Mitsuya BABA
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Patent number: 10480484Abstract: A wind turbine includes: a wind turbine rotor; a nacelle supporting the wind turbine rotor rotatably; a yaw rotation part configured to rotate the nacelle; and a yaw control part configured to operate the yaw rotation part in a yaw rewind mode of rotating the nacelle in such a direction that a yaw angle changes toward zero, if an absolute value of the yaw angle exceeds a threshold which is variable in accordance with a wind-velocity parameter representing a magnitude of a wind velocity. The threshold increases with an increase in the wind-velocity parameter.Type: GrantFiled: August 29, 2016Date of Patent: November 19, 2019Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventor: Mitsuya Baba
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Patent number: 10400750Abstract: A wind turbine power generating apparatus includes a wind turbine rotor including at least one blade; a pitch drive part for changing a pitch angle of the at least one blade; a generator configured to be driven by rotational energy of the wind turbine rotor; a circuit breaker for switching a connection state of the generator with respect to a utility grid; and a controller for controlling the wind turbine power generating apparatus. The controller includes a pitch control part configured to control the pitch drive part in a constant rotation-speed control mode for maintaining a rotation speed of the wind turbine rotor at a target rotation speed, before connection of the generator; a connection-condition determination part configured to determine whether a connection determination condition is satisfied; and a connection-command generation part configured to provide the circuit breaker with a connection command to connect the generator to the utility grid.Type: GrantFiled: April 28, 2016Date of Patent: September 3, 2019Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuya Baba, Wakako Ariki
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Publication number: 20190063404Abstract: A method of diagnosing a wind turbine power generating apparatus includes: an operation step of operating a pitch actuator corresponding to one of a plurality of wind turbine blades of the wind turbine power generating apparatus, without operating a pitch actuator corresponding to each of the wind turbine blades other than the one of the plurality of wind turbine blades; and a measurement step of measuring a response value indicating a response to operation of the pitch actuator corresponding to the one of the plurality of wind turbine blades. The operation step and the measurement step are performed repeatedly for each of the plurality of wind turbine blades, and the response value is obtained as data for health check of a blade pitch mechanism of the wind turbine power generating apparatus.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 27, 2018Publication date: February 28, 2019Inventor: Mitsuya BABA
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Publication number: 20190010922Abstract: A data collection system of at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus includes: at least one wind turbine controller including a control part for controlling each wind turbine power generating apparatus, a representative data memory part for storing representative data of at least one parameter indicating a state or operation history of the at least one wind turbine power generating apparatus, and a representative data selection part configured to obtain data of the at least one parameter once in every control calculation cycle and determine whether to store the obtained data as the representative data for every control calculation cycle; and a data collection part configured to collect, from each wind turbine controller, the representative data of the at least one parameter related to the state of each wind turbine power generating apparatus stored in the representative data memory part of each wind turbine controller.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 27, 2018Publication date: January 10, 2019Inventor: Mitsuya BABA
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Patent number: 10167853Abstract: A method for detecting damage of a wind turbine blade of a wind turbine rotor having at least one wind turbine blade comprises: a light incident step of allowing light to enter an optical fiber sensor being mounted on each of the wind turbine blade and having a diffraction grating part having a refractive index which is periodically varied in a longitudinal direction of the diffraction grating part; a light detection step of detecting reflected light from the diffraction grating part; an obtaining step of obtaining, from a temporal change of a wavelength of the reflected light received in the light receiving step, a wavelength variation index representing a variation amount of the wavelength; and a damage determination step of determining presence or absence of a damage of the wind turbine blade on the basis of the wavelength variation index calculated in the obtaining step.Type: GrantFiled: July 27, 2015Date of Patent: January 1, 2019Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Kazunari Ide, Katsuhiko Takita, Takao Kuroiwa, Mitsuya Baba, Hiroshi Nishino, Takuya Koyanagi
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Patent number: 10054510Abstract: A method of calibrating a load measurement apparatus for measuring a load on a wind turbine blade on the basis of strain data based on strain of a wind turbine blade includes: a strain-data acquisition step of, during a startup of a wind turbine, obtaining a plurality of the strain data for each of a plurality of conditions among which at least one of an azimuth angle or a pitch angle of the wind turbine blade is different from one another; a theoretical load-value acquisition step of obtaining a theoretical load value applied to the wind turbine blade due to own weight of the wind turbine blade, for each of the plurality of conditions, on the basis of the azimuth angle and the pitch angle of the wind turbine blade in each of the plurality of conditions; and a calibration-parameter calculation step of calculating a calibration parameter representing a relationship between the strain data obtained by the load measurement apparatus and the load on the wind turbine blade, on the basis of a correlation between eaType: GrantFiled: April 28, 2016Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Mitsuya Baba, Wakako Ariki
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Publication number: 20180230971Abstract: A method of detecting a damage of a wind turbine blade of a wind turbine rotor includes: a light input step of inputting light into a fiber-optic sensor mounted to the wind turbine blade; a light detection step of detecting reflection light from the grating portion; an obtaining step of obtaining a wavelength fluctuation index representing a fluctuation amount of a wavelength of the reflection light detected in the light detection step; and a detection step. The detection step includes detecting the presence or the absence of the damage of the wind turbine blade based on the wavelength fluctuation index taking account of a correlation between the wavelength fluctuation index of the wind turbine blade and a load index related to a load applied to the wind turbine blade, or a correlation between the wavelength fluctuation index and a temperature index related to a temperature of the wind turbine blade.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 8, 2017Publication date: August 16, 2018Inventors: Yoshikatsu IKAWA, Katsuhiko TAKITA, Takao KUROIWA, Mitsuya BABA, Kazunari IDE, Takuya KOYANAGI
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Publication number: 20180216638Abstract: A wind turbine includes a plurality of wind turbine blades; a plurality of hydraulic actuators for controlling respective pitch angles of the wind turbine blades; a first tank storing control oil for the hydraulic actuators; a first hydraulic pump disposed between the plurality of hydraulic actuators and the first tank, for pumping the control oil; a plurality of valves each of which is provided for corresponding one of the hydraulic actuators, for controlling a supply state of the control oil to the hydraulic actuator; and a control part for controlling each of the valves. The control part is configured to, in warm-up of a pitch hydraulic system of the plurality of wind turbine blades, perform an oil transfer operation of changing the pitch angle of the wind turbine blade from a feather side toward a fine side and then returning the pitch angle to the feather side.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 29, 2016Publication date: August 2, 2018Inventor: Mitsuya BABA
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Patent number: 9841004Abstract: A yaw control system for a wind turbine generator includes a yaw direction sensor for detecting a yaw direction value of the nacelle at a current time, a yaw rotation amount calculation part for calculating an amount of yaw rotation of the nacelle in a predetermined period of time based on a yaw rotation speed and a yaw rotation time of the nacelle, a yaw direction estimation part for calculating an estimate value of a yaw direction of the nacelle at an end point of the predetermined period by an estimate value calculation logic based on the amount of yaw rotation in the predetermined period calculated by the yaw rotation amount calculation part and the yaw direction value at a starting point of the predetermined period, and a yaw drive control part for controlling the yaw drive mechanism.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2014Date of Patent: December 12, 2017Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.Inventors: Tsutomu Kii, Mitsuya Baba