Patents by Inventor Peter Grabau

Peter Grabau 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).

  • Patent number: 7182575
    Abstract: A wind turbine has a generator (7) with a connected rotor (3) having a hub (4) and blades (5) rotatably connected to the hub for adjusting the pitch angle. In a method of operating such a wind turbine under climatic conditions, where there is a risk of icing on the blades and no or weak wind, the generator is used as a motor for driving the rotor and the pitch angle of the blades is adjusted to ensure that the resulting wind substantially hits the leading edge of the blades. It is thus ensured that any icing only occurs on the leading edge of the blades. Any ice formed may be removed by means of de-icing in a known manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2007
    Assignee: LM Glasfiber A/S
    Inventor: Peter Grabau
  • Publication number: 20070003403
    Abstract: Wind turbine blade (10) including adjustable lift-regulating means (12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) arranged on or at the surface of the wind turbine blade (10), said lift-regulating means being provided with activating means by means of which they can be adjusted and thus alter the aerodynamic properties of the blade (10). The lift-regulating means (12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21) and the activating means are adapted and arranged such that by activation of the activating means, the lift can be reduced in a zone extending in the longitudinal direction of the blade (10) from a first position adjacent the blade tip (14) to a second position between the first position and the blade root (16) and this second position is variable in the longitudinal direction of the blade (10) by adjusting the activate means. The lift-regulating means are formed of at least one flexible flap (12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2004
    Publication date: January 4, 2007
    Inventors: Bernt Pedersen, Jorgen Vestergaard, Peter Grabau, Ib Frydendal
  • Publication number: 20060251517
    Abstract: A method of transporting and storing a wind turbine blade (1) including a blade root (10) and a blade tip (4), where the wind turbine blade curves in the unloaded state in such a manner that the blade (1) presents a substantially concave face (30) and a substantially convex face (12), and such that said blade tip (4) is spaced apart from the longitudinal central axis (28) of said blade root (10). By the method, the wind turbine blade (1) is prestressed by means of prestressing means (2, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 33) at a distance from the blade root (10) in such a manner that the blade tip (4) is brought closer to the longitudinal central axis (28) of the blade root (10).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2004
    Publication date: November 9, 2006
    Inventor: Peter Grabau
  • Publication number: 20060034692
    Abstract: A wind turbine has a generator (7) with a connected rotor (3) having a hub (4) and blades (5) rotatably connected to the hub for adjusting the pitch angle. In a method of operating such a wind turbine under climatic conditions, where there is a risk of icing on the blades and no or weak wind, the generator is used as a motor for driving the rotor and the pitch angle of the blades is adjusted to ensure that the resulting wind substantially hits the leading edge of the blades. It is thus ensured that any icing only occurs on the leading edge of the blades. Any ice formed may be removed by means of de-icing in a known manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2003
    Publication date: February 16, 2006
    Inventor: Peter Grabau
  • Patent number: 6966758
    Abstract: A wind turbine rotor blade (10) comprising one or more means (4) secured to the blade (10) for changing the profile thereof depending on the atmospheric temperature. The means comprises at least one laminate having at least two layers of materials with differing thermal expansion coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: LM Glasfiber A/S
    Inventors: Peter Grabau, Ib Frydendal
  • Publication number: 20050180853
    Abstract: The invention relates to a wind turbine blade (14) of fibre-reinforced polymer. The blade (14) is divided into an inner end portion (15) including the blade root and made substantially from fibre glass-reinforced polymer, and an outer end portion (17) including the blade tip and made substantially from carbon fibre-reinforced polymer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2003
    Publication date: August 18, 2005
    Inventors: Peter Grabau, Lars Andersen
  • Publication number: 20050180854
    Abstract: The invention relates to a wind turbine blade and a transitional shell blank for the manufacture of the shell of a wind turbine blade, the blade or the transitional shell blank being made of fibre-reinforced polymer including a first type of fibres (1, 3, 6) of a first stiffness and a first elongation at breakage, and a second type of fibres (2, 5, 7) of a different stiffness and a different elongation at breakage. According to the invention the two types of fibres are distributed in the polymer matrix. When seen in a sectional view perpendicular to longitudinal direction of the blade or the transitional shell blank, the quantitative ratio of the two types of fibres varies continuously in the longitudinal direction of the blade or of the transition shell blank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2003
    Publication date: August 18, 2005
    Inventors: Peter Grabau, Lars Andersen
  • Publication number: 20040115060
    Abstract: A wind turbine rotor blade (10) comprising one or more means (4) secured to the blade (10) for changing the profile thereof depending on the atmospheric temperature. The means comprises at least one laminate having at least two layers of materials with differing thermal expansion coefficients.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2002
    Publication date: June 17, 2004
    Inventors: Peter Grabau, Ib Frydendal
  • Patent number: 6612810
    Abstract: Wind turbine blade comprises a first (1) and a second (2) electric conductor extending in the longitudinal direction of the blade (25), and one or more electric heating elements (4) for heating the surface of the blade. The heating elements (4) are connected to the first and the second electric conductor. At its tip the wind turbine blade (25) is provided with a lightning receptor 5 for catching lightning, and the lightning receptor (5) is electrically connected to a third (3) conductor earthed so as to be able to carry the current from a stroke of lightning to the earth. The first and the second conductor are connected to the lightning receptor through spark gaps adjacent said lightning receptor and connected to earth through spark gaps adjacent the blade root.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: LM Glasfiber A/S
    Inventors: Kaj Olsen, Flemming Møller Larsen, Peter Grabau, John Ellermann Jespersen
  • Patent number: 6582196
    Abstract: A windmill rotor of the front-runner type and airfoil type wind blades therefor in which the blade tips have a longitudinally forwardly curved configuration. The curvature solves the problem of inward flexure of the blade in strong wind conditions, without requiring modification of the manner in which the rotor as a whole is mounted in order to avoid having the blade strike the windmill tower under such strong wind conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2003
    Assignee: LM Glassfiber A/S
    Inventors: Søren Andersen, Henrik Albertsen, Peter Grabau
  • Patent number: 6457943
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade with a lightning conductor, where said lightning conductor is formed by one or more oblong strips (1, 2, 3) of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics preferably forming part of the wind turbine blade. In this manner the oblong strips (1, 2, 3) of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics both reinforce the blade and divert the lightning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: IM Glasfiber A/S
    Inventors: Kaj Olsen, Peter Grabau, Flemming Møller Larsen