Transport frame for a wind turbine blade
First Claim
1. A transport frame having a longitudinal, lateral and upright extent, and being configured for receiving a tip or root portion of a longitudinally extending wind turbine blade, said transport frame being stackable with an adjacent transport frame, said transport frame comprising:
- four upright frame struts which together define a generally cuboid internal space having a longitudinal extent between two pairs of said upright struts;
a tip or root saddle assembly comprising a saddle with a support surface shaped to receive a respective blade root or tip, the tip or root saddle assembly being disposed within the generally cuboid internal space;
four top shoulders and four feet, said feet configured to be stackable on corresponding said shoulders of the adjacent transport frame;
a retractable arm arrangement proximate one or more top or bottom corner of the transport frame, the retractable arm arrangement having a retractable arm pivotably coupled to the top or bottom corners, the retractable arm having a tensioner coupled to the retractable arm, and the retractable arm being pivotable between a retracted position and an engaged position; and
a claw arrangement with a fixed claw proximate at least one top or bottom corner of the transport frame;
wherein when the retractable arm is in the retracted position, said tensioner is configured to selectively retain the retractable arm in the retracted position, andwherein when the retractable arm is in the engaged position and the transport frame and the adjacent transport frame are in a stacked arrangement, the tensioner is configured to selectively fixingly engage a fixed claw of a claw arrangement on the adjacent transport frame to thereby secure the transport frame to the adjacent transport frame.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Transport frame and method; the transport frame having a longitudinal, lateral and upright extent, and being configured for receiving a tip or root portion of a longitudinally extending wind turbine blade, said frame being stackable with similar frames, said frame comprising four upright frame struts which together define a generally cuboid internal space having a longitudinal extent between two pairs of said upright struts; said frame having, within said generally cuboid internal space, a tip or root saddle assembly comprising a saddle with a support surface shaped to receive a respective blade root or tip; said frame furthermore having four top shoulders and four feet, said feet of said frame being conformed to be stackable on corresponding said shoulders of another frame; and wherein said frame, proximate one or more said top or bottom corner thereof, comprises a retractable arm arrangement; wherein said frame further comprises, proximate at least one said top or bottom corner thereof, a claw arrangement; said retractable arm arrangement being configured to fixingly engage a corresponding claw arrangement at an adjacent similar frame in a stacked arrangement of the frames.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A transport frame having a longitudinal, lateral and upright extent, and being configured for receiving a tip or root portion of a longitudinally extending wind turbine blade, said transport frame being stackable with an adjacent transport frame, said transport frame comprising:
-
four upright frame struts which together define a generally cuboid internal space having a longitudinal extent between two pairs of said upright struts; a tip or root saddle assembly comprising a saddle with a support surface shaped to receive a respective blade root or tip, the tip or root saddle assembly being disposed within the generally cuboid internal space; four top shoulders and four feet, said feet configured to be stackable on corresponding said shoulders of the adjacent transport frame; a retractable arm arrangement proximate one or more top or bottom corner of the transport frame, the retractable arm arrangement having a retractable arm pivotably coupled to the top or bottom corners, the retractable arm having a tensioner coupled to the retractable arm, and the retractable arm being pivotable between a retracted position and an engaged position; and a claw arrangement with a fixed claw proximate at least one top or bottom corner of the transport frame; wherein when the retractable arm is in the retracted position, said tensioner is configured to selectively retain the retractable arm in the retracted position, and wherein when the retractable arm is in the engaged position and the transport frame and the adjacent transport frame are in a stacked arrangement, the tensioner is configured to selectively fixingly engage a fixed claw of a claw arrangement on the adjacent transport frame to thereby secure the transport frame to the adjacent transport frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A stack of wind turbine transport frames, each transport frame in said stack comprising:
-
four upright frame struts which together define a generally cuboid internal space having a longitudinal extent between two pairs of said upright struts; a tip or root saddle assembly comprising a saddle with a support surface shaped to receive a respective blade root or tip, the tip or root saddle assembly being disposed within the generally cuboid internal space; four top shoulders and four feet, the feet configured to be stackable on the corresponding shoulders of an adjacent transport frame, wherein two or more or each of the shoulders has an upwardly protruding locating finger with a height above the shoulder, and wherein each finger is provided with a lifting aperture configured as a load bearing lifting point; a retractable arm arrangement proximate one or more top or bottom corner of the transport frame, retractable arm arrangement having a retractable arm pivotably coupled to the top or bottom corners, the retractable arm having a tensioner rotatably coupled to the retractable arm, the retractable arm being pivotable between a retracted position and an engaged position; and a claw arrangement with a fixed claw proximate at least one top or bottom corner of the transport frame; wherein the retractable arm of one of the transport frames is in the engaged position to fixedly engage the fixed claw of an immediately adjacent transport frame such that each transport frame in the stack is interconnected to an immediately adjacent transport frame; and wherein the stacked transport frames are configured to be lifted from the lifting aperture of the topmost transport frame of the stacked transport frames and the lower transport frames in the stack are suspended from and lifted by the transport frame immediately above it.
-
-
16. A transport frame having a longitudinal, lateral and upright extent, and being configured for receiving a tip or root portion of a longitudinally extending wind turbine blade, said transport frame being stackable with an adjacent transport frame, said transport frame comprising:
-
four upright frame struts which together define a generally cuboid internal space having a longitudinal extent between two pairs of said upright struts; a tip or root saddle assembly comprising a saddle with a support surface shaped to receive a respective blade root or tip, the tip or root saddle assembly being disposed within the generally cuboid internal space; four top shoulders and four feet, said feet configured to be stackable on corresponding said shoulders of the adjacent transport frame; a retractable arm arrangement proximate one or more top or bottom corner of the transport frame, the retractable arm arrangement having a retractable arm, the retractable arm having first and second spaced apart plates forming a cavity therebetween, one end of the first and second plates being pivotably coupled to the top or bottom corners, the retractable arm having a tensioner rotatably mounted to the other end of the first and second plates, the retractable arm being pivotable between a retracted position and an engaged position; and a claw arrangement with a fixed claw proximate at least one said top or bottom corner of the transport frame, the fixed claw sized to fit within the cavity when the retractable arm is in the engaged position; wherein said tensioner is configured to fixingly engage a fixed claw of a claw arrangement on the adjacent transport frame in a stacked arrangement of the transport frames when the retractable arm is in the engaged position to thereby secure one transport frame to the adjacent transport frame.
-
Specification