Systems and Apparatus for Winch Drum Mechanism

摘要

Wind energy systems, such as an Airborne Wind Turbine (“AWT”), may be used to facilitate conversion of kinetic energy to electrical energy. An AWT may include an aerial vehicle that flies in a path to convert kinetic wind energy to electrical energy. The aerial vehicle may be tethered to a ground station via a tether that terminates at a tether termination mount. In one aspect, the ground station may have a motor that may be used, for example, as a winch motor to turn the drum to assist in deployment and/or refraction of the tether and AWT. It may be desirable to be able to switch from an engaged and disengaged condition of the motor. For example, it may be desirable to disengage the motor to help reduce wear on the drivetrain and/or to help reduce loads on the drivetrain.

主权项

1. A winch drum assembly, comprising:
a base platform; a support bracket coupled to the base platform; a winch drum rotatably coupled to the support bracket via a drive shaft, wherein the winch drum acts as a rotational load on the drive shaft; a tether with a first end coupled to the winch drum, wherein the tether is configured to be wound or unwound from about the winch drum as the winch drum rotates; a drivetrain coupled to the drive shaft; a motor comprising:
a motor drive;a motor output shaft coupled to the drivetrain; anda motor housing including at least one protrusion, wherein the motor housing is configured to rotate about the motor output shaft and relative to the support bracket; and a stop block located in proximity to the motor housing such that rotation of the motor housing in a first direction causes the at least one protrusion to contact the stop block and prevent further rotation of the motor housing about the motor output shaft in the first direction.