Apparatus and method in connection with crane sheave

1. An apparatus for collecting energy in connection with a sheave system in a hoisting apparatus provided with a sheave system, the apparatus comprising:

at least one generator comprising a rotor and at least one stator;

wherein the rotor is connected rigidly to a sheave of the sheave system, and said at least one stator is connected rigidly to the sheave system such that when the load of the hoisting apparatus is rising or lowering, said at least one sheave rotates, whereby the rotor rotates simultaneously but the stator does not rotate, whereby electric energy is induced in the stator;

electric energy storage;

means for modifying the electric energy induced in the stator and for storing it in the electric energy storage; and

means for supplying energy from the electric energy storage to at least one consumption device,

wherein said at least one generator comprises rotor magnets positioned on several concentric rims in such a way that magnets positioned on different rims induce electric energy in the stator at different phases of the rotation movement of the sheave.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one generator is two-sided in such a way that one rotor magnetizes two stators.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a separate generator is connected to each of the several sheaves.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the separate generators produce different rotation resistances.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the separate generators comprise a first generator and a second generator, of which the second generator has greater power output and rotation resistance than the first generator, and the apparatus further comprises selection means extracting power from the first generator to activate the second generator if the friction depending on the mass of the load allows it.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein at least one of the following pieces of data is used for activating the second generator: there is no slip between the rope and the sheave; the speed of the sheave; the torque of the sheave; and the weighing data on the load.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a solar panel and/or a wind generator for charging the electric storage irrespective of the movement of the sheave system.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising means for supplying energy from the electric energy storage to several consumption devices, and further comprising means for dividing said several consumption devices into several priority categories in such a way that when the energy storage is exhausted, the current supply of lower priority categories is restricted or completely prevented.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising at least one of the following energy consumption devices: sound signal device, warning light, working light, acceleration sensor, weighting sensor, mobile phone, camera, communications device, charging plug for an electric appliance, display, user interface, data collector.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising at least three weighting sensors for determining the weight of a load, wherein said at least three weighting sensors delimit a polygon inside which there remains a suspending point of a load-fixing means.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising protection means for preventing impurities from passing to an air gap between the rotor and at least one stator.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the protection means are arranged to prevent impurities from passing from the bearings on the axis of revolution of the sheave system to the air gap between the rotor and at least one stator.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , which further comprises transmission installed between the sheave and the generator in such a way that the rotation speed of the generator is greater than that of the sheave.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , which further comprises mechanical energy storage installed between the sheave and the generator and arranged to receive and store mechanical energy from several movements of the sheave and to supply stored mechanical energy to the generator in batches greater than a threshold value.

15. A method for collecting energy in connection with a sheave system in a hoisting apparatus provided with a sheave system, the method comprising:

generating electric energy by the movement of the sheave system with at least one generator comprising a rotor and at least one stator;

wherein the rotor is connected rigidly to a sheave of the sheave system, and said at least one stator is connected rigidly to the sheave system such that when the load of the hoisting apparatus is rising or lowering, said at least one sheave rotates, whereby the rotor rotates simultaneously but the stator does not rotate, whereby electric energy is induced in the stator;

modifying electric energy induced in the stator and storing it in electric energy storage; and

supplying electric energy stored in the electric energy storage to at least one consumption device,

wherein said at least one generator comprises rotor magnets positioned on several concentric rims in such a way that magnets positioned on different rims induce electric energy in the stator at different phases of the rotation movement of the sheave.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one generator comprises an axial flux generator where the magnetic flux of the rotor is directed in a direction of the axis of revolution of the sheave system.