IP Library Granted Patent US 9,151,820
Granted Patent B2
US 9,151,820 · App. 13/878,895 · Granted Oct 6, 2015

Laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device

Inventor: Qiming Xu (Shaanxi, CN)
G01S3/7861F24J2/5413F24J2002/5465F24J2002/5486Y02E10/47
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,151,820
App. No.
13/878,895
Granted
Oct 6, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed is a laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device. The upper ends of two support posts are fastened to a north-south rotary shaft via which a sunlight collector rack is connected to the support posts. A light intensity signal collector is mounted on the top surface of the sunlight collector rack. A worm gear transmission mechanism and a controller are disposed at the lower portions of the two support posts, wherein output torque from the worm gear transmission mechanism is borne by a lift rod. A telescopic sleeve is disposed outside the lift rod and a hinge ring is provided on the outer upper end of the lift rod. The lift rod is fastened to an edge of the sunlight collector rack via a thrust bearing and a joint bearing. The lower end of the lift rod is arranged in an oil sump.

Claims (8)

1. A laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device, comprising a light intensity signal collector ( 1 ), a sunlight collector rack ( 2 ), a main support post ( 4 ), an auxiliary support post ( 13 ), a lift rod ( 6 ), a sleeve ( 5 ), a worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ), a step motor ( 12 ), a controller ( 8 ), a T-shaped base ( 11 ) and an oil sump ( 10 ), characterized in that the upper ends of the main support post ( 4 ) and the auxiliary support post ( 13 ) are respectively fastened to a north-south rotary shaft ( 3 ) of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ), the lower ends of the main support post ( 4 ) and the auxiliary support post ( 13 ) are fixed to the ground via the base ( 11 ), the light intensity signal collector ( 1 ) is mounted on the top surface of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ), the lift rod ( 6 ) is disposed between one side of the north-south rotary shaft ( 3 ) of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) and an edge of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) in a north-south axial direction, the lift rod ( 6 ) is fastened to the bottom surface of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) and is concentrically arranged with a worm gear of the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) and passes through the center of the worm gear, wherein a telescopic sleeve ( 5 ) is disposed outside the lift rod ( 6 ) above the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) to enclose the lift rod ( 6 ) within the sleeve ( 5 ), the lift rod ( 6 ) below the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) is arranged in the oil sump ( 10 ), the bottom surface of the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) is fixed to the ground via the base ( 11 ), and the step motor ( 12 ) is mounted outside the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) and is connected to the controller ( 8 ) via a power source and control signal cable ( 9 ).

2. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the upper ends of the main support post ( 4 ) and the auxiliary support post ( 13 ) are fastened to the north-south rotary shaft ( 3 ) of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) respectively via a joint bearing and a pressure bearing and the lift rod ( 6 ) is fastened to the bottom surface of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) via a thrust bearing ( 21 ) and a joint bearing ( 22 ) so that the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) forms a three-point fastening structure or a point-line fastening structure with the main support post ( 4 ), the auxiliary support post ( 13 ) and the lift rod ( 6 ).

3. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the upper end of the lift rod ( 6 ) is fastened to the bottom surface of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ), and the sole immobile point during swing of the lift rod ( 6 ) is an intersection between the lift rod ( 6 ) and the bottom surface of the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) and the base ( 11 ) when the lift rod ( 6 ) passes through the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ), the intersection being directly fixed to the ground.

4. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that an external thread ( 14 ) mating with an internal thread in the center of the worm gear of the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) is provided on the outer surface of the lift rod ( 6 ) for bearing output torque from the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ), the telescopic sleeve ( 5 ) disposed outside the lift rod ( 6 ) above the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) is formed by an upper sleeve ( 16 ), an intermediate sleeve ( 17 ) and a lower sleeve ( 18 ) having sequentially decreased radii from the top to the bottom of the sleeve, wherein the intermediate sleeve ( 17 ) is designed as one or more segments according to a user's requirements, and the sleeve ( 5 ) is provided with a fastening flange ( 15 ) at the upper end thereof and a fastening flange ( 19 ) at the lower end thereof.

5. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the bottom surface of the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) is fastened to the base ( 11 ) via a double spherical bearing ( 24 ), and the lift rod ( 6 ) passes through the center of the double spherical bearing ( 24 ) so that the double spherical bearing ( 24 ) can freely swing in a horizontal plane with the lift rod ( 6 ).

6. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the worm gear transmission mechanism ( 7 ) comprises a gear set and a worm gearing system, the controller ( 8 ) comprises a microprocessor, driving torque and rotational speed of the step motor ( 12 ) is controlled by a program stored in the microprocessor which also stores sun travelling position information, and the controller ( 8 ) is provided with an on/off button, an anti-windstorm button and an anti-hail button on a panel thereof.

7. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the light intensity signal collector ( 1 ) is a photoelectric receiving device for converting light intensity signals of the sun into electrical signals so as to control on/off of the device and correct solar tracking errors via the controller ( 8 ).

8. The laterally-adjusted automatic solar tracking device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the north-south rotary shaft ( 3 ) of the sunlight collector rack ( 2 ) is within a vertical plane of the north-south polar axis of the earth.

Priority Claims (1)
CN 2010 1 0503502 · Oct 12, 2010 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20130256506A1 · Oct 3, 2013