Rope transmission structure, solar energy tracker and application method thereof

Disclosed are a rope transmission structure, a solar energy tracker and the application method thereof, relating to the technical field of solar power generation. The rope transmission structure includes a driving wheel, a driven wheel, a main transmission rope and a plurality of tracking units. The main transmission rope is connected end to end, and one end of the main transmission rope is sleeved on the driving wheel and the other end thereof is sleeved on the driven wheel. The plurality of tracking units are provided at intervals along a lengthwise direction of the main transmission rope. A rotating member is hinged on a mounting bracket, and one end of a first branch rope is connected to the rotating member and the other end thereof is connected to the main transmission rope.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a national stage application of PCT/CN2019/097849 filed on Jul. 26, 2019, which claims the priority to the Chinese patent application with the filing No. 201811220221.4, filed on Oct. 19, 2018 with the Chinese Patent Office, and entitled “Rope Transmission Structure and Solar Energy Tracker”, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of solar power generation, and in particular, to a rope transmission structure, a solar energy tracker, and an application method thereof.

BACKGROUND ART

The solar energy tracking system is a mechanical and electronic control unit system that can automatically rotate with the movement of the sun in the process of photothermal and photovoltaic power generation, so that rays of the sunlight can be sufficiently irradiated on a solar cell panel at any time, thus improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency, and increasing the overall power generation amount.

The current solar energy tracking systems have a higher construction cost.

SUMMARY

Objectives of the present disclosure include providing a rope transmission structure, which is simple in structure, can simultaneously drive a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays to rotate, and has a low cost, and strong practicability.

Another objective of the present disclosure includes providing a solar energy tracker, which has a simple structure, is ultra-long, and can simultaneously drive a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays to rotate, thus reducing the construction cost and the cleaning cost, and having strong practicability and high cost performance.

The present disclosure may be realized by adopting the following technical solution.

A rope transmission structure, including a driving wheel, a driven wheel, a main transmission rope, and a plurality of tracking units (which may also be called as track units), wherein the main transmission rope is connected end to end, one end of the main transmission rope is sleeved on the driving wheel, and the other end thereof is sleeved on the driven wheel, the driving wheel is capable of driving the driven wheel to rotate through the main transmission rope, the plurality of tracking units are provided at intervals along a length direction of the main transmission rope, the tracking unit includes a mounting bracket, a rotating member, and a first branch rope, the rotating member is hinged on the mounting bracket, a plane where a rotation direction of the rotating member is located is perpendicular to a plane where a rotation direction of the driving wheel is located, the first branch rope has one end connected to the rotating member, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope, and the first branch rope is capable of driving the rotating member to rotate when the driving wheel rotates.

Optionally, the rotating member includes an arc-shaped strip and a mounting strip, the arc-shaped strip is provided with a first end portion and a second end portion opposite to each other, the first end portion and the second end portion are both fixedly connected to the mounting strip, the mounting strip is hinged to the mounting bracket, and the first branch rope is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip facing away from the mounting strip, and one end of the first branch rope is connected to the first end portion.

Optionally, the main transmission rope is provided at a bottom portion of the arc-shaped strip, and the main transmission rope is located on a plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member is located.

Optionally, the tracking unit further includes a second branch rope, the second branch rope is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip facing away from the mounting strip, and the second branch rope is provided intersected with the first branch rope, the second branch rope has one end connected to the main transmission rope, and the other end connected to the second end portion; the main transmission rope includes two half rings, wherein one half ring is located on one side of the connecting line between the driving wheel and the driven wheel, the other half ring is located on the other side of the connecting line between the driving wheel and the driven wheel; a connecting part between the first branch rope and the main transmission rope and a connecting part between the second branch rope and the main transmission rope are located on the same half ring, and this half ring is coplanar with the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member is located.

Optionally, the mounting bracket includes a hinge frame body, a fixing arm, and a fixing post, there are two fixing arms, the two fixing arms are both connected between the fixing post and the hinge frame body, and the two fixing arms are provided opposite to each other on two sides of the hinge frame body, the hinge frame body, the fixing post, and the two fixing arms form a limiting hole, the mounting strip is hinged with the hinge frame body, and the arc-shaped strip passes through the limiting hole.

Optionally, the hinge frame body includes a connecting arm and two hinge arms, the two hinge arms are both fixedly connected to the connecting arm and provided at the two sides of the connecting arm opposite to each other; and the mounting strip is provided between the two hinge arms, and is hinged with the two hinge arms by a hinge member.

Optionally, the tracking unit further includes a first fixed pulley, the first fixed pulley is mounted on the mounting bracket, a length direction of the main transmission rope is perpendicular to the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member is located, and the first branch rope winds the first fixed pulley and is connected to the main transmission rope.

Optionally, the tracking unit further includes a second fixed pulley and a third branch rope, the second fixed pulley is mounted to the mounting bracket, and is provided opposite to the first fixed pulley, the third branch rope is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip facing away from the mounting strip, and provided intersected with the first branch rope, one end of the third branch rope is connected to the second end portion, and the other end winds the second fixed pulley and is connected to the main transmission rope.

Optionally, a fixing frame is mounted on the mounting bracket, a length direction of the fixing frame is perpendicular to the length direction of the main transmission rope, and one end of the fixing frame facing away from the first end portion is pivotally connected to the first pulley to form the first fixed pulley; and one end of the fixing frame facing away from the second end portion is pivotally connected to a second pulley to form the second fixed pulley.

Optionally, a guide block is further provided at two ends of the fixing frame, each of the guide blocks is provided with a guide hole, and the main transmission rope is slidably penetrated through the guide hole.

Optionally, a first limiting groove and a second limiting groove is provided on the arc-shaped strip, a portion of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip is embedded in the first limiting groove, and a portion of the third branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip is embedded in the second limiting groove.

Optionally, the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove both extend along the length direction of the arc-shaped strip, and the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove are provided at intervals.

Optionally, the first fixed pulley and the second fixed pulley are both provided in a closed area formed by the main transmission rope, and a plane where a rotation direction of the first fixed pulley is located, a plane where a rotation direction of the second fixed pulley is located, and the plane where the rotation direction of the driving wheel is located are all the same plane.

Optionally, the main transmission rope is fixedly connected to the driving wheel.

Another objective of the present disclosure includes providing an application method, configured to use the above rope transmission structure, wherein operation steps include:fixing the driving wheel, the driven wheel, and the mounting bracket, wherein parts of the first branch rope and the second branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip jointly cover the whole arc-shaped strip; andcontrolling the driving wheel to rotate, wherein the driving wheel drives the main transmission rope to achieve transmission, when the driving wheel is in a first driving direction, the main transmission rope pulls the first branch rope to rotate synchronously therewith, the first branch rope pulls the arc-shaped strip to rotate around a hinge between the mounting strip and the mounting bracket, length of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip decreases, and meanwhile, length of the second branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip increases;alternatively, when the driving wheel is in a second driving direction, the main transmission rope pulls the second branch rope to rotate synchronously therewith, the second branch rope pulls the arc-shaped strip to rotate around a hinge between the mounting strip and the mounting bracket, length of the second branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip decreases, and meanwhile, length of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip increases.

A further objective of the present disclosure includes providing an application method, configured to use the above rope transmission structure, and operation steps include:fixing the driving wheel, the driven wheel, and the mounting bracket, wherein parts of the first branch rope and the third branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip jointly cover the whole arc-shaped strip; andcontrolling the driving wheel to rotate, wherein the driving wheel drives the main transmission rope to achieve transmission, when the driving wheel is in a first driving direction, the main transmission rope pulls the first branch rope to rotate synchronously therewith, the first branch rope pulls the arc-shaped strip to rotate around a hinge between the mounting strip and the mounting bracket, length of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip decreases, and meanwhile, length of the third branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip increases;alternatively, when the driving wheel is in a second driving direction, the main transmission rope pulls the third branch rope to rotate synchronously therewith, the third branch rope pulls the arc-shaped strip to rotate around a hinge between the mounting strip and the mounting bracket, length of the third branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip decreases, and meanwhile, length of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip increases.

The present disclosure further provides a solar energy tracker, including a rope transmission structure and a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays, wherein the rope transmission structure includes a driving wheel, a driven wheel, a main transmission rope, and a plurality of tracking units, the main transmission rope is connected end to end, one end of the main transmission rope is sleeved on the driving wheel, and the other end thereof is sleeved on the driven wheel, the driving wheel is capable of driving the driven wheel to rotate through the main transmission rope, the plurality of tracking units are provided at intervals along a length direction of the main transmission rope, the tracking unit includes a mounting bracket, a rotating member, and a first branch rope, each of the photovoltaic assembly arrays is mounted on at least one of the rotating members, the rotating member is hinged on the mounting bracket, a plane where a rotation direction of the rotating member is located is perpendicular to a plane where a rotation direction of the driving wheel is located, the first branch rope has one end connected to the rotating member, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope, and the first branch rope is capable of driving the rotating member to rotate when the driving wheel rotates.

Optionally, each of the photovoltaic assembly arrays is mounted on two of the rotating members.

Optionally, there are a plurality of rope transmission structures, the plurality of rope transmission structures extend along a length direction of one main transmission rope therein, and the photovoltaic assembly arrays mounted on two adjacent rope transmission structures are continuously provided.

The rope transmission structure and the solar energy tracker provided in the present disclosure at least include the following beneficial effects:

For the rope transmission structure provided in the present disclosure, the main transmission rope is connected end to end, one end of the main transmission rope is sleeved on the driving wheel, and the other end thereof is sleeved on the driven wheel, the driving wheel is capable of driving the driven wheel to rotate through the main transmission rope, the plurality of tracking units are provided at intervals along a length direction of the main transmission rope, the tracking unit includes a mounting bracket, a rotating member, and a first branch rope, the rotating member is hinged on the mounting bracket, a plane where a rotation direction of the rotating member is located is perpendicular to a plane where a rotation direction of the driving wheel is located, the first branch rope has one end connected to the rotating member, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope, and the first branch rope is capable of driving the rotating member to rotate when the driving wheel rotates. Compared with the prior art, as the rope transmission structure provided in the present disclosure adopts the main transmission rope sleeved outside the driving wheel and the driven wheel and the first branch rope connected between the main transmission rope and the rotating member, the length from the driving wheel to the driven wheel is ultra-long, then a plurality of rotating members can be simultaneously driven to rotate, thus reducing the construction cost and the cleaning cost, and having strong practicability.

The solar energy tracker provided in the present disclosure, including the rope transmission structure, has a simple structure, and ultra-long length from the driving wheel to the driven wheel, and can simultaneously drive a plurality of rotating members to rotate, thus reducing the construction cost and the cleaning cost, and having strong practicability, and high cost performance.

REFERENCE SIGNS

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to make objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and apparently, some but not all embodiments of the present disclosure are described. Generally, components in the embodiments of the present disclosure, as described and shown in the accompanying drawings herein, may be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

Therefore, the detailed description below of the embodiments of the present disclosure provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure claimed, but merely illustrates chosen embodiments of the present disclosure. All of other embodiments obtained by those ordinarily skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present disclosure without using any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that similar reference signs and letters represent similar items in the following accompanying drawings, therefore, once a certain item is defined in one accompanying drawing, it is not needed to be further defined or explained in subsequent accompanying drawings.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be indicated that orientation or positional relationships indicated by terms such as “inner”, “outer”, “upper”, “lower”, “horizontal”, and “vertical” are based on orientation or positional relationships as shown in the drawings, or orientation or positional relationships of a product of the present disclosure when being conventionally placed in use, merely for facilitating describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or suggesting that related devices or elements have to be in the specific orientation or configured and operated in a specific orientation, therefore, they should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. Besides, terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are merely for distinctive description, but should not be construed as indicating or implying importance in the relativity.

In the description of the present disclosure, it should be further illustrated that, unless otherwise specifically regulated and defined, the terms “set”, “join”, “mount”, and “connect” should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be fixed connection, detachable connection, or integrated connection; it may be mechanical connection or electrical connection; it may be direct joining or indirect joining through an intermediary, and it also may be inner communication between two elements. For those ordinarily skilled in the art, specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in the present disclosure could be understood according to specific circumstances.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below in combination with the drawings. The features in the following embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

Referring toFIG.1, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solar energy tracker10for tracking the sun motion in real time and performing photovoltaic power generation. The solar energy tracker has a simple structure, is ultra-long, and can simultaneously drive a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays to rotate, thus reducing the construction cost and the cleaning cost, and having strong practicability and high cost performance. The solar energy tracker10includes a rope transmission structure100and a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays200. The plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays200are all mounted on the rope transmission structure100, the rope transmission structure100simultaneously drives the plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays200to rotate with the sun, and the photovoltaic assembly arrays200are configured to absorb solar energy and generate power. In the present embodiment, the rope transmission structure100is ultra-long, and the number of photovoltaic assembly arrays200mounted on the rope transmission structure100is also large, which not only can improve the power generation efficiency, but also can reduce the construction cost and the cleaning cost, thus having high cost performance.

Specifically, referring toFIG.2, the rope transmission structure100includes a driving wheel110, a driven wheel120, a main transmission rope130, and a plurality of tracking units140, wherein the main transmission rope130is connected end to end, so as to form a closed ring shape, one end of the main transmission rope130is sleeved on the driving wheel110, and the other end thereof is sleeved on the driven wheel120, and the driving wheel110can drive the driven wheel120to rotate through the main transmission rope130. The plurality of tracking units140are provided at intervals along a length direction of the main transmission rope130, wherein the length direction of the main transmission rope130is just the direction where a connecting line of the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120is located, each photovoltaic assembly array200is mounted on at least one tracking unit140, the tracking unit140is connected to the main transmission rope130, and the tracking units140rotate under the driving of the main transmission rope130, so as to drive the photovoltaic assembly arrays200to rotate, to realize the function of tracking the sun motion.

In use, mounting brackets141of the plurality of tracking units140, the driving wheel110, and the driven wheel120of the rope transmission structure100are fixed on the ground (other seats or bases etc. are also feasible), and the main transmission rope130is sleeved between the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120, and is in a tensioned state; a driving device is connected on the driving wheel110, the driving device drives the driving wheel110to rotate, the driving wheel110drives the main transmission rope130to rotate around the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120, the main transmission rope130synchronously pulls a first branch rope143to be displaced synchronously therewith, the first branch rope143correspondingly pulls a rotating member142to rotate about a hinge between the rotating member142and the mounting bracket141, the rotating member142correspondingly drives the photovoltaic assembly array200to rotate, so that the photovoltaic assembly array200is always directed toward the sun, thus improving the absorption efficiency of the solar energy; and the main transmission rope synchronously transmits multiple first branch ropes, thereby achieving synchronous driving to a plurality of photovoltaic assembly arrays. In the above, by changing the driving device's driving to a rotation direction of the driving wheel110, a displacement direction of the main transmission rope130can be changed, the rotation directions of the rotating member142and the photovoltaic assembly array200are correspondingly changed by the first branch rope143, and an angular rotation range of the photovoltaic assembly array200is enlarged, so that it can be always directed to the sun and absorb the solar energy with higher efficiency. Specifically, the driving device may select a motor.

In the above solar energy tracker, firstly, a single first branch rope143correspondingly drives one rotating member142to rotate, and each photovoltaic assembly array200is supported by a small number of tracking units. Taking one photovoltaic assembly array200and the tracking units140supporting the same as one sub-unit, the whole solar energy tracker may be divided into a plurality of sub-units. During installation, normal rotation of the photovoltaic assembly array200in a sub-unit may be realized just by ensuring that the hinges of the tracking units140in the single sub-unit are coaxially arranged, while relative positions between the hinges of the tracking units of different sub-units do not need to be limited. Specifically, when each photovoltaic assembly array200is mounted to one tracking unit140, one tracking unit140correspondingly supports one photovoltaic assembly array, and when fixing the mounting brackets141, relative positions and heights etc. between different mounting brackets141do not need to be limited, but only the first branch rope143needs to be in a tensioned state by adjusting the connection position between the first branch rope143and the main transmission rope130; for another example, when each photovoltaic assembly array is mounted to two tracking units, the two tracking units140support the photovoltaic assembly array200at different parts, in this case, it is necessary to ensure that the hinges of the two tracking units are coaxially arranged, so as to realize synchronous driving of the two tracking units to the photovoltaic assembly array, thereby improving the support stability to the photovoltaic assembly array, and ensuring the rotation stability of the photovoltaic assembly array.

In the existing solar energy trackers, however, a plurality of vertical posts are generally synchronously driven by a rigid shaft, a plurality of photovoltaic assemblies form a relatively long photovoltaic assembly array through an array, the photovoltaic assembly array is fixed on a plurality of vertical posts along the length direction thereof, that is, one rigid shaft drives one photovoltaic assembly array to rotate by driving a plurality of vertical posts to rotate synchronously, a plurality of vertical posts corresponding to one rigid shaft and one relatively long photovoltaic assembly array are one sub-unit (for example, one rigid shaft synchronously rotates ten vertical posts, and one relatively long photovoltaic assembly array is fixed on the ten vertical posts, then in the prior art, one rigid shaft, one photovoltaic assembly array, and ten vertical posts are one sub-unit; but in the present disclosure, five photovoltaic assembly arrays are provided in a single rope transmission structure (with the same scale, it may be assumed that continuously arranged length of five photovoltaic assembly arrays of the present disclosure is approximately equal to the length of one photovoltaic assembly array in the prior art), each photovoltaic assembly array is supported by two mounting brackets, then one photovoltaic assembly array and two corresponding mounting brackets thereof are one sub-unit), a large number of vertical posts in one sub-unit need to be coaxially arranged so as to realize synchronous driving of the rigid shaft to the vertical posts, but the mounting ground surface has different topographies, then the mounting is difficult, and the coaxiality of the vertical posts is hard to be ensured. Compared with the prior art, when the system scales are the same, the present disclosure further reduces the sub-unit, and a relatively small number of or even no mounting brackets need to be coaxially provided, thereby reducing the mounting position accuracy of the mounting brackets in the mounting, correspondingly reducing the construction cost, and improving the mounting convenience.

It should be noted that the term “photovoltaic assembly array” in the text refers to a panel body formed by arranging a plurality of photovoltaic assemblies in the form of an array with a relatively large area and capable of absorbing solar energy, and specifically, a suitable number of photovoltaic assemblies may be selected to be arrayed according to practical needs, for example, 15˜20 photovoltaic assemblies may be selected to be arrayed to obtain one photovoltaic assembly array.

Secondly, the main transmission rope130of the present disclosure drives the rotational movement of the rotating member through the first branch rope143, and there is no direct connection between the mounting bracket and the main transmission rope. As the first branch rope143is a flexible member capable of deformation, a horizontal distance or a height difference etc. between the hinge between the rotating member142and the mounting bracket141and the main transmission rope130may be compensated by the first branch rope, that is, the mounting height, position etc. of the mounting bracket on the ground surface do not affect normal use thereof, therefore, a plurality of tracking units of the same model may be selected for use, and the mounting bracket thereof may be directly fixed on the ground surface according to the topography. However, in the existing solar energy trackers, a plurality of vertical posts are usually driven by one rigid shaft to synchronously rotate, and the mounting brackets of different lengths need to be selected for the vertical posts according to various topographies, so as to ensure that when the vertical posts are fixed on the ground surface, the hinge of the vertical posts are consistent with the rigid shaft in height and are connected together, thereby realizing synchronous driving of the rigid shaft to the plurality of vertical posts. Compared with the prior art, the rope transmission structure of the present disclosure may use the tracking units of the same model, which can implement mass production of the tracking units, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the rope transmission structure; in addition, in mounting, the installation personnel may directly fix the tracking units without identifying the length of the mounting bracket, thus reducing the mounting difficulty, further improving the mounting convenience of the rope transmission structure, and reducing the mounting cost.

Thirdly, in the existing solar energy trackers, a plurality of rigid shafts are continuously provided, a bending angle between adjacent rigid shafts is large due to the influence of uneven topographies, and correspondingly, the photovoltaic assembly arrays at end portions of adjacent rigid shafts are connected in a separating manner. When cleaning the photovoltaic assembly arrays, a cleaning robot can only continuously clean the photovoltaic assembly arrays on a single rigid shaft, and when the cleaning robot cleans the end portion of the rigid shaft, the cleaning robot cannot continuously reach the next photovoltaic assembly array, then the cleaning robot needs to be carried manually or by a dedicated carrying device to the next photovoltaic assembly array. When the solar energy tracker of the present disclosure includes a plurality of rope transmission structures, the tracking units of the plurality of rope transmission structures are provided according to the topographies, the photovoltaic assembly arrays supported by the plurality of tracking units are also continuously arranged in correspondence with the continuity of the ground surface, then when the photovoltaic assembly arrays need to be cleaned, the cleaning robot can continuously clean the entire row of photovoltaic assembly arrays from one end, without interruption to carry the robot in the middle, thereby improving the cleaning convenience of the solar energy tracker, and reducing the cleaning cost.

Optionally, there may be a plurality of rope transmission structures, and the plurality of rope transmission structures extend along a length direction of one main transmission rope therein, and the photovoltaic assembly arrays mounted on two adjacent rope transmission structures are continuously provided. Each rope transmission structure is corresponding to one driving device, and in use, a plurality of driving devices drive corresponding driving wheels to rotate, respectively, so as to realize synchronous rotation of all photovoltaic assembly arrays. Specifically, the driving wheel and the driven wheel of each rope transmission structure may be correspondingly mounted on one fixing pile, and the distance between two fixing piles adjacent to each other in the adjacent rope transmission structures may be 1.5 times the diameter of the driving wheel or the driven wheel; or one fixing pile may be provided at the position where the adjacent rope transmission structures are connected, the driven wheel of the previous rope transmission structure and the driving wheel of the next rope transmission structure share one fixing pile, and they are vertically provided on the fixing pile.

In addition to the above forms, optionally, as shown inFIG.5, there may be a plurality of rope transmission structures in the solar energy tracker, the plurality of rope transmission structures extend along the length direction of one main transmission structure therein, and in the two adjacent rope transmission structures, the driven wheel of the rope transmission structure at a transmission front end is used as the driving wheel of the rope transmission structure at a transmission rear end. A plurality of rope transmission structures are continuously provided in a belt shape according to the topographies and perform multi-stage transmission, and along the transmission direction, a plurality of rope transmission mechanisms are a first stage, a second stage, a third stage, etc. respectively; in the above, a wheel body at the transmission front end of a first-stage rope transmission mechanism, as a driving wheel, is connected to the driving device, and along the transmission direction, a subsequent wheel body simultaneously serves as a driven wheel of the previous-stage rope transmission structure and a driving wheel of a next-stage rope transmission structure, that is, the driving wheel rotates under the driving of the driving device, the driving wheel drives the first-stage driven wheel to rotate through the first-stage main transmission rope, the first-stage driven wheel, while rotating, simultaneously serves as a second-stage driving wheel to drive the second-stage main transmission rope to achieve transmission, thus transmitting backwards, and realizing synchronous driving of one driving device to a plurality of rope transmission structures, which not only improves the driving synchronization of a plurality of rope transmission structures to the photovoltaic assembly arrays, but also simplifies the structure of the solar energy tracker; in addition, the number of photovoltaic assembly arrays that can be synchronously driven in the above solar energy tracker is relatively large, and correspondingly, the conversion amount of the solar energy is relatively large.

As shown inFIG.5, the solar energy tracker includes two rope transmission structures, each rope transmission structure includes four tracking units, each two tracking units are fixed and made into one photovoltaic assembly array, then there are four photovoltaic assembly arrays in the solar energy tracker arranged continuously under the transmission of the rope transmission structure and rotating synchronously.

Optionally, in the present embodiment, the main transmission rope130may be fixedly connected to the driving wheel110. When the driving device drives the driving wheel110to rotate, the driving wheel110can drive the main transmission rope130to move synchronously therewith, thereby ensuring the driving of the driving wheel110to the main transmission rope130, reducing occurrence of the situation that the main transmission rope cannot effectively drive the rotating member and the photovoltaic assembly arrays due to slipping between the main transmission rope130and the driving wheel, and correspondingly ensuring the stable operation of the solar energy tracker. Specifically, one end of the main transmission rope130may pass through the inside of the driving wheel110, and is fixed with a rope buckle or a U-shaped screw, so as to prevent displacement of the main transmission rope130relative to the driving wheel110, in this way, the displacement amount of the main transmission rope130is limited, the driving wheel110can drive the main transmission rope130to reciprocate within the range of displacement amount, thus driving the tracking unit140to rotate around the sun or revolve to reset. The user controls the driving wheel110to rotate through a driving motor, and the driving wheel110drives the main transmission rope130to move, thereby driving the driven wheel120to rotate.

Optionally, the rotating member142may include an arc-shaped strip144and a mounting strip145, the arc-shaped strip144is provided with a first end portion146and a second end portion147opposite to each other, the first end portion146and the second end portion147are both fixedly connected to the mounting strip145, the arc-shaped strip144and the mounting strip145are combined to form an arc shape; the mounting strip145is hinged to the mounting bracket141, and the first branch rope143is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip144facing away from the mounting strip145, and one end of the first branch rope143is connected to the first end portion146. Here is a specific form of the tracking unit. The photovoltaic assembly array200is mounted on the mounting strip145, the mounting strip145is hinged to the mounting bracket141, and the mounting strip145can rotate relative to the mounting bracket141. Specifically, a hinge point between the mounting strip145and the mounting bracket141is located at a central position of the first end portion146and the second end portion147. The first branch rope143is fitted a side of the arc-shaped strip144away from the mounting strip145, and is connected to the first end portion146, the first branch rope143can pull the first end portion146to rotate downwards under the action of the main transmission rope130, so that the rotating member142rotates relative to the mounting bracket141.

In the present embodiment, the main transmission rope130is provided along an east-west direction, that is, a direction where a connecting line of the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120is located is the east-west direction, and the driving wheel110can drive the main transmission rope130to move in the east-west direction. The main transmission rope130is provided at a bottom portion of the arc-shaped strip144, and the main transmission rope130is located on a plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member142is located, so that the rotating member142can rotate in the east-west direction of a vertical plane, thereby driving the photovoltaic assembly array200to track the sun motion.

Referring toFIG.3, the tracking unit140includes the mounting bracket141, the rotating member142, the first branch rope143, and a second branch rope160, wherein the second branch rope160is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip facing away from the mounting strip, and the second branch rope160is provided intersected with the first branch rope143, the second branch rope160has one end connected to the main transmission rope130, and the other end connected to the second end portion147; the main transmission rope130includes two half rings, wherein one half ring is located on one side of the connecting line between the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120, the other half ring is located on the other side of the connecting line between the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120, a connecting part between the first branch rope143and the main transmission rope130, and a connecting part between the second branch rope160and the main transmission rope130are located on the same half ring, and this half ring is coplanar with the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member is located. The rotating member142is hinged on the mounting bracket141, the rotating member142can rotate relative to the mounting bracket141, each photovoltaic assembly array200is mounted on one, two or more rotating members142, and the photovoltaic assembly array200can rotate with the rotation of the rotating member142, thereby realizing tracking of the sun motion. The plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member142is located is perpendicular to the plane where the rotation direction of the driving wheel110is located. In the present embodiment, optionally, the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member142is located may be a vertical plane, the plane where the rotation direction of the driving wheel110is located may be a horizontal plane, and the rotating member142drives the photovoltaic assembly array200to rotate in the vertical plane, so as to track the east-west direction of the sun's rise and fall.

The first branch rope143and the second branch rope160are both fitted to one side of the arc-shaped strip144away from the mounting strip145and intersect with each other, and the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160tension and stretch the two end portions of the arc-shaped strip144, respectively, and cooperate with each other to drive the arc-shaped strip to rotate around the hinge; the half ring connected to the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160is set as a driving half ring, and when the driving half ring transmits towards a direction away from the first end portion146(close to the second end portion147), the first branch rope143transmits towards a direction away from the first end portion146with the driving half ring, and pulls the first end portion146of the arc-shaped strip144to rotate downwards, and correspondingly pulls the mounting strip145and the photovoltaic assembly array200thereon to rotate around the hinge; synchronously, the second end portion147of the arc-shaped strip144rotates upwards, and the driving half ring drives the second branch rope160to transmit towards a direction close to the second end portion147, then in the process of rotation of the arc-shaped strip144, the length of the first branch rope143fitted to the arc-shaped strip144gradually decreases, the length of the second branch rope160fitted to the arc-shaped strip144gradually increases, the parts of the first branch rope and the second branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip cover the whole arc-shaped strip all the time, and only change at the intersection. Similarly, when the main transmission rope transmits towards a direction away from the second end portion (close to the first end portion), the second branch rope transmits towards a direction away from the second end portion with the driving half ring, and pulls the second end portion of the arc-shaped strip to rotate downwards, and correspondingly pulls the mounting strip and the photovoltaic assembly array thereon to rotate around the hinge; synchronously, the first end portion of the arc-shaped strip rotates upwards, and the driving half ring drives the first branch rope to transmit towards a direction close to the first end portion, then in the process of rotation of the arc-shaped strip, the length of the second branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip gradually decreases, the length of the first branch rope fitted to the arc-shaped strip gradually increases. The first branch rope and the second branch rope jointly drive the two end portions of the arc-shaped strip, so as to realize rotation of the arc-shaped strip towards different directions, and in the rotation process of the arc-shaped strip, the first branch rope and the second branch rope jointly limit the arc-shaped strip, so as to improve the rotational stability of the arc-shaped strip, and further improve the rotational stability of the mounting strip and the photovoltaic assembly array.

The first branch rope143has one end connected to the rotating member142, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope130, the second branch rope160is provided intersected with the first branch rope143, and the second branch rope160has one end connected to the rotating member142, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope130. The rotation of the driving wheel110can drive the main transmission rope130to move, and the main transmission rope130, when moving, can drive the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160to move towards each other. When one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, one end of the second branch rope160close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142; when one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142, one end of the second branch rope160close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, thereby pulling the rotating member142to perform reciprocating rotation.

Optionally, the mounting bracket141may include a hinge frame body, a fixing arm152, and a fixing post151, wherein there are two fixing arms152, the two fixing arms152are both connected between the fixing post151and the hinge frame body, and the two fixing arms152are provided opposite to each other on two sides of the hinge frame body, the hinge frame body, the fixing post151, and the two fixing arms152form a limiting hole153, the mounting strip145is hinged with the hinge frame body, and the arc-shaped strip144passes through the limiting hole153. Here is a specific form of the mounting bracket141, in which the fixing post151is configured to be fixed on the ground surface, the hinge frame body is configured to hinge the rotating member142, and the fixing arms152are configured to connect the hinge frame body and the fixing post151, wherein when the rotating member142is hinged to the hinge frame body, the arc-shaped strip144below the rotating member142passes through the limiting hole153between the two fixing arms152, and in the process of rotation of the rotating member around the hinge, the arc-shaped strip passes through the limiting hole, the limiting hole can limit and guide the rotational stroke of the arc-shaped strip, so as to improve the rotational position accuracy of the arc-shaped strip, and correspondingly, the rotational position accuracy of the photovoltaic assembly array is improved, and besides, it further can be ensured that the first branch rope and the second branch rope are fitted to the arc-shaped strip.

Optionally, the hinge frame body may include a connecting arm154and two hinge arms155, wherein the two hinge arms155are both fixedly connected to the connecting arm154and provided at the two sides of the connecting arm154opposite to each other; and the mounting strip is provided between the two hinge arms155, and is hinged with the two hinge arms155by a hinge member156. Here is a specific form of the hinge frame body. Specifically, the two hinge arms155and the two fixing arms152are vertically provided in one-to-one correspondence, then in the process of rotation of the rotating member, the two hinge arms155define the position of the mounting strip145, and at the same time, the two fixing arms define the position of the arc-shaped strip144, thereby further improving the rotational position accuracy and stability of the rotating member.

Referring toFIG.4, in the present embodiment, a first limiting groove148and a second limiting groove149may be provided on the arc-shaped strip144, the first branch rope143may be embedded in the first limiting groove148, and the second branch rope160may be embedded in the second limiting groove149, so as to improve the fastness and position accuracy of the fitting of the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160with the arc-shaped strip144. In addition, the first limiting groove148and the second limiting groove149define the fitting positions of the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160and the arc-shaped strip, respectively, so as to reduce the frictional force of contact between the first branch rope143and the second branch rope160, thus improving the rotation smoothness of the arc-shaped strip.

When the sun rotates from east to west, the driving device (a motor may be selected) drives the driving wheel110to rotate, the driving wheel110drives the main transmission rope130to move, and the main transmission rope130pulls the first end portion146to rotate downwards through the first branch rope143. In this case, the second end portion147rotates upwards, and one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, and one end of the second branch rope160close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142, thus, the photovoltaic assembly array200rotates from east to west with the sun; after sunset, the driving device (a motor may be selected) drives the driving wheel110to rotate back, the driving wheel110drives the main transmission rope130to reset, and the main transmission rope130pulls the second end portion147to rotate downwards through the second branch rope160, at this time, the first end portion146rotates upwards, and one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142, and one end of the second branch rope160close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, so that the photovoltaic assembly array200returns to an initial position, and waits for next tracking.

For the rope transmission structure100provided in the present disclosure, the main transmission rope130is connected end to end, one end of the main transmission rope130is sleeved outside the driving wheel110, the other end is sleeved outside the driven wheel120, the driving wheel110can drive the driven wheel120to rotate through the main transmission rope130, and the plurality of tracking units140are provided at intervals along the length direction of the main transmission rope130. The tracking unit140includes the mounting bracket141, the rotating member142, and the first branch rope143. The rotating member142is hinged on the mounting bracket141, a plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member142is located is perpendicular to a plane where the rotation direction of the driving wheel110is located. The first branch rope143has one end connected to the rotating member142, and the other end connected to the main transmission rope130, and the first branch rope143can drive the rotating member142to rotate when the driving wheel110rotates. Compared with the prior art, as the rope transmission structure100provided in the present disclosure adopts the main transmission rope130sleeved outside the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120and the first branch rope143connected between the main transmission rope130and the rotating member142, the length from the driving wheel110to the driven wheel120is ultra-long, then a plurality of rotating members142can be simultaneously driven to rotate, the construction cost and the cleaning cost are reduced, and the practicability is strong, so that the solar energy tracker10is economic and practical, with high cost performance.

Apart from the above form of providing the solar energy tracker in the east-west direction, referring toFIG.6andFIG.9, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a solar energy tracker10, the tracking unit140further includes a first fixed pulley170, a second fixed pulley180, and a third branch rope190, but the second branch rope160is no longer included, and the length direction of the main transmission rope is perpendicular to the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member is located, the first branch rope winds the first fixed pulley and is connected to the main transmission rope, and the first fixed pulley170changes an extending direction of the first branch rope143; a third branch rope is fitted to a side of the arc-shaped strip facing away from the mounting strip, and provided intersected with the first branch rope, one end of the third branch rope is connected to the second end portion, and the other end winds the second fixed pulley and is connected to the main transmission rope, and the second fixed pulley180changes an extending direction of the third branch rope190.

In the present embodiment, the first fixed pulley170and the second fixed pulley180are both mounted on the mounting bracket141, and the first fixed pulley170and the second fixed pulley180are provided opposite to each other in a closed area enclosed by the main transmission rope130. The first branch rope143is connected to the main transmission rope130through the first fixed pulley170, the first branch rope143can drive the first fixed pulley170to rotate when moving, the third branch rope190is connected to the main transmission rope130through the second fixed pulley180, and the third branch rope190can drive the second fixed pulley180to rotate when moving.

In the present embodiment, the main transmission rope130is provided along a south-north direction, that is, a direction where a connecting line of the driving wheel110and the driven wheel120is located is the south-north direction, and the driving wheel110can drive the main transmission rope130to move along the south-north direction. The length direction of the main transmission rope130is perpendicular to the plane where the rotation direction of the rotating member142is located, the first branch rope143is connected to a half ring of the main transmission rope130away from the first end portion, changes the direction thereof after bypassing the first fixed pulley170, and then is fitted to one side of the arc-shaped strip144facing away from the mounting strip145, and is connected to the first end portion146, and the first branch rope143can pull the first end portion146to move downwards under the action of the main transmission rope130, so that the rotating member142rotates relative to the mounting bracket141.

The third branch rope190is connected to the other half ring of the main transmission rope130, changes the direction thereof after bypassing the second fixed pulley180and then is fitted to one side of the arc-shaped strip144facing away from the mounting strip145, and is connected to the second end portion147. The third branch rope190and the first branch rope143are intersected with each other. When moving, the third branch rope190can drive the second fixed pulley180to rotate, the third branch rope190can pull the second end portion147to move downwards under the action of the main transmission rope130, so that the rotating member142rotates back relative to the mounting bracket141.

Specifically, referring to what is shown inFIG.7andFIG.8, connecting parts of the first branch rope143and the third branch rope190and the two half rings are located on the same side of the mounting bracket141(both are located on the right side of the mounting bracket141inFIG.7), the driving wheel110rotates under the driving of the driving device. As shown inFIG.7, the driving wheel drives the third branch rope190to transmit towards a direction away from the mounting bracket141, and the third branch rope winds a second pulley to drive the second end portion of the arc-shaped strip to rotate downwards; meanwhile, the first branch rope transmits towards the mounting bracket under the stretching action of upward rotation of the first end portion. In the above, the transmission directions of the driving wheel, the main transmission rope, a first pulley, the second pulley, and the rotating member, as shown inFIG.7, may be reciprocally transmitted according to different rotation directions of the driving wheel.

Specifically, as shown inFIG.7andFIG.8, a fixing frame171may be mounted on the mounting bracket, the length direction of the fixing frame171is perpendicular to the length direction of the main transmission rope130, and one end of the fixing frame171away from the first end portion is pivotally connected to the first pulley174to form the first fixed pulley170; and one end of the fixing frame171facing away from the second end portion is pivotally connected to a second pulley181to form the second fixed pulley180. Here is a specific form of the first fixed pulley and the second fixed pulley. First, the first pulley174and the second pulley181are both pivotally connected to the fixing frame171so as to form the first fixed pulley and the second fixed pulley. In mounting, the fixing frame may be mounted just once, then the mounting is highly convenient, and the relative positional accuracy between the first fixed pulley and the second fixed pulley is high; secondly, the length direction of the fixing frame is perpendicular to the length direction of the main transmission rope, the matching degree of the first pulley and the second pulley with the half rings on the corresponding sides is higher, the branch rope bypassing the pulley and the half ring of the corresponding side are provided approximately collinear, thus the half ring drives the branch rope to transmit with higher synchronism, and correspondingly, transmission synchronism of the first branch rope and the second branch rope to the rotating member is higher, and the rotation stability of the rotating member is also higher.

Optionally, a guide block172further may be provided at two ends of the fixing frame, each guide block172is provided with a guide hole173, and the main transmission rope is slidably penetrated through the guide hole173. When the main transmission rope transmits under the driving of the driving wheel, the two half rings of the main transmission rope correspondingly pass through the guide hole on the same side and transmit in the guide hole, respectively, the guide hole connects the end portion of the fixing frame with the main transmission rope, so as to improve the stability of the relative position of the fixing frame and the main transmission rope, further ensuring the relative position between the first pulley and the second pulley and the main transmission rope, and ensuring collinearity between the branch rope bypassing the pulley and the main transmission rope.

It should be noted that the first fixed pulley170and the second fixed pulley180are both provided in the closed area formed by the main transmission rope130, the plane where the rotation direction of the first fixed pulley170is located, the plane where the rotation direction of the second fixed pulley180is located, and the plane where the rotation direction of the driving wheel110is located are all the same plane, so as to reduce the frictional resistance of the first fixed pulley170and the first branch rope143, and further, the frictional resistance of the second fixed pulley180and the third branch rope190can be reduced.

Referring toFIG.10, in the present embodiment, a first limiting groove148and a second limiting groove149may be provided on the arc-shaped strip144, a portion of the first branch rope143fitted to the arc-shaped strip is embedded in the first limiting groove148, and a portion of the third branch rope190fitted to the arc-shaped strip is embedded in the second limiting groove149, so as to reduce the friction between the first branch rope143and the third branch rope190. Specifically, the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove may both extend along the length direction of the arc-shaped strip, and the first limiting groove and the second limiting groove are provided at intervals.

When the sun rotates from east to west, the driving device drives the driving wheel110to rotate, the driving wheel drives the main transmission rope130to move, and the main transmission rope130pulls the first end portion146to rotate downwards through the first branch rope143. In this case, the second end portion147rotates upwards, and one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, and one end of the third branch rope160close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142, thus, the photovoltaic assembly array200rotates from east to west with the sun; after sunset, the driving device drives the driving wheel110to rotate back, the driving wheel drives the main transmission rope130to reset, and the main transmission rope130pulls the second end portion147to rotate downwards through the third branch rope190, at this time, the first end portion146rotates upwards, and one end of the first branch rope143close to the main transmission rope130is close to the rotating member142, and one end of the third branch rope190close to the main transmission rope130is away from the rotating member142, so that the photovoltaic assembly array200returns to an initial position, and waits for next tracking.

The above-mentioned are merely for preferred embodiments of the present disclosure and not used to limit the present disclosure. For one skilled in the art, various modifications and changes may be made to the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements and so on, within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure, should be covered within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

For the rope transmission structure, the solar energy tracker, and the application method thereof provided in the present embodiment, a plurality of mounting brackets of the rope transmission structure can be provided continuously according to the topographies, the mounting of the mounting bracket is highly convenient with low mounting accuracy requirement, so as to effectively reduce the construction cost of the solar energy tracker.