Spreader tool for spreading viscous material onto the edge of a wind turbine blade

Abstract

A spreader tool is provided for spreading viscous material on the surface, for example an edge, of a wind turbine blade. The spreader tool comprises at least one bendable spreader wing, for example provided as a fin-ray construction, for pressing a flexible band against a curved section of the blade and for dragging viscous material along it by the flexible band during movement of the spreader tool along the blade surface. The spreader tool is advantageously part of a robot system used to work the surface of the blade.

1 . A spreader tool comprising:
 a bendable spreader wing; and   a bending mechanism that includes an actuator, the bending mechanism configured and arranged to deform the spreader wing into a variable curved structure and to adjust the bending curve of the spreader wing to the curvature of a curved section;   the spreader tool configured for spreading viscous material on the surface of the curved section of a wind turbine blade while being attached to a remote end of an arm of an unmanned robot, and wherein the arm is extending from a base of the robot, and the remote end being configured for movement relative to the base.   
     
     
         2 . The spreader tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the spreader wing includes
 a first strut and a second strut, in accordance with a fin-ray principle, the two struts constituting two long sides with an acute angle between the struts, and   a plurality of support beams connect the first strut with the second strut in rotational connections;   wherein the second strut is connected to the actuator, and the actuator is configured to force the fin-ray structure into a bending configuration by moving the second strut relative to the first strut.   
     
     
         3 . The spreader tool according to  claim 2 , wherein the first and second struts are formed by a first and a second chain, respectively,
 wherein the actuator is connected to the second chain, and further configured and arranged to move the second chain by the actuator relatively to the first chain and force the first chain to bend in conformance with the curvature of the curved section.   
     
     
         4 . The spreader tool according to  claim 1 , further including a flat flexible band attached to the spreader wing, the flat flexible band configured and arranged for abutting the curved section and for dragging viscous material along the curved section during movement of the spreader tool along the curved section. 
     
     
         5 . The spreader tool according to  claim 4 , wherein the flat flexible band is attached to a first chain, and wherein the actuator is configured to bend the flexible band, in combination with the first chain, in conformance with the shape of the curved section. 
     
     
         6 . The spreader tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the bendable spreader wing is configured for shifting between a bent configuration and a straight configuration for selectively spreading viscous material onto a bent or a straight surface. 
     
     
         7 . The spreader tool of  claim 1 , further including a second spreader wing, the two spreader wings extend from a centre region in opposite directions, and each of the two spreader wings are connected to the bending mechanism;
 the bending mechanism further configured and arranged to adjust the bending curve of the combination of the two spreader wings to the curvature of the curved section; and   wherein the spreader tool is further configured and arranged to be orientated relative to the curved section and to adjust the curvature of the spreader wings in combination to the curvature of the curved section.   
     
     
         8 . The spreader tool of  claim 7 , where the spreader wing and the second spreader wing are configured and arranged to
 face each other when the centre region is positioned at the edge of the turbine blade while the two spreader wings are facing the surface of the turbine blade on either side of the edge for abutting the turbine blade when the spreader wings are bent around the blade edge by the bending mechanism, and   drag viscous material along the edge during movement of the spreader tool along the edge.   
     
     
         9 . The spreader tool of  claim 1 , wherein the spreader tool is configured and arranged to
 orient relative to the curved section,   adjust the curvature of the spreader wing in combination to the curvature of the curved section via the actuator; and   move along the curved section by the arm dragging the viscous material along the curved section and spreading the viscous material on the curved section.