Svendborg Brakes, a supplier of yaw brakes to the global wind industry, has introduced a new yaw brake lifting and installation tool.
According to the company, the new tool aims to improve worker safety and reduce the time taken to maintain yaw brake systems on wind turbines. The tool uses a simple carriage assembly to position, raise and lower brakes to ensure that maintenance engineers minimize any heavy lifting and complete their tasks more efficiently, Svendborg Brakes explains.
The LBS 120 yaw brake lifting and installation tool has been designed to work on brake assemblies with a maximum width of 502 millimeters and a brake disc thickness of 40 millimeters. The tool incorporates a winch mechanism that is used to raise and lower the brake to floor level (with a maximum lifting height of 2 meters). The company notes that the tool is also easy to transport and assemble on-site.
Once the lifting tool has been installed, the original brake can be released – allowing it to rest on a sliding carriage, which used to position the brake below the winch mechanism used to lower it to the floor. The process is reversed to install the new brake, after which the tool can be repositioned to work on the next brake.
