US 11,955,926 B2
Torque tube interface with bifurcated bearing housing
Nathan Schuknecht, Golden, CO (US); and Kevin Krautbauer, Albuquerque, NM (US)
Assigned to ARRAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Albuquerque, NM (US)
Filed by ARRAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Albuquerque, NM (US)
Filed on May 10, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/315,168.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/369,461, filed on Jul. 26, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2024/0039460 A1, Feb. 1, 2024
Int. Cl. H02S 20/32 (2014.01); F16C 17/02 (2006.01)
CPC H02S 20/32 (2014.12) [F16C 17/02 (2013.01)] 27 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A bifurcated bearing housing for mounting photovoltaic (PV) modules to a support structure in a solar tracking system comprising:
a first component defining a first portion of an aperture configured to house a first portion of a rotating bearing, wherein:
the first component includes a first structural ridge and a second structural ridge,
the first and second structural ridges run in longitudinal directions that would be approximately parallel if the first component was flattened into a single plane, and
the second structural ridge laterally overlaps a portion, but not the entirety, of the first structural ridge;
a second component defining a second portion of the aperture configured to house a second portion of the rotating bearing; and
a connection interface between the first and second components, wherein, when the first and second components are in an attached configuration, the connection interface lies on a plane that is below a centerpoint of the aperture defined by the first and second components.