Patents Examined by Brian O Peters
  • Patent number: 11248491
    Abstract: An example gas turbine engine component includes a component configured to separate a cooling air plenum from a heated gas environment. The component includes a substrate defining a surface, and a unitary structure. The unitary structure includes a cooling region and a cover layer. The cover layer defines a hot wall surface configured to face the heated gas environment. The cooling region is disposed between the cover surface and the substrate and includes a plurality of support structures extending between the cover layer and the surface of the substrate. At least some of the support structures define a respective bond surface bonded to the substrate at the surface of the substrate. An example technique for fabricating the gas turbine engine component includes additively depositing the unitary structure on the surface of the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Bruce Edward Varney
  • Patent number: 11236630
    Abstract: An axial compressor includes: a casing having a tubular shape; variable stator vanes each having a vane shaft as a swing center, provided in the casing as stator vanes or inlet guide vanes, and arranged in a circumferential direction of the casing; rotor blades provided on a trailing edges side of the variable stator vanes in the casing and arranged in the circumferential direction of the casing; and a plasma actuator configured to generate a plasma annularly distributed in the circumferential direction of the casing, the plasma actuator being attached on an inner circumferential surface of the casing and intersects with a clearance between each variable stator vane and the inner circumferential surface of the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventors: Haruki Hosaka, Nozomi Tanaka, Ryuuta Tanaka, Takayuki Hazu, Dai Kato, Daisuke Sato
  • Patent number: 11221012
    Abstract: A turbo fluid machine includes a housing, a rotating member, and a motor. Part of fluid compressed by a compressor impeller is introduced into a motor accommodation space through an inlet-side flow passage that has an inlet-side fixed throttle, and is discharged from the motor accommodation space through an outlet-side flow passage that has an outlet-side fixed throttle. The outlet-side flow passage includes a connection part connecting to the motor accommodation space. The connection part is formed separately from a clearance between a second partition wall and a shaft, and is located opposite to a connection part of the inlet-side flow passage connecting to the motor accommodation space across the motor in an axial direction of the shaft. The inlet-side fixed throttle and the outlet-side fixed throttle are configured such that pressure in the motor accommodation space is higher than pressure in a turbine-wheel back pressure region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Hidefumi Mori, Junya Suzuki, Kazuki Okazaki
  • Patent number: 11220926
    Abstract: An apparatus for sealing an internal environment of a turbomachine includes a first chamber connectable in fluid communication with a high pressure environment of a turbomachine so that a working fluid can flow from the high pressure environment to the first chamber; and a second chamber in fluid communication with a lubrication circuit so that a lubricant can flow from the lubrication circuit to the second chamber. The first and second chambers are arranged in fluid communication with each other so that the working fluid can flow from the first to the second chamber. A return line for the working fluid is in fluid communication with the first chamber and connectable in fluid communication with a low pressure environment of the turbomachine so that the working fluid can flow from the first chamber to the low pressure environment. A pressure regulating device is included along the return line and is configured to provide a predetermined pressure drop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: NUOVO PIGNONE SRL
    Inventors: Gabriele Mariotti, Rosaria Giordano, Lucrezia Bianco
  • Patent number: 11215195
    Abstract: A suction-and-discharge flow path includes a circumferential flow path that extends in an arc shape about an axis and an external communication path that is connected to both ends of the circumferential flow path. The circumferential flow path has a uniform flow path cross-sectional area in a circumferential direction, and a convex curved surface having a convex curved surface shape is provided between an outer peripheral wall surface of the circumferential flow path and a second inner wall surface of the external communication path. In a case where, when viewed in the axis direction, a curvature radius of the convex curved surface is defined as R and a radial dimension of the circumferential flow path is defined as W, a relationship of W?R?3W is established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Nakaniwa, Hirofumi Higuchi
  • Patent number: 11204037
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine for an aircraft includes an engine core including an engine core, a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor, the turbine comprising a lowest pressure rotor stage, the turbine having a turbine diameter at the lowest pressure rotor stage. A fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan comprising a plurality of fan blades extending from a hub, the hub and fan blades together defining a fan face having a fan face area and a fan tip radius. A ratio of the fan tip radius to the turbine diameter at the lowest pressure rotor stage is in the range from 1.2 to 2.0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Richard G Stretton, Michael C Willmot
  • Patent number: 11204016
    Abstract: A vertical axis wind turbine is supported by a durable and lightweight composite mast comprising a foam material and a support material, wherein the foam material is either (i) layered within or (ii) distributed among the support material. The foam material may be selected from polyethylene, cross-linked polyethylene, ethafoam, polyester, polyether, ether-like-ester, expanded polystyrene, and/or polyurethane. The support material may be selected from steel, metal, carbon nanotubes, and/or plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, polylactic acid, polycarbonate, acrylic, acetal and/or nylon. A mixture ratio between the foam material and the support material may be at least 15:1. The mast may comprise a central core layer of foam and a peripheral layer of the support material. In an embodiment, adjacent layers of the central core layer and the peripheral layers alternate between the core and support materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Inventor: Rudolph Oelofse
  • Patent number: 11187248
    Abstract: A fan and a balance ring for the fan are provided. The fan includes a housing, a hub disposed in the housing, blades connected to the side surface of the hub, and a balance ring connected to the hub. The balance ring includes a ring chamber and a balance liquid filled in the ring chamber. The volume of the balance liquid is less than the volume of the ring chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: ACER INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Cheng-Wen Hsieh, Wen-Neng Liao, Chun-Chieh Wang, Yu-Ming Lin
  • Patent number: 11187106
    Abstract: A bearing heat shield, a turbomachine having a bearing heat shield and method for assembling such is disclosed. The bearing heat shield includes an outer annular ring extending around an outer circumference of the bearing heat shield, the outer annular ring has a flat surface and extends inward from an outer diameter measurement to a middle diameter measurement. The bearing heat shield further includes a concave surface, the concave surface being defined by a curvature and extending inward from the middle diameter measurement to an inner diameter measurement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventors: Dominic William DePaoli, Aaron Burke Date, Tanner Leigh Brookshire, Daniel Thomas Pruitt
  • Patent number: 11187094
    Abstract: An assembly for a turbine engine comprising a plurality of circumferentially arranged segments having first and second confronting end faces. The first and second confronting end faces include a multi-channel spline seal assembly. The multi-channel spline seal assembly includes at least a first and second channel wherein confronting first or second channels can receive at least one spline seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Kevin Robert Feldmann, Robert Proctor, David Scott Stapleton, Robert Charles Groves, II
  • Patent number: 11174829
    Abstract: The application relates to unidirectional hydrokinetic turbines having an improved flow acceleration system that uses asymmetrical hydrofoil shapes on some or all of the key components of the turbine. These components that may be hydrofoil shaped include, e.g., the rotor blades (34), the center hub (36), the rotor blade shroud (38), the accelerator shroud (20), annular diffuser(s) (40), the wildlife and debris excluder (10, 18) and the tail rudder (60). The fabrication method designs various components to cooperate in optimizing the extraction of energy, while other components reduce or eliminate turbulence that could negatively affect other component(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: HYDROKINETIC ENERGY CORP
    Inventor: Walter Schurtenberger
  • Patent number: 11162508
    Abstract: A centrifugal fan includes a housing, a hub and a plurality of blade sets. The housing includes an air outlet and at least one air inlet. The hub is rotatably disposed in the housing. The plurality of blade sets is arranged around the hub at intervals, and each of the blade sets includes at least three blades with different shapes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: ASUSTEK COMPUTER INC.
    Inventors: Hsin-Chen Lin, Ing-Jer Chiou
  • Patent number: 11162371
    Abstract: A turbine vane and a turbine blade are provided. Each of the turbine vane and the turbine blade may include a sidewall configured to form an airfoil and include a leading edge and a trailing edge, a partition wall configured to partition an internal space of the sidewall to form a plurality of cooling channels, and a metering plate configured to block inlet parts of the cooling channels and include cooling holes communicating with respective cooling channels. The metering plate may include a first cooling hole formed in the inlet part of each of the cooling channels and a second cooling hole formed, at a position close to the leading edge, in the inlet part of the cooling channel adjacent to the leading edge among the plurality of cooling channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Inventors: Chang Yong Lee, Ji Yeon Lee
  • Patent number: 11153993
    Abstract: In an exhaust assembly, each particular louver of a plurality of louvers may be hingedly coupled to a generally circular bracket and may be arranged with respect to the air mover and each other such that in the presence of airflow generated by the air mover, the plurality of louvers rotate to an open position relative to the generally circular bracket under force of the airflow such that airflow passes freely through the exhaust assembly and in the absence of air flow generated by the air mover, at least one of the plurality of louvers rotates to a closed position relative to the generally circular bracket under force of gravity and mechanically interacts with a remainder of the plurality of louvers such that all of the plurality of louvers rotate to the closed position such that flow of air through the exhaust assembly is blocked by the plurality of louvers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
    Inventors: Hsing-Yu Chiang, Shih-Huai Cho
  • Patent number: 11149571
    Abstract: A ring for guiding variable-pitch blades and supporting an abradable coating for an aircraft turbomachine ring extends about an axis (X) and includes substantially radial orifices for mounting guiding sleeves intended each to receive a pivot of one of the blades. The ring may include a radially inner crown divided into sectors and supports the abradable coating. A radially outer annular ferrule may be divided into sectors and include the orifices for mounting the sleeves. In some embodiments, each ferrule sector is mounted about a crown sector by a circumferential sliding connection. The crown sector may include an immobilizer for rotationally immobilizing the sleeves of this ferrule sector about the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Thomas Nolwenn Emmanuel Delahaye, Kamel Benderradji, Delphine Hermanee Maxime Parent, Sandrine Hélène Quevreux
  • Patent number: 11143191
    Abstract: A drag pump for pumping gas and a set of vacuum pumps including the drag pump are disclosed. The drag pump comprises: a rotor configured to rotate within a stator component and to drive a gas to be pumped from a gas inlet to a gas outlet; magnetic bearings for rotatably mounting the rotor within the pump; wherein at least a portion of the rotor and stator component configured to contact the gas to be pumped are configured for operation at temperatures above 130° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Edwards Limited
    Inventor: Nigel Paul Schofield
  • Patent number: 11143037
    Abstract: A turbine blade for a gas turbine engine having a plurality of cooling holes defined therein, the plurality of cooling holes are located in an airfoil of the turbine blade according to the coordinates of Table 1.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alex J. Schneider, Timothy J. Jennings, David A. Niezelski, Jeffrey T. Morton, Nicholas M. LoRicco, Bret M. Teller
  • Patent number: 11136999
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a balance structure of a fan wheel, which comprises a hub and a plurality of blades disposed on the circumferential side of the hub. The hub has a top wall connected to a sidewall. An unbalanced portion for being removed is selectively disposed on the top wall or on the sidewall. The unbalanced portion is disposed on one side of a symmetrical axis of the hub. In this way, the weight of the fan wheel is balanced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: ASIA VITAL COMPONENTS CO., LTD
    Inventors: Bor-Haw Chang, Chung-Shu Wang
  • Patent number: 11131292
    Abstract: To provide a wind power generation device that can be suitably increased in size while increasing the electricity generation efficiency. A wind power generation device (10) is characterized by being provided with: a first wind turbine unit (12) comprising multiple wind turbines (30a to 30d) aligned in one line; a pair of blade units (16), each of the blade units being disposed adjacent to the first wind turbine unit (12) and having an inner-side shape extending along the circumferences of circles defined by rotation of the wind turbines (30a to 30d) to enhance collection of wind by the rotation; and a conversion unit for converting energy obtained by the rotation of the first wind turbine unit (12) to electricity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Inventor: Akinori Satou
  • Patent number: 11131237
    Abstract: A variable nozzle unit includes: a connection pin which includes a shaft; a support ring which is provided with a first through-hole; and a nozzle ring which is provided with a second through-hole, in which the shaft is inserted through the first through-hole and the second through-hole, one end of the shaft is provided with a flange portion having a diameter larger than that of the second through-hole and the other end of the shaft is provided with a head portion having a diameter larger than that of the first through-hole, the flange portion is in contact with the nozzle ring, and an elastic member that urges the support ring toward the nozzle ring is disposed between the head portion and the support ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventor: Koutarou Itou