Patents Examined by John S Hunter, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11873727
    Abstract: A hoist for lifting at least a portion of a gas engine assembly includes a support member including an upper portion, a lower portion, and a connecting portion extending therebetween. The hoist also includes an elongate member coupled to the lower portion of the support member and extending substantially orthogonally to the lower portion, and at least one bracket slidably engaged with the elongate member and axially translatable along a length of the elongate member. In addition, the hoist includes a plurality of linkage members coupled to the at least one bracket, where each linkage member of the plurality of linkage members is configured to attach to at least a portion of the gas engine assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Jorge Mario Rochin Machado, David Garza Maldonado, Gerardo Plata Contreras, Maria Isabel Romero Contreras, Claudia Priscila Sandoval Camacho
  • Patent number: 11859550
    Abstract: Accelerators, methods of manufacturing accelerators, and gas turbine engines are provided. For example, an accelerator for a gas turbine engine defines a radial direction and an axial direction and comprises an annular outer wall, an annular inner wall, an annular channel defined between the outer and inner walls, and a plurality of vanes disposed within the channel. The channel has an inlet for ingress of a cooling fluid and an outlet for egress of the cooling fluid. Each vane extends from the outer wall to the inner wall adjacent the outlet, which is angled such that an exit angle of the cooling fluid is nonzero with respect to both the radial and axial directions. The accelerator may be manufactured using an additive manufacturing method. The accelerator outlet may be disposed immediately upstream of a first turbine rotor blade stage of a gas turbine engine to direct the cooling fluid thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: James Daniel Longhurst, Antonio C. Gominho, Jordan Paule Tesorero, Jonathan David Baldiga, Orin J. Hall
  • Patent number: 11852160
    Abstract: A fan includes a motor, a rotatable hub coupled to the motor, and at least one fan blade. The at least one fan blade includes a first end coupled to the rotatable hub, a second end, a leading edge, a trailing edge, a passage extending from the first end to the second end, and a winglet attached to the second end. At least one flexible strap extends through the passage of the at least one fan blade. The flexible strap is coupled at a first end to the rotatable hub and coupled at a second end to the winglet, such as to an inner portion thereof within the passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: DELTA T, LLC
    Inventors: Jason H. Fizer, Michael S. Fay, Matthew Mattingly, Richard W. Fizer
  • Patent number: 11846202
    Abstract: A method for cooling a high-temperature radial gas turbine engine increases turbine thermal efficiency and/or extends turbine operational lifetime. A bleed flow path enables cooling air to flow from a compressor outlet and along surfaces of the gas turbine rotors. The amount of cooling increases in proportion to a bleed fraction, which is defined as the ratio of mass flow in the bleed flow path to total mass flow in the compressor outlet. The heated air in the bleed flow path is mixed with the main mass flow into the turbine engine, so as to restore mass flow into the turbine, while maintaining a high turbine operating temperature and thermal efficiency. The thermal efficiency of a recuperator also increases in proportion to the bleed fraction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Turbogen Ltd.
    Inventor: David Lior
  • Patent number: 11840965
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine for an aircraft configured with an engine core that has a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor. A fan located upstream of the engine core, that has a plurality of fan blades. A gearbox arranged to receive an input from the core shaft and to output to the fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft. The gearbox being an epicyclic gearbox having a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears, a ring gear, and a planet carrier on which the planet gears are mounted. The gearbox having an overall gear mesh stiffness, and wherein the overall gear mesh stiffness of the gearbox is greater than or equal to 1.05×109 N/m and less than or equal to 8.0×109 N/m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2023
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Mark Spruce
  • Patent number: 11834992
    Abstract: A turbofan engine having one or more heat exchangers tied to an accessory gearbox is provided. The accessory gearbox is mechanically coupled with a spool, and a hydraulic pump is mechanically coupled with the accessory gearbox. The one or more heat exchangers have a heat exchanger capacity defined by a product raised to a half power, the product being determined by multiplying a resultant heat transfer surface area density of the one or more heat exchangers by a heat conductance factor that relates an accessory gearbox heat load, a power of the hydraulic pump, a diameter of a fan, and a bypass ratio of the turbofan engine. The heat exchanger capacity is between 23.9 and 97.7 for a rotational speed of the spool between 7,500 and 35,000 revolutions per minute at one hundred percent capacity and a resultant heat transfer surface area density being between 4,000 m2/m3 and 13,000 m2/m3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Eyitayo James Owoeye
  • Patent number: 11821326
    Abstract: A turbine containment system is provided. The turbine containment system includes a first containment member surrounding a portion of a turbine including a plurality of rotor disks and rotor blades; and a second containment member in communication with the first containment member, wherein the first containment member and the second containment member together contain each of the rotor disks and the rotor blades therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Veeraraju Vanapalli, Bhaskar Nanda Mondal, Apostolos Pavlos Karafillis, Kenneth E. Seitzer
  • Patent number: 11808165
    Abstract: An aircraft turbomachine rotor has a rotor disc extending transversely with respect to a longitudinal axis X, a plurality of blades, and a damping device. The damping device having: a support ring arranged transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis X and mounted on the outer periphery of the rotor disc, and has a plurality of damping members that are attached to the support ring and project upstream from the support ring, each damping member being configured to extend at least under a platform of a blade so as to exert a radially outward force to dampen the radial movement of the blade when the turbomachine is in operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventor: Nicolas Gérard Bénito Cornec
  • Patent number: 11787533
    Abstract: A rotor assembly comprises a rotor hub and rotor-blade assemblies. The rotor hub comprises rotor-blade supports. Each rotor-blade assembly is coupled to a respective one of the rotor-blade supports and comprises a flap axle, a hub connector, a rotor blade, and a torsion strap. The flap axle extends through a respective one of the rotor-blade supports and has a central flap-axle axis. The hub connector is pivotable relative to a rotor-blade support about the central flap-axle axis and defines a central hub-connector axis. The rotor blade is coupled to and is pivotable relative to the hub connector, and, together with the hub connector, is pivotable relative to a respective one of the rotor-blade supports about the central flap-axle axis. The torsion strap has a first end, coupled to the rotor blade, and a second end, through which the flap axle passes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Dennis K. Kennedy, Joshua Jeffrey Bracken, Jeffrey L. Sorensen
  • Patent number: 11788558
    Abstract: A fan casing for an aircraft turbomachine, the casing including a one-piece annular body, the one piece annular body including a radially internal annular surface, a first annular portion of which is made of an abradable material, wherein a second annular portion of the internal surface comprises blind holes conferring acoustic properties to the second portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Florent Louis Andre Rognin, Clement Bourolleau, Serge Domingues, Vincent Pascal Fiore, Anwer Siraj
  • Patent number: 11767818
    Abstract: A blade for a rotor of a wind turbine having a longitudinal direction with a tip end and a root end and a transverse direction, comprising: a profiled contour that when impacted by an incident airflow, generates a lift, wherein the profiled contour is divided into: a root region having a substantially circular or elliptical profile closest to the hub, an airfoil region having a lift-generating profile furthest away from the hub, and a transition region between the root region and the airfoil region, the transition region having a profile gradually changing in the radial direction to the lift-generating profile of the airfoil region, and further comprising a shoulder, wherein the shoulder is located in the airfoil region, thus yielding a slender and relative thick blade maximizing energy output, reducing bearing loads and facilitating transportation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: NORDEX ENERGY SPAIN S.A.U.
    Inventors: Fernando Echeverria Dura, Unai San Miguel Alzorriz, Elena Llorente Trujillo, Alvaro Gorostidi Martinez De Lecea, Teresa Arlaban Gabeiras, Jose Miguel Garcia Sayes, Miguel Nunez Polo
  • Patent number: 11761348
    Abstract: There is provided an axial flow turbine capable of realizing a reduction in gland leakage amount. The axial flow turbine in an embodiment is of a single flow type and includes an upstream-side gland part located on an upstream side of a working medium in an axial direction of a turbine rotor and a downstream-side gland part located on a downstream side of the working medium in the axial direction of the turbine rotor. The axial flow turbine is configured such that a cooling medium lower in temperature and higher in pressure than the working medium is extracted in a middle of flowing from the inside to the outside of the turbine casing in the upstream-side gland part, and the extracted cooling medium is introduced into the stationary blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: TOSHIBA ENERGY SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shogo Iwai, Tsuguhisa Tashima, Takahiro Ono, Daisuke Nomura
  • Patent number: 11761454
    Abstract: A ceiling fan blade fastening structure includes a base and a fan blade. The base is fixed to a rotor of a motor of a ceiling fan. The base has a bottom wall and a peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has a slot. The bottom wall is provided with a guide rail portion adjacent to the slot. The bottom wall is provided with a bracket and a positioning block behind the guide rail portion. The fan blade has a tongue portion to be inserted into the slot and pressed against the positioning block, so as to position the fan blade. The tongue portion is provided with a stop block to be against the rear of the bracket, so that the fan blade is unable to be disengaged from the slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Inventor: Chao Chin Yao
  • Patent number: 11761337
    Abstract: An aerostructure is provided. The aerostructure may comprise an airfoil extending from a leading edge to a trailing edge, the airfoil comprising a stiffness and a camber, and a shape memory alloy (SMA) mechanically coupled to the airfoil via a resin, the SMA configured to be coupled to a current source, wherein at least one of the stiffness or the camber changes in response to a phase change of the SMA.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: RTX Corporation
    Inventors: Troy Shannon Prince, Matthew E. Bintz, Charles P. Gendrich
  • Patent number: 11753962
    Abstract: A distribution element intended to be fixed to a support structure for supplying cooling fluid to a wall to be cooled facing the distribution element, the distribution element including a body defining a cooling fluid distribution internal volume and a multi-perforated plate which delimits the internal volume and includes a plurality of outlet through-perforations which put the cooling fluid distribution internal volume into communication with the wall to be cooled, the distribution element including an inlet orifice opening into the cooling fluid distribution internal volume, wherein for directing the cooling fluid from the inlet orifice to the plurality of outlet through-perforations the cooling fluid distribution internal volume includes directional fins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Pierre Jean-Baptiste Metge, Sébastien Serge Francis Congratel, Lucien Henri Jacques Quennehen
  • Patent number: 11753960
    Abstract: A nozzle vane of a variable geometry turbocharger comprises: a nozzle vane body rotatably disposed in an exhaust gas passage defined between a shroud surface and a hub surface; and a fin disposed on at least one of a pressure surface or a suction surface of the nozzle vane body and disposed within a range of 0.6L from a trailing edge of the nozzle vane body, where L refers to a chord length of the nozzle vane body. The fin satisfies a relationship of 0.3L?X, where X refers to a length of the fin along a chord direction of the nozzle vane body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINE & TURBOCHARGER, LTD.
    Inventors: Bipin Gupta, Toyotaka Yoshida, Yosuke Dammoto, Yoji Akiyama, Jain Sambhav
  • Patent number: 11754053
    Abstract: Provided is a method and an arrangement of fatigue testing of a wind turbine rotor blade, the method including: operating an actuator attached to the rotor blade, thereby moving a mass connected to the actuator in a reciprocating manner. The mass may be a hanging mass, for example, hanging down from the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Inventor: Soeren Christiansen
  • Patent number: 11754000
    Abstract: A fan section includes a fan with fan blades. The fan section drives air along a bypass flow path in a bypass duct. A gear reduction is in driving engagement with the fan and has a gear reduction ratio of greater than 3.0 and less than 4.0. A low spool includes a low pressure turbine that drives a low pressure compressor and drives the gear reduction to drive the fan at a speed slower than the low pressure turbine. The low pressure compressor is a four-stage low pressure compressor. The low pressure turbine is a three-stage low pressure turbine. A high spool including a high pressure turbine that drives a high pressure compressor. The high pressure compressor is a nine-stage high pressure compressor. The high pressure turbine is a two-stage high pressure turbine. An exhaust gas exit temperature of greater than 900 degrees Fahrenheit and less than 1000 degrees Fahrenheit at maximum take-off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: RTX Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen G. Pixton, Matthew R. Feulner, Marc J. Muldoon, Xinwen Xiao
  • Patent number: 11746662
    Abstract: A rotor vane for an aircraft turbine engine, the vane having an axis of rotation once it has been rigidly connected to a rotor and a stacking axis. The vane includes a blade extending between an internal platform and an external platform bearing at least one projecting lip. The external platform is configured to cooperate in a form-fitting manner with the complementary side edges of adjacent vanes. The rotor vane has wear-resistant covering of a lower side edge which extends over one wall of a substantially rectilinear first ridge of the platform and over one wall of a second ridge of the platform. The second ridge extends at least partially inside the lip and is inclined relative to the first ridge in a direction substantially parallel to a transverse axis of the lip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Bruno Marc-Etienne Loisel, Stephanie Aline Marie Deflandre, Eric Jacques Delcoigne, Franck Denis Daniel Limousin, Laetitia Nicole Person
  • Patent number: 11739736
    Abstract: A wind power installation with an azimuth bearing having an azimuth gearing, and at least one azimuth drive, which is coupled to an azimuth gear mechanism corresponding to the azimuth gearing. The azimuth gear mechanism has a drive pinion which is rotatable about a pinion axis, wherein the drive pinion is configured to engage in the corresponding azimuth gearing of the azimuth bearing, wherein the pinion axis has a predefined reference orientation. The wind power installation comprises at least one sensor device which is configured to detect a deviation of the orientation of the pinion axis relative to the reference orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbH
    Inventor: Uwe Kroh