Patents Examined by Sean J Younger
  • Turbomachine rotor having blades of composite material provided with metal labyrinth teeth
    Patent number: 8870531
    Abstract: The invention provides a turbine machine rotor having blades of composite material, the rotor comprising an assembly disk, a plurality of composite material blades mounted on the assembly disk via their roots and each provided at its free end with a platform, and a metal shroud positioned on the blade platforms concentrically around the assembly disk and including labyrinth teeth that project radially outwards in order to abrade an abradable material carried by a casing surrounding the rotor, the casing being held stationary both axially and circumferentially relative to the blade platforms and being suitable for moving radially outwards in operation relative to the blade platforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: SNECMA
    Inventors: Stephane Pierre Guillaume Blanchard, Julien Mateo, Stephane Otin
  • Test blade
    Patent number: 8864465
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a test blade for a blade-release test. The blade is arranged in use to be mounted on a hub for rotation, and to be released therefrom by the action of a controlled explosion. The blade is arranged to receive at least one explosive charge and at least one detonator for detonating the charge. The blade further comprises a cut-through portion extending completely through the blade from a front face to a rear face, the cut-through portion also extending part way along the blade in an axial direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventors: Joana Vaz Viegas, Jeremy Nicholas Turner
  • Rotor assembly
    Patent number: 8845270
    Abstract: A rotor assembly is disclosed herein. The rotor assembly includes a hub disposed for rotation about an axis of rotation. The rotor assembly also includes at least one blade fixed with the hub for concurrent rotation with the hub. The at least one blade extends along a height axis radially outward from the hub with a root portion proximate to the hub at a first end of the height axis and an airfoil portion extending radially inward from a second end of the height axis opposite the first end. The rotor assembly also includes a sheath extending at least partially around the root portion. The sheath is pivotally engaged with the at least one blade to pivot about the height axis and allowed to weathervane to reduce noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventor: Carl David Nordstrom
  • System and method for collecting particles in a wind turbine rotor blade
    Patent number: 8840367
    Abstract: A particle trap for collecting loose particles includes a container having an enclosure and at least one opening, and a feed hopper, wherein the feed hopper is connected to the at least one opening of the container, and wherein the particle trap is adapted for collecting particles moving in a direction of an opening of the feed hopper. Further, a method for collecting particles inside a wind turbine rotor blade is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Joerg Wanink, Thorsten Honekamp
  • Lubrication system for a gear system for a wind turbine
    Patent number: 8807922
    Abstract: A lubrication system for a gear system of a wind turbine includes a first reservoir and a second reservoir adapted to contain lubricant. It further includes pump means arranged to supply lubricant from the first reservoir to the second reservoir during normal operation, and a distribution system fluidly connected between the first reservoir and the gear system in such a manner that lubricant can be supplied to the gear system from the first reservoir via the distribution system during normal operation. The lubrication system further comprises valve means being shiftable between a first position and a second position. In the first position a flow of lubricant from the second reservoir towards the gear system or the first reservoir is prevented, and in the second position it is allowed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems, A/S
    Inventors: Poul Torben Tietze, Thomas Korsgaard Nielsen
  • Stator blade for a gas turbine and gas turbine having same
    Patent number: 8801366
    Abstract: A stator blade for a gas turbine with sequential combustion, has a blade airfoil which extends in the radial direction between a blade tip and a shroud, with cooling passages extending inside the blade airfoil, through which a cooling medium can flow for cooling the blade and can then discharge from the stator blade into the hot gas flow flowing through the turbine. The blade airfoil has a sharply curved shape in space in the radial direction, and three cooling passages, which extend in the radial direction, arranged inside the blade airfoil in series in the hot gas flow direction and are interconnected by deflection regions, which are arranged at ends of the blade airfoil, so that the cooling medium flows through the cooling passages one after the other, with change of direction. The cooling passages follow the curvature of the blade airfoil in space in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Roland Dueckershoff, Shailendra Naik, Martin Schnieder
  • Fan arrangement
    Patent number: 8801375
    Abstract: A fan arrangement has an electric motor (18) that serves to drive a fan wheel (26; 170) and that has an internal stator (44) and an external rotor (22), with which latter the fan wheel is drivingly connected. Arranged on a circuit board (17) are components (11) that are coolable, at least in part, by an air flow (13) generated during operation by that fan wheel (26; 170). Associated with the fan wheel is an air-directing element (100) that is mounted on the circuit board (17) separately from the electric motor (18) so that, in operation, a cooling air flow (13) is generated which emerges from the fan arrangement (16) between the circuit board (17) and air-directing element (100).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: EBM-Pabst St. Georgen GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Wolfgang Arno Winkler
  • Centrifugal pump with thrust balance holes in diffuser
    Patent number: 8801360
    Abstract: A centrifugal pump has alternating impellers and diffusers. One or more vent holes extend through one or more vanes of one or more diffusers. In an upthrust condition, high pressure production fluid from an upper impeller is able to pass through the one or more vent holes, and thereby exert force on the preceding impeller. The force exerted on the preceding impeller offsets the upthrust force acting against the preceding impeller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Baker Hughes Incorporated
    Inventors: Ketankumar K. Sheth, Brown Lyle Wilson
  • Secondary airfoil mounted on stall fence on wind turbine blade
    Patent number: 8777580
    Abstract: An airfoil (26, 62, 64) is mounted on a chordwise stall fence (28) of a wind turbine blade (22). The airfoil may be an aerodynamic slat (26) positioned over a forward portion of the suction side (38) of the blade or a flap (63) disposed near a trailing edge (34) of the blade. The stall fence may be at least as high as the thickness of the boundary layer (39) of air passing over the blade. The slat or flap may be twisted between an inboard end (26A) and an outboard end (26B) to compensate for the radially varying angle of the relative air inflow (46A, 46B).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Drew Eisenberg
  • Axial flow fan
    Patent number: 8770943
    Abstract: An axial flow fan includes a blade having a curved portion formed in the vicinity of a radially outer end portion positioned opposite to the base portion in the radial direction of the peripheral wall portion of the hub. The curved portion is convex in the rotation direction, concave in the direction opposite to the rotation direction, and extends along the radially outer end portion of the blade. The curved portion extends from a rear end edge of the blade, positioned on a side where one end of the base portion of the blade is positioned, and extends in the radial direction of the hub to the vicinity of a front end edge of the blade, positioned on a side where the other end of the base portion of the blade is positioned and extending in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Sanyo Denki Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Katsumichi Ishihara
  • Blower impeller and blower
    Patent number: 8757978
    Abstract: A blower impeller includes a substantially cylindrical cup portion, and a plurality of blades arranged on an outer circumferential surface of a circumferential wall portion of the cup portion. The cup portion includes on an inner circumferential surface of the circumferential wall portion thereof a plurality of axially extending first ribs and a plurality of second ribs arranged between the first ribs. The first and second ribs are arranged in a circumferential direction. A virtual envelope joining radially inner end portions of the first ribs has a smaller diameter than that of a virtual envelope joining radially inner end portions of the second ribs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Nidec Corporation
    Inventor: Hidenobu Takeshita
  • Optimized aerodynamic profile for a turbine vane, in particular for a nozzle of the fourth stage of a turbine
    Patent number: 8734113
    Abstract: When cold and in the non-coated state, the aerodynamic profile is substantially identical to a nominal profile determined by the Cartesian coordinates X,Y,Z? given in Table 1, in which the coordinate Z? is the quotient D/H where D is the distance of the point under consideration from a first reference plane P0 situated at the base of the nominal profile, and H is the height of said profile measured from the first reference plane to a second reference plane P1. The measurements D and H are taken radially relative to the axis of the turbine, while the X coordinate is measured in the axial direction of the turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2014
    Assignee: Snecma
    Inventors: Patrick Girard, Olivier Kueny, Renaud Martet, Renaud Royan
  • Method of reducing a structural unbalance in a wind turbine rotor and device for performing the method
    Patent number: 8714924
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of reducing a structural unbalance in a wind turbine rotor with pitch control and a control device for performing. A frequency component is detected resulting from the structural unbalance in the wind turbine rotor on the basis of the rotor speed signal. The multiplying the frequency component signal is multiplied by a complex correction factor. Individual pitch angle offsets are establishing for each blade of the rotor based on the magnitude and the phase and complex correction factor. Individual pitch angle offset are added to the respective pitch angles of the blades of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Per Egedal
  • Tip cap for a turbine rotor blade
    Patent number: 8678764
    Abstract: A turbine rotor blade with a spar and shell construction, and a tip cap that includes a row of lugs extending from a bottom side that form dovetail grooves that engage with similar shaped lugs and grooves on a tip end of the spar to secure the tip cap to the spar against radial displacement. The lug on the trailing edge end of the tip cap is aligned perpendicular to a chordwise line of the blade in the trailing edge region in order to minimize stress due to the lugs wanting to bend under high centrifugal loads. A two piece tip cap with lugs at different angles will reduce the bending stress even more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Keith D Kimmel
  • Axial flow fan with hub isolation slots
    Patent number: 8651814
    Abstract: An axial flow fan includes a hub rotatable about a central axis. The hub includes a front face and a cylindrical portion. A plurality of apertures is provided in the front face of the hub, each aperture at least partially defined by a first surface oriented non-parallel with the front face. A plurality of ribs is provided, each rib aligned with one of the plurality of apertures such that a free edge of the rib at least partially overlaps the respective one of the plurality of apertures. The fan further includes a plurality of lips, each lip coupled to the front face of the hub and aligned with one of the plurality of apertures that is not aligned with one of the plurality of ribs, each lip having a second surface, adjacent the first surface of a respective aperture, that at least partially overlaps the respective aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Dana F. Nicgorski, Adam H. Sterne, Michael Strupp
  • Ultra-light weight self-lubricating propeller hub
    Patent number: 8632307
    Abstract: A propeller assembly includes a rotatable hub having a center metal hub portion and an outer composite hub portion. A set of composite propeller blades are mounted for pitch control rotation on the hub by a set of dry bearings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Neal W. Muylaert, Jr., Lyndon C. Lamborn
  • Turbine having variable throat
    Patent number: 8608433
    Abstract: The invention relates to a turbine (1) for a turbocharger, comprising a turbine wheel (2) and a turbine housing (5) forming a passage (6) for guiding a fluid flow to the turbine wheel (2), said passage (6) comprising a variable throat providing a throat area (8) as a smallest cross section of the fluid flow, wherein the variable throat is always defined by a annular member (7) surrounding the turbine wheel (2) and being movable in the axial direction of the turbine wheel (2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Honeywell International, Inc.
    Inventors: Alain Lombard, Denis Tisserant, Stephane D'Hauenens
  • Turbo engine
    Patent number: 8608435
    Abstract: A turbomachine, especially a gas turbine, includes a rotor having rotating blades and a stator having a housing and guide blades. The rotating blades form at least one rotating blade ring, which at one radially outward lying end adjoins an inner ring or casing ring of the housing, thereby defining a gap therebetween. The casing ring is connected to a support ring via curved walls, which together with the casing ring and the support ring bound a cavity and form a bellowslike structure. By changing the pressure prevailing in the cavity of the respective bellowslike structure, the gap between the casing ring and the radially outward lying ends of the respective rotating blade ring can be pneumatically adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
    Inventor: Alexander Böck
  • Turbine vane airfoil
    Patent number: 8602740
    Abstract: An airfoil comprises an external surface formed in substantial conformance with a plurality of cross sections. Each of the cross sections has an axial chord and an offset at a corresponding fractional span as set forth in Table 1. Each of the cross sections is described by a set of Cartesian coordinates defined at the corresponding fractional span as set forth in Table 3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Jason L. O'Hearn, Timothy Charles Nash
  • Displacement sensor system and method of operation
    Patent number: 8591188
    Abstract: A clearance sensing system for a rotating machine includes a plurality of sensor probes disposed within a stationary shroud of the rotating machine. Each of the plurality of sensor probes is adapted to measure a parameter indicative of an axial and a radial displacement of a rotating component within the shroud and to produce a signal that corresponds to the parameter. In certain embodiments, this parameter may include a capacitance between the rotating component and the sensor probe. The clearance sensing system further includes a circuit that receives the signal from each of the plurality of sensor probes and determines (a) the axial displacement of the rotating component within the shroud and (b) a radial displacement of the rotating component relative to the shroud.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Minesh Ashok Shah, Mahadevan Balasubramaniam, Philip Paul Beauchamp, Todd Alan Anderson, Samhita Dasgupta, David Mulford Shaddock, Emad Andarawis Andarawis