Patents Examined by Theodore C Ribadeneyra
  • Patent number: 11867080
    Abstract: An integrally bladed rotor for a turbomachine, in particular a compressor or turbine stage of a gas turbine, to which at least one separately formed impulse element housing (40; 40?) is fastened by at least one fastening element (30; 30?) which engages for this purpose into an opening (41) of the impulse element housing and into an opening (11) of the rotor, the impulse element housing having at least one cavity (44) in which at least one impulse element (5) is accommodated with play.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
    Inventors: Markus Schlemmer, Hans-Peter Hackenberg, Claudia Stoehr, Andreas Hartung, Michael Junge
  • Patent number: 11859500
    Abstract: A method of operating a gas turbine engine comprising: extracting a flow of air from a compressor section of the gas turbine engine into a first conduit; flowing the extracted flow of air through the first conduit to a first location at a turbine section of the turbine section, wherein a second conduit is in fluid communication with the turbine section at a second location; flowing a heat transfer fluid to a first heat exchanger positioned in thermal communication with the flow of air through the first conduit, the heat transfer fluid in thermal communication with the extracted flow of air through the first conduit via the first heat exchanger; and modulating, via a flow control device, a portion of the flow of air extracted from the first conduit to the second conduit downstream of the first heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignees: General Electric Company, General Electric Deutschland Holding GmbH, General Electric Company Polska Sp. z o.o.
    Inventors: Ashish Sharma, Piotr Jerzy Kulinski, Adam Tomasz Pazinski, Tomasz Jan Bulsiewicz, Scott Alan Schimmels
  • Patent number: 11859510
    Abstract: A turbine blade tip, turbine blade and method where improved cooling is made possible by an improved cooling structure with cooling air holes inside a depression in a blade tip and a special arrangement of multiple cooling air holes which are supplied by a single cooling air channel inside a wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Björn Anders, Reiner Anton, Kay Krabiell, Christian Lerner
  • Patent number: 11859543
    Abstract: A diffuser pipe has a tubular body defining a pipe center axis extending therethrough. The tubular body includes a first portion extending in a generally radial direction from an inlet of the tubular body, a second portion extending in a generally axial direction and terminating at a pipe outlet, and a bend portion fluidly linking the first portion and the second portion. The tubular body has a length defined between the inlet and the pipe outlet. The tubular body has cross-sectional profiles defined in a plane normal to the pipe center axis. An area of the cross-sectional profile at the pipe outlet is at least 20% greater than an area of the cross-sectional profile at a point upstream from the pipe outlet a distance corresponding to 10% of the length of the tubular body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
    Inventors: Jason Nichols, Ryan Perera
  • Patent number: 11852078
    Abstract: A process for coating a component includes applying a bond coat on a substrate of a component; applying a thermal barrier material to the bond coat; and applying a conforming reflective layer to the thermal barrier material, the conforming reflective layer conforming to porous microstructure of the ceramic coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: RTX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Brian T. Hazel, Alan C. Barron, Mary Catherine Gurak
  • Patent number: 11846199
    Abstract: A containment structure for a rotor includes a shroud and a shroud reinforcement. The shroud is coaxial with and partially surrounds the rotor and includes a tubular section, a transition section, and a flange section. The tubular section extends axially past a first side of the rotor. The transition section connects to the tubular section and is adjacent to a curved side of the rotor. The flange section connects to the transition section opposite the tubular section. The flange section extends radially past a radially outer side of the rotor. The shroud reinforcement is connected to a radially outer surface of the transition section. The shroud reinforcement encloses the transition section and includes a support scaffold and a reinforcing material. The support scaffold includes a series of geometric retaining features encircling a radially outer surface of the transition section. The reinforcing material couples to the support scaffold and restricts shroud radial expansion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Viktor Kilchyk, Christopher Simpson
  • Patent number: 11846193
    Abstract: An assembly for a turbine engine can include a monolithic body with an inner band and an outer band radially spaced from the inner band, a pocket surface in one of the inner or outer bands defining a recess, and an airfoil with a first end radially extending from the other of the inner or outer bands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company Polska Sp. z o.o.
    Inventors: Piotr Jerzy Kulinski, Tomasz Edward Berdowski
  • Patent number: 11834961
    Abstract: A dual-wall airfoil configured for coolant transfer includes a spar having a pressure side wall and a suction side wall each including raised features on an outer surface thereof. An interior of the spar includes coolant cavities. An inner surface of a pressure side coversheet is in contact with the raised features on the outer surface of the pressure side wall so as to define pressure side flow pathways between the pressure side wall and the pressure side coversheet, and an inner surface of a suction side coversheet is in contact with the raised features on the outer surface of the suction side wall so as to define suction side flow pathways between the suction side wall and the suction side coversheet. The pressure side flow pathways and/or the suction side flow pathways include cooling circuit(s) configured to transfer coolant between the coolant cavities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2023
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Brett Barker
  • Patent number: 11834960
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus to reduce deflection of an airfoil are disclosed. An example apparatus disclosed herein includes a plate including an aperture, the airfoil disposed in the aperture, and a damper operatively coupled between the plate and a hub of the airfoil, the damper to transform flexural deflection of the airfoil to radial deflection of the plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Kray, Gary W. Bryant, Nitesh Jain
  • Patent number: 11821320
    Abstract: A turbine engine comprising an engine core having at least a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section in axial flow arrangement defining an axial direction and an engine centerline. The turbine engine further having a rotor and a stator, a carriage assembly carried by the stator, and a seal assembly biased toward the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Steven Douglas Johnson, Kevin Randall McManus, Rahul Anil Bidkar
  • Patent number: 11821407
    Abstract: A wind turbine (1) comprising a tower (2), a nacelle (3) and a hub (7) is disclosed. The hub (7) comprises a blade carrying structure (4) with one or more wind turbine blades (5) connected thereto. Each of the wind turbine blades (5) defines an aerodynamic profile having a chord which varies along a length of the wind turbine blade (5). Each of the wind turbine blades (5) is connected to the blade carrying structure (4) via a hinge (6) at a hinge position of the wind turbine blade (5), each wind turbine blade (5) thereby being arranged to perform pivot movements relative to the blade carrying structure (4) between a minimum pivot angle and a maximum pivot angle. The hinge position is arranged at a distance from the inner tip end (5a) and at a distance from the outer tip end (5b), and the chord at the hinge position is larger than or equal to the chord at the inner tip end (5a) and larger than the chord at the outer tip end (5b).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventors: Thomas S. Bjertrup Nielsen, Peter Bjørn Andersen
  • Patent number: 11814979
    Abstract: A method of repairing a tip for an airfoil is disclosed herein. In various embodiments, the method comprises: removing a portion of the airfoil that reduces a radial height of the airfoil and at least partially removes a defect of the airfoil; removing a remainder of the defect; joining, via gas tungsten arc welding, a filler material to the airfoil to repair the defect; and joining a first mating surface of the airfoil to a second mating surface of a blade tip body via a solid-state joining process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: RTX Corporation
    Inventors: Brian Richard Craig, Brian T Hazel, Xuan Liu, Luke Henry Rettberg, Nicholas M LoRicco, Steven Ivory, Michael J Minor, Christopher J Bischof, Stewart S Fowler
  • Patent number: 11802488
    Abstract: A seal plate for a rotary machine includes a hub centered on a central axis of the rotary machine, a disk portion extending radially outwards from the hub, and a variable lattice structure in an interior of the seal plate. The variable lattice structure includes a first region of the seal plate having a first lattice structure, and a second region of the seal plate having a second lattice structure. The second lattice structure of the second region is denser than the first lattice structure of the first region. The second region is a deflection region, a stress region, or an energy containment region of the seal plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Brent J. Merritt, Craig M. Beers
  • Patent number: 11788422
    Abstract: An excellent abrasive blade tip is provided by a two-layer coating system consisting of a brazing solder coating and an NiCoCrAlY coating containing cBN (cubic Boron Nitride).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Eckart Schumann, Britta Stöhr, Arturo Flores Renteria, Francis Ladru, Thorsten Schulz, Adrian Wollnik
  • Patent number: 11781491
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine has a compression system blade ratio defined as the ratio of the height of a fan blade to the height of the most downstream compressor blade in the range of from 45 to 95. This results in an optimum balance between installation benefits, operability, maintenance requirements and engine efficiency when the gas turbine engine is installed on an aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Nicholas Howarth, Gareth M Armstrong
  • Patent number: 11781555
    Abstract: A fan system and a computing system with the fan system are disclosed. The fan system includes a fan module. The fan module includes a housing configured to retain a fan and a motor to rotate the fan. The housing includes an air inlet aperture on an air inlet side of the housing and an air outlet aperture on an air outlet side of the housing. The fan system further includes an outlet fan guard coupled to the fan module on the air outlet side of the housing. The outlet fan guard includes at least one flap rotatable between a closed position, covering the air outlet aperture of the housing, and an open position, uncovering the air outlet aperture of the housing. The outlet fan guard further includes at least one spring urging the at least one flap into the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: QUANTA COMPUTER INC.
    Inventors: Chao-Jung Chen, Chih-Hsiang Lee, Wei-Pin Chen, Yu-Syuan Lin, Jyue Hou
  • Patent number: 11773722
    Abstract: A method of disassembling a rotor module of a gas turbine engine. The gas turbine engine having a rotor output shaft. The rotor module having a centre-bolt, a sleeve, at least one rotor stage, at least one stator stage, a casing and an axis. The method having the steps: attaching a fixture to the at least one rotor stage, attaching the fixture to the casing, detaching the centre-bolt from the at least one rotor stage, detaching the sleeve from the output shaft, attaching the fixture to the sleeve, and removing the rotor module and fixture from the rotor output shaft. There is also presented a method of assembling the rotor module to the gas turbine engine and the apparatus used for disassembly and assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: Siemens Energy Global GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Stephen Batt
  • Patent number: 11773725
    Abstract: A turbine damper may be provided that may include an elongated body sized to fit inside a turbine blade, the elongated body elongated along a radial direction of the turbine blade relative to a rotation axis of the turbine blade, and plural dampening masses coupled with the elongated body and disposed at different locations along the radial direction. The plural dampening masses may be one or more of sized to dampen different vibration modes of the turbine blade, or moveable relative to and along the elongated body in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Suryarghya Chakrabarti, Jing Li
  • Patent number: 11767765
    Abstract: Rotor blades, vibrational dampening elements, and methods are provided. A rotor blade includes a platform, a shank extending radially inward from the platform, and an airfoil extending radially outward from the platform. One or more fluid chambers are defined within the rotor blade. Glass is disposed within each fluid chamber of the one or more fluid chambers. A mass is disposed within each fluid chamber of the one or more fluid chambers. The mass is movable within the glass relative to the airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Siddaraja Mallikarjuna Devangada, John M. Delvaux, Robert Frank Hoskin
  • Patent number: 11767790
    Abstract: A turbofan engine is provided. The turbofan engine includes a fan comprising a plurality of fan blades; a turbomachine operably coupled to the fan for driving the fan, the turbomachine comprising a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section in serial flow order and together defining a core air flowpath; a nacelle surrounding and at least partially enclosing the fan; an inlet pre-swirl feature located upstream of the plurality of fan blades, the inlet pre-swirl feature attached to or integrated into the nacelle; and a means for directing incoming objects towards an outer portion of the turbofan engine in communication with the inlet pre-swirl feature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Arthur William Sibbach, Brandon Wayne Miller