Patents by Inventor Thomas A. Auxier

Thomas A. Auxier has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5129231
    Abstract: The heatshield for the fuel nozzles mounted at the dome of an annular combustor for a gas turbine engine is cooled by discretely locating cool air film cooling holes in the heatshield oriented to inject the cooling air with the recirculation zone to be compatible with the direction of the swirling air in the recirculated zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 14, 1992
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: James T. Becker, Thomas A. Auxier
  • Patent number: 4887663
    Abstract: Overlapping liner plates 12, 14, 16 are secured at the upstream end to support surface 22. Cooling air 26 supplied through compartmental plenums 24 passes between (54) the plates and over (56) the plate surface. Complementary elongated depressions 40, 46 selectively guide the airflow and provide flexibility to absorb transverse expansions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1989
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Auxier, James B. Rannie, Robert E. Field
  • Patent number: 4864828
    Abstract: Aircraft engine cooling apparatus having a plurality of cooling gas inlet nozzles, producing first streams of cooling gas moving in a forward direction, a plurality of first direction reversal members for splitting the first streams into second and third streams straddling the nozzles, and substantially reversed in direction relative to the direction of the first streams, a plurality of second direction reversal members, positioned between pairs of adjacent nozzles, for again substantially reversing the directions of the second and third streams, while combining the second and third streams to form a fourth stream of laminar flow cooling film, and wherein adjacent pairs of the first direction reversal members have wall portions configured to form gradually diverging channels through which the fourth stream cooling film moves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1988
    Date of Patent: September 12, 1989
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventors: Alfred P. Matheny, Thomas A. Auxier
  • Patent number: 4820122
    Abstract: Dirt removal means for an internally air cooled blade for a gas turbine engine of the type that includes multi passes some of which are serpentine as made in situ by casting the ribs so as to be angularly disposed at the root of the blade and a straight through passageway with an opening at the tip. The velocity of the airstream in the straight through passageway being sufficiently high to carry the dirt through the opening and the angularly disposed ribs overlying the entrance to the other passageway so as to divert the dirt entrained airstream into the straight through passageway while allowing relatively dirt-free air to turn the angle of the rib to enter the serpentine passes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1989
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth B. Hall, Thomas A. Auxier, Wesley D. Brown
  • Patent number: 4773593
    Abstract: A coolable thin metal sheet incorporated in an exhaust nozzle for a gas turbine powered aircraft includes a hot surface, a cool surface and a plurality of triangular sloped depressions which project through the cold gas side of the sheet. Each depression includes a gradually sloped essentially triangular surface which extends gradually in the direction of flow, from a deep, flat faced apex to a flush base, with the apex providing a flat surface perpendicular to the sloped surface. A hole, drilled through the apex admits cooling air which forms a film on the hot gas surface. Utilizing a plurality of such depressions provides precise control of the quantity and direction of cooling gas admitted while allowing use of the thinnest material meeting mechanical requirements, providing optimized film cooling while minimizing nozzle weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1987
    Date of Patent: September 27, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Auxier, Kenneth W. Stalker, Anthony M. Zimmerman
  • Patent number: 4770608
    Abstract: The film of cooling air adjacent the outer surface of the airfoil of a turbine of a gas turbine engine issuing from internally of the turbine subsequent to cooling is controlled by regulating the pressure ratio of the internal to external pressures by forming an internal chamber extending longitudinally in the turbine and having fixed orifices admitting cooling air therein bearing a predetermined relationship to the exit orifices forming the film of cooling air. By regulating this pressure ratio the diameter of the exit holes can be longer than heretofore designs for a given application so that they can be precast rather than drilled and can be arranged to give fuller coverage of films of cooling air on the outer surface of the airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 13, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Leon R. Anderson, Thomas A. Auxier
  • Patent number: 4767268
    Abstract: A hollow, cooled airfoil has a pair of nested, coolant channels therein which carry separate coolant flows back and forth across the span of the airfoil in adjacent parallel paths. The coolant in both channels flows from a rearward to forward location within the airfoil allowing the coolant to be ejected from the airfoil near the leading edge through film coolant holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 30, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Auxier, Kenneth B. Hall, Kenneth K. Landis
  • Patent number: 4753575
    Abstract: A hollow, cooled airfoil has a pair of nested, coolant channels therein which carry separate coolant flows back and forth across the span of the airfoil in adjacent parallel paths. The coolant in both channels flows from a rearward to forward location within the airfoil allowing the coolant to be ejected from the airfoil near the leading edge through film coolant holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1988
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: James L. Levengood, Thomas A. Auxier
  • Patent number: 4676719
    Abstract: The external wall of a hollow airfoil for a gas turbine engine has a plurality of longitudinally aligned diffusing coolant passages having their outlets at the outer surface over which a hot gas is intended to flow. The airfoil external wall also includes a longitudinally extending slot formed in the inner surface thereof. Each of the coolant passages intersect such longitudinally extending slot to define metering inlets to each passage for receiving coolant fluid from the slot at a controlled rate. The coolant diffuses as it passes through each passage and exits as a thin film on the external surface of the airfoil. The slot is cast in the inner surface of the wall at the time of forming the airfoil; and the passages are machined into the wall from outside the airfoil. Very small, accurate metering areas for each passage can thereby be formed in single-piece hollow airfoils without access to the interior of the airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1985
    Date of Patent: June 30, 1987
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Auxier, Robert E. Field
  • Patent number: 4664597
    Abstract: The wall of a hollow airfoil has a longitudinally extending slot in its external surface which is intersected, at its base, by a plurality of coolant passages in a longitudinally extending row. Each coolant passage has a metering portion at its inner end which communicates with a coolant compartment within the hollow airfoil. Each passage includes a pair of walls downstream of the metering portion which diverge from each other in the longitudinal direction and intersect with the base of the slot to form an outlet for the passage. The diverging walls of adjacent passages substantially meet each other at the base of the slot, wherein coolant fluid from the metering portions of the passages diffuses in the longitudinal direction as it flows toward and into the slot, filling the entire slot and forming a thin, continuous film of coolant downstream of and along the entire length of the slot over the external surface of the airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1985
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1987
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas A. Auxier, Leon R. Anderson, Edward C. Hill, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4601638
    Abstract: A turbine airfoil for high temperature applications has a spanwise trailing edge slot and a cut back pressure side wall. The pressure side wall has a thickness t at its downstream end. The slot is divided into channels which discharge a film of cooling air over the exposed back surface of the suction side wall downstream of the cut back pressure side wall. Each channel tapers from a throat at its upstream end (which meters the flow of cooling air) to the slot outlet of width s. The airfoil is designed with a ratio t/s of no more than 0.7 which significantly improves cooling of the trailing edge, reduces required cooling air flow, and permits greater cut back distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1984
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1986
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Edward C. Hill, George P. Liang, Thomas Auxier
  • Patent number: 4187054
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine comprising a number of annular wall sectors which form a complete circular wall defining a hot gas passage is provided with a cooling system incorporating a plurality of hollow impingement vessels disposed in a circular array within an annular chamber behind the wall. Cooling fluid is routed to the self-contained impingement pressure vessels which are provided with perforations to disperse the cooling fluid into impingement upon the wall. Unlike prior systems, the impingement vessels are not physically attached to the band but, rather, are supported by a structural frame which partially defines the annular chamber and, in the preferred embodiment, also supports the wall sectors. Since the impingement vessel, and not the backside of the wall, is the pressure vessel for the pressurized cooling fluid, leakage between adjacent wall sectors is greatly reduced with no loss in cooling effectiveness when compared to conventional cooling systems. Thus, turbine cycle performance is improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1978
    Date of Patent: February 5, 1980
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Delmer H. Landis, Jr., Paul W. Lozier, Louis Lievestro, Thomas A. Auxier, John H. Starkweather