Patents by Inventor Wilho V. Aho, Jr.

Wilho V. Aho, Jr. 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: 8272644
    Abstract: A card seal with an annular arrangement of leaf elements, where each leaf element has a T shape with an upper ear section and a leaf section extending from the ear section. the leaf elements each include a first raised portion and a second raised portion that form a cross, the raised portions allowing for air to pass to bend ends on the leaf sections to form a floating air seal and to limit leakage flow across the leaf elements from one side to the opposite side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Wilho V Aho, Jr., Jack W Wilson, Jr., Vincent P Laurello
  • Patent number: 8215645
    Abstract: A floating air seal to seal a lower pressure chamber from a higher pressure chamber and allow for both axial and radial shifting of the rotor with respect to the stator while maintaining the sealing capability. The floating seal includes an annular piston that slides within an annular groove formed within the stator in an axial direction with an annular flange secured to it that forms an annular manifold between the piston and the flange. The annular piston includes a plurality of feed holes that open into the annular manifold, and the annular flange includes a plurality of baffle holes that open into the annular manifold but offset from the feed holes so that Helmholtz excitations of the rotor disk do not occur. The baffle holes open into an outer annular groove that forms an air cushion against the rotor disk surface due to the air flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Wilho V Aho, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8066473
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine with a floating air seal to form a seal between a rotor disk and an adjacent stator vane segment shroud and allow for both axial and radial shifting of the rotor disk with respect to the stator while maintaining the sealing capability. The floating air seal includes an annular piston that slides within an annular groove formed within the stator in an axial direction. The annular piston includes an annular groove on the rotor disk side to form an air cushion against the rotor disk, a pressure buffer surface on the opposite end, and a central passage to supply the air cushion chamber with pressurized fluid from the buffer pressure chamber. A balancing force on the annular piston is formed between the air cushion formed and the pressure force acting to push the annular piston toward the rotor surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Wilho V Aho, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5587068
    Abstract: The deaerator includes a chamber that includes vortex generators that centrifuge the oil/air to separate the components and the chamber may operate in all attitudes. In addition wake separators mounted in the inlet of the chamber remove a large percentage of the air from the oil prior to entering the chamber and reintroduce the separated air component in the air removal tube. A dam in the air removal tube is located downstream of the inlet of the wake separated air to assure no oil is extracted from the air tube leaving the chamber. The wake separator consists of one or more tubes extending transversely to the flow of the oil/air stream and the air is removed through rearwardly facing apertures formed in the tube(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1996
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Wilho V. Aho, Jr., Stephen R. Jones, Gregory E. Chetta, Terry H. Strout
  • Patent number: 5289900
    Abstract: The services normally associated with the lubrication oil tank used on aircraft are made dependent of each other by the judicious location of the various service housings, inlet ports and internal passages. The caps of the pressure fill port and overfill port are sequentially removable in order to prevent fill while the overfill port is blocked off. The overfill port and JOAP port are combined and internal valving automatically responds to the type of service called for.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 1, 1994
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Wilho V. Aho, Jr., Terry H. Strout
  • Patent number: 4947963
    Abstract: Swirl vessel (14) located within oil tank (28) receives return oil (12) and delivers supply oil (10). The vessel is vented (50) to outside the oil tank. Surplus oil continuously drains (36) to the tank (10) interior. Make up oil from the tank is continuously ejected back into the swirl vessel (14) by various make up lines (46, 56, 68, 60) connected to the low pressure zone (49) of swirl inducing nozzles or injectors (18). The apparatus will operate at any attitude.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 14, 1990
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Wilho V. Aho, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4344740
    Abstract: The present invention provides an improved sideplate of the type adhered to the side of a rotor disk for the retention of rotor blades and for blocking the leakage of working medium gases across the rotor disk. The elimination of retaining bolts and rivets is sought.In one effective embodiment of the present invention, the sideplate is adhered to the disk at a bayonet type joint. The sideplate is elastically deformable to enable assembly of the sideplate onto the disk with abutting surfaces of the disk and sideplate in interference engagement at release. The side surface of the disk is tapered in cross section geometry to accommodate deformation of the sideplate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1982
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Donald R. Trenschel, Wilho V. Aho, Jr.