Patents Represented by Attorney J. C. Evans
  • Patent number: 4241876
    Abstract: A two dimensional vectoring nozzle assembly has an expandable plug therein including a first pair of panels and a second pair of downstream panels extending between spaced, parallel side walls and wherein a pivoted connection between the first pair of inlet panels and the second pair of downstream panels is located at the nozzle throat and is associated with a mechanism to cause the pivoted connection therebetween to move substantially in a vertical plane at the throat of the nozzle between open and closed positions therein and wherein an exhaust port in the nozzle is selectively opened by a movable door operated between open and closed positions by the mechanism and operative when the expandable nozzle is in its closed position to open the door to concurrently restrict flow through the throat region of the nozzle while opening the exhaust port whereby exhaust flow through the nozzle is directed by the blocking action of the expandable plug from a point upstream thereof through the exhaust opening in the nozz
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 1979
    Date of Patent: December 30, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: George H. Pedersen
  • Patent number: 4232514
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine has a power turbine driven by gas flow across a nozzle arrangement that includes a partial admission gate valve therein that is movable into and out of overlying relationship with a limited number of vanes of the nozzle in order to control power output therefrom during part load operation of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 1979
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: James H. Flatt
  • Patent number: 4232527
    Abstract: A combustor apparatus for use in gas turbine engines includes an annular dome of porous laminated material joined by a solid metal joint ring to inner and outer annular porous wall segments also constructed of porous laminated material; and wherein the solid metal joint ring includes a plurality of small diameter offset effusion holes for directing coolant through the solid metal ring at a rate to cool it without entrapment of unburned fuel against the combustor walls; the combustor further including a transition mount including a solid metal support ring welded to the aft end of a porous laminated metal combustor wall, the mount including a seal ring retained by a keeper and a thin conical, axially extending beam portion that is flexible to serve to accommodate differential thermal expansion of the combustor relative to a grounded support component and wherein the solid metal support also includes a plurality of effusion cooling holes located immediately outboard of a weld bead between the solid metal suppor
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 1979
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Samuel B. Reider
  • Patent number: 4233123
    Abstract: A method for making an air cooled combustor of the slot film cooled type including artificially roughened convective channels to cool the liner wall components of a combustor for a gas turbine engine including the steps of: preforming a combustor wall segment having a curved surface thereon for directing cooling air from exteriorly of the combustor across inner wall surfaces thereof; coating the curved surface with photosensitive material; preparing a phototransparency having a crosshatch grid thereon of continuously curved intersecting lines and thereafter projecting the crosshatch grid pattern against the photosensitive material on the conical surface to produce an exposed, uniform straight line grid pattern on the photosensitive material and thereafter photoetching the uniform straight line pattern into the metal of the surface to produce a uniform array of raised lands across the curved surface of the wall segment for producing a uniform cooling of the portions thereof having convective air flow thereacro
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 1978
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Ganz G. Hammer, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4222172
    Abstract: An area measurement device for determining the single vane throat area of a nozzle guide vane with inner and outer bands adapted for assembly in a ring of vanes having a close tolerance cold throat flow area through the entire ring annulus and wherein each of the guide vanes includes aft radial reference surfaces and a radially outwardly directed side reference surface locatable on internal engine support surfaces for positioning the vane within an engine annulus support assembly. Each vane also has an inner band locater hole for fixedly securing the inner band of the nozzle to an internally located engine support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 1979
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: George W. Mason
  • Patent number: 4218178
    Abstract: A liquid cooled stator blade assembly for a gas turbine engine includes an outer shroud having a pair of liquid inlets and a pair of liquid outlets supplied through a header and wherein means including tubes support the header radially outwardly of the shroud and also couple the header with the pair of liquid inlets and outlets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 1978
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: John A. Irwin
  • Patent number: 4218020
    Abstract: An airblast atomizer with air swirl vanes has an outlet configured to produce a fuel/air mixture pattern from the fuel nozzle to match an annular combustion chamber formed between an annular inner combustor wall and an annular combustor wall having inlet ends thereof connected to an annular dome for supporting each of a plurality of the fuel nozzles; each of the nozzles including a pair of spaced, large radius slots in a cylindrical outlet wall of the nozzle operative to produce a vortex pattern that will spread the mixed fuel/air pattern from the nozzle to define the major axis of an elliptically formed fuel/air pattern from the nozzle and wherein the remainder of the airblast atomizer nozzle has a reduced radius to conform the fuel/air mixture to the diameter of an outlet swirl chamber from the nozzle to produce the minor axis of an elliptically configured fuel/air spray pattern and wherein the major axis is formed as a chordal line of the combustion chamber to conform the fuel/air mixture pattern from each
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Samuel B. Reider
  • Patent number: 4217755
    Abstract: An air cooled gas turbine engine includes a coolant flow control valve for regulating flow of compressor discharge air to a turbine rotor in accordance with compressor discharge pressure and the operating temperature of an air cooled turbine component of the engine and wherein the coolant flow control valve is associated with a seal having a fixed stator member connected to a compressor frame and a movable labyrinth seal rotor driven in response to gas turbine engine operation to seal between high and low pressure regions; the coolant flow control valve including a pressurizable chamber formed by the stator member and an annular member secured between the stator member and a movable leaf spring valve element that is subjected to compressor discharge pressure to close the valve element at engine cruise conditions and wherein means are provided responsive to temperature of the turbine component to bleed the pressurizable chamber to cause the bellows to bias the valve element into an open position thereby to mod
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1978
    Date of Patent: August 19, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: James R. Williams
  • Patent number: 4216652
    Abstract: An air blast fuel supply system for a gas turbine engine comprises a floating swirler separated from the fuel injector and means for radially supporting both the swirler and fuel injector for free radial movement with respect to a combustor dome; a fuel atomization lip on the floating swirler is located in spaced overlying relationship to a tangential fuel director to form an annular fuel film at the outlet of the fuel injector and an outer annular air flow directing lip on the floating swirler directs inlet air flow against the fuel film as it leaves the atomization lip. The fuel injector includes a nozzle tube that slips to permit free axial movement of said fuel injector with resepct to the dome and wherein the tangential fuel director maintains the annular fuel film throughout axially shifted positions of said nozzle tube. This allows the fuel nozzle to be inserted through a small opening in the engine case while maintaining the integrated relationship with the swirler attached to the combustor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1978
    Date of Patent: August 12, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Avrum S. Herman, Samuel B. Reider, Cecil H. Sharpe
  • Patent number: 4213738
    Abstract: An air cooled gas turbine engine includes a cooling flow valve for regulating cooling air flow to a turbine rotor in accordance with compressor discharge pressure and the operating temperature of the turbine component by means of a pressurizable diaphragm carrying a movable valve element with respect to a fixed valve seat and wherein means are associated with the diaphragm to define a pressurizable internal cavity communicated with compressor discharge pressure by means of a control orifice to bias the diaphragm and valve element into a closed position when the compressor discharge pressure is at engine cruise condition and wherein as the temperature of operating turbine blades increase means are provided to sense such temperature increase and to bleed air from the pressurizable chamber thereby to cause the movable valve element to cycle with respect to the fixed valve seat so as to modulate coolant flow to the turbine in a manner to maintain optimized engine power output along with improved fuel consumption
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1978
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: James R. Williams
  • Patent number: 4213327
    Abstract: A flow bench includes a sealed box with an internal plenum having air flow from a source of pressure directed to several spaced points within the plenum; the sealed box includes an open upper end having a support surface around the open end including undercut spaced parallel grooves at an offset point thereon supporting a pair of seals in sealing engagement with the outer perimeter of a laminated porous panel that completely covers the open end; the flow bench further includes a removable cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 22, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: John F. Prescott, Jr., William H. Roberts
  • Patent number: 4209038
    Abstract: A fuel metering valve has a housing bore between an inlet and outlet which supportingly receives a movable valve element including an imperforate end plate and an annular, porous metal plate for regulating flow between the inlet and the outlet; the imperforate end plate includes an axial reference surface thereon to overlap the inlet and outlet to prevent flow therebetween. When the valve is initially opened to a low flow rate metering position, the reference surface is moved with respect to the inlet and outlet to interpose a predetermined planar extent of porous material for limited flow of fluid between the inlet and outlet with metering established by the flow area of interstices in the porous material rather than dimensional relationships between the reference surface and walls of the inlet and outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1978
    Date of Patent: June 24, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: John M. Wiggans
  • Patent number: 4206596
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine for vehicular road type operation includes a gasifier spool and a power turbine spool driven by gases from a gas turbine engine combustor and wherein the gasifier spool includes first and second shaft portions thereon one of which is connected to the gasifier compressor and the other of which is connected to the gasifier turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1978
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: William R. Kuziak, Jr., Elias H. Razinsky, Mason K. Yu
  • Patent number: 4195473
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine has an inlet compressor with a stepped centrifugal impeller and a double diffuser therefrom controlled by valve means and operative to supply air to combustion apparatus from when motive fluid is directed through a turbine to drive the compressor. The turbine may drive the load or a second power turbine in series with the compressor drive turbine can be included. The discharge from the double diffuser is controlled to vary the mass flow of the engine for operation at idling and under light loads and operable to be completely open for higher power output of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 1977
    Date of Patent: April 1, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Robert H. Aspinwall
  • Patent number: 4195475
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine combustor assembly of unique configuration has an outer wall made up of a plurality of axially extending multi-layered porous metal panels joined together at butt joints therebetween by a reinforcing and heat dissipation ring and a unique weld configuration to prevent thermal erosion of the ends of the porous metal panels at the butt joints; the combustor further including a unique inner wall made up of a plurality of like axially extending multi-layered porous metal panels joined at butt joints by a reinforcing and heat dissipation ring on the inner surface of the inner wall panels and an improved butt weld joint that prevents thermal erosion of the ends of the porous metal inner wall panels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1977
    Date of Patent: April 1, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Albert J. Verdouw
  • Patent number: 4191011
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine combustor assembly of annular configuration has outer and inner walls made up of a plurality of axially extending multi-layered porous metal panels joined together at butt joints therebetween and each outer and inner wall including a transition panel of porous metal defining a combustor assembly outlet supported by a combustor mount assembly including a stiffener ring having a side undercut thereon fit over a transition panel end face; and wherein an annular weld joins the ring to the end face to transmit exhaust heat from the end face to the stiffener ring for dissipation from the combustor; a combustor pilot member is located in axially spaced, surrounding relationship to the end face and connector means support the stiffener ring in free floating relationship with the pilot member to compensate for both radial and axial thermal expansion of the transition panel; and said connector means includes a radial gap for maintaining a controlled flow of coolant from outside of the transition pa
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1977
    Date of Patent: March 4, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Ralph B. Sweeney, Albert J. Verdouw
  • Patent number: 4186473
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a hybrid dual property wheel assembly includes the steps of preforming a bladed ring of a highly solidified alloy material including a base with a large diameter central opening therethrough and thereafter supporting a metal disc therein to form front and rear joint lines on either side of the juncture between the bladed ring and the disc. The method further contemplates direction of radio frequency energy to the disc to cause it to thermally expand into radially pressed contact with the inside diameter of the bladed ring at an interface therebetween while maintaining the disc and bladed ring under a continuous vacuum atmosphere and heated by the radio frequency energy for maintenance of a diffusion bond temperature between the expanded disc and the surrounding bladed ring of the wheel assembly to form a metallurgical connection therebetween by metal growth across the interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1978
    Date of Patent: February 5, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth R. Cross, Bruce A. Ewing
  • Patent number: 4183539
    Abstract: A regenerator seal structure for a rotary regenerator of a gas turbine engine includes a rim bypass seal located on the hot surface of the matrix of the rotating regenerator including a semi-circular platform with a leaf spring on one surface thereof that is engageable with an engine block support platform to seal between the engine block and one surface of the platform with a free end thereof connected to an inboard edge of the platform and being secured thereto by a hinge member and wherein the platform includes a face seal element with its inboard edge located on the outer diameter of the platform at a point isolated from infrared radiation emissions from a combustor located within the engine housing; the platform including a substantial, radially extending semi-circular flat-plate heat exchanger segment thereon that is exposed to hot gas on one side and to cool gas on the opposite side and inboard of low heat conductivity attachment faces on the seal element to reduce conduction of heat from the inboard e
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 1978
    Date of Patent: January 15, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: James M. French, Samuel R. Thrasher
  • Patent number: 4180972
    Abstract: A combustor assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a tubular, multi-layered porous metal wall with pores therethrough for distribution of compressor discharge air into a combustion chamber and wherein a rigid combustor support ring is connected to one end of the wall to receive an inlet diffuser member including an ovate inlet and a circular outlet connected to the support ring for axially directing primary air flow into the combustion chamber; and the diffuser member including a flow divider on one outer surface thereof including means for fixedly securing the inlet diffuser member with respect to a wall of a gas turbine engine and wherein coacting means are provided between the inlet diffuser member and the rigid combustor support ring of the combustor to radially connect it in place at one end thereof and wherein further coacting means are provided between the inner engine wall and a portion of the porous sleeve for axially indexing of the combustor assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1978
    Date of Patent: January 1, 1980
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Avrum S. Herman, Samuel B. Reider
  • Patent number: 4178667
    Abstract: A method for controlling the first torsional node line position in a rotatable blade of a turbomachine to improve its flutter stability including the steps of forming a first monolithic blade having a desired airfoil shape with convex and concave side walls; arranging several of the monolithic blades in a cascade array and subjecting the cascade array to an unsteady, supersonic, transonic and subsonic flow condition thereacross and thereafter determining the unsteady surface pressures acting on the monolithic blades; independently determining the first torsional mode vibration node line of each of the monolithic blades and comparing the resultant unsteady pressure force on the monolithic blades and its relationship to the first torsional mode vibration node line to determine whether or not the monolithic blade is absorbing or adding energy to the air flow thereacross; thereafter forming a plurality of first and thereafter modified composite blades by adding dissimilar material to the blade shape of a monolith
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1978
    Date of Patent: December 18, 1979
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Eloy C. Stevens, Kenneth Swain