Patents Assigned to Rolls-Royce plc
  • Electromagnetic component for a stator segment of an electrical machine
    Patent number: 9148040
    Abstract: An electromagnetic component for mounting in a framework 47 so as to provide a stator segment 20 of an electrical machine 12. The component comprises a magnetic flux guide 32 and an electrical winding 34 for electromagnetic interaction with the magnetic flux guide 32. The component further comprises electrical terminals 52 for connecting the electrical winding 34 to an electrical network 61, at least one fluid pathway 42 for receiving a flow of cooling fluid in normal use, and at least one fluid connector 54 for coupling the fluid pathway 42 to a source of cooling fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: John E. Anthony
  • Methods for controlling friction between heterogeneous contact surfaces
    Patent number: 9140131
    Abstract: A method of conditioning a first, heterogeneous contact surface for operational engagement with a second contact surface, the method comprising: performing a smoothing operation on part or all of the first contact surface while subjecting said part or all of the first contact surface respectively to a contact pre-stress corresponding to a nominal operational contact stress between the first and second contact surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Alison J McMillan
  • Composite flange element
    Patent number: 9140140
    Abstract: A composite flange element formed on a casing comprising a portion of a component and an adjoining flange portion, the composite having a ply layup comprising: one or more first plies extending over both the portion of the component and the flange portion; one or more second plies extending over the flange portion; and one or more third plies extending over the portion of the component; wherein the first, second and third plies are selected to provide desirable properties for the portions over which they extend. The flange element so formed consists of one or more load spreading features associated with the flange portion and one or more stress reduction features in the region where the portion of the component meets the flange portion. Preferably the plies are arranged or interleaved such that they run up the case and flange without distortion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Alison J McMillan
  • Electrical harness connector
    Patent number: 9139144
    Abstract: A connector is provided for joining two electrical harnesses. Each harness is formed from a flexible printed circuit board which provides a plurality of conductive tracks, and each harness has a substantially planar terminating region at which the conductive tracks of the harness fan out. One or more receiving holes are formed in each terminating region to extend to respective conductive tracks. A connector includes a connection formation which is between respective terminating regions of the two electrical harnesses. The connector further includes a housing configured to hold the respective terminating regions of the two electrical harnesses in face-to-face relationship with the connection formation sandwiched therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Paul Broughton
  • Method and equipment for shaping a cast component
    Patent number: 9133539
    Abstract: A method for shaping a component cast from a titanium alloy including firstly heating the component to a plastic temperature such that it becomes plastically deformable and subsequently subjecting the component to a deformation process to thereby plastically deform the component to a desired geometric shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Paul Robert Hayton
  • Seal
    Patent number: 9133939
    Abstract: A hydraulic seal arrangement for a rotating machine, particularly a gas turbine engine, comprises a hydraulic seal and a hydraulic trap. When the machine is shut down, oil is retained in the hydraulic trap. When the machine is restarted, the oil from the hydraulic trap is available to re-make the hydraulic seal, thereby reducing or avoiding the leakage that typically occurs in such seal arrangements until the flow of oil through the seal arrangement is re-established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: David P Scothern, Neil R Fomison
  • Joint assembly
    Patent number: 9133731
    Abstract: A joint assembly for securing flanges of two casings comprising a plurality of bolts, a plurality of collars and a plurality of nuts. Each bolt extends through an aperture in the first flange and an aperture in the second flange, each collar being arranged around a shank of a respective bolt and each nut being secured on a respective one of the bolts. Each collar being arranged between one of the flanges and a nut or a head of a bolt. Each collar comprises a first member and a second member, the second member being arranged at a first end of the first member. The second member being substantially U-shaped in cross-section, the second member having first and second radially inner ends and a radially outer mid portion and an axial space is defined between the first radially inner end and the second radially inner end of the second member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Julian M. Reed
  • CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITE
    Publication number: 20150251378
    Abstract: The invention concerns an article (20) formed of a ceramic matrix composite structure having a plurality of ceramic fibre layers (22) and a binder material (24) interspersed throughout said layers. The ceramic matrix composite material may be sintered. The ceramic fibre layers undulate relative to one or more outer surfaces (38;40) of the article. Thus support features (48) within the article are able to share a load in use between a plurality of layers. The invention may be suited to engine components such as turbine seal segments in a gas turbine engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2014
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Applicant: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventor: Steven HILLIER
  • METHOD OF SEALING COOLING HOLES
    Publication number: 20150251371
    Abstract: A method of sealing a gap between an aerofoil component and a further component. The method comprises placing the aerofoil component in close proximity with the further component to define a gap therebetween, applying a thermoplastic material to the gap in a molten phase and cooling the thermoplastic material to set the thermoplastic material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2015
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: Michiel KOPMELS, Simon CROWTHER
  • Duct arrangement
    Patent number: 9127784
    Abstract: A duct arrangement 18 for a waterjet propulsor 10. The duct arrangement 18 comprises a main duct 30 having an inlet 20. The inlet 20 has an elongate main portion 32 extending along a principal axis 34, and at least one lateral portion 36 in fluid communication with the main portion 34. The at least one lateral portion 36 extends part way only along the length of the main portion 34.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: John Richard Webster, Paul John Newton, Paul Fletcher
  • Oil scavenge arrangement
    Patent number: 9121491
    Abstract: An epicyclic gearbox including: a sun gear, a ring gear, an array of planet gears that each mesh with the sun gear and the ring gear and rotate relative thereto, and a planet carrier that couples the planet gears in relative position to each other. The planet carrier includes interplanetary portions that are located between adjacent pairs of planet gears and have a first and a second circumferential surface facing each adjacent planet gear; and direction features on at least one of the circumferential surfaces that, in use, direct fluid ejected with a radial component from the planet gears and direct it with an axial component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Michael Richard Hancox
  • Bonding of metal components
    Patent number: 9120173
    Abstract: A method of bonding a first component (10) comprising a titanium-containing alloy to a second metal component (12), wherein a coating layer (14,16) is applied to each of the first and second components in the region to be bonded. The coating layers (14,16) comprise a precious metal. An intermediate metallic layer (18) is interposed between the coating layer (14) of the first component and the coating layer (16) of the second component. The respective coating layers are held in contact with the intermediate layer (18) and the coating layers and the intermediate layer are heated to initiate melting of at least one of said layers so as to form a bond between the first and second components by brazing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: David P. Routledge
  • Spray nozzle
    Patent number: 9120123
    Abstract: A spray nozzle 10 for a laser deposition apparatus comprises an array of nozzle apertures 16 arranged side-by-side, and a powder supply chamber 18 in fluid communication with the nozzle apertures 16. In use the powder supply chamber 18 supplies powder to the nozzle apertures 16 under pressure so as to cause a wide powder stream to be discharged from the array of nozzle apertures 16. When used with a laser deposition apparatus 100, a relatively wide coating of a uniform thickness can be deposited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Daniel Clark, James Kell, Jeffrey Allen
  • Leaf seal
    Patent number: 9121506
    Abstract: This application describes a leaf seal arrangement, including: a first component having a high pressure area and a low pressure area therein; a second component which passes from the high pressure area to the low pressure area; a leaf seal having an array of leaf elements between the high and low pressure areas, each leaf element having a fixed end and a free end, wherein the fixed end is attached to the first component and the free end defines a sealing surface through which the second component sealably passes, a sealing gap therebetween, and wherein the sealing gap generally converges from the high pressure area toward the lower pressure area. Also described is a method of providing a leaf seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Gervas Franceschini
  • Electrical harness
    Patent number: 9125296
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine has an electrical harness formed from a flexible printed circuit board which provides a plurality of spaced conductive tracks. The conductive tracks are grouped into plural layers of tracks, the track layers being spaced apart and extending substantially parallel to each other. The tracks of each track layer form respective circuits which all have impedances lying within a respective range for that track layer. The impedances ranges are non-overlapping. The highest voltage differentials between tracks produced during indirect lightning strikes will thus tend to be between tracks of different track layers rather than between tracks of the same track layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Jason Watkiss
  • Method of connecting meshes
    Patent number: 9123166
    Abstract: A method of connecting three-dimensional structured meshes to form a conformal mesh, for solutions of flow problems, including: forming an interface by overlaying surfaces of two structured meshes; defining an interface set of mesh points in the interface; merging mesh points in the interface set that are within a predetermined distance of each other and projecting mesh points of one mesh in the interface that are within a predetermined distance of a line of the other mesh; generating an interface layer in the form of an unstructured mesh; and inserting a node at the center of each hexahedra, and producing an unstructured layer of cells between the two structured meshes by joining the nodes to the mesh points of the interface layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Shahrokh Shahpar, Ning Qin, Yibin Wang, Greg Carnie
  • Seal arrangement and a method of repairing a seal arrangement
    Patent number: 9121350
    Abstract: The seal arrangement is arranged between the casing portions and a fluoropolymer O-ring seal is positioned between the casing portions. A first protecting member is positioned between the fluoropolymer O-ring seal and the casing portion and the first protecting member consists of a polymer and hydroxyapatite. The first protecting member consists of 50 to 80 wt % polymer and 20 to 50 wt % hydroxyapatite and incidental impurities. The first protecting member is located in an annular groove and is thus arranged between the casing portion and the fluoropolymer O-ring seal. The first protecting member is substantially U-shaped in cross-section and the fluoropolymer O-ring seal is positioned between the legs of the U-shaped cross-section first protecting member. The first protecting member prevents corrosion of the casing portion by the fluoropolymer O-ring seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: Jonathan M. Taylor, Benjamin Shaw
  • Bleed outlet structure for a bleed valve
    Patent number: 9121465
    Abstract: A bleed valve having an inlet port and an outlet port. The bleed valve comprises mutually perpendicular radial, longitudinal and tangential axes arranged such that the outlet port is substantially in a plane defined by the longitudinal and tangential axes. The bleed valve also comprises at least one vane spanning the outlet port and having a first side and a second side, the first side being closer to the inlet port than the second side. The at least one vane defining a vector from its first to its second side that has non-zero radial, longitudinal and tangential components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: Andrew L Wright, Paul M Kirton
  • Fluid calming member
    Patent number: 9121305
    Abstract: A fluid calming member (18, 118, 218) for use in a fluid carrying arrangement (10) is disclosed. The fluid calming member is formed of a material that includes a porous metallic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Richard Nicholson
  • Method of tip grinding the blades of a gas turbine rotor
    Patent number: 9114496
    Abstract: A method of grinding the tip of a blade which forms part of a rotor for a gas turbine engine is provided. The method includes mounting a plurality of blades in a disc to provide a blade assembly; mounting the blade assembly in a grinding apparatus; aligning the plurality of blades in a predetermined position using compressed fluid; and, grinding the blade tips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Duncan Saunders, Kevin Jones, Martin S. Suckling