Patents Examined by Brian Christopher Delrue
  • Patent number: 11209004
    Abstract: Air compressor comprising a centrifugal-type compression wheel defining an axial direction and a radial direction, an air intake opening extending circumferentially around the compression wheel and opening onto a compression part, the compression part comprising a first portion forming a volute for the ejection of compressed air which is mounted facing the compression wheel in the radial direction, and an at least partly annular second portion extending around the first portion, the second portion comprising a central orifice receiving at least part of the compression wheel and an air deflection torus, the volute being made of metallic material and the torus made of thermoplastic material filled with non-metallic elements, the thermoplastic material having a thermal expansion corresponding to that of the metallic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: Safran Electical & Power
    Inventors: Nicolas Stefanovic, Michael Polin, Arnaud Genin
  • Patent number: 11203935
    Abstract: A turbine engine compressor blade includes a leading edge, a trailing edge, a suction surface, and a pressure surface. In addition, the blade includes at least one irregularity in the form of a projecting protuberance of the suction surface or the pressure surface or in the form of a recess nested in the suction surface or the pressure surface. The irregularity may have a direction of longest dimension substantially parallel to the leading edge or substantially axial.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: SAFRAN AERO BOOSTERS SA
    Inventor: Stéphane Hiernaux
  • Patent number: 11203941
    Abstract: A stationary blade includes a main unit having a hollow blade structure formed from a metal plate by plastic forming. The stationary blade includes a blade tail section. In a blade tail upper portion, the metal plate has a concave-shaped recess and a rib formed on an inner surface side thereof, and the metal plate further has slits formed by slitting on a blade pressure side thereof, so that droplets affixed on a blade surface can be guided into an inside of the hollow blade when the blade tail section is joined to the hollow blade main unit. The recess in the metal plate is covered so as to be lidded by a suction-side protrusion of a suction-side metal plate from a blade suction side to thereby form a hollow blade tail section. The metal plates are welded together to the main unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Power, Ltd.
    Inventors: Susumu Nakano, Koji Ishibashi, Shunsuke Mizumi, Masaki Matsuda, Takeshi Kudo
  • Patent number: 11187089
    Abstract: Damper stacks, rotor blades, and turbomachines are provided. A rotor blade includes a main body including a shank and an airfoil extending radially outwardly from the shank. The rotor blade further includes a damping passage defined in the main body, the damping passage extending radially through the main body. The rotor blade further includes a damper stack disposed within the damping passage, the damper stack including a plurality of damper pins, each of the plurality of damper pins in contact with a neighboring damper pin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael Anthony Wondrasek, Brian Denver Potter, Robert Alan Brittingham
  • Patent number: 11187160
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine comprises a fan drive turbine driving a shaft. The shaft engages a gear reduction. The gear reduction drives a fan rotor at a speed that is less than the speed of the fan drive turbine. The gear reduction is a non-epicyclic gear reduction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: William G. Sheridan
  • Patent number: 11177646
    Abstract: A wind turbine generator controller is described. The controller comprises switching circuitry, for selectively activating and deactivating one or more transducer circuits, and overcurrent detection circuitry, for detecting an overcurrent state in relation to one or more of the transducer circuits. The switching circuitry is responsive to the detection on an overcurrent state to selectively deactivate one or more of the transducer circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Karl Axel Pétursson, Lars Rohrmann Andersen, Jesper Holm, Henrik Møller Ravn, David Steele, Arne Gormsen
  • Patent number: 11162499
    Abstract: A vacuum pump system comprises: a vacuum pump including a suction port, an exhaust port, and a pressure detection section configured to detect a gas pressure in a gas flow path through which gas sucked through the suction port flows to the exhaust port; and an arithmetic device configured to perform arithmetic processing for a state of a deposition substance in the gas flow path based on the gas pressure detected by the pressure detection section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Shimadzu Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki Kimura
  • Patent number: 11162494
    Abstract: The pump can have a pump body, a main cavity having an inlet and an outlet, a rotor rotatably mounted in the main cavity and configured to pump fluid from the inlet to the outlet as it rotates, a separator cavity disposed adjacent the main cavity and configured to sustain a vortex, a fluid passage fluidly connecting the main cavity to the separator cavity, the fluid passage preserving momentum of fluid from the main cavity to the separator cavity to contribute to the vortex.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Daniel Alecu, Sam Cutrara
  • Patent number: 11149562
    Abstract: A method for disassembling/assembling a gas turbine including a seal plate disposed on a first side of a rotor disc in an axial direction of the rotor disc, and a seal plate restraint part for restricting movement of the seal plate relative to the rotor disc in a radial direction of the rotor disc includes a seal-plate-restraint-state switching step of moving the seal plate restraint part along the axial direction to switch between a seal plate non-restraint state where the seal plate restraint part does not restrict movement of the seal plate in the radial direction and a seal plate restraint state where at least a part of the seal plate restraint part protrudes in the axial direction from the seal plate and thereby restricts movement of the seal plate in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI POWER, LTD.
    Inventors: Masahiro Murata, Eiichi Tsutsumi, Yoshimasa Takaoka, Shinya Hashimoto, Naoki Ikushima, Tetsuya Shimmyo
  • Patent number: 11149566
    Abstract: A guide vane in an outer section of a turbofan engine contains oil cooling cavities which are located on one side of a main bending axis of the vane so that the differential thermal expansions compensate for the bending deformations caused by the aerodynamic forces exerted on the outer vane surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventor: Nils Edouard Romain Bordoni
  • Patent number: 11131319
    Abstract: A centrifugal compressor is provided with a plurality of diaphragms including a first diaphragm and a second diaphragm which are adjacent to each other in an axial direction, a casing disposed on a radially outer side of the plurality of diaphragms and accommodating an internal component including the plurality of diaphragms, at least one axial spacer disposed between the first diaphragm and the second diaphragm, and a scroll flow passage formed by a scroll inner peripheral wall and a scroll outer peripheral wall. The scroll inner peripheral wall is formed by a surface of the first diaphragm positioned on a radially inner side of an outer peripheral surface of the first diaphragm. At least a part of the scroll outer peripheral wall is formed by an inner peripheral surface of the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Nakaniwa, Akinori Tasaki, Daisuke Hirata
  • Patent number: 11131290
    Abstract: A rotor blade for a wind turbine includes at least one blade segment defining an airfoil surface and an internal support structure. The internal support structure is formed, at least in part, of a first portion constructed of a first composite material and a second portion constructed of a different, second composite material, the second composite material arranged in a plurality of layers. The first and second portions are connected together via a scarf joint. Each of the plurality of layers of the second composite material includes an end that terminates at the scarf joint. The scarf joint includes a different, third composite material arranged between the first and second composite materials. The third composite material includes a plurality of segments, each of which is arranged so as to completely wrap the ends of the plurality of layers of the second composite material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Sujan Kumar Pal, Raja Kadhirvelu
  • Patent number: 11131289
    Abstract: A shear web flange (36) for a shear web (32) of a wind turbine blade (18) is described. The flange (36) extends longitudinally and comprises a bonding surface (50) for bonding to an inner surface of a wind turbine blade (18). One or more protruding features (52a, 52b) protrude from the bonding surface (50). A method of making such a shear web flange (36) is also described as are a shear web (32) for a wind turbine blade (18), a wind turbine blade (18) and a method of making a wind turbine blade (18).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventors: Jason Hawkins, Craig Field, Steve Wardropper
  • Patent number: 11125097
    Abstract: A segmented ring for installation in a turbomachine, circumferentially divided into segments, considered with respect to a ring axis of the segmented ring, wherein the segmented ring is adapted for installation from radially inside; i.e., the segments can be assembled radially outwardly to form the segmented ring. At least two immediately circumferentially adjacent segments meet in a joint at which a sealing insert is provided. A pocket which is open toward the joint is formed in each of the at least two immediately circumferentially adjacent segments; i.e., two circumferentially mutually facing pockets are provided at the joint. The sealing insert is disposed in the two mutually facing pockets and axially retained therein and extends circumferentially across the joint, and a pocket of the two mutually facing pockets is additionally also open in a radial direction such that this segment can be radially slid onto the sealing insert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
    Inventor: Manfred Feldmann
  • Patent number: 11118471
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine component includes an outer diameter endwall, an inner diameter endwall spaced radially inward of the outer diameter endwall, and at least one body supported between the outer and inner endwalls for rotation about an axis. The body includes an outer diameter surface spaced from the outer diameter endwall by a first gap and an inner diameter surface spaced from the inner diameter endwall by a second gap. The outer and inner diameter surfaces and the outer and inner diameter endwalls are configured such that the first and second gaps remain generally constant in size as the body rotates about the axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: John D. Teixeira, Eric A. Grover, Raymond Surace
  • Patent number: 11118462
    Abstract: A turbine blade for a gas turbine engine, the turbine blade having a peripheral blade tip wall surrounding a radially recessed tip pocket, the peripheral blade tip wall having: a wall height; a leading edge; a trailing edge; a pressure side wall; and a suction side wall; and a rib extending between the pressure side wall and the suction side wall defining a leading portion and a trailing portion of the radially recessed tip pocket, the rib having a rib height less than the wall height.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Vincent Paradis, Othmane Leghzaouni, Masoud Roshan Fekr, Marc-Antoine Mailloux-Labrousse
  • Patent number: 11111799
    Abstract: A method for disassembling/assembling a gas turbine including a seal plate disposed on a first side of a rotor disc in an axial direction of the rotor disc, and a seal plate restraint part for restricting movement of the seal plate relative to the rotor disc in a radial direction of the rotor disc includes a seal-plate-restraint-state switching step of operating the seal plate restraint part from a second side in the axial direction to switch between a seal plate non-restraint state where the seal plate restraint part does not restrict movement of the seal plate in the radial direction and a seal plate restraint state where at least a part of the seal plate restraint part protrudes toward the second side in the axial direction from the seal plate and thereby restricts movement of the seal plate in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI POWER, LTD.
    Inventors: Masahiro Murata, Eiichi Tsutsumi, Yoshimasa Takaoka, Shinya Hashimoto, Naoki Ikushima, Tetsuya Shimmyo
  • Patent number: 11105316
    Abstract: A method of controlling noise produced by a wind turbine is disclosed. The wind turbine comprises one or more component cooling devices, and the method comprises: receiving one or more inputs indicative of noise generated by the one or more component cooling devices; determining the contribution of noise from the one or more component cooling devices to overall turbine noise based upon the one or more inputs; and modifying turbine operation based upon the contribution of cooling device noise to overall turbine noise and based upon turbine noise requirements. A corresponding wind turbine controller is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Mranal Gupta, Kaj Dam Madsen
  • Patent number: 11105207
    Abstract: A blade wheel of a turbomachine, which blade wheel has a multiplicity of blades which are suitable and provided for extending radially in a flow path of the turbomachine, wherein the blades form a blade entry angle and a blade exit angle. Provision is made whereby the blade wheel forms N blocks of blades, where N?2, wherein the blades of a block have in each case the same blade entry angle and the same blade exit angle, and the blades of at least two mutually adjacent blocks have a different blade entry angle and/or a different blade exit angle. According to a further aspect of the invention, partial gaps that the blades form in relation to an adjacent flow path boundary are varied in mutually adjacent blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignees: Rolls-Royce Deutschland Ltd & Co KG, Rolls-Royce
    Inventors: Sven Schrape, Bernhard Mück, Jens Nipkau, Thomas Giersch, Frank Heinichen, John Dodds
  • Patent number: 11105341
    Abstract: An air moving device according to the present disclosure can include a housing and an installation hub. The housing can be connected to the installation hub via one or more adjustable supports. An impeller can be installed at least partially in the housing and configured to direct air out of the housing. In some embodiments, the adjustable supports can be adjusted to move the housing with respect to the installation hub. For example, the adjustable supports can be configured to modify the tilt of the housing and/or the overall distance between the housing and the installation hub. The installation hub can be installed on a ceiling, wall, or other mounting surface. Adjustment of the adjustable supports can permit vertical alignment of the air moving device housing, even when the installation hub is mounted to a slanted or sloped (e.g., non-horizontal) ceiling or wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2021
    Assignee: AIRIUS IP HOLDINGS, LLC
    Inventor: Raymond B. Avedon