Patents Examined by Edward Look
  • Gas turbine engine case bosses
    Patent number: 9194258
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine case has a metallic composite boss mounted thereto. The boss may have a main metal injection molded (MIM) part, and a separately formed flange part integrated to the main MIM part and projecting laterally outwardly therefrom. The MIM part and the flange part may be made of different materials. The material of the flange part is selected to provide a suitable mounting interface with the gas turbine engine case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Eric Durocher, Guy Lefebvre
  • Flexible rear bearing mounting, having an abutment, for a turbine engine
    Patent number: 9194253
    Abstract: An assembly including a part for mounting at least one shaft bearing of a turbine engine and a support part that forms an abutment for the mounting part. The mounting part includes at least one channel through which engine gases pass, and connection parts that are capable of connecting the channel to an outer structure of the engine and to a housing holding the bearing. At least one of the connection parts is flexible so as to enable radial movement of the channel, an amplitude of the radial movement being limited by at least one of the elements of the mounting part coming onto an abutment supported by the support part. The support part extends longitudinally with regard to the direction of the rotational axis of the turbine engine so as to generate a turbine shroud that is configured to be positioned in alignment with a turbine wheel of the turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: TURBOMECA
    Inventors: Marc Maurice Dijoud, Jean-Luc Pierre Sahores, Jean-Maurice Casaux-Bic
  • Blower unit
    Patent number: 9186954
    Abstract: A blower unit has a scroll casing having a first intake port and a second intake port; a first fan drawing air flowing from the first intake port; a second fan coaxially arranged with the first fan and drawing air flowing from the second intake port; a fan motor having a main body and a rotation shaft driven by the main body; and a blower cover arranged to face and cover one of the first intake port and the second intake port. The fan motor is fixed to the blower cover at a position facing the one of the first intake port and the second intake port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Toshinori Ochiai
  • Layered seal for turbomachinery
    Patent number: 9188228
    Abstract: The present application provides seal assemblies for reducing leakages between adjacent components of turbomachinery. The seal assemblies may include outer shims, and at least a portion of the outer shims may be substantially impervious. At least one of the outer shims may be configured for sealing engagement with seal slots of the adjacent components. The seal assemblies may also include at least one of an inner shim and a filler layer positioned between the outer shims. The at least one inner shim may be substantially solid and the at least one filler layer may be relatively porous. The seal assemblies may be sufficiently flexible to account for misalignment between the adjacent components, sufficiently stiff to meet assembly requirements, and sufficiently robust to operating meet requirements associated with turbomachinery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Neelesh Nandkumar Sarawate, Victor John Morgan, David Wayne Weber
  • Displacement assembly for a fluid device
    Patent number: 9188111
    Abstract: A displacement assembly includes a rotor and a plurality of reciprocating members in engagement with the rotor. The displacement assembly further includes a ring assembly. The ring assembly defines a cam surface that is in engagement with the reciprocating members. The ring assembly has a first ring and an axially adjacent second ring with at least one of the first and second rings being adapted for selective movement relative to the other between a neutral position and a displaced position. The first ring has a first ring portion defining a bore that has an inner surface. The second ring has a second ring portion defining a bore that has an inner surface. A first circumferential portion of the inner surface of the first ring portion and a second circumferential portion of the inner surface of the second ring portion define the cam surface in the displaced position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Lowell Dean Hansen, John Lawrence Walker
  • Electrical power transfer system for propeller system
    Patent number: 9188022
    Abstract: A propeller system for an aircraft includes a propeller assembly rotatable about a central axis and a reduction gearbox operably connected to the propeller assembly via a propeller shaft. An electrical power transfer system is positioned such that the gearbox is located axially between the electrical power transfer system and the propeller assembly. The electrical power transfer system includes a slip ring assembly operably connected to an oil transfer tube extending to the propeller assembly and a brush block interactive with the slip ring assembly to transfer electrical power to a plurality of lead wires extending from the slip ring assembly to the propeller assembly. The brush block is positioned such that brush block tips of the brush block extend toward the slip ring assembly in a substantially axial direction relative to the central axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Mark R. Plickys, Paul A. Carvalho
  • Cooling structures in the tips of turbine rotor blades
    Patent number: 9188012
    Abstract: A turbine rotor blade used in a gas turbine engine, which includes an airfoil having a tip at an outer radial edge, is described. The airfoil includes a pressure sidewall and a suction sidewall that join together at a leading edge and a trailing edge of the airfoil, the pressure sidewall and the suction sidewall extending from a root to the tip. The tip includes a tip plate and, disposed along a periphery of the tip plate, a rail. The rail includes a microchannel connected to a coolant source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Benjamin Paul Lacy, Brian Peter Arness, Xiuzhang James Zhang
  • Flow machine for a fluid having a radial sealing gap and a stationary wear ring
    Patent number: 9188134
    Abstract: A flow machine 10 for a fluid shown contains a radial sealing gap (9) which is formed between stator parts (4, 4a, 4b) and a closed impeller (3) of the flow machine, with at least one wear ring (5) arranged in a stationary manner being provided at the sealing gap and having an inner side facing the impeller, an outer side and two axially spaced apart side surfaces. A concentrically extending recess (6) in the form of a radial gap or of a radial incision is formed in the wear ring (5), with the recess 6, starting from one of the side surfaces, extending in the axial direction over more than a fifth of the axial length of the wear ring and with the wear ring (5) being produced from metal, hard metal or a ceramic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Sulzer Management AG
    Inventor: Martin Üre Villoria
  • Systems and methods to control flow in a rotor wheel
    Patent number: 9188010
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present application include a gas turbine system. The system may include a rotor wheel and one or more impeller vanes radially disposed on the rotor wheel. The system may also include one or more fluid passages defined by adjacent impeller vanes. The one or more fluid passages may be radially disposed across the rotor wheel. Moreover, the system may include one or more shape memory alloy valves disposed within each of the fluid passages. The one or more shape memory alloy valves may be configured to change shape to control a flow of fluid through the fluid passages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Sanjeev Kumar Jha, Sheo Narain Giri, Bhaskar Pemmi, Harish Bommanakatte, Rajesh Achudhan
  • Fan rotor with cooling holes
    Patent number: 9188136
    Abstract: A disc for a fan rotor (with a pilot to connect to a rotating shaft, a hub and a plurality of blades) includes a flat circular portion connecting to the pilot at an inner edge and to the hub at an outer edge; a plurality of first circular cooling holes of a first diameter located around the inner edge of the disc; and a plurality of second circular cooling holes of a second diameter located around the outer edge of the disc, wherein the second diameter is larger than the first diameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Darryl A. Colson, Brent J. Merritt, Danielle Mansfield-Marcoux
  • Strut driveshaft for ram air turbine
    Patent number: 9188105
    Abstract: A driveshaft for an aircraft ram air turbine includes a substantially cylindrical elongate portion, a first end extending from the elongate portion, and a second end extending from the elongate portion opposite the first end. The first and second ends each include a substantially frusto-conical section having a curved generatrix, such that distal portions of each of the first and second ends have smaller outer diameters than an outer diameter of the elongate portion. The elongate portion provides relatively high lateral stiffness and the first and second ends provide relatively low torsional stiffness, such that the driveshaft has a lateral natural frequency higher than an operating range of the driveshaft and has a torsional natural frequency below the operating range of the driveshaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen Michael Bortoli, Dustin L. Kaap
  • Gas turbine bladed rotor for aeronautic engines and method for cooling said bladed rotor
    Patent number: 9181805
    Abstract: A bladed rotor of a gas turbine for aeronautic engines is cooled by making an air mass flow through a plurality of passages, each one defined by a turbine disk on one side and by a root of a corresponding blade coupled to this turbine disk on the other, the incoming air of each passage being subdivided into two or more airflows and each flow being directed towards the turbine disk in a predefined direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: AVIO S.p.A.
    Inventors: Daniele Coutandin, Stefano Zecchi
  • Shaped rim cavity wing surface
    Patent number: 9181815
    Abstract: A shaped rim cavity wing includes an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface has a geometric shape to control the separation of airflow as it passes around the lower surface to the top surface. A point of maximum extent defines the boundary between the upper surface and the lower surface, wherein the point of maximum extent defines a corner that that separates airflow from the shaped rim cavity rim and creates a flow re-circulation adjacent to the top surface of the shaped rim cavity wing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Eric A. Grover
  • Compressor intake noise prevention by choking flow with duct geometry
    Patent number: 9181961
    Abstract: A number of variations may include a product for use with a turbocharger system may include a compressor wheel for charging a flow stream. A housing may be disposed around the compressor wheel, defining an inlet passage and a discharge passage. The flow stream may extend through the inlet passage, around the compressor wheel and through the outlet passage. The inlet passage may be configured to impart a supersonic speed to the flow stream to inhibit sound from propagating against the flow stream through the inlet passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventors: Evan Lucas, Sean Hastings
  • Method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade comprising steel wire reinforced matrix material
    Patent number: 9181923
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a shell construction part of a wind turbine blade, the shell construction part being made of a fibre reinforced polymer material including a polymer matrix and fibre reinforcement material embedded in the polymer matrix. The method comprises the steps of a) providing a forming structure comprising a mould cavity and having a longitudinal direction, b) placing the fibre reinforcement material in mould cavity, c) providing a resin in the mould cavity simultaneously with and/or subsequently to step b), and d) curing the resin in order to form the composite structure, wherein at least 20% by volume of the fibre reinforcement material consists of metallic wires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: LM GLASFIBER A/S
    Inventor: Peter Grabau
  • Method and apparatus for labyrinth seal packing rings
    Patent number: 9181817
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a seal assembly for a turbomachine that includes at least one arcuate plate, a biasing member, and a packing ring. In addition, the seal assembly includes a plurality of arcuate teeth disposed intermediate to the packing ring and the rotor. The plurality of arcuate teeth includes at least one subset of arcuate teeth. The clearance of at least one of the arcuate teeth is different from the clearances of the rest of the arcuate teeth. The clearances of the arcuate teeth of the at least one subset do not progressively increase going from an upstream to a downstream side of the turbomachinery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Hrishikesh Vishvas Deo, Binayak Roy
  • Fan assembly for vehicles
    Patent number: 9180772
    Abstract: A fan assembly comprising, a shroud having a through opening, around which the shroud defines an air conveying ring, a motor-fan assembly which includes an axial fan rotatable with respect to the support about an axis of rotation, and a noise-reducing annular structure, having a plurality of projections which are arranged in succession in a circumferential direction and extend radially towards the axis of rotation of the fan, each projection having a face which is directed towards the axis of rotation and is substantially parallel thereto, and a plurality of portions radially recessed towards the air conveying ring. Each of the recessed portions has a face which is directed towards the axis of rotation of the fan and the profile of which in the axial direction is generally curvilinear and not parallel to the axis of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Thermal Systems S.P.A.
    Inventors: Paolo Durello, Francesco Mercogliano
  • Multiple-mode braking system
    Patent number: 9174619
    Abstract: An all-in-one braking system for a vehicle is described. The braking system includes an operating rod, a first piston system, a second piston system, and a fail safe plate. The operating rod is couplable to a brake actuator operated by the driver of the vehicle. The first piston system and the second piston system each include a piston, a fail recovery key, and a motor. The motor is coupled to the piston to affect lateral movement of the piston which, in turn, causes a braking pressure to be applied to a wheel of the vehicle. The fail safe plate is fixedly coupled to the operating rod such that lateral movement of the operating rod causes lateral movement of the fail safe plate. A controller is configured to operate the motors to control the lateral movement of the pistons based at least in part on detected movement of the operating rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Toshiaki Fukushima
  • Slat with tip vortex modification appendage for wind turbine
    Patent number: 9175666
    Abstract: A slat (30) extending along an inboard portion of a wind turbine main blade element (22). The slat may have an end vortex modification appendage, such as winglet (34), endplate (64), raked wingtip (70), or down turned wingtip (72), and may be located behind a line defined perpendicular to a mean camber line of the main blade element at a leading edge of the main blade element. At least the leading edge (42S) of the slat may be disposed within a zone (48) of airflow that generally parallels the suction side (40) of the main blade element. The slat may have a flatback trailing edge (44F). Vortex generators (60) may be attached to the slat. Slats may be retrofitted to a wind turbine rotor (20) by attaching them to the spar caps (56) of the blades or to the hub (26) of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Drew Eisenberg, Arni T. Steingrimsson, Alonso O. Zamora Rodriguez
  • Airfoil including member connected by articulated joint
    Patent number: 9175570
    Abstract: An airfoil includes a body that has a platform, an airfoil extending outwardly from a side of the platform and a root extending outwardly from another side of the platform. A member is connected in an articulated joint to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tracy A. Propheter-Hinckley, Anita L. Tracy