Patents Examined by Jason G Davis
  • Patent number: 10287891
    Abstract: A turbojet fan blade adapted for securement to an engine rotor includes a titanium sheath that extends continuously over its leading edge from blade tip to blade root. The sheath provides impact protection over the leading edge of the blade, and also incorporates enhanced radial securement of the sheath to the rotor. As such, a radial lock system for the sheath is disclosed that includes a fully integrated sheath portion that extends completely over the frontal face of a fan blade dovetail, providing a radial lock of the sheath to the rotor in the event of failure of any adhesive used to attach the sheath to the leading edge. Because the sheath extends continuously from blade tip to the blade root, lightning strike protection is enhanced by avoidance of any discontinuities otherwise associated with related art sheaths that typically extend over only a flow path portion of the leading edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christopher S. McKaveney, Jason Elliott
  • Patent number: 10273903
    Abstract: A nacelle for a gas turbine jet engine for an aircraft includes plasma actuators that act as flow disruptors to provide boundary layer turbulence when the engine is exposed to air flow that is obtuse or perpendicular to direction of travel of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignees: Rolls-Royce Corporation, Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Roy D. Fulayter, Crawford F. Smith, III
  • Patent number: 10267180
    Abstract: A method of sizing a heat exchanger for a geared architecture gas turbine engine includes sizing a minimum frontal area of at least one heat exchanger located in communication with a fan bypass airflow such that a ratio of waste heat area to horsepower generation characteristic area is between 1.6 to 8.75.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Frederick M Schwarz, Simon Pickford
  • Patent number: 10267161
    Abstract: An airfoil for a gas turbine engine can have an exterior wall and an interior wall, with each wall having a thickness. The walls can intersect to define a corner at the intersection. A cooling passage can be defined by the walls at or near the corner to provide fluid communication between the interior and exterior of the airfoil. A film hole can be disposed in the walls and can have a length and diameter to define a ratio of length to diameter, L/D. An arcuate fillet can be located in the corner to define an effective radius for the fillet. The effective radius can be at least 1.5 times larger than the thicknesses of the walls to provide for an increased length to diameter ratio for the film hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jared Peter Buhler, Ronald Scott Bunker, Victor Hugo Silva Correia, Brian Kenneth Corsetti
  • Patent number: 10253651
    Abstract: An exemplary flow control device assembly for a turbomachine includes a flow control device configured to move between a first position and a second position. The flow control device in the first position forces more flow through a plurality of cooling holes than the flow control device in the second position. The plurality of cooling holes are upstream the flow control device relative a direction of flow through the turbomachine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Joseph T. Christians
  • Patent number: 10247009
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a rotor blade for a gas turbine system. The rotor blade includes a platform having a radially inner surface and a radially outer surface. A shank portion extends radially inwardly from the radially inner surface of the platform. The shank portion and the platform collectively define a shank pocket. An airfoil extends radially outwardly from the radially outer surface of the platform. The shank portion, the platform, and the airfoil collectively define a cooling passage extending from a cooling passage inlet defined by the shank portion or the platform and directly coupled to the shank pocket through the platform to a cooling passage outlet defined by the airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Melbourne James Myers, Xiuzhang James Zhang, Stuart Samuel Collins, Camilo Andres Sampayo, Joseph Block
  • Patent number: 10247040
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes a turbine having a plurality of vanes, a plurality of blades, a turbine shroud arranged around the vanes and blades, and a turbine case arranged around the turbine shroud. The turbine shroud is sized to block combustion products from passing over the blades without pushing the blades to rotate. The turbine shroud includes a runner arranged around the blades and a carrier arranged around the runner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignees: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc., Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventors: Bruce E. Varney, Jack D. Petty, Daniel K. Vetters, Eugene Clemens
  • Patent number: 10240476
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes a turbine having a plurality of vanes, a plurality of blades, a turbine shroud arranged around the vanes and blades, and a turbine case arranged around the turbine shroud. The turbine shroud is sized to block combustion products from passing over the blades without pushing the blades to rotate. The turbine shroud includes a runner arranged around the blades and a carrier arranged around the runner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignees: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies Inc., Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventors: Bruce E. Varney, Jack D. Petty, Daniel K. Vetters, Eugene Clemens
  • Patent number: 10227895
    Abstract: A case assembly for a gas turbine engine comprising annular case components each having a central axis. Radial struts each have a radial axis and intersect the annular case components. A stress dissipation mass projecting from a continuous surface of at least one of the struts at the intersection with a corresponding annular case component, the stress dissipation mass being on either side of a plane passing through the radial axis of the strut and the central axis of the corresponding annular case component. A method for dissipating thermal and mechanical stresses on a strut in a case assembly for a gas turbine engine is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
    Inventor: Assaf Farah
  • Patent number: 10196900
    Abstract: A turbomachine component includes a body defining an interior cooling channel in fluid communication with the exterior of the body for fluid communication with a cooling flow source. At least one flow modifying pedestal is disposed within the interior cooling channel extending in a first direction. The flow modifying pedestal includes at least one flow feature that extends from the pedestal in a second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christopher King, San Quach
  • Patent number: 10180067
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine component comprises a shroud, a U-channel, an internal cooling air passage and a U-channel cooling hole. The shroud comprises a forward face, an aft face, a first side face and a second side face. The U-channel is disposed in the aft face of the shroud. A gas path surface connects the forward face, aft face, first side face and second side face. A cooled surface connects the forward face, aft face, first side face and second side face opposite the gas path face. The internal cooling air passage extends through the shroud. The U-channel cooling hole extends into the first side face of the shroud adjacent the U-channel to intersect the internal cooling passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Beattie, Scott D. Lewis, Mark F. Zelesky, Ricardo Trindade, Bret M. Teller, Jeffrey Michael Jacques, Brandon M. Rapp