Patents Examined by John S Hunter, Jr.
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Patent number: 11149745Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for preventing compressor surge while improving compressor efficiency and performance. In one example, a method may include a recirculation passage in a compressor configured with a casing treatment and the recirculation passage being cooled by a cooling jacket within the compressor housing wall. In another example, the recirculation passage includes guide vanes.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2017Date of Patent: October 19, 2021Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventors: Liangjun Hu, Hao Wu, Jianwen James Yi
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Patent number: 11136990Abstract: The impeller has a bottom disk, a top disk, and impeller blades sandwiched between the two. The top disk has an inner opening edge that defines an axial inlet opening. The impeller blades have a first radial inward section that extends radially inward beyond the opening edge. A blade contour on each impeller blade points toward the inlet side of the impeller. The blade contour first radial inward section extends from a transition portion near the opening edge under the top disk. The blade contour on the first radially inward section of the impeller blade extends radially inward yond the opening edge and forms a specified formula geometrical edge design. A second portion of the impeller blades extends radially outward from the transition portion, the transition portion and the second portion of the impeller blade are covered entirely by the top disk from the first formula impeller blade contour.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2016Date of Patent: October 5, 2021Assignee: ebm-papst Mulfingen GmbH & Co. KGInventors: Denis Kraner, Thomas Heli
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Patent number: 11098656Abstract: A gas turbine engine for an aircraft has an engine core having a turbine, compressor, and core shaft connecting the turbine and compressor; a fan upstream the engine core, the fan having fan blades; and a gearbox. The gearbox receives an input from a core shaft and outputs drive to a fan to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft. The gearbox is an epicyclic gearbox and has a sun gear, planet gears, ring gear, and planet carrier on which the planet gears are mounted. The gearbox has a gear mesh stiffness between the planet gears and the ring gear and a gear mesh stiffness between the planet gears and the sun gear. The gear mesh stiffness between the planet gears and the ring gear divided by that between the planet gears and the sun gear is in the range from 0.90 to 1.28.Type: GrantFiled: October 2, 2020Date of Patent: August 24, 2021Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plcInventor: Mark Spruce
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Patent number: 11091255Abstract: Dampers (100), assemblies, and methods are provided for lead-lag damping for an articulated rotor and includes a lead-lag damper (100) having a first end connector (102) configured to be coupled to a rotor hub (H), a second end connector (104) configured to be coupled to one of a plurality of rotor blades (B), and a body portion (110) coupled to the first end connector (102) and to the second end connector (104). The body portion (110) includes one or more elastomeric material layers (120) arranged in a lengthwise direction between the first end connector (102) and the second end connector (104), with each of the elastomeric material layers (120) having a substantially chevron-shaped profile in a crosswise direction.Type: GrantFiled: June 11, 2015Date of Patent: August 17, 2021Assignee: LORD CorporationInventors: Peter Jones, Brian McGill
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Patent number: 11022046Abstract: An engine for an aircraft has an engine core having a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor; a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan having a plurality of fan blades; and a gearbox. The gearbox for an aircraft is arranged to receive an input from a core shaft and to output drive to a fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft. The gearbox is an epicyclic gearbox and has a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears, a ring gear, and a planet carrier having a plurality of pins, each pin being arranged to have a planet gear of the plurality of planet gears mounted thereon. A ratio of planet carrier torsional stiffness to pin stiffness is within a specified range.Type: GrantFiled: January 28, 2021Date of Patent: June 1, 2021Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plcInventor: Mark Spruce
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Patent number: 11015453Abstract: An airfoil for a turbine engine can include an outer wall bounding an interior and extending in a chord-wise direction between a leading edge and a trailing edge, and also extending radially between a root and a tip. A tip rail including at least one tip cooling cavity can project from the tip, and cooling holes can be provided in the tip rail.Type: GrantFiled: November 22, 2017Date of Patent: May 25, 2021Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Aaron Ezekiel Smith, Matthew Thomas Beyer, Gregory Terrence Garay, Zachary Daniel Webster
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Patent number: 11008892Abstract: A seal (13) closing off a clearance (9) between one end in the form of a bowl (7) of an arm (4) and a circular shell (1) of a turbomachine is compressed between the rim (8) of the bowl by a support (14) distinct from the platform (10) delimiting the gas flow stream (5) and retained by screws (11) already present to fix the platform to the shell (1). The layout is lighter in weight and the resistance of seal does not depend on the platform (10) exposed to damage.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2018Date of Patent: May 18, 2021Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINESInventors: Guillaume Matthieu Jean-Louis Brun, Matthieu Jean Luc Marc Loger, Guillaume Perez, Kenny Marcel Porte, Philippe Christophe Savignac
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Patent number: 11002294Abstract: A composite fan casing for a turbine engine includes a core including a plurality of core layers of reinforcing fiber bonded together with a resin. The core includes a first surface and an opposing second surface. The fan casing also includes a shock dispersion panel coupled to the first surface, wherein the shock dispersion panel is configured to disperse a shock wave caused by an impact on the second surface to prevent separation of the plurality of core layers.Type: GrantFiled: October 7, 2016Date of Patent: May 11, 2021Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMANYInventor: Richard Eugene Klaassen
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Patent number: 11002140Abstract: A guide vane segment for a turbomachine stage that has an inner ring segment (10) and a plurality of guide vanes (20) that are configured on the inner ring segment; a detuning region (V) of the inner ring segment extending in each case from a trailing edge (21) of at least one guide vane (20), in particular of at least 50% of the guide vanes (50), axially toward a leading edge (22) of the guide vane (20) over at most 50% of a width (B) of the inner ring segment (10) and/or at most 5 mm and/or circumferentially on both sides, in each case over at most 25% of a spacing (A) between adjacent guide vanes (20), at and/or in which at least one cavity (112) is configured which contains at least one impulse element (100) with clearance of motion for providing impact contacts.Type: GrantFiled: April 10, 2017Date of Patent: May 11, 2021Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AGInventors: Markus Schlemmer, Andreas Hartung, Karl-Hermann Richter, Herbert Hanrieder
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Patent number: 10995770Abstract: A diffuser for a fluid compression device includes at least one vane mounted on a hub. The at least vane includes at least one opening (5) starting at a distance ranging between 10% and 60% of the axial length of the vane. The diffuser can be used in a fluid compression device also including a housing, at least one impeller within the housing, the impeller including at least one vane, the diffuser being arranged within the housing, upstream or downstream from said impeller.Type: GrantFiled: October 17, 2017Date of Patent: May 4, 2021Assignees: ONESUBSEA IP UK LIMITEDInventors: Philippe Pagnier, Veronique Penin, Anders Brunvold, Ina Ekeberg, Erik Torbergsen
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Patent number: 10961918Abstract: An engine for an aircraft has an engine core having a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor; a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan having a plurality of fan blades; and a gearbox. The gearbox for an aircraft is arranged to receive an input from a core shaft and to output drive to a fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft. The gearbox is an epicyclic gearbox and has a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears, a ring gear, and a planet carrier having a plurality of pins, each pin being arranged to have a planet gear of the plurality of planet gears mounted thereon. A ratio of planet carrier torsional stiffness to pin stiffness is within a specified range.Type: GrantFiled: March 3, 2020Date of Patent: March 30, 2021Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plcInventor: Mark Spruce
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Patent number: 10907505Abstract: A method of assembling a turbine for a turbine engine that includes mounting annular sectors around the blades to form an abradable ring that includes a groove in a sector of the annular sectors. The method also includes engaging a first wiper of a particular blade of the blades with the groove of the sector. The method further includes axially engaging an assembly comprising the blades and the annular sectors in a casing of a turbine, so that fixing members of the annular sectors cooperate with flanges of the casing to fix the annular sectors in the casing, around the blades. The fixing members comprise at least one upstream fixing member fixed on a radially internal facing side of an upstream end of the annular sectors and at least one downstream fixing member arranged at a downstream end of the annular sectors.Type: GrantFiled: November 14, 2017Date of Patent: February 2, 2021Assignee: Safran Aircraft EnginesInventors: Jean-Baptiste Vincent Desforges, Gaël Frédéric Claude Cyrille Evain
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Patent number: 10907610Abstract: A wind turbine rotor blade that has a rotor blade tip, a rotor blade root, a suction side, a pressure side, a rotor blade length, a profile depth and a pitch axis of rotation. The profile depth decreases along the rotor blade length from the rotor blade root to the rotor blade tip. The trailing edge has a trailing edge delimiting line, which replicates the contour of the trailing edge. The trailing edge has a plurality of serrations to improve flow behavior at the trailing edge. The serrations respectively have a serration tip, two serration edges and an angle bisector. The serration edges are provided non-parallel to a direction of incident flow that is perpendicular to the pitch axis of rotation. The serration edges are non-perpendicular to a tangent to the trailing edge delimiting line. The trailing edge delimiting line has a plurality of portions, at least one of the portions extending non-parallel to the pitch axis of rotation.Type: GrantFiled: July 17, 2015Date of Patent: February 2, 2021Assignee: Wobben Properties GmbHInventors: Mohammad Kamruzzaman, Andree Altmikus
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Patent number: 10900380Abstract: In a turbocharger for receiving exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and for delivering compressed air to the internal combustion engine, a backplate may include a lubricant stall protrusion, such as a rib, may be placed in recirculation or collection recesses of the backplate to stall recirculating lubricant flow and direct the lubricant into a bearing housing lubricant core and drain to reduce an amount of lubricant proximate piston rings and leaking into a compressor housing of the turbocharger. When an lubricant deflector is used, the lubricant stall protrusion stalls recirculating lubricant that is outboard of the lubricant deflector, and may have an outer protrusion edge closely matching the outboard contour of the lubricant deflector to minimize a flow gap there between.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 2017Date of Patent: January 26, 2021Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.Inventors: Robert Thomas Race, Erwin Perry Ellwood, III
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Patent number: 10876479Abstract: An acoustic liner can include a support layer having a set of partitioned cavities with open faces, a first facing sheet and second facing sheet both having perforations and operably coupled to the support layer such that the facing sheets overlie and close the open faces, and an aerogel layer operably coupled to the second facing sheet.Type: GrantFiled: February 24, 2017Date of Patent: December 29, 2020Assignee: MRA SYSTEMS, LLC.Inventors: Andrew Michael Roach, David Patrick Calder, Graham Frank Howarth
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Patent number: 10864985Abstract: A centrifugal force (CF) bearing for a rotorcraft rotor assembly includes an inner-member, an outer-member, and an elastic member interposed between the inner- and outer-members. The inner-member includes a boss configured for location to and engagement with a yoke. The boss includes a tapered profile (e.g., conic) portion. A tapered recess region of the yoke includes a profile that is substantially matched to receive and contact the tapered profile of the boss. The CF bearing is configured for attachment to a grip of the rotor assembly. The boss is configured to communicate mechanical loads (e.g., centrifugal force, lateral shear, vertical shear) from the grip to the yoke during operation of the rotor assembly.Type: GrantFiled: July 25, 2017Date of Patent: December 15, 2020Assignee: Textron Innovations Inc.Inventors: John McCullough, Mark Adam Wiinikka, Matthew Curtis Ledbetter
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Patent number: 10859001Abstract: A gas turbine engine for an aircraft including: an engine core including a turbine, a compressor, and a core shaft connecting the turbine to the compressor; a fan located upstream of the engine core, the fan including a plurality of fan blades; a gearbox that can receive an input from the core shaft and output drive to the fan so as to drive the fan at a lower rotational speed than the core shaft; and a gearbox support arranged to at least partially support the gearbox within the engine. A flight cycle ratio of: the ? ? torsional ? ? shear ? ? stress ? ? of ? ? the ? ? gearbox ? ? support ? ? at maximum ? ? takeoff ? ? conditions the ? ? torsional ? ? shear ? ? stress ? ? of ? ? the ? ? gearbox ? ? support ? ? at cruise ? ? conditions is less than or equal to 3.20. A method of operating the gas turbine engine is also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: March 17, 2020Date of Patent: December 8, 2020Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plcInventor: Mark Spruce
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Patent number: 10858958Abstract: A turbine ring assembly includes a plurality of ring sectors of ceramic matrix composite material forming a turbine ring and a ring support structure secured to a turbine casing and having two annular flanges, each ring sector having two tabs held between the two annular flanges. The ring support structure includes an annular retention band mounted on the turbine casing, the annular retention band including an annular web forming one of the flanges. The two annular flanges exert stress on the tabs of the ring sectors. One of the flanges is elastically deformable in the axial direction of the turbine ring. The band has a first series of teeth distributed circumferentially on the band and the turbine casing has a second series of teeth distributed circumferentially on the casing, and the teeth of the first series and the teeth of the second series together provide circumferential jaw coupling.Type: GrantFiled: May 18, 2016Date of Patent: December 8, 2020Assignees: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES, SAFRAN CERAMICSInventors: Lucien Henri Jacques Quennehen, Sebastien Serge Francis Congratel
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Patent number: 10851791Abstract: A device for moving a fluid with magnetic gear includes two first balls each having a shape of sphere, respectively fixed to a rotating first shaft through respective centers of the sphere, each of the first balls having a first magnetic dipole in a direction orthogonal to the first shaft; and a second ball having a shape of sphere attaching a blade structure thereon to move the fluid, fixed to a freely rotatable second shaft through a center of the sphere, and having a second magnetic dipole in a direction orthogonal to the second shaft, wherein the centers of the first and second balls altogether form an isosceles triangle with a vertex angle ? being defined about the center of the second ball, satisfying ? = 2 ? arcsin ? ( 1 3 ) ? 70.53 ? ° .Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 2017Date of Patent: December 1, 2020Assignee: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology School CorporationInventors: Johannes Richard Schoenke, Eliot Martin Fried
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Patent number: 10851654Abstract: An arrangement for a turbine has a metallic support structure having at least one radial support strut and a multiplicity of plate-shaped, fiber-reinforced ceramic segments which are arranged one on top of the other on the support structure and together define the circumferential contour, the segments being provided with through-openings through which the at least one support strut extends, wherein the at least one support strut has outwardly-extending projections that extend perpendicular to the radial direction and engage in corresponding recesses formed in the segments.Type: GrantFiled: June 2, 2016Date of Patent: December 1, 2020Assignee: Siemens AktiengesellschaftInventor: Bernd Burbaum