Patents Examined by Justin Seabe
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Patent number: 10233757Abstract: A rotor for a thermal turbomachine, in particular a gas turbine, is configured to conduct a medium in its interior. In order to conduct the medium in the interior with low flow losses, it is provided that a rotor disk of the compressor has holes, in order to feed the medium from outside into the rotor interior. For improved temperature control of the rotor disk, the holes conduct the medium through the rotor disk counter to the flow direction in the compressor.Type: GrantFiled: April 20, 2016Date of Patent: March 19, 2019Assignee: Siemens AktiengesellschaftInventors: Karin Costamagna, Karsten Kolk, Sebastian Stock, Vyacheslav Veitsman
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Patent number: 10233769Abstract: Stator vane assembly includes plurality of vanes arranged in circumferential array, radially proximal mounting portion, radially distal mounting portion, and first latching mechanism. Each of plurality of vanes extends radially between radially proximal mounting portion and radially distal mounting portion, with each of plurality of vanes being pivotally mounted between radially proximal mounting portion and radially distal mounting portion. Plurality of vanes is movable between first arrangement allowing gas to flow across vanes, and second arrangement blocking gas flow across vanes. Pivot axis of each of plurality of vanes is offset from the line of aerodynamic center of pressure of vane towards trailing edge of vane, and first latching mechanism holds plurality of vanes in first arrangement. Upon receipt of signal, first latching mechanism releases plurality of vanes so that gas flow through vane assembly causes plurality of vanes to move from first arrangement to second arrangement.Type: GrantFiled: June 22, 2015Date of Patent: March 19, 2019Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plcInventor: David Peter Scothern
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Patent number: 10233776Abstract: A gas turbine shroud ring segment assembly (36) with an outer structural block (32A) having cooling channels (72) between inlets (60) on a front face and outlets (74, 76) on a front hanger rail (48). The outlets may be positioned on a radially inner surface (77) of the front rail for impingement and forced convection cooling of backsides of radially inner front lips (44) of adjacent shroud ring segments (30A, 30B) mounted on front and rear rails (48, 50) of the block. The outlets may enter a pocket (86) on the inner surface configured to allow coolant flow in all positions of the ring segments (32A, 32B). The cooling channel may form a main channel (72A) and tributary channels (72B, 72C). These channels may be drilled upward from the rail to the inlet. The tributaries may have offset intersections (72E, 72D) with the main channel.Type: GrantFiled: May 20, 2014Date of Patent: March 19, 2019Assignee: SIEMENS ENERGY, INC.Inventors: John Pula, Andrew R. Narcus
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Patent number: 10232933Abstract: Multiple propeller blades may be joined by tip connectors to form a closed propeller apparatus. The tip connectors may create continuous structure between adjacent tips of a first propeller and a second propeller. Use of the tip connectors may reduce vortices created near the tips of the propeller blades, which cause drag and slow the rotation of the propeller blades. The tip connectors may also reduce noise caused by rotation of propeller blades. Further, the tip connectors reduce or eliminate deflection of the propeller blades by creating a support structure to counteract forces that would otherwise cause deflection of the propeller blades, thereby improving propeller blade loading. In some embodiments, the tip connectors may be formed of a malleable material and/or include one or more joints that enable at least one of the propellers to modify a pitch of blades of the propeller.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 2015Date of Patent: March 19, 2019Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Nicholas Hampel Roberts, Dominic Timothy Shiosaki, Ricky Dean Welsh
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Patent number: 10227992Abstract: A rotor for a turbocharger device has a shaft and, arranged and fixed axially one behind the other on the shaft, an impeller wheel, a sealing bushing element and an axial bearing element which rotates with the shaft. The sealing bushing element and the axial bearing element, by way of an internal thread provided on at least one of the elements, are screwed to a first external thread arranged on the shaft and are braced against a shaft shoulder. Stronger and more rigid fixing of the parts that are pushed onto the shaft, and thus also lower susceptibility to vibration-induced faults during operation, are achieved by way of this construction.Type: GrantFiled: May 20, 2014Date of Patent: March 12, 2019Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbHInventors: Ralf Boening, Ralph-Maurice Koempel
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Patent number: 10221693Abstract: An airfoil comprises at least one wall defining a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, and a suction side extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge. The airfoil is curved in three dimensions and has one or more cavities defined by an interior surface of the at least one wall. A plurality of cooling film holes extending between the cavity and at least one cooling trench located on at least one of the pressure side and the suction side, spaced from the leading edge. The at least one trench has a floor spaced from an outer surface of the airfoil. The plurality of cooling film holes extend through the floor at an angle other than perpendicular.Type: GrantFiled: July 3, 2014Date of Patent: March 5, 2019Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: George Joe-Kueng Chan, Ronald Scott Bunker, Victor Hugo Silva Correia, Christopher Kanoa Hoffman
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Patent number: 10221692Abstract: An outlet guide vane for a turbine engine, the vane having a plurality of vane sections stacked along a radial axis Z. Over a bottom portion of the vane in the range 0 to 50% of its total height, the leading edge of each section is in front of the leading edge of the corresponding section at the total height, and the maximum thicknesses are located at positions that are offset from the leading edge by at least 50% of the chord.Type: GrantFiled: August 4, 2014Date of Patent: March 5, 2019Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINESInventors: Pradeep Cojande, Eric Pierre Maurice Lippinois, Hanna Reiss
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Patent number: 10214269Abstract: A folding propeller for a boat, e.g., for a sailboat or a multihull yacht, and a method for installing and/or adjusting such a folding propeller, where said folding propeller has a hub for directly or indirectly fastening at a driveshaft connected to a motor, where said folding propeller further has at least two individual blades, where each of said blades has a root arranged to pivot around a pivot pin at said hub to be either in a first, operative position, where the blades are pointing mainly in a radial direction, and in a second, inoperative position, where the blades are pointing mainly in an axial direction, where said hub has one or more cut outs for said blades roots and further has a first set of holes for installing said pivot pins and a second set of holes for installing a locking device for engagement with said pivot pins.Type: GrantFiled: October 14, 2014Date of Patent: February 26, 2019Assignee: FLEXOFOLD APSInventor: Jack Skrydstrup
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Patent number: 10215182Abstract: A manufacturing method and assembly for providing ventilation to a selected structure is disclosed. The assembly may include various features such as flexible portions, rigid portions, and assembly portions. Further, various steps may be used to form the assembly to achieve selected results, such as single piece formation, inclusion of various positioning members, and packaging or shipping considerations.Type: GrantFiled: September 23, 2015Date of Patent: February 26, 2019Assignee: CTB, INC.Inventors: Curtis Wenger, James R. Kraft
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Patent number: 10215159Abstract: Methods of starting a wind turbine from a standstill substantially until generator connection, the wind turbine having a rotor with one or more blades, a pitch system for rotating the blades along their longitudinal axes and a generator operationally connected with the rotor. In standstill, the blades are substantially in a feathered position and the generator is not generating electrical power. The methods may comprise measuring the wind speed representative for the wind turbine and measuring the rotor speed of the wind turbine, and when the rotor speed is not equal to zero, determining the tip speed ratio for the wind turbine, and determining the pitch angle of the blades as a function of the tip speed ratio to optimize the torque produced by the blades of the wind turbine rotor.Type: GrantFiled: January 17, 2014Date of Patent: February 26, 2019Assignee: GE RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGIES WIND B.V.Inventor: Isaac Pineda Amo
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Patent number: 10208765Abstract: The present invention relates to an axial compressor for a gas turbine, in particular an aircraft engine, having at least one rotor blade or guide vane having a blade or vane element, which is arranged in a flow duct, and a leading edge and a trailing edge, which are joined to each other through a pressure side and a suction side, wherein, a new and novel profile section of the blade or vane element is provided.Type: GrantFiled: January 19, 2016Date of Patent: February 19, 2019Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AGInventors: Tobias Froebel, Sebastian Mann, Nina Wolfrum, Sergio Elorza Gomez
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Patent number: 10208609Abstract: A turbine operable with a first fluid and a second fluid is provided. The turbine includes a shaft and having a dry gas seal area, a balance area, and a shaft surface. The turbine also includes a stationary component coupled to a housing and having a first side and a second side and defining a channel in flow communication with the shaft surface. A heat exchange assembly is coupled to the housing and in flow communication with the shaft and the stationary component. The heat exchange assembly includes a first flow path coupled in flow communication with the dry gas seal area and the channel and configured to direct the first fluid along the first side. Heat exchange assembly also includes a second flow path coupled in flow communication with the balance area and channel and configured to direct the second fluid along the second side.Type: GrantFiled: June 9, 2014Date of Patent: February 19, 2019Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANYInventors: Chiranjeev Singh Kalra, Azam Mihir Thatte, Douglas Carl Hofer
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Patent number: 10208605Abstract: A turbine engine comprises an airfoil having one or more internal cooling circuits. The cooling circuits can be fed with a flow of cooling fluid from one or more cooling air inlet passages in fluid communication with the cooling circuits. The cooling circuits can provide the cooling fluid flow within the airfoil to cool the airfoil, as well as provide a cooling fluid to a plurality of film holes to create a cooling film on the external surface of the airfoil.Type: GrantFiled: October 15, 2015Date of Patent: February 19, 2019Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Matthew Lee Krumanaker, Steven Robert Brassfield, Robert Frederick Bergholz, Aaron Ezekiel Smith, Weston Nolan Dooley
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Patent number: 10208709Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes a fan forward of a primary flowpath inlet. The fan includes multiple fan blades distributed radially about, and connected to, a hub. A fan nacelle is positioned radially outward of the fan and includes an inner diameter. The inner diameter is sloped relative to an engine axis such that a forward portion of the fan nacelle has a smaller inner diameter than an aft portion of the fan nacelle. A fan blade spacer is disposed between a radially inward facing surface of at least one fan blade and a radially outward facing surface of the hub. The fan blade spacer has a radial thickness at least equal to a slope drop of the fan nacelle.Type: GrantFiled: April 5, 2016Date of Patent: February 19, 2019Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventor: David A. Welch
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Patent number: 10196902Abstract: A gas turbine engine component includes a body with a wall surrounding an interior cavity. The wall has opposed interior and exterior surfaces. The interior surface has a plurality of coolant inlets and the exterior surface has a coolant outlet defined therein. A coolant conduit extends between the coolant inlets and the coolant outlet and is configured and adapted to induce secondary flow vortices in coolant traversing the coolant conduit and in an adherent coolant film over a portion of the exterior surface of component body.Type: GrantFiled: September 15, 2015Date of Patent: February 5, 2019Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONInventors: Sasha M. Moore, Timothy J. Jennings, Thomas N. Slavens, Clifford J. Musto, Nicholas M. LoRicco, Carey Clum, John McBrien, Christopher Whitfield, San Quach
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Patent number: 10196904Abstract: An airfoil may include a spar comprising a passageway inside of the spar for a cooling fluid, a pedestal on an outer surface of the spar, and an inlet configured to direct the cooling fluid from the passageway to the outer surface of the spar. The airfoil may further include a coversheet, wherein an inner surface of the coversheet is positioned on the pedestal of the spar and an edge of the coversheet is positioned along an end of the spar. The inner surface of the coversheet, the pedestal, and the outer surface of the spar may define a cooling path from the inlet to an outlet at the edge of the coversheet. The outlet at the edge of the coversheet may be configured to direct cooling fluid onto the end of the spar, onto a footing, and/or onto a fillet positioned along an intersection of the footing and the spar.Type: GrantFiled: January 24, 2016Date of Patent: February 5, 2019Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE NORTH AMERICAN TECHNOLOGIES INC., ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATIONInventors: Tab M. Heffernan, Jeffrey F. Rhodes, Douglas D. Dierksmeier, Okey Kwon
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Patent number: 10196898Abstract: A turbine engine airfoil apparatus, including an airfoil defined by a plurality of airfoil sections arrayed along a stacking axis that extends between a root and a tip, wherein at least two of the airfoil sections spaced apart from each other have differing airfoil section thermal expansion properties.Type: GrantFiled: November 24, 2015Date of Patent: February 5, 2019Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Nicholas Joseph Kray, Narendra Digamber Joshi, Samar Jyoti Kalita, Paul Gerard Marsland, Wayne Allen Spence
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Patent number: 10189082Abstract: Turbine and compressor casing abradable components for turbine engines include abradable surfaces with a zonal system of forward (zone A) and rear or aft sections (zone B) surface features. The zone A surface profile comprises an array pattern of non-directional depression dimples, or upwardly projecting dimples, or both, in the abradable surface. The dimpled forward zone A surface features reduce surface solidity in a controlled manner, to help increase abradability during blade tip rubbing incidents, yet they provide sufficient material to resist incoming hot working fluid erosion of the abradable surface. In addition, the dimples provide generic forward section aerodynamic profiling to the abradable surface, compatible with different blade airfoil-camber profiles. The aft zone B surface features comprise an array pattern of ridges and grooves.Type: GrantFiled: December 9, 2015Date of Patent: January 29, 2019Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFTInventors: Kok-Mun Tham, Ching-Pang Lee
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Patent number: 10189563Abstract: A beam for a rotorcraft rotor and particularly to a helicopter rotor. Said beam comprises a hub connection portion, a blade connection portion, a first flexure portion located between the hub connection portion and the blade connection portion and having a bending stiffness about a first axis which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the blade, said bending stiffness being smaller than that of the hub connection portion and that of the blade connection portion and a shear portion located between the hub connection portion and the blade connection portion and having a shear stiffness parallel to a second axis which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the blade and non-parallel to the first axis. Said shear stiffness is smaller than that of the hub connection portion and that of the blade connection portion.Type: GrantFiled: December 2, 2014Date of Patent: January 29, 2019Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS DEUTSCHLAND GMBHInventor: Moritz Buesing
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Patent number: 10190592Abstract: A turbopump includes a turbine fed with hot gas, a pump driven by the turbine and fed with liquid fluid, and a hot gas exhaust pipe situated downstream from the turbine. The turbopump includes a bleed-and-injection circuit including a bleeder for bleeding the liquid fluid at the outlet from the pump, a heater for heating the liquid fluid as bled off in this way so as to transform it into gaseous fluid, and an injector for injecting the gaseous fluid into an interface region of the turbopump situated between the pump and the turbine, so as to optimize the flow and temperature conditions of the fluid entering into the turbine cavity in order to eliminate the vibratory phenomena that result from interaction between the fluid and the turbine disk.Type: GrantFiled: May 14, 2014Date of Patent: January 29, 2019Assignee: ARIANEGROUP SASInventors: Dominique Le Louedec, Guillaume Chemla, Philippe Even, Frederick Millon, Laurent Collongeat