Patents Examined by Logan Kraft
  • Patent number: 10132195
    Abstract: Cooling air extracted from a gas turbine engine compressor is sent to nozzle vane cooling passage inlets, through the cooling passages, and to purge tubes of a set of two or more vanes. A mixing chamber formed between the purge tubes in a diaphragm cavity receives fluid from the purge tubes and directs it through exit passage(s) formed through a wall of the mixing chamber to a surface of the diaphragm. The exit passage(s) can be inclined to induce a fluid velocity component substantially parallel to the surface and/or in a rotation direction of a turbine wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Matthew Peter Scoffone, Jason Edward Albert, Michael Robert Berry, Mitchell Allan Merrill
  • Patent number: 10132171
    Abstract: A rotor disk blade for a turbine engine, the blade being made of composite material including fiber reinforcement obtained by multilayer weaving of yarns and densified by a matrix. The blade has a portion constituting an airfoil and a blade root forming a single piece, the blade root having two substantially plane opposite lateral flanks that are formed respectively extending the pressure side surface and the suction side surface of the airfoil. The blade root is clamped between two metal plates fastened against the lateral flanks of the blade root by a bolt and a nut passing through the plates and the blade root. The bolt has a head bearing against one of the two plates. The nut has a head bearing against the other plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignees: SAFRAN CERAMICS, SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: David Locatelli, Clement Roussille, Ivan Herraiz
  • Patent number: 10125612
    Abstract: The invention relates to an axial-flow turbomachine blading comprising a semi-circular row of blades extending radially. Each blade comprises a airfoil and lateral branches or lateral legs. Each branch has an end joined to the airfoil and an end opposite the airfoil. The blading comprises a first shroud segment connected to at least two opposite ends of two adjacent branches of two adjacent blades and/or of the same blade so as to connect the airfoils to the shroud segment via the lateral branches of the airfoils. The blading also comprises a second shroud segment concentric with the first shroud segment. The segments are connected to one another via the airfoils and the branches. The blading forms a rigid casing and is provided by additive manufacturing with a titanium-based powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Safran Aero Boosters SA
    Inventor: Stephane Hiernaux
  • Patent number: 10125686
    Abstract: A turbine engine assembly is provided. The assembly includes a booster compressor that discharges a flow of first compressed air at a first temperature, and a high-pressure compressor (HPC). The HPC receives a first portion of the flow of first compressed air and discharges the first portion at a second temperature higher than the first temperature such that a flow of second compressed air is formed. The assembly also includes a heat exchanger (HEX) that receives a second portion of the flow of first compressed air from the booster compressor and a first portion of the flow of second compressed air from the HPC such that heat is transferred therebetween. The HEX discharges the first portion of the flow of second compressed air at a third temperature lower than the second temperature and higher than the first temperature such that a flow of cooled bleed air is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Carlos E. Diaz, John Joseph Rahaim, Jorge de Luis, Noel Istvan Macsotai
  • Patent number: 10125774
    Abstract: A centrifugal fan includes: a casing; and an impeller that is attached to a rotation shaft of a motor, wherein the casing has an upper suction port and a lower suction port, wherein the impeller has a rotor hub, a plurality of blades arranged around the rotor hub in a circumferential direction, and a main plate coupled to the rotor hub and connects the blades in the circumferential direction, and wherein an inclination of an outer edge of the blades at an upper blade portion that is located above the main plate with respect to a plane parallel to the rotation shaft and an inclination of the outer edge of the blades at a lower blade portion that is located below the main plate with respect to the plane parallel to the rotation shaft are set to be in the same direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yukihiro Higuchi, Naoya Murakami
  • Patent number: 10125632
    Abstract: Cooling air extracted from a gas turbine engine compressor is sent to a nozzle vane cooling passage inlet, through the cooling passage, and to a purge tube of the vane. A mixing chamber formed in a diaphragm cavity receives fluid from the purge tube and directs it through exit passage(s) formed through a side wall of the mixing chamber and/or diaphragm cavity to a diametral surface of the diaphragm. The exit passage(s) can be inclined to induce a fluid velocity component substantially parallel to the diametral surface and/or in a rotation direction of a turbine wheel adjacent the diaphragm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Matthew Peter Scoffone, Jason Edward Albert, Michael Robert Berry, Mitchell Allan Merrill
  • Patent number: 10125630
    Abstract: A fan disk is for a jet engine in which there flows a gas stream in a flow direction. A pin-shaped radial section of the fan disk includes a first branch, designed to be fixed to a drive shaft of the jet engine, a second branch, extending opposite the first branch and designed to support a plurality of fan blades, and a curved junction wall that extends between the first branch and the second branch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Stephane Bois, Arnaud Accary, Claude Dejaune, Benjamin Kiener-Calvet, Julien Foll, Alexandre Tan-Kim, Benjamin Petard
  • Patent number: 10125543
    Abstract: An access system for a hub of a wind turbine, wherein the hub comprises a first flange for mounting a first rotor blade, a second flange for mounting a second rotor blade and a third flange for mounting a third rotor blade is provided. The hub comprises a first opening, a second opening and at least a third opening, each of the openings being suitable for accessing an interior of the hub from outside of the hub. The access system comprises a first ladder with a plurality of first rungs, the first ladder extending inward from the first opening, a second ladder with a plurality of second rungs, the second ladder extending inward from the second opening, and a third ladder with a plurality of third rungs, the third ladder extending inward from the third opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Henning Ebbesen
  • Patent number: 10125620
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine airfoil assembly includes an airfoil and an attachment structure respectively bonded to opposing sides of a platform. At least one of the airfoil, the platform and the attachment structure are constructed from a ceramic matrix composite.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Ioannis Alvanos
  • Patent number: 10125621
    Abstract: A bladed rotor arrangement comprises a rotor, a plurality of rotor blades and a plurality of lock plates. The rotor blades are mounted in circumferentially spaced axially extending slots in the periphery of the rotor. A plurality of lock plates are arranged at a first axial end of the rotor and a plurality of lock plates are arranged at a second axial end of the rotor. The radially outer ends of the lock plates engage corresponding grooves defined by radially inwardly extending flanges on the platforms of the rotor blades. The radially inner ends of the lock plates also engage circumferentially extending grooves. The radially inner end of each lock plate has three crushable, deformable, circumferentially spaced feet to reduce the risk of the lock plates chocking against the rotor, or seal plates and additional radial loads being reacted by the rotor blades into the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Matthew J Barry, Christopher Murphy, Philip Scope
  • Patent number: 10125684
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine has a surface cooler having a cooler member defining a fluid passage and at least partially contained in an airfoil shaped flow guide member. The cooler member is disposed within a bypass duct and supported on one of the duct walls. The flow guide member provides a smooth outer surface to guide a main portion of a bypass air stream passing over the surface cooler, and defines an inner air channel between the flow guide member and that supporting one of the duct walls for a secondary portion of the bypass air stream to pass through the inner air channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventor: Hong Yu
  • Patent number: 10119409
    Abstract: A system, including: a linear actuator axially arranged in a first propeller and rotatably secured thereto, a first linking mechanism connecting a rod of the linear actuator to a second propeller to change a setting of blades thereof, and including an intermediate bearing between the propellers, which is capable of transmitting translation of the rod of the linear actuator and disconnecting a rotatable link to the first propeller to make it possible to change the setting of the blades of the second propeller rotated in an opposite direction to the first propeller, and a second linking mechanism combined with blades of the first propeller to change a setting thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: SAFRAN AIRCRAFT ENGINES
    Inventors: Gilles Alain Charier, Wouter Balk
  • Patent number: 10119471
    Abstract: A turbine engine assembly is provided. The assembly includes a compressor, and an air duct coupled in flow communication with the compressor. The air duct is configured to channel a flow of bleed air from the compressor therethrough. The assembly also includes a fluid supply system coupled in flow communication with the air duct, wherein the fluid supply system is configured to channel a flow of fluid towards the air duct to modify a temperature of the bleed air based on an operating condition of the turbine engine assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Debabrata Mukhopadhyay, Pugalenthi Nandagopal, James Adaickalasamy
  • Patent number: 10119520
    Abstract: A rotor blade for a wind turbine, having a longitudinal rotor blade base body extending in a longitudinal axis, with the rotor blade base body defining a leading edge and a trailing edge of the rotor blade is provided, wherein the rotor blade base body has a number of panel elements, wherein at least one panel element includes at least one stiffening structure member embedded within the at least one panel element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Ashish Pawar
  • Patent number: 10119521
    Abstract: A method of estimating an amount of undesired loading experienced by at least a portion of a structure (100) is provided. The structure (100) may be, for example, a wind turbine generator (WTG) and the portion for which undesired loading is estimated may be, for example, a rotor (130) of the WTG. The method includes receiving a first signal characterizing instantaneous stress experienced by a component (140) of the structure (100) and filtering out at least a portion of the received first signal that corresponds to the desired loading experienced by the component to produce a first filtered signal. The amount of undesired loading experienced by the at least a portion of the structure (100) is estimated based at least partially on the first filtered signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Jesper Sandberg Thomsen, Soren Dalsgaard, Asger Svenning Andersen, Lars Risager
  • Patent number: 10119413
    Abstract: An engine includes circumferentially spaced turbine blades radially inward a casing and circumscribed by a carrier section having segments, each having a carrier wall radially inward the casing and radially outward the turbine blades. The wall has one or more portions facing the casing. At least one of the portions has one or more impingement apertures for air passage of a predetermined temperature from a feed source into impingement onto the casing. The segments are radially inward the casing and radially outward the turbine blades, with the portions of their respective walls facing the casing. A method of controlling the gas turbine engine turbine casing temperature includes: passing air of a predetermined temperature from a feed source through the apertures in the one or more portions and into impingement on the casing; and optionally exhausting the air impinged onto the casing from a space between the segment and the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Simon Lloyd Jones
  • Patent number: 10113532
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to pre-cured composites for use in manufacturing rotor blade components of a wind turbine. In one embodiment, the pre-cured composites are pultruded composites having a continuous base portion with a plurality of integral protrusions extending from the continuous base portion, and a fabric layer cured with the continuous base portion. Further, adjacent protrusions are separated by a gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Amir Riahi, Thomas Michael Moors, Eric Michael Shain, Shannon B. Geiger, Christopher Daniel Caruso, Aaron A. Yarbrough
  • Patent number: 10113430
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a blade row group arrangeable in a main flow path of a fluid-flow machine and including N adjacent member blade rows firmly arranged relative to one another in both the meridional direction (m) and the circumferential direction (u), with the number N of the member blade rows being greater than/equal to 2 and (i) designating the running index with values between 1 and N. Here, a front member blade row with front blades (i) having a leading edge and a trailing edge as well as a rear member blade row with rear blades (i+1) having a leading edge and a trailing edge are provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE DEUTSCHLAND LTD & CO KG
    Inventor: Volker Guemmer
  • Patent number: 10113506
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a nozzle for an aircraft turboprop engine with an unducted fan, including: an inner wall, an outer wall radially spaced apart from the inner wall and concentric with the inner wall, a junction area of the inner and outer walls including an opening contained in a plane transverse to a longitudinal axis of the nozzle. In particular, the junction area of the inner and outer walls includes two connecting plates and a member to secure the two connecting plates together, or in another form, the junction area includes a pad secured to the inner wall, and a pad secured to the outer wall, facing the pad of the inner wall of the nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: AIRCELLE
    Inventors: Hélène Malot, Jean-Pierre Guegou, Philippe Bienvenu, Philippe Prunin
  • Patent number: 10107119
    Abstract: A vane assembly for a gas turbine engine is disclosed herein. The vane assembly includes an inner platform, an outer platform, and a ceramic-containing airfoil that extends from the inner platform to the outer platform. The ceramic-containing airfoil is manufactured to have radially discontinuous ribs spaced radially apart from one another between the inner platform and the outer platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventor: Jeffrey A. Walston