Patents Examined by Maxime Adjagbe
  • Impeller having blade having blade surface made up of line elements and method of machining the impeller
    Patent number: 9631632
    Abstract: A blade of an impeller has a blade surface made up of line elements. The line elements forming the blade surface are not parallel to each other. A relationship between a twist angle of the line elements and a distance between the origin and an intersection of a central line of the impeller and an extension line of a Z-axis projection line obtained by projecting each of the line elements onto a Z-axis projection plane is represented by a curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shinji Okuda
  • Turbine for an exhaust gas turbocharger
    Patent number: 9611750
    Abstract: In a turbine for an exhaust gas turbocharger with a turbine casing comprising a housing space for the turbine wheel of a turbine with guide vanes arranged upstream of the turbine wheel in a radial direction of the turbine wheel so as to be stationary relative to the turbine casing for guiding exhaust gas to the turbine wheel, and with an actuating element by which an inlet flow cross-section of the turbine through which the exhaust gas flows is variably adjustable and which is movable in the axial direction of the turbine between a blocking position restricting the flow cross-section and an open position clearing the flow cross-section relative to the turbine casing, the actuating elements extend through conforming openings formed in the guide walls between the guide vanes into the spaces defined between the guide vanes for controlling the turbine inlet flow cross-section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: IHI CHARGING SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL GMBH
    Inventor: Thomas Ihli
  • Non-integral segmented angel-wing seal
    Patent number: 9605552
    Abstract: A cover plate adapted to axially overlie root or shank portions of one or more buckets or blades secured to a turbomachine wheel, includes an arcuate cover plate body adapted to be secured to the turbomachine wheel so as to cover a root portion of at least one of the turbine buckets or blades; and at least one arcuate angel-wing seal segment detachably secured to one side of the arcuate cover plate body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael Anthony Wondrasek, Nicholas Alvin Hogberg
  • Gas turbine engine airfoil
    Patent number: 9605542
    Abstract: An airfoil for a turbine engine includes an airfoil that has pressure and suction sides that extend in a radial direction from a 0% span position at an inner flow path location to a 100% span position at an airfoil tip. The airfoil has a curve that corresponds to a relationship between a trailing edge sweep angle and a span position. The trailing edge sweep angle is in a range of 10° to 20° in a range of 40-70% span position, and the trailing edge sweep angle is positive from 0% span to at least 95% span. The airfoil has a relationship between a leading edge dihedral and a span position. The leading edge dihedral is negative from the 0% span position to the 100% span position. A positive dihedral corresponds to suction side-leaning, and a negative dihedral corresponds to pressure side-leaning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Edward J. Gallagher, Byron R. Monzon, Ling Liu, Linda S. Li, Darryl Whitlow, Barry M. Ford
  • Axial turbine for a rotary atomizer
    Patent number: 9604232
    Abstract: A turbine rotor, e.g., for a drive turbine of a rotary atomizer, is disclosed having a rotatably supported turbine shaft with the potential for mounting an atomizer wheel, and having at least one drive turbine wheel having a plurality of turbine blades. The turbine blades of the drive turbine wheel may be impinged on during operation by a drive fluid in order to drive the turbine rotor. The drive turbine wheel may be designed for the drive fluid to axially impinge on the turbine blades. A complete drive turbine having such a turbine rotor is also disclosed, as well as a complete rotary atomizer and individual exemplary components of the drive turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Duerr Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Baumann, Frank Herre, Marcus Frey, Bernhard Seiz, Harry Krumma, Timo Beyl, Jürg Schiffmann, Stephan Scholl
  • Ceiling fan
    Patent number: 9593687
    Abstract: A ceiling fan includes a suspending unit and a ceiling fan body. The ceiling fan body includes a shaft; a motor; a plurality of blades; an upper body cover having a first opening, at a central part, for passing the shaft therethrough, and a second opening outside the first opening; and a lower body cover. The upper body cover rotates with the blades and has a first wall standing vertically between the first opening and the second opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyohiko Iwamoto, Hiroyuki Kuramochi
  • Airfoil blade
    Patent number: 9587645
    Abstract: A fan blade of a gas turbine engine, and a method of producing same, is disclosed which is composed of a core substrate and a nanocrystalline metal coating provided on at least a portion of the airfoil of the fan blade. The method includes the steps of providing a fan blade core having an airfoil and then applying a nanocrystalline metal coating over at least a portion of the fan blade core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: George Guglielmin, Joe Lanzino, Enzo Macchia, Barry Barnett, Andreas Eleftheriou, Thomas McDonough
  • Pump device and pump system
    Patent number: 9574571
    Abstract: A pump device (1A) includes: an impeller (2) that rotates about an axis of rotation (A); an inlet passage (10a) that extends along the axis of rotation (A) of the impeller (2); a volute chamber (10b) provided around the impeller (2); a high-pressure chamber (4) provided around the inlet passage (10a); a circumferential wall (5) that separates the inlet passage (10a) and the high-pressure chamber (4); and a bypass passage (6) that communicates the volute chamber (10b) and the high-pressure chamber (4). The circumferential wall (5) has a plurality of through holes (51) provided in a circumferential direction. The central axis (B) of each of the through holes (51) is included in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation (A). The central axis (B) is inclined with respect to a reference line (L).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Bunki Kawano, Kou Komori, Tomoichiro Tamura
  • Wind turbine rotor control
    Patent number: 9574546
    Abstract: A method for operating a wind turbine is provided. The method includes determining a wind condition, determining for the wind condition expected azimuthal positions of a rotating wind rotor of the wind turbine, and determining for the wind condition desired azimuthal positions of the rotating wind rotor so that at least one of a load balance of the rotating wind rotor and a power uptake of the rotating wind rotor is improved compared to the expected azimuthal positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventor: Hartmut Scholte-Wassink
  • Air separator for gas turbine engine
    Patent number: 9556737
    Abstract: An air separator in a gas turbine engine includes a cylindrical member and a seal flange having a flange body extending radially outward at a rearward end of the cylindrical member. A head portion is located at a radially outer free end of the flange body and includes an axial flange located axially rearward of the flange body and defining a rearward seal face for engagement with a blade disc forward face, and a forward cantilevered head mass extending axially forward from the flange body. An axial dimension of the head mass, from a connection with the forward side of flange body to an axially forward face of the head mass, is greater than a maximum radial dimension of the head mass, from a radially inner side of the head mass to a radially outermost side of the head mass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: SIEMENS ENERGY, INC.
    Inventors: Mahesh Janarthanan, Diego L. Caso, Jr., Ryan J. Majkut
  • Axial flow fan
    Patent number: 9551345
    Abstract: A leading edge of a rotating blade of an impeller is formed in an arc recessed in a direction opposite to a rotating direction of the impeller. An angle where an extended line of the recessed arc of the leading edge meets another extended line of a curve of a side edge is set in an acute angle of 30 to 37 degrees in a front view so that a leading tip of the rotating blade may be projected in the rotating direction. An opening angle of a suction-side slant portion of a venturi casing is set in the range of 12 to 17 degrees and an opening angle of a discharge-side slant portion is set in the range of 30 to 35 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: SANYO DENKI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Atsushi Yanagisawa
  • Cooling system of ring segment and gas turbine
    Patent number: 9540947
    Abstract: A cooling system of ring segment is provided with: a collision plate that has a plurality of small holes; a cooling space that is enclosed by the collision plate and a main body of the segment body; a first cavity that arranged is the upstream end portion of the segment body in the flow direction of the combustion gas so as to be perpendicular to the axial direction of a rotating shaft; a first cooling passage that communicates from the cooling space to the first cavity; and a second cooling passage that communicates from the first cavity to a fire combustion gas d gas space in the downstream end portion of the segment body in the flow direction of the combustion gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Hidemichi Koyabu, Satoshi Hada
  • System for supporting a turbine nozzle
    Patent number: 9528392
    Abstract: A system for supporting a turbine nozzle includes an inner barrel having a forward end, an aft end and an outer surface that extends between the forward end and the aft end. A first fitting that extends through the outer surface is defined within the inner barrel. The system further includes a nozzle support ring that defines a second fitting that is complementary to the first fitting defined within the inner barrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Matthew Stephen Casavant, Kenneth Damon Black
  • System for the heating and pumping of fluid
    Patent number: 9528530
    Abstract: A fluid heating and pumping system comprising a housing that has an inlet and outlet opening as well as a plurality of turbine chambers. Each of the turbine chambers has: an inlet end, outlet end, is mounted to a driveshaft, a stator and rotor, and is constructed to create a circuitous flow path for fluid flow. Each of the rotors is: designed to move the fluid through the housing, and has a plurality of rotor vanes with each having a fin at the inlet end. The fin extends past the plane of an adjacent rotor vane to extend the circuitous flow path through the rotors. The fins, shearing plane, and outlet orifice all create thermal energy as the fluid is transferred along and between the rotor and stator vanes, through the shearing plane and between the adjacent turbine chambers as the fluid flows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Inventor: Kirk D. Hummer
  • Method and system for operating a wind turbine during a fault
    Patent number: 9528494
    Abstract: A method and a system for operating a wind turbine (10) during a fault. The system includes a pitch motor for rotating each rotor blade (18), second pitch sensors (72) for determining when the rotor blade (18) is rotated to a set point, and a backup pitch controller (80). After a fault is detected, the method determines whether the wind speed in the vicinity of the wind turbine (10) is less than or greater than or equal to a maximum rated velocity of the wind turbine (10). The backup pitch controller (80) then rotates the rotor blades (18) to a specific set point based on the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Meng Gao, Cheng Ma
  • Methods and systems for alleviating the loads generated in wind turbines by wind asymmetries
    Patent number: 9523352
    Abstract: A method for alleviating rotor asymmetric loads in a variable-speed wind turbine having pitch and torque control means comprising the following steps: providing a control law that determines the pitch to be applied individually to each wind turbine blade for counteracting rotor asymmetric loads (such as wind shear, upflow, yaw misalignment) using wind speed and wind direction measurements at the wind turbine, values of the wind features that cause rotor asymmetric loads and configuration parameters of the wind turbine (whether real-time values or statistical values at the wind turbine site), said pitch to be added to the collective pitch ?0; implementing said control law in the wind turbine control means. The invention also refers to a wind turbine control system arranged for implementing said method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: GAMESA INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY, S.L.
    Inventors: Octavio Hernandez Mascarell, Carlos Pizarro de la Fuente, Jaime Suarez Aizpun, Jorn Klaas Gruber
  • Gas turbine engine rotor balancing
    Patent number: 9511457
    Abstract: A method of balancing a gas turbine engine rotor comprises the step of obtaining a rotor disc with a circumferential array of balance tabs projecting from a peripheral rim of the disc. Stress shielding scallops are defined in the rotor disc between the tabs. The balancing is achieved by removing material from at least one of the tabs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventor: Paul Stone
  • Turbine engine and aerodynamic element of turbine engine
    Patent number: 9488055
    Abstract: A turbine engine is provided and includes an aerodynamic element disposed to aerodynamically interact with a flow of working fluid and contour features disposed on the aerodynamic element in alignment in at least one dimension. The contour features are proximate to one another and configured to encourage counter-rotating vortex flow generation oriented substantially perpendicularly with respect to a main flow direction along the aerodynamic element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Scott Matthew Sparks
  • Air cycle machine with seal shaft
    Patent number: 9470104
    Abstract: A seal shaft for use in an air cycle machine has two axial edges. An axial distance is measured between contact faces at the axial edges, with a tolerance to the dimension. A greatest variation between the axial distance at a plurality of spaced locations on the edge face is maintained with a ratio of the greatest variation to the tolerance being less than 0.2. A rotor assembly, an air cycle machine and a method are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Mark Vignali, Robert M. Pragluski
  • Method and device for power generation
    Patent number: 9464623
    Abstract: A fluid flow-powered generator and a method for using the same are described herein. The generator has a rotatable frame, with a first wing and a second wing. The first wing and second wing are pivotally mounted to the frame to allow the angle of attack to be adjusted. A controller is also provided to direct adjustment of the angle of attack of the first wing and the second wing in a coordinated manner while the fluid flow-powered generator is in use. In certain embodiments, the fluid flow-powered generator is operable as an oscillating generator and in other embodiments, the fluid flow-powered generator is operable as a rotating generator. The rotating generator can be arranged along a horizontal axis or a vertical axis. Additionally, certain horizontally oriented generators may be operated as either oscillating generators or rotating generators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: Western Michigan University Research Foundation
    Inventor: Tianshu Liu