Patents by Inventor Alain C. Martel

Alain C. Martel has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10526907
    Abstract: A contact seal assembly for a shaft of a gas turbine engine includes a seal runner adapted to be connected to the shaft and rotatable relative to a carbon ring. The seal runner includes concentric inner and outer annular portions radially spaced apart to define at least one internal fluid passage between the inner and outer annular portions of the seal runner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Daniel Blais, Alain Lewis, Alain C. Martel
  • Patent number: 10302523
    Abstract: The method for testing the integrity of a seal of a cavity in an engine includes providing a sealed test tank external to the cavity, the test tank having an internal volume that is particularly selected, as described herein. A pressure differential is generated between the test tank and the cavity, by creating an initial test pressure within the test tank that is different than an ambient pressure inside the cavity. Gas flow between the test tank and the cavity is then permitted, and a change in pressure within the test tank is measured, as is a test time required for the pressure inside the test tank to reach a reference pressure. The measured test time is compared with a predetermined reference time, and the integrity of the seal may be confirmed when the test time is greater than or equal to the reference time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Roger Huppe, Pierre Yves Legare, Alain C. Martel, Valeri Soukhostavets
  • Publication number: 20170343448
    Abstract: The method for testing the integrity of a seal of a cavity in an engine includes providing a sealed test tank external to the cavity, the test tank having an internal volume that is particularly selected, as described herein. A pressure differential is generated between the test tank and the cavity, by creating an initial test pressure within the test tank that is different than an ambient pressure inside the cavity. Gas flow between the test tank and the cavity is then permitted, and a change in pressure within the test tank is measured, as is a test time required for the pressure inside the test tank to reach a reference pressure. The measured test time is compared with a predetermined reference time, and the integrity of the seal may be confirmed when the test time is greater than or equal to the reference time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2016
    Publication date: November 30, 2017
    Inventors: Roger Huppe, Pierre Yves Legare, Alain C. Martel, Valeri Soukhostavets
  • Publication number: 20170198598
    Abstract: A contact seal assembly for a shaft of a gas turbine engine includes a seal runner adapted to be connected to the shaft and rotatable relative to a carbon ring. The seal runner includes concentric inner and outer annular portions radially spaced apart to define at least one internal fluid passage between the inner and outer annular portions of the seal runner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2017
    Publication date: July 13, 2017
    Inventors: Daniel BLAIS, Alain LEWIS, Alain C. MARTEL
  • Patent number: 9631508
    Abstract: A contact seal assembly for a shaft of a gas turbine engine includes a seal runner adapted to be connected to the shaft and rotatable relative to a carbon ring. The seal runner includes concentric inner and outer annular portions radially spaced apart to define at least one internal fluid passage between the inner and outer annular portions of the seal runner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Daniel Blais, Alain Lewis, Alain C. Martel
  • Publication number: 20140369832
    Abstract: A contact seal assembly for a shaft of a gas turbine engine includes a seal runner adapted to be connected to the shaft and rotatable relative to a carbon ring. The seal runner includes concentric inner and outer annular portions radially spaced apart to define at least one internal fluid passage between the inner and outer annular portions of the seal runner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2013
    Publication date: December 18, 2014
    Inventors: Daniel BLAIS, Alain Lewis, Alain C. Martel
  • Patent number: 8092145
    Abstract: A system and method for particle separation in a gas turbine engine centrifugal impeller bleed air system using a tangential velocity component of the compressor bleed air to centrifuge the particles radially outwardly and convey the particles circumferentially, away from a clean air outlet and towards a particle outlet where the particles are extracted from the bleed air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
    Inventors: Alain C. Martel, Eugene Gekht
  • Publication number: 20100104422
    Abstract: A system and method for particle separation in a gas turbine engine centrifugal impeller bleed air system using a tangential velocity component of the compressor bleed air to centrifuge the particles radially outwardly and convey the particles circumferentially, away from a clean air outlet and towards a particle outlet where the particles are extracted from the bleed air.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 28, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Inventors: Alain C. MARTEL, Eugene Gekht