Patents by Inventor Byron Andrew Pritchard

Byron Andrew Pritchard 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).

  • Publication number: 20210388763
    Abstract: A particle separator includes a separator body in a primary fluid passageway of a machine. The primary fluid passageway includes one or more bleed holes through which a diverted portion of the fluid flowing in the primary fluid passageway toward a volume of the machine is diverted into an auxiliary flow passageway that bypasses the volume and directs the diverted portion of the fluid toward one or more other components of the machine. The separator body is coupled with the inner wall and/or outer wall of the primary fluid passageway. The separator body includes an upstream edge positioned to separate at least some particles carried by the fluid from the fluid as the diverted portion of the fluid bends around and flows over the at least one upstream edge of the separator body and into the auxiliary flow passageway.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2021
    Publication date: December 16, 2021
    Inventors: Satoshi Atsuchi, Corey Bourassa, James R. Noel, Erich Alois Krammer, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Mehmet Dede
  • Publication number: 20210387746
    Abstract: A method for inspecting and repairing a surface of a component of a gas turbine engine, the method including: inserting an inspection and repair tool into an interior of the gas turbine engine; inspecting the surface of the component with the inspection and repair tool; performing a repair of the surface of the component with the inspection and repair tool from within the interior of the gas turbine engine, the inspection and repair tool remaining within the interior of the gas turbine engine between inspecting the component and performing the repair of the surface of the component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2020
    Publication date: December 16, 2021
    Inventors: Todd William Danko, Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Margeaux Wallace, Hrishikesh Keshavan, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Michael Dean Fullington, Andrew Crispin Graham, Trevor Owen Hawke, Julian Matthew Foxall, Ahmed M ELKady
  • Patent number: 11180265
    Abstract: A control system includes one or more processors configured to determine when to extend a life span of an engine by applying an additional restorative coating to the engine based on one or more monitored parameters of the engine. The monitored parameters include a condition of a previously applied restorative coating. The one or more processors are configured to determine the condition of the previously applied restorative coating based on an optical response of the previously applied restorative coating. The one or more processors also are configured to direct application of the additional restorative coating based on the one or more monitored parameters of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Shankar Sivaramakrishnan, Larry Steven Rosenzweig, Mehmet M. Dede, Hrishikesh Keshavan, Ambarish J. Kulkarni, Margeaux Wallace
  • Patent number: 11174751
    Abstract: A method for cleaning components of a gas turbine engine is presented. The method includes introducing a working fluid into a gas flow path or a cooling circuit defined by the one or more components of the gas turbine engine such that the working fluid impinges upon a surface of the one or more components of the gas turbine engine, wherein the working fluid includes a plurality of detergent droplets entrained in a flow of steam. A system for cleaning components of a gas turbine engine are also presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Nicole Jessica Tibbetts, Michael Edward Eriksen, Eric John Telfeyan
  • Publication number: 20210310415
    Abstract: A maintenance tool for gas turbine engine includes a rail system having a plurality of rail segments insertable through one or more inspection holes of the gas turbine engine for assembly within a core air flowpath of the gas turbine engine. The maintenance tool additionally includes a maintenance head movable along the plurality of rail segments of the rail system for performing maintenance operations within the core air flowpath.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2021
    Publication date: October 7, 2021
    Inventors: Mehmet M. Dede, Byron Andrew Pritchard,, Jr., David Scott Diwinsky, Wayne Ray Grady, Marc Metz, Gary Lee Ward
  • Publication number: 20210275951
    Abstract: A turbine engine having an inducer assembly. The inducer assembly includes a centrifugal separator fluidly coupled to an inducer with an inducer inlet and an inducer outlet. The centrifugal separator includes a body, an angular velocity increaser to form a concentrated-particle stream and a reduced-particle stream, a flow splitter, and an exit conduit fluidly coupled to the body to receive the reduced-particle stream and define a separator outlet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2021
    Publication date: September 9, 2021
    Inventors: Timothy Deryck STONE, Gregory Michael LASKOWSKI, Robert PROCTOR, Curtis STOVER, Robert Francis Manning, Victor Hugo Silva CORREIA, Jared Peter BUHLER, Robert Carl MURRAY, Corey BOURASSA, Byron Andrew PRITCHARD, JR., Jonathan Russell RATZLAFF
  • Patent number: 11111813
    Abstract: A method for inspecting a gas turbine engine using a maintenance tool includes assembling a plurality of rail segments of a rail system of the maintenance tool within a core air flowpath of the gas turbine engine. The gas turbine engine includes a compressor section, a combustion section, and a turbine section together defining at least in part the core air flowpath. The method also includes moving a maintenance head of the maintenance tool along the plurality of rail segments of the rail system to perform maintenance operations within the core air flowpath of the gas turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Mehmet M. Dede, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Wayne Ray Grady, Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni
  • Publication number: 20210254499
    Abstract: A turbine system includes a foam generating assembly having an in situ foam generating device at least partially positioned within the fluid passageway of the turbine engine, such that the in situ foam generating device is configured to generate foam within the fluid passageway of the turbine engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Michael Edward Eriksen, Nicole Jessica Tibbetts
  • Patent number: 11067002
    Abstract: A maintenance tool for gas turbine engine includes a rail system having a plurality of rail segments insertable through one or more inspection holes of the gas turbine engine for assembly within a core air flowpath of the gas turbine engine. The maintenance tool additionally includes a maintenance head movable along the plurality of rail segments of the rail system for performing maintenance operations within the core air flowpath.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Mehmet M. Dede, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., David Scott Diwinsky, Wayne Ray Grady, Marc Metz, Gary Lee Ward
  • Publication number: 20210199053
    Abstract: A coated component for a gas turbine engine is provided. The coated component includes a substrate having a surface and a ceramic coating. The ceramic coating includes one or more linear slots and one or more non-linear slots. The one or more non-linear slots intersect the one or more linear slots. The plurality of linear slots and the plurality of non-linear slots form segments of ceramic coating material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Publication date: July 1, 2021
    Inventors: Hrishikesh Keshavan, Curtis Alan Johnson, Hongqiang Chen, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Byron Andrew Pritchard, JR., Mehmet M. Dede
  • Publication number: 20210199050
    Abstract: A particle separator includes a separator body in a primary fluid passageway of a machine. The primary fluid passageway includes one or more bleed holes through which a diverted portion of the fluid flowing in the primary fluid passageway toward a volume of the machine is diverted into an auxiliary flow passageway that bypasses the volume and directs the diverted portion of the fluid toward one or more other components of the machine. The separator body is coupled with the inner wall and/or outer wall of the primary fluid passageway. The separator body includes an upstream edge positioned to separate at least some particles carried by the fluid from the fluid as the diverted portion of the fluid bends around and flows over the at least one upstream edge of the separator body and into the auxiliary flow passageway.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2021
    Publication date: July 1, 2021
    Inventors: Satoshi Atsuchi, Corey Bourassa, James R. Noel, Erich Alois Krammer, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Mehmet Dede
  • Patent number: 11047306
    Abstract: A turbine engine includes: a core cowl, a core within the core cowl, the core including a compressor having a bleed port; an undercowl space; a cooling duct at least partially in the undercowl space and having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet communicating with a source of cooling air, the outlet communicating with the compressor bleed port; a valve assembly in the cooling duct; and a cooling blower operable to move air flow from the inlet of the cooling duct towards the outlet of the cooling duct and into the compressor bleed port. A method of cooling an engine having a core cowl and a compressor, combustor and turbine includes: operating the engine; shutting the engine down; after or during engine shutdown, operating a cooling blower internal to the engine cowl, to force air through the compressor by way of a compressor bleed port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Millhaem, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock, John Carl Glessner, Jeffrey Scott Ksander, Craig A. Gonyou, Christopher Jon Potokar
  • Patent number: 11033845
    Abstract: A turbine engine having a bypass fluid conduit coupled to the turbine section includes at least one particle separator located within the bypass fluid conduit to separate particles from a bypass fluid stream prior to the bypass stream reaching the turbine section for cooling. A centrifugal separator for removing particles from a fluid stream includes an angular velocity increaser, a particle outlet, an angular velocity decreaser downstream of the angular velocity increaser, and a bend provided between the angular velocity increaser and the angular velocity decreaser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Timothy Deryck Stone, Gregory Michael Laskowski, Robert Proctor, Curtis Stover, Robert Francis Manning, Victor Hugo Silva Correia, Jared Peter Buhler, Robert Carl Murray, Corey Bourassa, Jr., Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jonathan Russell Ratzlaff
  • Patent number: 11027317
    Abstract: A cleaning system and method uses a tank holding a fluid detergent and an equipment assembly formed from a plurality of discrete components joined together. One or more ultrasound transducers remove one or more deposits on the equipment assembly by generating and propagating high frequency ultrasound waves into the fluid detergent while the equipment assembly is in contact with the fluid detergent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Nicole Tibbetts, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Sean Robert Keith, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Brian Kalb, Evan Jarrett Dolley, Andrew James Jenkins, Alistair Searing, Stephen Francis Rutkowski
  • Patent number: 11028727
    Abstract: A turbine engine cleaning system includes a foaming nozzle. The foaming nozzle includes a wall having a thickness between an outer surface of the wall and an inner surface of the wall. The outer surface of the wall is configured to contact a detergent in which the foaming nozzle is configured to be disposed. The inner surface of the wall surrounds an inner plenum of the foaming nozzle, and the inner plenum is configured to receive an aerating gas. The foaming nozzle also includes a first row of first through holes fluidly coupled to, and extending between, a first row of first through hole inlets at the inner surface of the wall and a first row of first through hole outlets at the outer surface of the wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Keith Anthony Lauria, Michael Edward Eriksen, Nicole Jessica Tibbetts, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Shantanu M. Sane
  • Publication number: 20210131305
    Abstract: A coated component of a gas turbine engine includes a substrate defining a surface, a thermal barrier coating deposited on the surface of the substrate, a region of the component where the thermal barrier coating has spalled from the substrate, a layer of environmental contaminant compositions formed on one or more of the thermal barrier coating or the region of the component where the thermal barrier coating has spalled from the substrate in response to an initial exposure of the component to high operating temperatures of the gas turbine engine, and a thermal barrier coating (TBC) restoration coating deposited at least on the region of the component where there thermal barrier coating has spalled from the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Publication date: May 6, 2021
    Inventors: Hrishikesh Keshavan, Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Margeaux Wallace, Byron Andrew Pritchard, JR., Almed M. Elkady, Atanu Saha, Mamatha Nagesh, Bernard Patrick Bewlay
  • Patent number: 10995666
    Abstract: A particle separator includes a separator body in a primary fluid passageway of a machine. The primary fluid passageway includes one or more bleed holes through which a diverted portion of the fluid flowing in the primary fluid passageway toward a volume of the machine is diverted into an auxiliary flow passageway that bypasses the volume and directs the diverted portion of the fluid toward one or more other components of the machine. The separator body is coupled with the inner wall and/or outer wall of the primary fluid passageway. The separator body includes an upstream edge positioned to separate at least some particles carried by the fluid from the fluid as the diverted portion of the fluid bends around and flows over the at least one upstream edge of the separator body and into the auxiliary flow passageway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Satoshi Atsuchi, Corey Bourassa, James R. Noel, Erich Alois Krammer, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Mehmet Dede
  • Patent number: 10995624
    Abstract: An article includes a substrate that is substantially opaque to visible light and a coating disposed on the substrate. The coating includes a coating material having an inherent index of refraction, wherein the coating has an effective index of refraction that is less than the inherent index of refraction, and wherein the effective index of refraction is less than 1.8.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Patrick James McCluskey, Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Krzysztof Jacek Lesnicki, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Nicole Jessica Tibbetts
  • Publication number: 20200400037
    Abstract: A method of cleaning a component within a turbine that includes disassembling the turbine engine to provide a flow path to an interior passageway of the component from an access point. The component has coked hydrocarbons formed thereon. The method further includes discharging a flow of cleaning solution towards the interior passageway from the access point, wherein the cleaning solution is configured to remove the coked hydrocarbons from the component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Publication date: December 24, 2020
    Inventors: Michael Robert Millhaem, Nicole Jessica Tibbetts, Byron Andrew Pritchard, JR., Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Keith Anthony Lauria, Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Mark Rosenzweig, Martin Matthew Morra, Timothy Mark Sambor, Andrew Jenkins
  • Patent number: 10871082
    Abstract: A turbine system includes a foam generating assembly having an in situ foam generating device at least partially positioned within the fluid passageway of the turbine engine, such that the in situ foam generating device is configured to generate foam within the fluid passageway of the turbine engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Ambarish Jayant Kulkarni, Byron Andrew Pritchard, Jr., Bernard Patrick Bewlay, Michael Edward Eriksen, Nicole Jessica Tibbetts