Patents by Inventor Eric Ravey

Eric Ravey 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).

  • Apparatus for preventing ice accretion
    Patent number: 8435003
    Abstract: Aerofoils (22) of a gas turbine engine are provided with a coating (34) or filler (44) of viscoelastic material. As ice accretes on the aerofoils (22) during operation, the resulting aerodynamic stability imbalance induces vibration in the aerofoils (22). The viscoelastic material (34, 44) damps this vibration, and in so doing generates heat, which melts the ice away from the aerofoils (22). Heat-conducting members conduct the heat to regions of the component in which ice accretion is to be prevented. Alternative embodiments are described in which the pseudoelastic behavior of a shape memory alloy (56), or eddy currents arising from the rotor blades' rotation in an axisymmetric magnetic field, are used as sources of heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventors: Simon Read, Alison J. McMillan, Eric Ravey
  • APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ICE ACCRETION
    Publication number: 20110318181
    Abstract: Aerofoils (22) of a gas turbine engine are provided with a coating (34) or filler (44) of viscoelastic material. As ice accretes on the aerofoils (22) during operation, the resulting aerodynamic stability imbalance induces vibration in the aerofoils (22). The viscoelastic material (34, 44) damps this vibration, and in so doing generates heat, which melts the ice away from the aerofoils (22). Heat-conducting members conduct the heat to regions of the component in which ice accretion is to be prevented. Alternative embodiments are described in which the pseudoelastic behaviour of a shape memory alloy (56), or eddy currents arising from the rotor blades' rotation in an axisymmetric magnetic field, are used as sources of heat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2011
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: Simon Read, Alison J. McMillan, Eric Ravey
  • Apparatus for preventing ice accretion
    Patent number: 8033789
    Abstract: Aerofoils (22) of a gas turbine engine are provided with a coating (34) or filler (44) of viscoelastic material. As ice accretes on the aerofoils (22) during operation, the resulting aerodynamic stability imbalance induces vibration in the aerofoils (22). The viscoelastic material (34, 44) damps this vibration, and in so doing generates heat, which melts the ice away from the aerofoils (22). Heat-conducting members conduct the heat to regions of the component in which ice accretion is to be prevented. Alternative embodiments are described in which the pseudoelastic behaviour of a shape memory alloy (56), or eddy currents arising from the rotor blades' rotation in an axisymmetric magnetic field, are used as sources of heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce plc
    Inventors: Simon Read, Alison J McMillan, Eric Ravey
  • Apparatus for preventing ice accretion
    Publication number: 20080075593
    Abstract: Aerofoils (22) of a gas turbine engine are provided with a coating (34) or filler (44) of viscoelastic material. As ice accretes on the aerofoils (22) during operation, the resulting aerodynamic stability imbalance induces vibration in the aerofoils (22). The viscoelastic material (34, 44) damps this vibration, and in so doing generates heat, which melts the ice away from the aerofoils (22). Heat-conducting members conduct the heat to regions of the component in which ice accretion is to be prevented. Alternative embodiments are described in which the pseudoelastic behaviour of a shape memory alloy (56), or eddy currents arising from the rotor blades' rotation in an axisymmetric magnetic field, are used as sources of heat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 15, 2007
    Publication date: March 27, 2008
    Inventors: Simon Read, Alison McMillan, Eric Ravey