Patents by Inventor Frank D. Gass

Frank D. Gass 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).

  • Crack detection in fracture-critical machine parts
    Patent number: 6756908
    Abstract: A plurality of wires (33, 34; 35, 36) are disposed near the bottom (23-25) of blade root sockets (16-18) of a rotating disk 39 of a gas turbine engine by vapor deposition and etching, the wires including connections to excitation nodes (40, 42) and detection nodes (41, 43). A nearby stationary member of the engine mounts an oscillator amplifier (55) which drives a coil (57) that excites the circuitry, and a coil (62) drives an amplifier (65) and a processor (67) which provides an indication of whether or not one or more of the wires are broken by a crack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Frank D. Gass, Gonzalo J. Rey
  • Crack detection in fracture-critical machine parts
    Publication number: 20030122682
    Abstract: A plurality of wires (33, 34; 35, 36) are disposed near the bottom (23-25) of blade root sockets (16-18) of a rotating disk 39 of a gas turbine engine by vapor deposition and etching, the wires including connections to excitation nodes (40, 42) and detection nodes (41, 43). A nearby stationary member of the engine mounts an oscillator amplifier (55) which drives a coil (57) that excites the circuitry, and a coil (62) drives an amplifier (65) and a processor (67) which provides an indication of whether or not one or more of the wires are broken by a crack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2001
    Publication date: July 3, 2003
    Inventors: Frank D. Gass, Gonzalo J. Rey