Patents by Inventor James A. Sunamoto

James A. Sunamoto 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).

  • Flutter resistant blades, vanes and arrays thereof for a turbomachine
    Patent number: 5667361
    Abstract: An array (32) of flow directing elements such as fan blades (20) for a turbine engine (10) is disclosed. Each blade in the array has a set of circumferentially shrouds (42, 44) whose contact edges (46, 48) abut each other during engine operation. A shroud angle .sigma. establishes the running chord angle .alpha. of the airfoil (30) portion of the array. Slight differences in the shroud angles of adjacent blades cause corresponding differences in the running chord angles so that the array is detuned and airfoil flutter is precluded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1997
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Karl J. Yaeger, Douglas E. Duke, James A. Sunamoto, William Henry Greene, Jr.