Patents by Inventor Robert Thane Mains

Robert Thane Mains 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: 7007476
    Abstract: In a fuel injector circuit for a gas turbine engine, a fuel staging valve assembly for distributing fuel into multiple zones in the combustor, the staging valve assembly, including a pilot valve operatively interconnected with at least one main valve, having high pressure and no leak capabilities, which are used to open, close and modulate the mass flow rate volume of fuel within the fuel injection circuit, with the position of the normally-closed valve being controlled by the pressure difference between the nozzle fuel supply circuit and a separately supplied signal circuit. As long as the desired pressure differential is maintained, fuel flow may be modulated without affecting the position of the valve, with the valve seats and valve seals being so configured as to prevent fuel leakage into the downstream nozzle circuit under these conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: Parker-Hannifin Corporation
    Inventors: Robert Thane Mains, Jeffrey R. Lehtinen
  • Publication number: 20040221580
    Abstract: In a fuel injector circuit for a gas turbine engine, a fuel staging valve assembly for distributing fuel into multiple zones in the combustor, the staging valve assembly, including a pilot valve operatively interconnected with at least one main valve, having high pressure and no leak capabilities, which are used to open, close and modulate the mass flow rate volume of fuel within the fuel injection circuit, with the position of the normally-closed valve being controlled by the pressure difference between the nozzle fuel supply circuit and a separately supplied signal circuit. As long as the desired pressure differential is maintained, fuel flow may be modulated without affecting the position of the valve, with the valve seats and valve seals being so configured as to prevent fuel leakage into the downstream nozzle circuit under these conditions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2004
    Publication date: November 11, 2004
    Inventors: Robert Thane Mains, Jeffrey R. Lehtinen
  • Patent number: 6718770
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine fuel injector conduit includes a single feed strip having a single bonded together pair of lengthwise extending plates. Each of the plates has a single row of widthwise spaced apart and lengthwise extending parallel grooves. Opposing grooves in each of the plates are aligned forming internal fuel flow passages through the strip from an inlet end to an outlet end. The feed strip includes a substantially straight middle portion between the inlet end and the outlet end. In one alternative, the middle portion has a radius of curvature greater than a length of the middle portion. The feed strip has at least one acute bend between the inlet end and the middle portion and a bend between the outlet end and the middle portion. The feed strip has fuel inlet holes in the inlet end connected to the internal fuel flow passages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2004
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Laing, Michael Peter Wrubel, Barry Walford Savel, Rex Jay Harvey, Alfred Albert Mancini, James Neil Cooper, Robert Thane Mains
  • Publication number: 20030221429
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine fuel injector conduit includes a single feed strip having a single bonded together pair of lengthwise extending plates. Each of the plates has a single row of widthwise spaced apart and lengthwise extending parallel grooves. Opposing grooves in each of the plates are aligned forming internal fuel flow passages through the strip from an inlet end to an outlet end. The feed strip includes a substantially straight middle portion between the inlet end and the outlet end. In one alternative, the middle portion has a radius of curvature greater than a length of the middle portion. The feed strip has at least one acute bend between the inlet end and the middle portion and a bend between the outlet end and the middle portion. The feed strip has fuel inlet holes in the inlet end connected to the internal fuel flow passages.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2002
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Inventors: Peter Laing, Michael Peter Wrubel, Barry Walford Savel, Rex Jay Harvey, Alfred Albert Mancini, James Neil Cooper, Robert Thane Mains