Hollow Patents (Class 416/232)
  • Patent number: 7922456
    Abstract: A lightweight component in the form of an outlet guide vane for a gas turbine engine and a method of manufacturing such lightweight components are provided. The vane is filled with hollow metal ellipsoid members in a solid metal outer member. The arrangement of hollow metal ellipsoid members allows directionally tailored stiffness or strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce, Plc
    Inventor: Alison J. McMillan
  • Publication number: 20110081249
    Abstract: A blade for a turbine engine made by the diffusion-bonding/superplastic-forming (DB/SPF) process has a hollow skin made of front and back panels 1, 3 and internal reinforcement in the form of webs 5 extending between the two faces or panels at an angle to the plane of the blade. The cavities are filled with viscoelastic damping filler 7. In order to allow the blade to deform more easily so that the filler can take up the strain, the webs are pre-buckled so as to compress at least some of the webs. When the blade is deformed, the webs straighten or buckle further, applying a deformation to the filler as they do so and thus dissipating energy. The blade is thus well reinforced against impact but still capable of damping vibrations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2010
    Publication date: April 7, 2011
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Simon READ
  • Patent number: 7918653
    Abstract: A method of assembling a rotor blade for a turbine is provided that includes forming a rotor blade trailing edge by coupling a suction side terminus to a pressure side terminus and positioning a trailing edge assembly between the suction side terminus and the pressure side terminus, the trailing edge assembly having a varying cross-section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2011
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Kevin James Standish, Stefan Herr, Nicholas Keane Althoff, Jamie Thomas Livingston
  • Publication number: 20110076151
    Abstract: A method and system that includes generation of an energy beam. The energy beam may be generated from a focused energy source. Additionally, the energy beam may be directed towards a pre-sintered preform. The pre-sintered preform may be made of a braze material and may seal a hole that may be located in a turbine component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2009
    Publication date: March 31, 2011
    Applicant: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Yan Cui, Srikanth Chandrudu Kottilingam, Gene Murphy
  • Patent number: 7891939
    Abstract: The specification discloses a rotating turbine tower. The tower rotates to maintain the turbine facing into the wind. This allows structural optimization. The tower structure is comprised of a leading edge and a trailing edge, with joining panels between the edge structures. The tower edges are the main structural components of the tower. The separation of the edges tapers to follow the thrust bending moment on the tower, reducing the need to taper material thickness. The tapering shape of the tower structure matches the primary edgewise moment distribution. The tower can be assembled on site from components, thereby facilitating transportation to the tower site. The material properties and shape can be selected based upon the tower maintaining a near constant orientation with the wind. This can save weight and costs. The tower architecture can be of differing shapes such as a triangle or a structure tapering at each end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2011
    Inventor: Michael D. Zuteck
  • Publication number: 20110027097
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a hollow blade for a turbomachine including drilling channels into a blank of the blade, placing inserts into the channels, forging the blank, and removing the inserts by chemical dissolution, and the blade is an aluminum alloy and the inserts are a copper alloy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 17, 2009
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Applicant: SNECMA
    Inventors: Francoise Bertrand, Guillaume Duclos, Jean-Michel Patrick Maurice Franchet, Olivier Michael Molinari
  • Patent number: 7878760
    Abstract: A method for operating a wind power plant, in which the wind power plant (10) has a multiplicity of components, but at least one rotor (18) with at least one rotor blade (22) and a generator for converting the mechanical energy of the rotor (18) into electrical energy and possibly a tower (14) on which the rotor (18) is arranged. Counterforces which counteract forces acting on the component (22), particularly wind loads, can be introduced into at least one component during the movement of rotation of the rotary blade (22).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2011
    Assignee: Daubner & Stommel GbR Bau-Werk-Planung
    Inventor: Matthias Stommel
  • Publication number: 20110020132
    Abstract: A decompression machine to be called SUDARSHAN CHAKRA is a better efficiency of energy conversion method than prior arts i.e. turbine, internal combustion engine & steam engine. Gas or liquid containing intermolecular forces from anywhere is harnessed & released intra-corporally & sequentially to get discharged tangentially from the blades which absorb the momentum of the propellant by pressure drops &/or velocity rises, in order to produce torque force resulting into rotations of axle, which can drive any other machine for production or transfer of energy. This is an action& reaction turbine. Here the idea is to produce circular motion from natural linear motion of the propellants like wind, gas, steam, water, hydrocarbon Etc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2010
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Inventor: RAJENDRA KUMAR BHOGILAL PATEL
  • Patent number: 7866951
    Abstract: A blade for a wind turbine includes a spar having a shear web, and at least one cross web extending from the spar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Venkateswara Rao Kavala
  • Patent number: 7857595
    Abstract: A method of producing a shear web for a wind turbine blade includes providing a mold generally conforming to a shape of at least a portion of a shear web; and filling the mold with a closed cell structural foam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dustin J. Wambeke, Nicholas K. Althoff
  • Patent number: 7841084
    Abstract: The present technology relates to the problem that during diverse machining steps of application to the production or reconditioning of internally cooled gas turbine blades, an undesired effect may be had on sections of the gas turbine blades and proposes, as an improvement, to inject the cavity of the gas turbine blades before the machining steps with a plastic material which can be removed without trace, such as polystyrene, which can be subsequently removed again, in particular by heat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: MTU Aero Engines GmbH
    Inventor: Reinhold Meier
  • Publication number: 20100296940
    Abstract: The torsional rigidity of a wind turbine blade affects the twist response of the blade induced by bending moments within the blade. By including regions having a lower modulus of rigidity than the remainder of the blade shell, the torsional rigidity of the blade shell can be decreased, and the twist response thereby increased. In blades having a single shear web, this twist response may be more pronounced. The regions of low modulus may comprise additional shell panels, or thick regions of low modulus joining material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2009
    Publication date: November 25, 2010
    Inventor: Michael D. Zuteck
  • Patent number: 7824158
    Abstract: A turbine blade damper includes an outer part for damping vibration of the blade airfoil and a supporting inner part. The two parts are formed of different materials for the different performance required thereof in the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Randall Charles Bauer, D. Keith Patrick
  • Patent number: 7819627
    Abstract: An aerofoil made from a sheet metal blank which is bent in the shape of an aerofoil such that it has a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side and a suction side, and the blank is joined at the trailing edge. The regions of the sheet metal blank that form the leading edge, trailing edge and pressure side of the aerofoil comprise a plurality of perforations. The suction side region of the sheet metal blank is imperforate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce PLC
    Inventor: Sean A Walters
  • Publication number: 20100266410
    Abstract: A blade tip of a turbine rotor blade for a gas turbine engine, the turbine rotor blade including an airfoil and a root portion for mounting the airfoil along a radial axis to a rotor disk inboard of a turbine shroud, a pressure sidewall and a suction sidewall that join together at a leading edge and a trailing edge, the pressure sidewall and suction sidewall extending from the root portion to the blade tip, and a squealer tip cavity formed at the blade tip, the blade tip comprising: a trailing edge trench originating at the squealer tip cavity, wherein the trailing edge trench generally extends toward the trailing edge of the blade tip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2009
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Inventors: Sergio Daniel Marques Amaral, Michael A. Sullivan, Xiuzhang J. Zhang, Gary M. Itzel, Felipe Roman-Morales, Scott E. Ellis
  • Patent number: 7815417
    Abstract: A guide vane for a gas turbine aircraft engine includes an aerodynamic shell for turning a flow of working fluid and an internal spar spaced from the aerodynamic shell by an air gap and reinforced by stiffeners.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Nagendra Somanath, Keshava B. Kumar
  • Publication number: 20100232975
    Abstract: A turbine blade assembly is provided. The turbine blade assembly comprises a turbine blade comprising a cavity, and a blade platform supporting the turbine blade, the cavity extending into the blade platform. The blade platform comprises an upper surface adjacent the turbine blade and a lower surface comprising a first rib, the cavity extending into the first rib, the first rib coupled to the lower surface, tapering as it extends away from the turbine blade, and comprising a first port extending from the cavity to the upper surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2009
    Publication date: September 16, 2010
    Applicant: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Mark C. Morris, Jason Smoke, Jeff Howe, Bob Mitlin
  • Publication number: 20100226781
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an aerofoil structure capable of being diffusion bonded and superplastically formed to create a substantially hollow cavity within the aerofoil structure, the method comprising: providing a metallic plate for forming the aerofoil structure; joining mounting elements to opposing end surfaces of said metallic plate; dividing said plate along a plane extending substantially in a span-wise direction so as to produce two metallic panels each with one of said mounting elements joined thereto; assembling the two metallic panels so that the surfaces of the panels opposite to the surfaces which have been divided are facing each other; and joining the two metallic panels to one another to form the aerofoil structure; wherein the mounting elements are joined to one another to form the root of the aerofoil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Publication date: September 9, 2010
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Michael J. WALLIS
  • Publication number: 20100226778
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing an aerofoil structure capable of being diffusion bonded and superplastically formed to create a substantially hollow cavity within the aerofoil structure, the method comprising: providing two metallic panels (8, 10, 16); assembling and joining the two metallic panels (8, 10, 16) to one another to form the aerofoil structure; wherein the two metallic panels each comprise a surface (8, 10, 16) capable of forming an aerofoil and further comprise a root or section thereof (4, 14) which is either integral with or fixed to the aerofoil surface; and incorporating a section of a different material into a part, the said section being made from a material which is different from the material of another part of the aerofoil structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Publication date: September 9, 2010
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Michael J. Wallis
  • Publication number: 20100209255
    Abstract: An aerofoil structure comprises first and second opposed skin components which are joined together and spaced apart by a pair of opposed spar components. The skin components have respective outer and inner surface profiles. The skin and spar components define a space envelope and a rib is arranged within the space envelope. The rib comprises a rib body and a series of rib feet. The rib feet comprise a leg and a rib foot plate. The rib foot plate is dimensioned, positioned and angled so as to conform to the inner surface profile of the skin component against which it is intended to be arranged.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2008
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Applicant: AIRBUS UK LIMITED
    Inventors: Amir Kayani, Ian L Gray
  • Publication number: 20100209254
    Abstract: The invention relates to a vane (200) for an aircraft turbine engine receiver comprising a blade (14) having an aerodynamic shell (24) enveloping a principal hollow structural core (34) extending in the direction of wingspan of the blade. According to the invention, the vane further comprises a secondary structural assembly (34?) enveloped by the hollow core (34) and extending also in the direction of wingspan, as well as a first coating made of shock-absorbing material (50) arranged between a longeron (44) of the core (34) and the assembly (34?), and a second coating made of shock-absorbing material (52) arranged between another longeron (38) of the core (34), and this same assembly (34?).
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 12, 2010
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Applicant: Airbus Operations (Societe Par Actions Simplifiee)
    Inventor: Laurent LAFONT
  • Publication number: 20100202890
    Abstract: A turbine of a gas turbine, in particular of a gas turbine aircraft engine, having a rotor that has at least one moving blade ring and having a stator that has at least one guide blade ring, moving blades of the, or each, moving blade ring and/or guide blades of the, or each, guide blade ring being fashioned as hollow blades having at least one cavity, wherein on at least one side of at least one moving blade and/or guide blade fashioned as a hollow blade, in a blade wall holes are made that connect the, or each, cavity to the surrounding environment of the respective moving blade and/or guide blade, so that the respective cavity can be used as a resonator or sound muffler in order to reduce the sound radiated by the turbine during operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2007
    Publication date: August 12, 2010
    Inventors: Fritz Kennepohl, Detlef Korte
  • Publication number: 20100196160
    Abstract: A turbine blade for use in high temperature applications includes an as-cast airfoil portion and an as-cast outer tip shroud portion and the outer tip shroud portion has at least one as-cast internal cooling circuit for cooling the outer tip shroud, and the at least one as-cast internal cooling circuit having a plurality of exits for discharging cooling air over exterior surfaces of the shroud. A process for forming a turbine blade comprises the steps of forming an as-cast turbine blade having an airfoil portion and a tip shroud and the forming step comprising forming at least one as-cast cooling circuit within the tip shroud.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Applicant: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: Eric A. Hudson
  • Patent number: 7766616
    Abstract: There is described a turbine blade of a gas turbine comprising a suction-side blade wall and a pressure-side blade wall that, in the trailing edge area, runs toward the suction-side blade wall. This suction-side blade wall has a trailing edge projection projecting over the end edge of the pressure-side blade wall at least in a partial section of the trailing edge area. A turbine blade of the aforementioned type is designed for a particularly long serviceable life while requiring little cooling air. To this end, the pressure-side surface of the trailing edge projection has a number of trough-shaped recesses that increase the transfer of heat from the trailing edge projection by a local swirling of the cooling air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Stefan Baldauf, Michael Händler, Christian Lerner
  • Publication number: 20100166564
    Abstract: A turbine blade with a generally hollow airfoil having an outer wall that defines a chamber for receiving cooling air, the airfoil comprising a leading edge that resides in an upstream direction, a trailing edge that resides in a downstream direction, a convex suction side, a concave pressure side, and an insert disposed within the chamber that is configured to initially receive at least a portion of the cooling air entering the chamber and direct the cooling air through a plurality of insert apertures to cool the inner surface of the outer wall, the insert further comprising a configuration that generally conforms to the contour of the outer wall of the chamber but in spaced relation thereto, wherein the chamber and insert narrow as they extend toward the trailing edge, the insert eventually terminating and the chamber eventually terminating at a pin array section, wherein a first distance exists that comprises the generally axial distance between the position of downstream termination point of the insert an
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2008
    Publication date: July 1, 2010
    Inventors: Edward D. Benjamin, Daniel D. Snook
  • Publication number: 20100150707
    Abstract: An airfoil has a hollow shell providing external airfoil surfaces, and a corrugated core within the shell. The core contacts inner surfaces of the shell to support the shell. The airfoil is formed by consolidating a hollow shell pre-form and a corrugated core pre-form. At least a part of the hollow shell has a leading edge shell portion and/or a trailing edge shell portion which, before consolidation of the pre-forms, is a unitary body having a shape which wraps around the respective edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Publication date: June 17, 2010
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: Matthew P. Jevons
  • Patent number: 7736131
    Abstract: A turbine blade for use in a gas turbine engine, where the turbine blade is made from a spar and shell construction in which a thin walled shell is formed from carbon or molybdenum nanotubes arranged in a direction such that the nanotubes are under tension when the blade is rotating in the engine. The carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon in which the length to diameter ratio exceeds 1,000,000 in order to produce very high tensile strength, unique electrical properties, and a very efficient conductor of heat. The nanotube shell includes a metal insert having a tear drop shape and the lower end of the shell wraps around the metal insert to form a wedge in which the shell is held in place against radial displacement between the platform and the attachment portion of the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Jack W Wilson, Jr.
  • Publication number: 20100135813
    Abstract: The turbine blade comprises an airfoil having opposite pressure and suction sidewalls extending from a platform to a free end tip and in a chordwise direction from a leading edge to a trailing edge. The blade has two winglets extending in a chordwise direction from adjacent the leading edge to adjacent the trailing edge. Each winglet extends from the pressure sidewall upwardly and outwardly from the sidewall to provide a channel between them. Each winglet has a free end extending laterally beyond a surface defined by the pressure sidewall offset.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2008
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Inventors: Remo Marini, Sami Girgis
  • Publication number: 20100127504
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade having a suction side and a pressure side, which sides are connected at a leading edge and a trailing edge, wherein one or more shape modifiable air foil sections are defined in the area of the trailing edge of the blade, and wherein said one or more shape modifiable air foil sections are attached to a blade body, each of the one or more modifiable air foil sections having an upper skin and a lower skin, a first one of the upper and lower skin being secured to the blade body, and a second one of the upper and lower skin being slidably movable with respect to the blade body, so that a force is applied to one of said skins cause said second skin to slide with respect to the blade body, so as to thereby modify the air foil shape of the trailing edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2008
    Publication date: May 27, 2010
    Applicant: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventor: Mark Hancock
  • Publication number: 20100124508
    Abstract: A turbine airfoil of a turbine engine having cooling channels positioned on side surface edges of a platform of the airfoil. The platform may include at least one angled side surface that may be aligned with a side surface of a platform of an adjacent turbine blade. The airfoil may include a suction side edge formed from a first surface at an obtuse angle relative to an upper surface of the platform and a second surface at an obtuse angle relative to a bottom surface of the platform. One or more film cooling slots may be positioned in the first surface and may include a diffusion portion. A damper may also be positioned in a groove between the second surface and an adjacent platform. The damper may include cooling slots on a side surface proximate to the second surface of the suction side edge.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2006
    Publication date: May 20, 2010
    Inventor: George Liang
  • Publication number: 20100074758
    Abstract: A rotor blade including a root attachable to a rotor hub. The blade includes a tip and one or more channels aligned within the blade generally between the root and the tip. Each channel has a sealed first end and a second end vented to outside the blade. The channel(s) are vented to one or more exterior surfaces of the blade through one or more apertures in the exterior surface(s).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2008
    Publication date: March 25, 2010
    Inventors: Blaine K. Rawdon, Arthur G. Powell, John C. Vassberg
  • Publication number: 20100068066
    Abstract: A device includes a fluid flow channel having a channel inlet for receiving a pressurized fluid for flow through the fluid flow channel and a channel outlet for discharging the pressurized fluid therefrom. A passive flow element is situated within the fluid flow channel or proximate to the channel inlet. The passive flow element includes an element inlet for receiving the pressurized fluid, and an element outlet. The passive flow element also includes a cavity for receiving the pressurized fluid from the element inlet and generating a periodic flow variation of the pressurized fluid so as to modulate the pressurized fluid flow rate through the element outlet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2008
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Applicant: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventor: Ronald Scott Bunker
  • Patent number: 7654799
    Abstract: A sectional wind turbine rotor blade is provided, the sectional wind turbine rotor blade having first and second blade sections, wherein the first and second blade sections are fixedly mountable to each other via a connector. Furthermore, a method for assembling a sectional wind turbine rotor blade is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Enno Eyb
  • Publication number: 20100021308
    Abstract: An aerofoil 50 and in particular an aerofoil utilised as a turbine blade within gas turbine engines generally incorporate passages 52, 53 along which fluid flows to provide cooling within the aerofoil 50. Previously straight webs were utilised in order to define passages but such configurations limit design choices with regard to achieving torsional and flap vibrational characteristics. By provision of webs 51 which have chordal variation in a serpentine or S shape wider design choices are provided with respect to achieving torsional and flat vibration control. Webs 51 with such chordal variation are achieved through manufacturing processes which remove forming cores by leaching or a lost wax technique or other erosion process. It will also be understood that chordal variations in the webs can create flow rate variations to facilitate particulate separation in a fluid flow through the passages 52, 53 within an aerofoil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventor: John A. Rawlinson
  • Publication number: 20100014980
    Abstract: There is described a turbine blade with an aerodynamically profiled blade leaf which is produced from two assembled shell elements. The shell elements forming the suction-side and the pressure-side blade leaf wall have been assembled by means of a high-temperature high-pressure bonding process and, under certain circumstances, may come apart at the blade tip. In order to prevent this, in the region of the blade leaf tip, a cramp is provided which hooks the two blade walls together with one another with a form fit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Publication date: January 21, 2010
    Inventors: Katharina Bergander, Georg Bostanjoglo, Tobias Buchal, Winfried Esser, Dirk Goldschmidt, Torsten Koch, Rudolf Kuperkoch, Thorsten Mattheis, Jan Munzer, Ralf Musgen, Matthias Oechsner, Ursula Pickert, Volker Vosberg
  • Patent number: 7648339
    Abstract: Cloth or fabric fan blades self-inflate when rotated about an axis to produce air movement, the blades being secured to a fan hub which is in turn connected to a fan motor assembly that provides the rotational force to inflate the blades, the blades collapsing upon contact with any object for safety purposes, the innovative blades being lightweight and safe such that no fan guard is required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2010
    Assignee: Vornado Air Circulation Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Glen Wesley Ediger, Luke Edward Kelly
  • Patent number: 7607287
    Abstract: A noise control cassette for a gas turbine engine includes a perforated face sheet configured for exposure to an airflow, a non-perforated backing sheet, a core arranged between the face sheet and the backing sheet and defining a cavity between the face sheet and the backing sheet having an effective length tuned so as to provide acoustic reactance control, and an attachment face for attaching the cassette to an airfoil-shaped structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Ramons A. Reba, Bruce L. Morin, Stephen A. Morford, Wesley K. Lord
  • Patent number: 7607894
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade includes a drain comprising at least one bore formed on the surface of the blade and communicating with the interior of the blade, the bore being located at the root area. The bore is preferably from 8 mm to 15 mm wide. In blades having an internal strengthening structural member creating an enclosure, there is a bore on either side of the enclosure member. The bore is within 5 cm from the enclosure member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: Ecotecnia, s.coop.c.l.
    Inventors: Pep Prats Mustaros, Gottfried Schuon
  • Patent number: 7594325
    Abstract: An aerofoil (35) for example a fan blade (26) comprises a leading edge (36), a trailing edge (38), a concave pressure surface extending (40) from the leading edge (36) to the trailing edge (38) and a convex suction surface (42) extending from the leading edge (36) to the trailing edge (38). The aerofoil (35) comprises a metal foam (50) arranged within a cavity defined by metal workpieces (52, 54). The metal foam (50) of the aerofoil (26) ideally has a density of less than 1g/cm3, is cheaper to manufacture and has improved fatigue behaviour and impact capability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2009
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce plc
    Inventor: Simon Read
  • Patent number: 7588421
    Abstract: A method for making a turbine blade includes providing a bucket in the turbine blade with a plurality of window pockets passing all the way through a wall of the bucket, positioning the window pockets in regions minimizing or at least reducing stress concentrations on the window pockets, and casting a composite comprising a resin matrix and layers of a fabric material in the bucket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2009
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Steven S. Burdgick, Christophe Lanaud, Adegboyega Makinde, Wendy Lin
  • Patent number: 7578059
    Abstract: In a method for manufacturing a hollow blade for a turbomachine, the blade is made from a preform derived from external primary parts. Each primary part comprising a root part is formed by flattening a blank cut out from a ring with a large diameter provided with a protuberance, in order to reduce costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2009
    Assignee: SNECMA
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre Serges Bergue, Michel Breton, Jean-Michel Patrick Maurice Franchet, Alain Georges Henri Lorieux, Philippe Francois Christian Sagot
  • Publication number: 20090162200
    Abstract: A rotor blade has a tip with an outer face including at least two channels which each extend to an outlet in the vicinity of the trailing edge. Accordingly, gas leakage around the tip must cross at least three walls, at least in the vicinity of the uncovered turning region near the trailing edge of the blade. Leakage gas entering the channels will tend to create a vortex and pass along the channel to the outlet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2008
    Publication date: June 25, 2009
    Applicant: ROLLS-ROYCE PLC
    Inventors: Ian Tibbott, Edwin Dane, Dougal Richard Jackson
  • Publication number: 20090155088
    Abstract: A hollow turbine airfoil includes a tip cap bounding an internal cooling circuit between opposite pressure and suction sidewalls. The tip cap includes an internal dome surrounding a dust hole, and the dome is inclined inwardly toward the airfoil root both transversely between the opposite sidewalls and chordally between opposite leading and trailing edges of the airfoil.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2006
    Publication date: June 18, 2009
    Inventors: Ching-Pang Lee, Tingfan Pang, Brian Alan Norton, Jan Christopher Schilling, Aspi Rustom Wadia
  • Publication number: 20090110559
    Abstract: An aerating propeller for attaching to the end of a drive shaft includes blades having a chamber to receive a flow of fluids from a conduit in a drive shaft. A trailing face of the blade includes a first opening into the chamber to permit the flow of fluids in the chamber to exit the propeller and a tip of the blade includes a second opening extending into the chamber to permit the flow of fluids in the chamber to exit the propeller. The first opening of the first blade is aligned generally in the same plane with the leading face of the second blade which follows the first blade when the propeller is rotated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2007
    Publication date: April 30, 2009
    Inventors: Jostein Bell, Jody Michael Bell
  • Patent number: 7510366
    Abstract: A vertical axis type wind power station and a blade manufacturing process, which can stabilize the turning motions of blades and can raise the power generation efficiency by lightening the blades to smoothen the turning motions of the blades; a structure and method for mounting the wind-driven device of a wind power station, by which the wind-driven device can be easily disposed at the upper portion of a building; and a windbreak wind power plant for breaking the wind by using the vertical axis type wind power stations or wind-driven devices arranged along the shoreline or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2009
    Assignee: Shinko Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Okubo, Kazumichi Kato, Hirosuke Imabayashi, Toshio Miki, Hideki Tamura, Hiroo Mike, Akira Shiozaki, Yushi Sato, Tomoyuki Matsunaga, Tetsuyuki Kimura, Nobuhiro Saito, Hiroki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20090041586
    Abstract: A turbine nozzle sector that comprises an outer platform segment and an inner platform segment between which there extend one or more hollow vanes. Each vane presents a trailing edge cavity for feeding with cooling air and communicating with a plurality of vents distributed along the trailing edge of the vane, these vents serving to exhaust a fraction of the cooling air. Said cavity communicates with an air outlet hole situated level with the outer platform and enabling a fraction of the cooling air to be exhausted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2008
    Publication date: February 12, 2009
    Applicant: SNECMA
    Inventors: Jean-Luc BACHA, Olivier Jean Daniel BAUMAS, Lucie LANCIAUX, Sophie LAVISON
  • Publication number: 20090035148
    Abstract: A wind turbine includes a tower supporting a drive train with a rotor, at least one hollow blade extending radially from the rotor; a drain hole arranged in a tip portion of the blade; a baffle, arranged inside the blade and inboard of the drain hole, for impeding a flow of particulate matter to the drain hole; a flexible drain conduit arranged inside the blade for connecting to the drain hole; and a non-flexible drain conduit arranged inside the blade for connecting to the flexible drain conduit, the non-flexible conduit having a plurality of openings for receiving fluid from inside the blade.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2007
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Inventors: Jamie T. Livingston, Thomas B. Jenkins, Nicholas K. Althoff, Brandon S. Gerber, Amir Riahi
  • Patent number: 7481573
    Abstract: A blade is disclosed for use in a mixing impeller assembly. The blade includes a top skin element and a bottom skin element without an internal framework in between the elements. A unitary pre-shaped tip element is attached at an end of the blade to the top and bottom skin elements. The tip is welded to the top skin and the bottom skin, and has a bevel at the weld location. The top skin has an edge that abuts the tip and the lower skin has an edge that abuts the tip, and respective bevels are provided on these edges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2009
    Assignee: SPX Corporation
    Inventors: Bernd Gigas, Frederick W. Kehr, III, Thomas A. Taylor
  • Patent number: 7441331
    Abstract: A cooled turbine engine component is made by providing first and second pieces respectively having first and second surfaces. At least one circuit is formed in at least one of the first and second surfaces. A first plurality of apertures is provided in the first piece to form inlets to the at least one circuit. A second plurality of apertures is provided in the second piece to form outlets to the at least one circuit. A combination of the first and second pieces is assembled and integrated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2008
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Eric A. Hudson, Benjamin R. Harding
  • Patent number: 7438523
    Abstract: A blade for a turbine engine is described, having a base body, made from a titanium alloy, with a first and a second component piece, which are connected in the connection region by means of a bonding process. A groove with a groove wall runs through the connection region, to prevent local concentration of tension, such that the above borders directly on the second component piece and forms therewith a connection angle greater than 70 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2008
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Ursula Pickert, Iris Oltmanns, legal representative, Peter Tiemann, incapacitated