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US 10,329,946 B2Granted
Sliding gear actuation for variable vanes
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsGabriel L Suciu, Jesse M Chandler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A variable vane system for a gas turbine engine includes a geared unison ring driven by a drive gear, the geared unison ring axially slidable parallel to an engine axis with respect to the drive gear as the rotation of the unison ring results in axial motion that is accommodated by the axial sliding between a gear mesh of the geared unison ring and the drive gear.
Claims12
A variable vane system for a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- an actuator;
- a harmonic drive driven by the actuator;
- a drive gear driven by the harmonic drive;
- and a geared unison ring driven by the drive gear, the geared unison ring axially slidable parallel to an engine axis with respect to the drive gear, wherein a rotation of the unison ring results in an axial motion of the unison ring that is accommodated by the axial sliding between a gear mesh of the geared unison ring and the drive gear.
1 more element
A gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a variable vane system comprising a multiple of variable vanes;
- a geared unison ring connected to each of the multiple of variable vanes through a respective drive arm;
- and a harmonic drive operable to drive the variable vane system through a geared connection, the geared connection comprising the geared unison ring, the geared unison ring axially slidable parallel to an engine axis with respect to a drive gear, wherein a rotation of the unison ring results in an axial motion of the unison ring that is accommodated by the axial sliding between a gear mesh of the geared unison ring and the drive gear, the geared unison ring comprising a gear segment on an outer diameter of the geared unison ring, the gear segment meshed with the drive gear, the drive gear wider than the gear segment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.