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US 10,473,111 B2Granted
Variable pitch fan for a gas turbine engine
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorDaniel K. Vetters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine engine includes a fan having a plurality of fan blades configured to rotate about a central axis of the gas turbine engine. Each fan blade is configured to pivot about a pitch axis that extends radially away from the central axis to vary a pitch of the fan blade.
Claims20
A variable-pitch fan for use with a gas turbine engine, the variable-pitch fan comprising
- a fan disk mounted for rotation about a central axis, the fan disk formed to include a disk aperture that extends radially into the fan disk,
- a fan blade coupled to the fan disk for primary rotation with the fan disk about the central axis to produce thrust and for variable-pitch rotation about a pitch axis that extends radially from the central axis, the fan blade including a shank arranged in the disk aperture and an airfoil that extends radially away from the fan disk, and
- a mount system configured to support the shank of the fan blade in the disk aperture, the mount system including an inner bearing unit, an outer bearing unit, and a retention plate, the inner and outer bearing units located in the disk aperture and arranged between the fan blade and the fan disk to bear force loads applied between the fan blade and the fan disk, and the retention plate arranged around the shank of the fan blade and configured to couple selectively with the fan disk to block movement of the fan blade with the outer bearing unit out of the disk aperture and configured to uncouple selectively from the fan disk to allow radial outward movement of the fan blade with the outer bearing unit out of the disk aperture relative to the central axis.
A variable-pitch fan for use with a gas turbine engine, the variable-pitch fan comprising
- a fan disk mounted for rotation about a central axis,
- a fan blade that extends into the fan disk for primary rotation with the fan disk about the central axis and for variable-pitch rotation about a pitch axis that extends radially from the central axis, the fan blade including a shank that extends into the fan disk and an airfoil that extends radially away from the fan disk, and
- a mount system including an outer bearing unit and a retention plate, the outer bearing unit coupled to the shank of the fan blade, and the retention plate arranged around the shank of the fan blade and configured to couple selectively with the fan disk to block movement of the fan blade and the outer bearing unit away from the fan disk and configured to uncouple selectively from the fan disk to allow movement of the fan blade and the outer bearing unit away from the fan disk.
A method comprising
- providing a variable-pitch fan including a fan disk mounted for rotation about a central axis, a plurality of fan blades coupled to the fan disk for primary rotation around the central axis, and a respective mount system for each of the fan blades, each mount system including an inner bearing unit coupled to the fan disk, an outer bearing unit coupled to the fan blade radially outward of the inner bearing unit, and a retention plate coupled to the fan disk radially outward of the outer bearing unit, and
- moving the fan blade, the outer bearing unit, and the retention plate radially outward away from the fan disk to separate the fan blade, the outer bearing unit, and the retention plate from the fan disk.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.