Apparatus and methods for cleaning internal cavities of blades
AssigneeRaytheon Technologies Corporation
InventorsKarthikeyan Baskaran, Garimella Balaji Rao
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for dislodging material within an airfoil element is disclosed. In various embodiments, the apparatus includes a robotic arm configured for multi-axis movement of a mounting head with respect to the airfoil element; a vibration mechanism connected to the mounting head; and a tip member connected to the vibration mechanism and configured for vibratory contact with a surface of the airfoil element.
Claims11
An apparatus for dislodging material within an airfoil element, comprising:
- a mounting head;
- a robotic arm configured for multi-axis movement of the mounting head with respect to the airfoil element;
- a vibration mechanism connected to the mounting head;
- a tip member connected to the vibration mechanism and configured for vibratory contact with a surface of the airfoil element;
- a pneumatic cylinder connected to the mounting head and configured to maintain the tip member in direct contact against the surface of the airfoil element under a reverse pressure;
- and
- a sub-atmospheric pressure source configured to provide the reverse pressure to the pneumatic cylinder,
- wherein the pneumatic cylinder includes a rod connected to the mounting head and
- wherein the pneumatic cylinder is configured to translate the tip member in an axial direction with respect to the rod and toward the surface of the airfoil.
An apparatus for dislodging material within an internal cooling passage system of a turbine blade, comprising:
- a mounting head;
- a robotic arm configured for multi-axis movement of the mounting head with respect to the turbine blade;
- a vibration mechanism connected to the mounting head;
- and
- a tip member connected to the vibration mechanism and configured for vibratory contact with a surface of the turbine blade;
- a pneumatic cylinder connected to the mounting head and configured to maintain the tip member in direct contact against the surface of the turbine blade under a reverse pressure;
- and
- a sub-atmospheric pressure source configured to provide the reverse pressure to the pneumatic cylinder,
- wherein the pneumatic cylinder includes a rod connected to the mounting head and
- wherein the pneumatic cylinder is configured to translate the tip member in an axial direction with respect to the rod and toward the surface of the turbine blade.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.