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US 11,181,046 B1Granted
High speed shaft flexible coupling
AssigneeFlorida Turbine Technologies, Inc.
InventorsStephen M Brooks, Alex Pinera
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas turbine engine in which a long length-to-diameter (L/D) flexible shaft is used to connect two high speed shafts in order to tolerate misalignment. In order to reduce the overall system length, a smaller diameter flexible shaft is contained within but not in contact with a larger diameter primary turbomachinery shaft such that the smaller flexible shaft adjoins to the primary shaft aft of the primary shaft bearing. This design reduces a length of the overall system and reduces additional cost associated with a flex bellows or spline.
Claims9
A gas turbine engine comprising:
- a larger diameter high speed shaft connecting a compressor to a turbine, the larger diameter high speed shaft including a hollow section at a forward end of the larger diameter high speed shaft, the hollow section having a bottom at an aft end of the hollow section;
- a combustor to produce a hot gas stream to drive the turbine;
- a smaller diameter flexible shaft, the smaller diameter flexible shaft having a smaller diameter than a diameter of the larger diameter high speed shaft;
- a load driven by the larger diameter high speed shaft and connected to the smaller diameter flexible shaft;
- and
- a flexible coupling connected between the smaller diameter flexible shaft and the larger diameter high speed shaft, wherein at least a portion of the smaller diameter flexible shaft is positioned within the hollow section of the larger diameter high speed shaft, the flexible coupling including a torque transfer feature, a first portion of the torque transfer feature being located at an aft end of the smaller diameter flexible shaft and a second portion of the torque transfer feature being located at the bottom of the hollow section of the larger diameter high speed shaft, the first portion of the torque transfer feature being mateably engageable with the second portion of the torque transfer feature.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.