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US 12,000,299 B1Granted
Centrifugally operated oil shield for lubrication flow control
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorAndrew D. Copeland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotor assembly includes an oil jet assembly, an inner shaft assembly, an outer shaft assembly, and an oil mist shield. The oil jet assembly selectively ejects oil for lubrication. The inner shaft assembly is configured to rotate about a central axis. The outer shaft assembly is configured to rotate selectively about the central axis independent of the inner shaft assembly. The oil mist shield is coupled with the outer shaft and is configured to selectively block and allow the oil from the oil jet assembly from passing into a cavity.
Claims20
A rotor assembly comprising:
- an oil jet assembly extending radially inward toward a central axis and configured to selectively eject oil for lubrication,
- an inner shaft assembly configured to rotate about the central axis, the inner shaft assembly including an inner shaft and an inner bearing coupled with the inner shaft and configured to be lubricated by the oil from the oil jet assembly,
- an outer shaft assembly configured to rotate selectively about the central axis independent of the inner shaft assembly, the outer shaft assembly having an outer shaft arranged radially outward of and circumferentially around the inner shaft to define a cavity radially therebetween and an outer bearing coupled with the outer shaft and configured to be selectively lubricated by the oil from the oil jet assembly, and
- an oil mist shield coupled with the outer shaft and configured to selectively block and allow the oil from the oil jet assembly from passing between the inner shaft and the outer shaft and into the cavity, the oil mist shield located axially between the inner bearing and the outer bearing, the oil mist shield including a mount band that extends circumferentially around the central axis and is coupled with the outer shaft and a conical lip that extends radially inward from the mount band to a terminal end, the conical lip is formed to include a plurality of slits arranged circumferentially around the conical lip and that extend radially into the conical lip from the terminal end and toward the mount band,
- wherein the oil mist shield moves between a first arrangement in which the terminal end of the conical lip confronts the inner shaft in response to the outer shaft not rotating about the central axis to block the oil from the oil jet assembly from passing between the outer shaft and the inner shaft to the cavity and the outer bearing and a second arrangement in which the terminal end of the conical lip moves radially outward away from the inner shaft in response to the outer shaft rotating about the central axis to allow the oil from the oil jet assembly to pass between the outer shaft and the inner shaft to the cavity to lubricate the outer bearing.
2 more elements
A rotor seal assembly comprising:
- a first shaft extending circumferentially about an axis and configured to rotate about the axis,
- a second shaft arranged circumferentially around the first shaft to define a cavity radially between the first shaft and the second shaft, the second shaft configured to rotate about the axis independent of the first shaft, and
- an oil mist shield coupled with the second shaft and configured to move between a first arrangement in which the oil mist shield extends toward the first shaft in response to the second shaft not rotating to block oil from passing between the first shaft and the second shaft and into the cavity and a second arrangement in which the oil mist shield moves away from the first shaft in response to the second shaft rotating to allow the oil to pass between the first shaft and the second shaft and into the cavity.
A method comprising:
- rotating a first shaft about an axis,
- directing oil from a first jet toward a first bearing coupled with the first shaft,
- blocking the oil from flowing between the first shaft and a second shaft with an oil mist shield in response to the second shaft not rotating about the axis,
- directing oil from a second jet toward a second bearing coupled with the second shaft in response to a first signal, and
- rotating the second shaft about the axis in response to the first signal to cause a terminal end of the oil mist shield to move away from the first shaft and allow the oil from the first jet and the second jet to flow between the first shaft and the second shaft to lubricate the second bearing.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.