Gearbox assemblies with idler gears
AssigneesGeneral Electric Company, GE Avio S.r.l.
InventorsSimone Iurlaro, Juraj Hrubec, Andrea Piazza, Michele Gravina, Leonardo Coviello, Daniele Pampalone, Darek Zatorski, David M. Ostdiek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gear assembly for use with a turbomachine comprises a sun gear, a plurality of planet gears, and a ring gear. The gear assembly is connected to an input shaft and an output shaft. The sun gear is configured to rotate about a longitudinal centerline of the gear assembly, and is driven by the input shaft. A component of the gear assembly drives the output shaft. The gear assembly further comprises an output shaft reversal mechanism configured to reverse the rotational direction of the output shaft.
Claims20
A turbomachine engine comprising:
- a fan assembly comprising a plurality of fan blades;
- a core engine comprising a turbine;
- an input shaft rotatable with the turbine and configured to rotate in a first rotational direction;
- and
- a gear assembly that receives the input shaft at a first speed and drives an output shaft coupled to the fan assembly at a second speed, the second speed being slower than the first speed, the gear assembly comprising:
- a sun gear coupled to the input shaft and configured to rotate in the first rotational direction;
- a plurality of idler gears engaged with the sun gear and being configured to rotate in a second rotational direction, the second rotational direction being opposite the first rotational direction;
- a plurality of planet gear layshafts that each support a first stage planet gear and a second stage planet gear, the plurality of idler gears engaged with respective ones of the first stage planet gears;
- and
- a ring gear coupled to the second stage planet gears such that the ring gear rotates with the second stage planet gears, the ring gear configured to rotate to drive the output shaft in the first rotational direction.
An aircraft comprising:
- a first turbofan engine having a first core engine, a first input shaft, a first gear assembly, and a first output shaft that is configured to drive a first fan assembly, the first core engine being configured to drive the first input shaft in a first rotational direction, and the first gear assembly being configured to drive the first output shaft in a second rotational direction that is opposite the first rotational direction so that the first fan assembly is configured to rotate in the second rotational direction;
- and
- a second turbofan engine having a second core engine, a second input shaft, a second gear assembly, and a second output shaft that is configured to drive a second fan assembly, the second core engine being configured to drive the second input shaft in the first rotational direction, and the second gear assembly being configured to drive the second output shaft in the first rotational direction so that the second fan assembly rotates in the first rotational direction, wherein the second gear assembly comprises:
- a sun gear coupled to the second input shaft and configured to rotate in the first rotational direction;
- a plurality of idler gears engaged with the sun gear and being configured to rotate in the second rotational direction;
- a plurality of planet gear layshafts that each support a first stage planet gear and a second stage planet gear, the plurality of idler gears engaged with respective ones of the first stage planet gears;
- and
- a ring gear coupled to the second stage planet gears such that the ring gear rotates with the second stage planet gears, the ring gear configured to rotate to drive the second output shaft in the first rotational direction,
- wherein the first fan assembly and second fan assembly are configured to rotate in opposite rotational directions with the first fan assembly being configured to rotate in the second rotational direction and the second fan assembly being configured to rotate in the first rotational direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.