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US 12,674,411 B2Granted
Aircraft propulsion system with auxiliary turbine system
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorPaul R. Hanrahan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An assembly is provided for an aircraft. This aircraft assembly includes a first propulsor rotor, a geartrain, a rotating assembly and an auxiliary turbine. The rotating assembly is rotatable about an axis and includes a turbine rotor. The rotating assembly is coupled to and is configured to drive rotation of the first propulsor rotor through the geartrain. The auxiliary turbine is coupled to the first propulsor rotor independent of the geartrain.
Claims15
An assembly for an aircraft, comprising:
- a first propulsor rotor;
- a geartrain comprising a plurality of interconnect gear systems;
- a rotating assembly rotatable about an axis and comprising a turbine rotor, the rotating assembly coupled to and configured to drive rotation of the first propulsor rotor through the geartrain;
- a second propulsor rotor rotatable with the rotating assembly, the rotating assembly configured to drive rotation of the second propulsor rotor through a transmission independent of the first propulsor rotor;
- an auxiliary turbine coupled to the first propulsor rotor independent of the geartrain;
- a bleed circuit in fluid communication with a compressor section;
- an exhaust circuit;
- and
- a gas flowpath extending through the bleed circuit and the exhaust circuit;
- wherein the auxiliary turbine is arranged along the gas flowpath between the bleed circuit and the exhaust circuit;
- and
- wherein the geartrain and the transmission are coupled to the rotating assembly in parallel.
9 more elements
An assembly for an aircraft, comprising:
- a first propulsor rotor;
- a second propulsor rotor;
- a geartrain comprising an epicyclic gear system;
- a rotating assembly rotatable about an axis and comprising a turbine rotor, the rotating assembly coupled to and configured to drive rotation of the first propulsor rotor through the geartrain, the rotating assembly coupled to and configured to drive rotation of the second propulsor rotor rotatable through a transmission, and wherein the geartrain and the transmission are coupled to the rotating assembly in parallel, and the turbine rotor is disposed in a flowpath;
- a first propulsor rotor shaft coupling the first propulsor rotor to the geartrain;
- and
- an auxiliary turbine operatively coupled inline between the first propulsor rotor and one or more components of the geartrain, the auxiliary turbine operatively coupled to the first propulsor rotor and/or the one or more components of the geartrain through a clutch, the clutch configured to selectively couple the auxiliary turbine to the first propulsor rotor shaft;
- wherein the auxiliary turbine is fluidly driven by gas bled from the flowpath.
5 more elements
An assembly for an aircraft, comprising:
- a propulsor rotor;
- a geartrain including a first gear system and a second gear system;
- an engine core including a compressor section, a combustor section, a turbine section, a flowpath and a rotating assembly, the flowpath extending longitudinally through the compressor section, the combustor section and the turbine section from an inlet into the flowpath to an exhaust from the flowpath, the rotating assembly comprising a turbine rotor arranged within the turbine section, and the rotating assembly configured to drive rotation of the propulsor rotor through the geartrain;
- an auxiliary turbine configured to further drive the rotation of the propulsor rotor, the auxiliary turbine coupled to the propulsor rotor independent of the geartrain;
- and
- a clutch configured to couple the auxiliary turbine to the propulsor rotor when the auxiliary turbine is operational, and the clutch configured to decouple the auxiliary turbine from the propulsor rotor when the auxiliary turbine is non-operational;
- wherein a bleed gas flow is directed from a bleed circuit arranged with the compressor, through the auxiliary turbine and to an exhaust circuit.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.