Rotating shaft scavenging scoop
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsEugene Gekht, Thomas Haslam-Jones, Pierre-Yves Legare
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing scavenge system comprises a scavenging passage extending axially through a rotating shaft supported by the bearing assembly. Oil and air are drawn from an oil cavity of the bearing assembly and evacuated through the rotating shaft as the shaft rotates.
Claims32
A scavenge system for a bearing assembly, the system comprising a scavenging passage extending axially through a rotating shaft supported by the bearing assembly, at least one inlet passage extending substantially radially inwardly from a peripheral surface of the shaft to said scavenging passage, and at least one scoop provided on the rotating shaft, said at least one scoop impelling oil internally of said rotating shaft radially inwardly through said at least one inlet passage into said scavenging passage as said at least one scoop rotates with said rotating shaft.
A scavenge system for a bearing assembly, the system comprising a scavenging passage extending axially through a rotating shaft supported by the bearing assembly, and means provided on the rotating shaft for drawing oil radially inwardly towards a central axis of said rotating shaft and into said scavenging passage as said shaft rotates.
A gas turbine engine comprising a compressor section, a combustor and a turbine section in serial flow communication with one another, a main rotating shaft supported by a bearing assembly, and a scavenge system for the bearing assembly, the scavenge system comprising a scavenging passage extending axially through said main rotating shaft, and at least one inlet hole defined in said main rotating shaft and in flow communication with said scavenging passage, said at least one inlet hole extending at an angle to a radius of the main rotating shaft to thereby cause oil about the rotating shaft to be drawn into said scavenging passage in said main shaft via said at least one inlet hole as said main shaft rotates.
A scavenge system for a bearing assembly supporting a rotating shaft in a gas turbine engine, the system comprising:
- first fluid communication means between a lubricant cavity containing the bearing assembly and an annular inner surface closely surrounding an outer surface of the rotating shaft;
- second fluid communication means within the rotating shaft communicating with a stationary chamber;
- and
- third fluid communication means between the outer surface of the rotating shaft and the second fluid communication means, the third fluid communication means being defined such as to communicate with the first fluid communication means during at least a portion of a rotation of the shaft, and such that the rotation of the shaft causes used lubricant coming from the lubricant cavity to be moved from the first fluid communication means to the third fluid communication means so as to deliver the used lubricant to the stationary chamber through the second fluid communication means.
A method of evacuating scavenge air and oil from a bearing assembly supporting a main shaft of a gas turbine engine, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) feeding the scavenge air and oil from the bearing assembly to an interface with said main shaft, b) drawing the scavenge air and oil from said interface into said main shaft, and c) evacuating the oil axially through said main shaft.
A scavenge system for a bearing assembly, the system comprising a scavenging passage extending axially through a rotating shaft supported by the bearing assembly, and at least one scoop provided on the rotating shaft, said at least one scoop impelling oil internally of said rotating shaft into said scavenging passage as said at least one scoop rotates with said rotating shaft, further comprising a number of conduits in fluid communication with an oil cavity communicating with the bearing assembly, the conduits defining a plurality of circumferentially aligned openings in an annular inner surface closely surrounding an outer surface of the rotating shaft, wherein there is provided at least two angularly spaced-apart inlet passages in the rotating shaft between the scoops, each of the inlet passages being defined such as to alternately be aligned with each of the plurality of openings during a rotation of the shaft, the rotation of the shaft creating an interaction between aligned inlet passages and openings such that used oil flowing from the conduits is drawn from the openings to the inlet passages, so as to flow through the scavenge passage axially of the rotating shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.