Protective screen for jet-engine intake
OwnerJohn McDonaldinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The forwardly open intake end of a jet engine, powering an aircraft, is screened against birds and other airborne objects by a conical cage formed from an array of metal rods converging on the engine axis, the rods being held together at the vertex of the cone by a solid tip and in an intermediate plane as well as at the cone base by a pair of metal rings. In flight, they are free to vibrate so as to shake off adhering ice particles. De-icing can be further promoted by feeding back exhaust gases from the rear of the engine to the interior of the cage through an external pipe.
Claims7
In an aircraft having a jet engine mounted in a forwardly and rearwardly open nacelle with an axis oriented in the direction of flight, said jet engine having an air intake at the front end of said nacelle, the combination therewith of a protective screen for said air intake, said screen being essentially constituted by a frustoconical array of a multiplicity of closely spaced straight resilient metal rods surrounding the front end of said nacelle and converging forwardly therefrom, a pointed tip substantially in line with said axis for holding the forward ends of said rods together, said rods being mutually unconnected over a substantial part of their length to facilitate their vibration in flight, certain of said rods being foreshortened to provide an access opening in the vicinity of said front end, and door means on said screen normally closing said access opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.