US 4,785,624 AGranted

Turbine engine blade variable cooling means

AssigneeTeledyne Industries, Inc.

InventorsRaymond Smith, Quentin Z. Peregoy, George E. Richardson

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Abstract

A turbine engine, having a cooling passage diverting a part of the airflow from the turbine compressor for impingement upon the turbine blades, includes a concentric pair of apertured rings disposed in the passage for variably obstructing flow through the cooling passage between zero and a maximal value. One of the rings is fixed to the turbine housing, while the other of the rings is rotatable with respect to the first ring and the housing. The mobile ring can be rotated by a pressurized cylinder and piston assembly, or by a biasing device causing abutment of a stop on the second ring against an abutment surface on a cam. The cylinder and piston are actuated, or the cam is rotated, in dependence upon an engine operating characteristic such as engine speed, pressure, temperature, flight condition or other determinable parameter.

Claims16

Dependent claims

In a turbine engine having a housing containing a compressor, a combustion chamber located downstream of said compressor, a turbine rotor positioned downstream of said combustion chamber, passage means for directing a flow of cooling air from said compressor and to the vicinity of said combustion chamber and said rotor, and means rotatably mounting said rotor in said housing so as to define a turbine axis;

an apparatus for variably moderating said flow of cooling air, comprising:
means disposed in said passage means for variably obstructing said passage means;
and
means for actuating said obstructing means in response to an engine operating condition;
wherein said obstructing means comprises an annular shell of fixed dimension disposed about said turbine axis and having a plurality of radial shell apertures disposed in said passage means, an annular sleeve of fixed dimension disposed about said turbine axis and having a matching plurality of radial sleeve apertures disposed in said passage means, and means permitting relative movement of one of said sleeve and shell with respect to the other of said shell and sleeve so as to allow variable registration of said shell and sleeve apertures at positions between a completely closed position yielding a substantially zero rate of said flow in said passage means, and a fully open position yielding a maximal rate of said flow in said passage means.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.