System for removably mounting a pre-vaporizing bowl to a combustion chamber

Abstract

A system is described for removably attaching a pre-vaporizing bowl to the wall of the combustion chamber. The system prevents relative rotation between the pre-vaporizing bowl and the combustion chamber, as well as any relative axial movement between these elements. The system enables the pre-vaporizing bowl to be readily removed from the combustion chamber without the necessity of subjecting the assembly to any machining operations. By eliminating any welded elements, the present invention eliminates the need for transporting the assembly to a machine shop in order to disassemble the elements. The system includes a mounting member fixedly attached to an upstream end of the wall of the combustion chamber around an opening defined through the combustion chamber wall to accommodate the fuel injection nozzle. A flange, which defines a groove, extends in an upstream direction from the pre-vaporizing bowl. A split annular spacer member is retained in the groove by an anti-rotation ring which has a series of tabs extending radially inwardly and a series of keys extending radially outwardly therefrom. The tabs engage corresponding notches formed in the flange extending from the pre-vaporizing bowl, while the keys engage corresponding notches formed in the mounting member, thereby preventing relative rotation between the pre-vaporizing bowl and the combustion chamber.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.