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US 5,727,378 AGranted
Gas turbine engine
AssigneeGreat Lakes Helicopters Inc.
InventorJeffrey L. Seymour
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGreat Lakes Helicopters Inc.
InventorJeffrey L. Seymour
Estimating the term…
This invention pertains to small air breathing gas turbine engines (1). Engines of the invention employ improved combustion systems, including improved fuel injection systems and improved combustor design. These improvements enable the engine to idle at speeds as low as one-tenth the maximum operating speed of the engine, which gives the engine an increased range of operating speeds. The improved designs generally provide for pre-mix assemblies intimate with the fuel injectors, a typically flame-free primary "A" mixing zone in the combustion chamber, and a primary "B" combustion zone, in addition to the secondary combustion zone and the dilution zone. In preferred embodiments, the bearing assembly is located between the compressor and the turbine wheel. A cooling cavity is provided between the turbine wheel and the bearing assembly, thus protecting the bearings from the turbine heat. A toroidally-shaped compressor discharge plenum between the compressor and the turbine wheel serves as an air accumulator, an air shock absorber, and an air stabilizer. Resiliently deflectable leaf spacers position the dome of the combustor from the rear casing wall.
A combustion assembly for a turbine engine, said combustion assembly including a combustor having a leading end and a trailing end, a longitudinal axis, an outer wall spaced from, and extending about and along the longitudinal axis, an inner wall extending about and along the longitudinal axis between the longitudinal axis and said outer wall, and a dome connecting said outer and inner walls at the leading end of said combustor at respective first outer and second inner annular lines of intersection therewith, thereby forming a combustion chamber between said inner and outer walls, an outer casing extending about said combustor to thereby define an annular liner passage between said outer wall and said outer casing, said outer wall comprising a tube have a base outer surface, and a plurality of axially spaced air inlet openings formed in, and as integral parts of, said tube, for directing air, from loci adjacent said base outer surface, generally circumferentially into said combustion chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.