Combined bleed valve and annular diffuser for gas turbine inter compressor duct

A multi-spool gas turbine engine having an inter compressor duct (10) connecting a low pressure compressor to a further compressor stage, of the kind in which there is provided bleed means (11,16) for bleeding off a variable amount of air from said duct, said duct being annular and having an inner wall (10b) and an outer wall (10a) and having a central axis, and in which said bleed means comprises opening means (11) arranged circumferentially around the outer wall of said duct and pivotally mounted air deflector means (16) for deflecting air flowing in said duct outwardly through said opening means (11), and means (20) for simultaneously pivoting said air deflector means into the path of air flowing in said duct;

• characterized in that said air deflector means comprises a circumferential array of flaps,(16) each having an upstream end portion, a downstream inner end, and side edges, said flaps being pivotally mounted at their downstream inner ends (18) so as to be movable between an outer position at which the flaps lie close to said outer wall (10a) and effectively close said opening means, and an inner position in which the flaps have their downstream inner ends near to the outer wall and have their upstream end portions inclined inwardly from the outer wall to divert some of the air flowing in said duct outwardly through said opening means;
• and further characterized in that sealing elements (21, 22) are provided movable with said flaps and providing interconnection between the side edges of adjacent flaps to largely prevent radial flow of air between adjacent flaps when the flaps are in all their positions.