Separate shaft turbocharger
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsJames J. Callas, Frank G. Gerke, Delbert L. Kramer, Mark D. Moeckel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A turbocharger for an internal combustion engine, is provided with a turbine including a rotatable turbine shaft, a turbine wheel carried by the turbine shaft, and a drive gear carried by the turbine shaft. A first compressor includes a rotatable first compressor shaft, a first compressor wheel carried by the first compressor shaft, and a first driven gear carried by the first compressor shaft. The first driven gear is operatively engaged with and driven by the drive gear. The turbocharger has a compact arrangement, and allows for optimization of compressor wheel operating speeds, including in a turbocharger having multiple compression stages.
Claims21
A turbocharger for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a turbine including a rotatable turbine shaft, a turbine wheel carried by said turbine shaft, and a drive gear carried by said turbine shaft;
- and
- a first compressor including a rotatable first compressor shaft, a first compressor wheel carried by said first compressor shaft, and a first driven gear carried by said first compressor shaft, said first driven gear operatively engaged with said drive gear for driving said compressor by said turbine.
A turbocharged internal combustion engine, comprising:
- a plurality of combustion cylinders;
- an intake manifold fluidly coupled for supplying combustion gas to said plurality of combustion cylinders;
- an exhaust manifold fluidly coupled for receiving a flow of exhaust gases from said plurality of combustion cylinders;
- and
- a turbocharger, including:
- a turbine having a rotatable turbine shaft, a turbine wheel carried by said turbine shaft, a drive gear carried by said turbine shaft, and a turbine inlet and a turbine outlet associated with said turbine wheel, said turbine inlet connected in flow communication with said exhaust manifold;
- and
- a first compressor having a rotatable first compressor shaft, a first compressor wheel carried by said first compressor shaft, a first driven gear carried by said first compressor shaft, and a first compressor inlet and first compressor outlet associated with said first compressor wheel, said first driven gear operatively engaged with said drive gear for driving said compressor by said turbine, and said first compressor outlet connected in flow communication with said intake manifold.
A method of operating a turbocharger in an internal combustion engine, comprising steps of:
- providing a turbine including a turbine shaft, a turbine wheel carried by said turbine shaft, and an inlet and an outlet associated with said turbine wheel;
- providing a first compressor including a first compressor shaft, a first compressor wheel carried by said first compressor shaft, a first compressor inlet and a first compressor outlet associated with said first compressor wheel;
- providing driving engagement of said first compressor shaft with said turbine shaft;
- circulating a fluid stream to said turbine inlet and through said turbine to said turbine outlet, and rotating said turbine wheel and said turbine shaft thereby;
- rotating said first compressor shaft and said first compressor wheel through said driving engagement of said compressor shaft and said turbine shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.