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US 8,574,118 B2Granted
Journal pin for gear system
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorMichael E. McCune
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A turbomachine epicyclic gear system includes a sun gear rotatable around an axis, a ring gear radially outward of the sun gear, and a plurality of intermediate gears meshed with the sun gear and the ring gear. A plurality of journal pins are each configured to support one of the plurality of intermediate gears. Each of the plurality of journal pins has an asymmetric rim.
Claims18
A turbomachine epicyclic gear system comprising:
- a sun gear rotatable around an axis;
- a ring gear radially outward of the sun gear;
- a plurality of intermediate gears meshed with the sun gear and the ring gear;
- and
- a plurality of journal pins each configured to support one of the plurality of intermediate gears, each of the plurality of journal pins having an asymmetric rim, wherein the rim has a maximum thickness circumferentially aligned with a normal load applied to the journal pins, wherein the normal load is perpendicular to the axis, wherein the rim has a first position with the maximum thickness and a second position with the maximum thickness that is 180° offset from the first position with the maximum thickness, and the rim has a first position with a minimum thickness and second position with the minimum thickness that is 180° offset from the first position with the minimum thickness.
2 more elements
A turbomachine epicyclic gear system comprising:
- a sun gear rotatable around an axis;
- a ring gear radially outward of the sun gear;
- a plurality of intermediate gears meshed with the sun gear and the ring gear;
- and
- a plurality of journal pins each configured to support one of the plurality of intermediate gears, each of the plurality of journal pins having an asymmetric rim, wherein the asymmetric rim is bounded by a radially outer wall having a constant radius and a radially inner wall having a variable radius, wherein the inner wall has a variable radius between 8% and 20% of the radius of the journal pin at a maximum position and between 4% and 10% of the radius of the journal pin at a minimum position.
2 more elements
A turbomachine comprising:
- an epicyclic gear system driven by a turbine of a turbomachine, the gear system having a rotatable sun gear, a rotatable ring gear radially outward of the sun gear, and at least one intermediate gear meshed with the sun gear and the ring gear, each intermediate gear supported by a journal pin, wherein each journal pin has an asymmetric rim at an axial end, wherein each rim has a first position with a maximum thickness and a second position with the maximum thickness that is 180° offset from the first position with the maximum thickness, and each rim has a first position with a minimum thickness and second position with the minimum thickness that is 180° offset from the first position with the minimum thickness.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.