Miniature gas turbine engine with unitary rotor shaft for...

Rotary kinetic fluid motors or pumps – Working fluid passage or distributing means associated with... – Plural rigidly related blade sets

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

C415S216100, C415S915000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06866478

ABSTRACT:
The present invention provides a miniature gas turbine engine for power generation. The engine has a highly integrated unitary rotor shaft where turbine, compressor and shaft are made in one piece in one fabrication process. The turbine and compressor are positioned back to back on the shaft in an overhung configuration, allowing the front bearings to be located in the cold zone of the engine. Preferably, the Mold SDM fabrication technique is utilized to make the unitary rotor shaft in one monolithic part out of ceramics such as silicon nitride, eliminating the need for post process assembly while strengthening the integrity, reliability, and performance of the unitary rotor shaft. Integrated with a permanent magnet in the unitary rotor shaft, the miniature gas turbine engine can generate electric power of 1 kW or less. Additionally, the axial length of the miniature gas turbine engine is about 100 mm or less. The miniature gas turbine engine according to the present invention is therefore particularly useful for powering lightweight, self-sustaining mobile devices such as unmanned vehicles and-autonomous robots.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4011737 (1977-03-01), Kruger et al.
patent: 4063850 (1977-12-01), Hueber et al.
patent: 4225346 (1980-09-01), Helliker et al.
patent: 4476150 (1984-10-01), Rose
patent: 4702782 (1987-10-01), Chin
patent: 4854025 (1989-08-01), Oda et al.
patent: 4866829 (1989-09-01), Oda
patent: 4878812 (1989-11-01), Kito et al.
patent: 5102305 (1992-04-01), Bescoby et al.
patent: 5104747 (1992-04-01), Makino et al.
patent: 5120395 (1992-06-01), Monson et al.
patent: 5133122 (1992-07-01), Kawasaki et al.
patent: 5169297 (1992-12-01), Mizuno et al.
patent: 5207054 (1993-05-01), Rodgers et al.
patent: 5932940 (1999-08-01), Epstein et al.
patent: 6161768 (2000-12-01), Gordon et al.
patent: 6392313 (2002-05-01), Epstein et al.
patent: 2001012256 (2001-01-01), None
M. Mehregany et al., “Micro gears and turbines etched from silicon,” Sensors and Ac tuators, 12 (1987) 341-348.
S. A. Jacobson et al., “The fluid dynamics for a microfabricated gas turbine engine,” the DGD95 Meeting of the American Physical Society, date submitted Aug. 9, 1996.
A. H. Epstein et al., “Power mens and microengines,” to be presented at the IEEE Transducers 1997 Conference, Chicago, IL, Jun. 1997.
Steven Ashley, “Turbines on a dime,” retrieved on Apr. 8, 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL: http://www.memagazine.org/backissues/october 97/features/turbdime/turbdime.html>.
David A. Laguna-Aponte, “Mems: more powerful and efficient, smarter, cleaner and cheaper to manufacture,” Apr. 3, 1999, retrieved from the internet:URL:http://www.mit.edu/afs/athena/course/other/sp.746/www/articles/drafts/dalarticle2.
Frank Bokulich, “Mini turbine engine laboratory,” Aerospace engineering online: technology update: Aug. 2000, p. 8.
Amit Mehra et al., “A six-wafer combustion system for a silicon micro gas turbine engine,” Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 9, No.4 Dec. 2000.
“Engines turned tiny,” Posted on May 30, 2001, retrieved on Apr. 8, 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL:http://www.ammagazine.com/CDA/articleinformation/features/BNP_features_Item/0,2606,27001,00.html>.
Louise Knapp, Wired new:the little engine that could be, retrieved on Apr. 8, 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL: http://www.wired.com
ews/technology/0,1282,48400,00.html>.
C. M. Spadaccini et al., “High power density silicon combustion systems for micro gas turbine engines,” Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2002. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jun. 2002.
“Micro gas turbine, development status, micro gasturbine generation,” retrieved on Apr. 8, 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL: http://www.neuros.co.kf/_eng/04gov/gov_03.htm>.
Profs. Ilan Kroo et al., “The mesicopter: a meso-scale flight vehicle NIAX phase II technical proposal,” retrieved on Apr. 8 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL: http://www.arl.psu.edu/punlications/silverbook/pdfs/silverbook.pdf.>.
S. M. Spearing et al., “Micro-gaas turbine engine materials and structures,” presented at the 21th annual cocoa beach conference and exposition on composites, advanced ceramics, materials and structures, Jan. 1997.
“Micro-turbines,” retrieved on Apr. 8, 2003. Retrieved from the internet: <URL: http://www.m-dot.com/page8..html >.
Alan H. Epstein et al., “Shirtbutton-sized gas turbines: The engineering challenges of micro high speed rotating machinery,” proceedings of the 8thInt'l Symposium on Transport Phenomena and Dynamics of Rotating Machinery (ISROMAC'8), Honolulu, Hawaii, Jan. 2000.

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Miniature gas turbine engine with unitary rotor shaft for... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Miniature gas turbine engine with unitary rotor shaft for..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Miniature gas turbine engine with unitary rotor shaft for... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3458063

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.