1162 results about "Jet engine" patented technology

An automated aircraft towing vehicle system for use with aircraft is provided. When coupled to an aircraft the towing tractor vehicle facilitates the movement of the aircraft without the requirement for use of the aircraft's jet engines. The towing vehicle system comprises a towing tractor vehicle having remotely controllable steering, braking, and acceleration. The remote system controller is located in the aircraft being towed such that the pilot of the aircraft being towed is capable of controlling the starting, stopping and steering of the towing tractor vehicle. The towing tractor vehicle further includes a remotely controllable de-coupling means. When the aircraft is towed to the desired location, the decoupling of the aircraft from the towing tractor vehicle is controllable by the remote system controller.

The composite turbomachine blade of the present invention comprises a preform made of yarns or fibers woven in three dimensions and a binder maintaining the relative disposition between the yarns of the preform. Said preform is made up of warp yarns and of weft yarns, the direction of the warp yarns forming the longitudinal direction of the preform. In characteristic manner, said preform comprises at least a first portion made using a first weave forming the airfoil of the blade, and a second portion made using a second weave forming the root of the blade, and the first and second portions are united by a transition zone in which the first weave is progressively modified to end up with the second weave, thereby obtaining a reduction at least in the thickness of the blade between the second portion and the first portion. The invention is applicable to making a fan blade for a turbojet.

A tilt-rotor compound VTOL aircraft has a multiple-flow thrust generator(s) comprising a gas-powered tip-jet driven rotor(s) having a thrust-augmentation ratio of at least two; that tilts about the aircraft's pitch axis wherein the rotor's plane of rotation is substantially horizontal for VTOL operations and the rotor's plane of rotation is substantially vertical forward flight operations. A relatively small fixed-wing sustains the aircraft during forward flight. Compressed exhaust gas from the fan-jet engine(s) is ducted to a manifold having valves which control power to the multiple-flow thrust generator(s) and to the jet exhaust nozzle(s) as supplemental thrust for forward propulsion and yaw control. The manifold also serves to distribute compressed gas to the dead engine side of the aircraft in the event of a dead engine emergency, and to reaction jets for attitude control during VTOL operations. Thus this tilt-rotor aircraft is more efficient, faster, immensely lighter, less complex and less expensive to purchase and maintain than its shaft-driven counterparts.

A fiber optic sensor has a hollow tube bonded to the endface of an optical fiber, and a diaphragm bonded to the hollow tube. The fiber endface and diaphragm comprise an etalon cavity. The length of the etalon cavity changes when applied pressure or acceleration flexes the diaphragm. The entire structure can be made of fused silica. The fiber, tube, and diaphragm can be bonded with a fusion splice. The present sensor is particularly well suited for measuring pressure or acceleration in high temperature, high pressure and corrosive environments (e.g., oil well downholes and jet engines). The present sensors are also suitable for use in biological and medical applications.

A nacelle for housing an aircraft jet engine. The jet engine has a fan case and a portion disposed downstream of the fan case relative to a direction of airflow through the jet engine. The nacelle comprises an inlet for receiving airflow, a fan cowl panel for covering a forward portion of the fan case, and a thrust reverser having a longitudinal length sufficient to cover the downstream portion of the jet engine in addition to a rearward portion of the fan case. Opening the thrust reverser enables access to an entire area formed by the downstream portion as well as the rearward portion of the fan case.

The present invention is directed to the manufacture of and the use of an aerodynamic flow control device having a compact array of a plurality of fluidic actuators in planar, curved, circular and annular configurations. The compact array of fluidic actuators of the invention may be designed to produce oscillating or pulsed jets at the exit ports with frequencies in the range of 1-22 kHz. They may be integrally manufactured along with the wing sections, flaps, tail and rudder of airplane, the inlet or exit geometries of a jet engine. When supplied with a source of fluid such as air, these arrays of actuators produce a set of fluid jets of random phase of high velocity and influence the main stream of air over the subject surface. The beneficial effects of modifying flow using the present invention include increased lift, reduced drag, improved performance and noise reduction in jet engines.

The present invention relates to multidirectionally reinforced fiber preforms that conform easily to complex curvatures, such as, composite turbine fan cases, jet engine containment rings, aircraft fuselage frames, aircraft window frames, and flanged rings for attaching nacelles to aircraft engines. The present invention provides multidirectionally reinforced shape woven preforms with improved strength for composite structures that are axisymmetric as well as non-axisymmetric in nature. The invention is a preform used to reinforce a composite structure which includes a contour woven fabric portion, bi-axially braided, tri-axially braided or bias fabric portion, and/or a polar woven fabric portion, and a method of making thereof. The preform may optionally include a three-dimensionally woven portion. The combination of different forms of fabrics allows the preform to be produced without cutting and darting of the individual plies. Eliminating these cuts and darts improves the strength and performance of the resulting structure.

A thrust reverser for a jet engine comprises a translating wall section moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position. The translating wall section is adjacent an annular fan duct wall or other fixed portion of the jet engine when in the stowed position and is separated from the annular fan duct wall when in the deployed position, thereby creating an aperture through which a fluid stream passes. A fluid flow reverser element directs the fluid stream in a direction generally forward relative to the jet engine when the translating wall section is in the deployed position. The fluid flow reverser element extends only partially into the fluid stream such that only a first portion of fluid of the fluid stream engages the fluid flow reverser element. A second portion of the fluid stream is entrained in the first portion and is thereby directed forward relative to the jet engine.

A VTOL aircraft (or other vehicle such as a sea vehicle) includes a pair of elongated ducts on opposite sides of the vehicle body, and a plurality of powered propellers (or other propulsion units such as jet engines) mounted within and enclosed by each of the elongated ducts, such as to produce an upward lift force to the vehicle. Each of the elongated ducts has a short transverse dimension slightly larger than the diameter of the blades of each propeller enclosed thereby, and a large transverse dimension slightly larger than the sum of the diameters of the blades of all the propellers enclosed thereby.

An external jet nozzle mixer (20) includes identically formed lobes (48), equal in number those of the internal mixer (42). External mixer (20) works with internal mixer (42), further to mix the engine internal bypass flow with the internal jet engine core flow, to level the disparate exhaust flow velocities, to reduce the peak velocities from the jet engine core and increase the lower bypass velocities of the engine internal bypass flow, and thereby to reduce noise. The internal lobe contours act as lifting flutes, causing mixing of the primary hot and cold flows before exiting the nozzle. The external lobe contours act as venturi chutes, accelerating the cooler ambient air secondary flow. The lobes thus act collectively as an injector to force the cooler ambient secondary flow into the previously mixed primary flow as it exits the nozzle. Also obtained is an increased thrust efficiency and a consequently decreased fuel consumption and engine emissions.

In one aspect the present subject matter is directed to a gas-electric propulsion system for an aircraft. The system may include a turbofan jet engine, an electric powered boundary layer ingestion fan that is coupled to a fuselage portion of the aircraft aft of the turbofan jet engine, and an electric generator that is electronically coupled to the turbofan jet engine and to the boundary layer ingestion fan. The electric generator converts rotational energy from the turbofan jet engine to electrical energy and provides at least a portion of the electrical energy to the boundary layer ingestion fan. In another aspect of the present subject matter, a method for propelling an aircraft via the gas-electric propulsion system is disclosed.

Composite pre-forms are molded at high pressure to form composite parts that can be used in place of metal-based high performance parts, such as the outlet guide vanes found in turbofan jet engines. The composite pre-forms include two different fiber orientations that are co-molded in a resin matrix at high pressures to provide composite outlet guide vanes and other high performance parts. Chambers within the composite part are optionally formed during molding of the pre-form at high pressures.

The invention relates to a thrust reverser (9) for an aircraft nacelle (1), including: a front frame (11), a cowl (21) which can move between an operating position and an intermediate maintenance position downstream of the front frame (11), means (26) for moving the cowl (21) between closed and open positions, and an inner structure (23) which can move between an operating position and an intermediate maintenance position downstream of the front frame (11). In addition, the cowl (21) comprises two half-cowls (21a, 21b) and the inner structure (23) comprises two structure halves (23a, 23b), whereby said half-cowls (21a, 21b) and said inner structure halves (23a, 23b) can open outward when the cowl (21) and the inner structure (23) are in the intermediate maintenance position.

twin-flow, double body turbojet includes a fan that is positioned upstream from a gas generator and delimits primary and secondary flows. The gas generator is traversed by the primary flow and includes a low-pressure compressor, a high-pressure compressor, a combustion chamber, a high-pressure turbine and a low-pressure turbine. The low-pressure turbine is linked to the low-pressure compressor by a low-pressure rotating shaft, and the high-pressure turbine is linked to the high-pressure compressor by a high-pressure rotating shaft. The turbojet has an electric motor for injecting mechanical power into at least one of the rotating shafts. The turbojet also has a device for removing power from at least one of the rotating shafts and transforming the excess power into electrical energy. An electric storage means is positioned between the device for removing power and the electric motor.

A jet engine nozzle having a pair of pivoting extension arms and a pair of pivoting shells connected to a jet pipe is provided. The first extension arm is pivotally connected to the jet pipe at a first location, while the second extension arm is pivotally connected to the jet pipe at a second location. Each shell is pivotally connected at both the first and second locations. An axis of rotation associated with the first location is coaxial to an axis of rotation associated with the second location. Independent actuation means are provided to rotate the extension arms and the shells, thereby enabling adjustment of the thrust-vector angle or the exhaust area of the nozzle.

An electronic propulsion engine that creates a propulsive force or thrust using electromagnetic forces or electrostatic forces, with an effect that is similar to the thrust of a jet or rocket engine. Forces are generated using electromagnets or capacitor plates that are separated by dielectric spacer cores and are operated with two modulated currents. The two modulated currents are synchronized, but with a relative phase such that the forces on the two magnets or capacitor plates are not balanced. Included are techniques to reduce circuit impedance and control electric-magnetic field dispersion, such as tuned LCR circuits, dielectric core materials between the magnets or capacitor plates, and RF superconductors result in high propulsion efficiencies. The system operates at RF frequencies and can also be used as a communication device.

The nacelle (1) comprises an air intake (5) upstream of the turbojet engine (2), a middle section (6) an internal casing (6a) of which is intended to surround a fan (3) of the turbojet engine (2), and a downstream section (7) comprising an external structure (7a)which is rigidly connected to a downstream part of the casing (6a) of the fan (3) so as to support the turbojet engine (2) and has means of attachment to a strut (12) intended to be connected to a fixed structure (13) of an aeroplane.

The invention relates to a thrust reverser (1) comprising an opening with fixed grids (4) that is closed by a sliding lid (2) in case of direct thrust, and opened by the downstream longitudinal translation displacement of the lid (2) in case of thrust reversal. A flap (20) is pivotally mounted at one upstream end on the lid (2) and can move between a retracted position and an expanded position in which, in case of thrust reversal, it blocks an annular channel (10) in order to redirect a gas flow towards the grid opening (4). A slider (24) for driving the flap (20) is mounted so as to be capable of displacement in at least one translation guiding rail (33) provided in the structure of the lid (2), and is connected to a downstream end of the flap (20) through a driving connecting rod (30) so that a translation movement of the slider (24) in the guiding rail (33) results in a pivoting of the connecting rod (30) and of the flap (20). Actuation means (22) are provided for driving the slider (24) in a translation movement in the guiding rail (33) when the lid (2) is in a downstream translation phase.

The invention relates to a thrust inverter with grids (5) for a turbojet, that defines at least a portion of the downstream section (103) of a nacelle (100) housing the turbojet, comprising a front frame (105) to be secured to a fixed portion (102) of the nacelle and bearing, on the one side, cylinders (6) for the translational actuation of at least one mobile cowling (2) and, on the other side, grids for inverting the peripheral thrusts, characterised in that the front frame includes a fixed portion for securing the front frame to the fixed portion of the nacelle and bearing the diversion grids, and a portion mounted so as to be capable of translation movement along the longitudinal axis of the nacelle and on which one end of the cowling actuation cylinders is attached, wherein the fixed and mobile portions of the front frame can be removably connected to each other by locking means.

A process for machining axial blade slots in turbine disks used in jet engines is provided. The process broadly includes the steps of providing a turbine disk, forming a roughened slot having a plurality of joined rectangular areas in the turbine disk, and machining the roughened slot to a finished slot.

The present invention provides an aircraft having one or more fixed wings in a flying wing configuration, where the aircraft further includes a high performance co-flow jet (CFJ) circulating about at least a portion of an aircraft surface to produce both lift and thrust rather than a conventional propulsion system (i.e., a propeller or jet engine).