Variable diffuser having a respective penny for each vane

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10883379-B2
Application number	US-201815977446-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2018
Priority date	May 11, 2018
Publication date	Jan 5, 2021
Grant date	Jan 5, 2021

Abstract

A variable diffuser comprises a passage, at least two vanes disposed within the passage, and at least two pennies. The passage is defined between opposing disk faces of a hub and a tip. Each of the vanes comprises a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge. The body extends between the hub face and the disk face. Each of the pennies is coupled to a respective vane body near an edge of the penny and an actuator. Rotation of at least one penny changes the orientation of the respective vane relative to the hub face.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A variable diffuser comprising:
a passage defined between opposing faces of a hub and a tip;
at least two vanes within the passage, each of said vanes comprising a vane body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the vane body extending between the hub face and the tip face;
an actuator that includes an actuating ring; and
at least two rotatable pennies, each of said pennies coupled to a respective vane body and the actuator, wherein each penny is coupled to the respective vane body near an edge of the penny, each penny having a drive shaft extending from a first face of the penny, said first face opposite a second face of the penny proximate the respective vane body, and wherein said actuating ring is coupled to each drive shaft via a respective coupling member, each penny configured to rotate about an axis defined by the respective drive shaft; and
wherein rotation of at least one penny changes an orientation of the respective vane relative to the hub face,
wherein each penny is rotatable a minimum of 90 degrees.

2. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein each vane body defines a slot and each penny is coupled to a respective body via a pin extending from the penny and into the respective slot.

3. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein each penny comprises a forked pin extending from the second face of said penny, and wherein each penny is coupled to the respective vane body such that the vane body is disposed within a fork of the forked pin.

4. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein each penny defines a recess configured to receive a respective pin, and wherein each body is coupled to the respective penny by a respective pin extending from said body into said recess.

5. The variable diffuser of claim 4 , wherein the hub face defines a slot respective to each body and each body is further coupled to the hub face via a pin extending from the body into the respective slot.

6. The variable diffuser of claim 4 , wherein the recess is elongated allowing the respective pin to translate.

7. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein each penny is configured to rotate in unison with the other pennies.

8. The variable diffuser of claim 7 , wherein the coupling member is a pinion gear.

9. The variable diffuser of claim 7 , wherein the coupling member is an arm linkage that includes an actuation slot, and each coupling member is coupled to the actuating ring by pins that slide in the actuation slot to transmit movement by the actuating ring into rotation of each penny.

10. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein the orientation of each vane body is continuously variable between a first position and a second position.

11. The variable diffuser of claim 10 , wherein the first position results in a passage that is more open than the second position.

12. The variable diffuser of claim 1 , wherein each penny is housed in the hub face.

13. The variable diffuser of claim 12 , wherein each vane body is coupled to the tip face via a freewheeling penny.

14. A centrifugal compressor comprising:
an impeller having a high pressure outlet;
a scroll; and
a variable diffuser between the impeller and the scroll, wherein high pressure gas flows from the high pressure outlet through the variable diffuser to the scroll, the variable diffuser comprising:
a passage defined between opposing faces of a hub and a tip;
at least two vanes within the passage, each of said vanes comprising a vane body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, the vane body extending between the hub face and the tip face;
an actuator that includes an actuating ring; and
at least two rotatable pennies, each of said pennies coupled to a respective vane body and the actuator, wherein each penny is coupled to the respective vane body near an edge of the penny, each penny having a drive shaft extending from a first face of the penny, said first face opposite a second face of the penny proximate the respective vane body, and wherein said actuating ring is coupled to each drive shaft via a respective coupling member, each penny configured to rotate about an axis defined by the respective drive shaft; and
wherein rotation of at least one penny changes an orientation of the respective vane relative to the hub face,
wherein each penny is rotatable a minimum of 90 degrees.

15. The centrifugal compressor of claim 14 , wherein each penny is configured to rotate in unison with the other pennies.

16. The centrifugal compressor of claim 14 , wherein each coupling member is an arm linkage that includes an actuation slot, and each coupling member is coupled to the actuating ring by a pin that slides in the actuation slot to transmit movement by the actuating ring into rotation of each respective penny.

17. A method of varying fluid flow exiting a centrifugal compressor, the method comprising:
defining a diffuser passage between a pair of axially displaced and opposing disk faces;
fixing a plurality of vanes in the diffuser passage, each vane extending between the opposing disk faces and coupled to a respective penny housed in a first of the disk faces, each penny having a drive shaft extending from a face of the penny, the drive shaft defining an axis;
coupling each drive shaft to an actuating member of an actuator via a coupling member;
rotating each penny about the respective axis defined by the respective drive shaft when the actuating member is rotated by the actuator; and
transitioning each of the plurality of vanes from a first orientation relative to the diffuser passage to a second orientation relative to the diffuser passage by rotating each respective penny in unison,
wherein each coupling member includes an actuation slot and is coupled to the actuating ring by a pin that slides in the actuation slot to transmit movement by the actuating ring into rotation of each respective penny.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of transitioning each of the plurality of vanes from a first orientation relative to the diffuser passage to a second orientation relative to the diffuser passage is performed by rotating each respective penny in unison.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Corp
• Rolls Royce Plc

Inventors

• Hall Christopher
• Knight Glenn

Classifications

• F01D17/14 Primary

  varying effective cross-sectional area of nozzles or guide conduits · CPC title

• F05D2260/50

  Kinematic linkage, i.e. transmission of position · CPC title

• F05D2240/12

  Fluid guiding means, e.g. vanes · CPC title

• F04D29/444

  Bladed diffusers · CPC title

• F01D17/167

  of vanes moving in translation · CPC title