Turbo engine with propeller(s) for an aircraft with a system for changing the pitch of the propeller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9849970-B2
Application number	US-201214349271-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 3, 2012
Priority date	Oct 3, 2011
Publication date	Dec 26, 2017
Grant date	Dec 26, 2017

Abstract

A turbo engine includes a system for changing a pitch of blades of a propeller, the system including an annular fluid cylinder with a linear drive and a link mechanism linking the cylinder to the blades of the propeller to change an orientation of the propeller. The annular cylinder of the system can be rigidly mounted on a fixed housing supporting the propeller and internal to the propeller, unlike the blades mounted in an external rotating hub of the propeller, and the link mechanism includes a displacement transfer bearing fixed, on one side, to the mobile part of the cylinder and cooperating, on the other side, with a mechanism linking to the blades of the rotating hub of the propeller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A turbine engine with at least one propeller for an aircraft, comprising:
a system for changing a pitch of vanes of the propeller, the system comprising
an annular actuator with linear control connected to a fixed housing supporting the propeller, and
a linking mechanism linking the annular actuator to the vanes of the propeller to change an orientation of the vanes, the linking mechanism comprising an intermediate transfer bearing fixed, on a first side, to a movable part of the annular actuator and cooperating, on a second side, with linking means able to link the linking mechanism to the vanes of the propeller, so that the intermediate transfer bearing of the linking mechanism driven in rotation transfers translational displacement of the movable part of the annular actuator to the linking means to change the orientation of the vanes of the propeller,

wherein the fixed housing is inside the propeller and close to a longitudinal axis of the turbine engine, opposed to the vanes mounted in an outer rotary hub of the propeller,
wherein the linking means comprises a set of connecting rods distributed around the annular actuator and linked, on a first side, to the intermediate transfer bearing and, on a second side, to radial rotary shafts that are respectively integral with roots of the vanes of the propeller to drive, following translational displacement of the connecting rods of the linking mechanism, rotation of the radial rotary shafts and the associated vanes,
wherein a first end of the connecting rods are articulated to a ring of the linking means which is rotationally linked to a rotary cylindrical wall of the propeller and which is axially free from the rotary cylindrical wall, and a second end of the connecting rods are articulated by pivot links to transverse journals provided on the radial rotary shafts of the vanes, each radial rotary shaft being provided with one single transverse journal,
wherein each transverse journal defines a single lever arm with a first end pivotally connected by said pivot link to the second end of one of the connecting rods and a second end connected to an end of the radial rotary shafts such that each transverse journal pivots with one of the radial rotary shafts about an axis of the one of the radial rotary shafts, and
wherein the first end of the lever arms of the transverse journals is further upstream than the second end of the lever arms of the transverse journals in a first position of the movable part of the annular actuator, and the second end of the lever arms of the transverse journals is further upstream than the first end of the lever arms of the transverse journals in a second position of the movable part of the annular actuator.

2. The turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the intermediate transfer bearing of the linking mechanism includes a ball bearing, an inner ring of which is axially mounted in a connected manner on the movable part of the annular actuator, and an outer ring of which cooperates with the linking means of the linking mechanism rotationally linked to the rotary cylindrical wall which is integral with the propeller and translationally free along the rotary cylindrical wall, to follow displacement of the actuator.

3. The turbine engine according to claim 2 , wherein the ball bearing of the intermediate transfer bearing comprises a double row of balls.

4. The turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein a link between the ring of the linking means of the linking mechanism, in which the transfer bearing is housed, and the rotary cylindrical wall of the propeller comprises splines parallel to the axis of the propeller.

5. The turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the annular actuator is arranged substantially in line with the hub of the propeller.

6. The turbine engine according to claim 1 , wherein the respectively movable and fixed parts of the annular actuator are rotationally blocked relative to one another by at least one axial rod that passes through two parts parallel to the annular actuator.

7. The turbine engine according to claim 1 , comprising two propellers aligned in a contra-rotating manner, upstream and downstream, respectively, wherein at least the upstream propeller comprises the system for changing the pitch of the vanes.

Assignees

• Snecma
• Ge Aviat Systems Ltd

Inventors

• Escure Didier Rene Andre
• Bocquet Denis Louis
• Charier Gilles Alain
• Szymandera Aleksander
• Malitka Marek
• Sikorski Jan
• Carrington Christopher

Classifications

• B64C11/30 Primary

  Blade pitch-changing mechanisms · CPC title

• F02C3/067

  having counter-rotating rotors (F02C3/073 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F01D1/26

  traversed by the working-fluid substantially axially · CPC title

• F02K3/072

  with counter-rotating {, e.g. fan} rotors · CPC title

• Y02T50/671

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic