Aircraft hail screen

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9873522-B2
Application number	US-201514866119-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2014
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to a screen configured for use in association with a cooler of an aircraft, the screen comprising: a first portion arranged as a grid and located in a line-of-sight of the cooler with respect to a fluid inlet, and a second portion located out of the line-of-sight of the cooler with respect to the fluid inlet, wherein the second portion is grid-free.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for an aircraft engine, comprising:
a fluid inlet;
a bellows seal coupled to the fluid inlet;
an inlet duct;
a screen mounted between the bellows seal and the inlet duct; and
a cooler coupled to the inlet duct,
wherein the screen comprises:
a first portion arranged as a grid and located in a line-of-sight of the cooler with respect to the fluid inlet;
a second portion located out of the line-of-sight of the cooler with respect to the fluid inlet, wherein the second portion is grid-free; and
a flange that comprises bolt holes for mounting the screen,
wherein the line-of-sight is oriented axially with respect to an airflow through the engine.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid inlet receives air from a fan, and wherein the cooler removes heat from a fluid using the air.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein dimensions of the grid of the first portion enable the screen to withstand a hail stone striking the screen.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the grid of the first portion is composed of metal segments, and wherein each segment measures approximately 0.04 inches across, and wherein each segment measures approximately 0.38 inches in terms of depth.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the airflow is a bypass flow.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cooler is an air-oil cooler that removes heat from oil.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the screen is mounted axially between the bellows seal and the inlet duct.

8. An inlet duct passage for an air cooler of a gas turbine engine, the duct passage comprising:
a fluid inlet;
a bellows seal coupled to the fluid inlet;
a duct including a duct inlet and a duct outlet;
a screen mounted between the bellows seal and the duct inlet;
the duct outlet coupled to the cooler;
the duct inlet having a duct inlet area through which air passes while traveling downstream to the cooler;
the duct outlet downstream of the duct inlet, the duct outlet having a duct outlet area through which air passes while traveling downstream to the cooler;
the duct inlet being flow-wise offset from the duct outlet so that a first portion of the duct inlet area is within a line of sight of the duct outlet area and a second portion of the duct inlet area is outside the line of site of the duct outlet area; and
the screen including a screen frame having a flange that includes bolt holes that complements the duct inlet area for fixedly connecting the screen to the duct inlet, wherein the screen comprises a screen filter extending only over the first portion of the duct inlet area.

Assignees

• United Technologies Corp

Inventors

• Snyder Ryan K
• Heims Eric J

Classifications

• F05D2260/98

  Lubrication · CPC title

• F05D2260/607

  Preventing clogging or obstruction of flow paths by dirt, dust, or foreign particles · CPC title

• F05D2260/213

  by the provision of a heat exchanger within the cooling circuit · CPC title

• F02K3/115 Primary

  by means of indirect heat exchange · CPC title

• F02C7/14

  of fluids in the plant {, e.g. lubricant or fuel (F02C7/185 takes precedence)} · CPC title