Description
January 29, 1952 P. P. NEWCOMB 2583872
CENTRAL GAS TURBINE INCLUDING planetary gear BETWEEN COMPRESSOR AND TURBINE ENERGY flled August 2, 1947 INVENTOR I Pieila }: R Newcomii ATTORNEY BYSZ April 1 Z Patented January 29, 1952 CENTRAL GAS TURBINE , INCLUDING planetary gear COM - COMPRESSOR TURBINE , AND POWER consumer Philip P. Newcomb , Hartford , Connecticut , assignor to United Aircraft Corporation , East Hartford , Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application August 2, 1941 , Serial No. 765743
8 Claims . 1
This invention relates to a power plant gas turbine wherein the gas turbine drives both the compressor and a consumer of energy, such as a propeller.
Unless the compressor is specifically designed to operate at the speed of the turbine , it is advantageous for purposes of economy to provide a speed difference between the compressor and the turbine so that both elements can operate at the speed most favorable for best efllciency . This is particularly true in the compressor and turbines where multistage drops efliciency ! rapidly above or below the design speed . The advantages of the different speeds can be compensated in aircraft power plants , however , the weight increase caused by the speed change mechanism . A feature of this invention is the use of a single gear change device for changing the speed of the driven shaft and also com compressor speed with respect to the turbine. Another feature is the compressor unit and ,
driven shaft at the same speed of the turbine through a single speed change device .
In many cases it is desirable to operate the power output shaft at a speed substantially different from the turbine , which thus requires one or more speed change mechanisms between the turbine and the power consumption . For example, if the power plant is used to power a propeller, may be desirable to have two-stage reduction gear unit in the power supply to the propeller. A feature of the invention is the use of a reduction gear whereby obtaining at least one stage in the speed change between turblue and energy consumption and at the same time a reduction in the speed of the compressor with respect to the turbine.
Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specification and claims and from the accompanying drawing, which illustrates what is now considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention.
. Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view through the power plant.
. Figure 2 is a sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of Fig . 1.
. 8 is a sectional view substantially on line 8-3 of FIG . l .
Power plant generally consists of a compressor having an input III l2 annular passages and a series of discharge II to deliver compressed air at OUP ag combustor in which fuel can be injected as nozzles II. Since the combustion loads through an exhaust duct 22. Both the compressor and turbine are shown to be of the multi- stage axial flow , although it will be clear that the particular arrangement of the compressor and turbine is merely illustrative of a particular type for which the invention is adapted .
The compressor rotor 24 is journaled in bearings 26 and 28 located at opposite ends of the rotor and support the vanes 38 and t2 , respectively , of outer housing 84 . The turbine rotor 38 is supported in a bearing 38 in the tailcone 40 and the turbine shaft 42 is projected from the inlet side of the turbine rotor can be admitted to one 4'6 bearing housing . An extension shaft 48 connected to the turbine shaft is mounted within the compressor rotor bearings as 50 and 52.
The shaft 48 that rotates and acts as a part of the turbine shaft carries at its front end a gear 54 , fig. 2 in mesh with a number of planetary gears 56 supported by a cage 88, Fig . 1, which drives both compressor and an intermediate shaft 88 . Cage 58 may be integral with the intermediate shaft , which may have axially extending arcuate projections 82 between the gears 56 engaging with the end of the compressor rotor 24. The stub axles 64 on which are mounted the gears 56 form connections between the intermediate shaft 88 and the compressor rotor 24 so that these parts rotate in unison . The planetary gears 56 are meshed with a ring gear 86 that surrounds the planet gears and supported by struts 68 and within the outer housing 84 . Thus, the compressor rotor and the intermediate shaft 88 rotate at the same speed and at a speed substantially slower than the speed of the turbine shaft with this speed reduction obtained by a single drive speed change .
The intermediate shaft 88 is connected to an energy consumer and in the illustrated embodiment is connected through a speed reduction unit to a propeller Hello. In the embodiment, the intermediateshaft is articulated in a bearing support and by a strut I2 L4 and carries a gear is in mesh with a number of planetary gears supported by stub axles I8 in the cage 82 . 1'8 gear mesh with ring gear 84 connected functionally integral therewith inner housing 88 which supports gears 68 . Cage 82 is connected to the propeller hub 88 thereby causing rotation of the propeller at a speed substantially reduced from the intermediate shaft .
Hot gas is supplied to a turbine II , which dis -U By this arrangement, the reduction gear that provides the first reduction stage between the turbine and the propeller also serves to provide a speed change between the shaft of the turbine and the compressor so that both the turbine and compressor operating at speeds more efficient, and therefore , the overall efficiency of the power plant is kept as high as possible. The provision of extension shaft 48 which extends through the compressor wheel and driving the rotor from the front end eliminates the need to transmit the loads through the compressor rotor propeller and as a result the compressor rotor can be do substantially lighter weight. Indeed, the compressor rotor is, as a result, only strong enough to withstand the loads imposed on it by the blades during rotation of the compressor.
It is understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment illustrated and described herein, but may be used in other ways without departing from its spirit as defined by the following claims.
Claim:
1. In a power plant , a turbine, a compressor driven by the turbine, and a power consumer also driven by the turbine in combination with a drive shaft connected to the turbine and which extends axially through the compressor , a gear in said shaft , a gear fixed around said first gear , a planetary gear between said fixed gear and said first gear , a cage which supports said planetary gear drive connection between the compressor and the planet cage , and means for driving the consumer energy from said planetary gear cage .
Two . In a power plant , a turbine, a compressor driven by the turbine, and also a propeller driven by the turbine , a drive shaft connected to the turbine and which extends axially through the compressor , a gear on said shaft, fixed gear surrounding said first gear, a planetary gear between said fixed gear and said first gear , a. cage supporting said planetary gear drive connection between the compressor and the planet cage , and means for driving the propeller of said planetary gear cage .
Three . In a power plant , a turbine, a compressor driven by the turbine, and a power consumer also driven by the turbine in combination with a drive shaft connected to the turbine and having its axis concentric with the axis of the compressor, gear on said shaft , a second gear driven by said first gear and having a rotation speed different from the rotational speed of the shaft and a drive connection between said second gear and said compressor and said energy consumption.
April . In a power plant , a turbine, a compressor driven by the turbine, and a propeller driven by the turbine also in combination with a drive shaft connected to the turbine and having its axis concentric with the axis of the compressor, a gear on said axis, a second gear driven by said first gear , said second gear having a different rotational speed of the shaft and a drive connecting said second gear to the compressor and to the propeller.
May . In a power plant . a compressor, a turbine connected to and driving said compressor and a power consumer also driven turbine in combination with a reduction gear includes a sun gear , at least one planetary gear and a ring gear , said planet gear interconnecting said ring and sun gears , one of said gears are fixed , one of said gears being drivingly connected to the turbine, and one of said drive gear is connected to both the compressor and the power consumption .
June . In a power plant , a compressor, a turbine connected to and driving said compressor , and a propeller driven by the turbine also in combination with a reduction gear includes a sun gear , at least one planetary gear and a ring gear , said planet gear interconnecting said sun and ring gears , one of said gears are fixed , one of said gears being drivingly connected to the turbine, and one of said drive gear is connected to both the compressor and the propeller.
July . An arrangement for a power plant gas turbine which includes a compressor, a power consumer , a turbine for driving said compressor and said energy consumption, a shaft connected to the turbine and extending axially through the compressor, sun gear on said shaft, fixed gear, at least between said sun gear and said gear planetary gear set , a cage to said sun gear , a rigid connection between said compressor and said cage planetary drive connection between said consumer said cage planetary energy for driving said compressor and said energy consumer from said axis through said planet cage.
August . An arrangement for a power plant gas turbine including a compressor , a turbine for driving said compressor. a shaft connected to the turbine and which extends axially through the compressor , a sun gear on said shaft , a gear set , at least one planetary pinion between said sun gear and said fixed gear , a cage for said planetary pinion and a rigid connection between said compressor and said planetary cage for driving said compressor from said axis through said planet cage.
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