Device for pivotally guiding variable-pitch vanes in a turbomachine

• US 7,112,041 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2004
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Aircraft Engine Company
• Original Assignee: Snecma Moteurs
• Inventors: Audet, Jacques, Debeneix, Pierre, Langlois, Arnaud, Leman, Alain, Garnier, Vincent, Boston, Erick
• Primary Examiner(s): Look, Edward K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Edgar, Richard A.
• Application Number:
  US10/885,778
• Publication Number:
  US 20050042079A1
• Time in Patent Office: 810 Days
• Field of Search: 415/160, 415/162
• US Class Current: 415/162
• CPC Class Codes: F01D 17/162 for axial flow, i.e. the vanes turning around axes which are essentially perpendicular to the rotor centre line F01D17/167 takes precedence

Abstract

A device for guiding pivoting of variable-pitch vanes in a turbomachine, each vane having a pivot formed by a cylindrical axial shank which is guided in a cylindrical chimney of the casing and in a cylindrical orifice of a stationary element which surrounds the outside of the casing and which is centered and fixed relative thereto. The invention improves pivotal guidance of variable-pitch vanes.

Claims

1. A device for pivotally guiding variable-pitch vanes in a turbomachine, each vane having a radially outer pivot which is pivotally guided on a casing of the turbomachine and which is connected by a link to a control ring surrounding the casing, the pivot of each vane having a radially-inner portion which is pivotally guided in a cylindrical radial chimney of the said casing and a radially-outer end which is pivotally guided by a stationary element outside the casing, wherein the link connected to the control ring is secured to the pivot of the vane between the chimney and the stationary element and the control ring is supported and centered around the casing and at a distance from the casing by the links secured to the pivots of the vanes.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said stationary element is radially spaced apart from the casing relative to the axis of rotation of the turbomachine by a distance which is greater than the corresponding dimension of the above-mentioned chimney.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of a plurality of vanes making up part of a single row of variable-pitch vanes.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of all of the vanes in the same row of variable-pitch vanes.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of all of the vanes of two consecutive rows of variable-pitch vanes.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element is annular in shape and extends around the casing over about 360°

.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element is a single-piece element.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the stationary element is made up of a plurality of annular segments secured to the casing.

9. A device according to claim 1, wherein the radially-outer end of each pivot is guided in pivoting by means of a bearing mounted in a cylindrical orifice in the stationary element.

10. A device according to claim 9, wherein the bearing is a bearing made of a material having a low coefficient of friction.

11. A device according to claim 1, wherein said stationary element is supported and centered on the casing by means of fixing tabs which are distributed regularly around the longitudinal axis of the casing.

12. A device according to claim 1, wherein the radially-inner ends of the vanes of a row include pivots that are guided and interconnected by radially-inner annular sectors.

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein each radially-inner ring sector carries the radially-inner pivots of a group of the above-specified vanes, and the radially-outer pivots of the end vanes in each group are guided by an above-mentioned stationary element outside the casing, while the radially-outer pivots of the vanes situated in-between the end vanes of each group are guided solely in the radial chimneys of the casing.

14. A device according to claim 13, wherein, in each group, the end vanes are made of a material that is stronger than that of the vanes situated between said end vanes.

15. A device for pivotally guiding a variable-pitch vane in a turbomachine, comprising:

a control ring surrounding a casing of the turbomachine;

a variable-pitch vane having a radially outer pivot which is pivotally guided on the casing and which is connected by a link to the control ring, the pivot of the vane having,

a radially-inner portion which is pivotally guided in a cylindrical radial chimney of the casing, and

a radially-outer end which is pivotally guided by a stationary element outside the casing,

wherein the link connected to the control ring is secured to the pivot of the vane between the chimney and the stationary element, and the control ring is supported and centered around the casing and at a distance from the casing by the link secured to the pivot of the vane.

16. A device according to claim 15, further comprising the casing of the turbomachine.

17. A device according to claim 15, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of a plurality of vanes making up part of a single row of variable-pitch vanes.

18. A device according to claim 15, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of all of a plurality of vanes in a same row of variable-pitch vanes.

19. A device according to claim 15, wherein the stationary element includes means for guiding pivoting of the pivots of all of a plurality of vanes of two consecutive rows of variable-pitch vanes.

20. A device according to claim 15, wherein the stationary element is annular in shape and extends around the casing over about 360°

.