General Electric Company

Kiernan Francis Ryan

David Alan Caruso

Dennis William Roberts

Rok Sribar

James Harvey Vogan

Joseph Michael Pelech

Sudhir D Savkar

John Clifton Williams

Gary Senecal

Mike Tessier

Dwight McGee

Axial entry dovetails on buckets are installed axially into generally complementary-shaped female dovetails about the rim of the turbine wheel. The buckets include bucket covers having an interference fit such that upon installation, the buckets tend to rotate, which causes radial inward displacement of the buckets. To eliminate the bucket rotation and radial displacement, the male dovetails mount an anti-rotation key for reception in a generally complementary-shaped recess at the base of the female dovetail. The anti-rotation key in the slot eliminates rotation and radial displacement of the bucket, maintaining the buckets on radii and enables the bucket covers to be machined to proper diameters.

Axial entry turbine bucket dovetail with integral anti-rotation key

A bucket spreading tool is disclosed for separating covers of adjacent turbine buckets, the tool includes: an arm for extending a head of the tool between adjacent turbine wheels and for positioning the head between the adjacent buckets of a wheel, wherein the head includes an attachment to an end of the arm and a forward portion having a front side surface shaped to engage a first bucket of said adjacent buckets, and a rear side surface shaped to engage a second bucket of said adjacent buckets.

Spreader for separating turbine buckets on wheel

A system and method for securing an integral closure bucket to a rotor wheel assembly. The integral closure bucket is inserted in a direction coincident with a radius of the rotor wheel assembly, where the remaining buckets have been previously inserted in a direction parallel to the axis of the turbine rotor wheel. The closure bucket has an integral shroud and is connected to a turbine rotor wheel assembly in which the remaining buckets have been previously inserted in an axial direction. The buckets adjacent the closure bucket are spread apart both tangentially and axially to provide sufficient clearance for the radial insertion of the integral closure bucket. To prevent axial movement of the closure bucket and adjacent buckets, twist locks are utilized in channels provided in the bottom of the female dovetails in the rotor wheel.

System and method for securing a radially inserted integral closure bucket to a turbine rotor wheel assembly having axially inserted buckets

A method of reducing the formation of burrs during machining of turbine bucket covers of a turbine assembly includes the steps of inserting a filler material in a gap formed between adjacent bucket covers of a turbine assembly, machining the bucket covers to produce a desired profile for the bucket covers, and removing the filler material.

Method of reducing burr formation during turbine bucket cover machining

A horizontal axis clothes washing machine. A rotatable clothes basket has a generally longitudinally extending and generally horizontally oriented axis of rotation and has two longitudinally spaced-apart ends. The clothes basket is rotatably attached to a generally surrounding tub which is suspended from a generally surrounding cabinet. Each of a pair of balance rings has a circumferential interior cavity, is attached to the clothes basket near a corresponding one of the ends, and has a generally longitudinally extending axis generally coaxially aligned with the axis of rotation. Tubes connect the cavity of one of the balance rings with the cavity of the other of the balance rings.

Horizontal axis clothes washing machine with balance rings

A horizontal axis clothes washing machine. A rotatable clothes basket has a generally longitudinally extending and generally horizontally disposed axis of rotation. The clothes basket is rotatably attached to a generally surrounding first member (which is a tub). A second member (which is a cabinet) generally surrounds the tub. At least two spaced-apart tub suspension subassemblies each include a cylinder, a rod, a piston, and a spring. The cylinder is attached to one of the first and second members. The rod has a first end positioned within the cylinder and has a second end attached to the other of the first and second members. The piston is positioned within the cylinder and is attached to the first end of the rod. The spring is positioned within the cylinder between the first and second ends of the rod. Preferably, a pair of balance rings are attached to the clothes basket.

Horizontal axis clothes washing machine with tub suspension

A rotatable subassembly for a horizontal axis clothes washing machine, such subassembly having a rotatable clothes basket and a pair of balance rings. The clothes basket has a generally longitudinally extending and generally horizontally oriented axis of rotation and has two longitudinally spaced-apart ends. Each balance ring has a circumferential interior cavity, is attached to the clothes basket near a corresponding one of the ends of the clothes basket, and has a generally longitudinally extending axis generally coaxially aligned with the axis of rotation. The cavities of the balance rings are in fluid communication with the clothes basket.

Growing community of inventors

Niskayuna, NY, United States of America

Kiernan Francis Ryan