Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Leland Stanford Junior University

Minoru Matsunaga

Tibor Fabian

Sangkyun Kang

Hideaki Tsuru

Friedrich B Prinz

Fritz B Prinz

Georg Brasseur

Kazuyuki Yamada

Francis Holman

Jordan Tresser

Frank Holman

Hao-Chih Liu

In a foil bearing () having a plurality of foils () disposed in a gap between a rotating member () and a stationary mount member (), a moveable member () is disposed on a side of the stationary member opposite to the rotating member so as to be rotatable with respect to the stationary mount member, abutting members () extend from the moveable member toward the associated foils through respective through-holes formed in the stationary mount member, and a surface of the moveable member with which one end of each abutting member is in contact is provided with a cam surface. In such a structure, by rotating the moveable member and thus changing the length of the abutting members projecting out from the surface of the stationary mount member, it is possible to vary the range of movement of the foils and practically vary the stiffness of the same.

Foil bearing

In a foil bearing () having a plurality of foils () disposed in a gap between a rotating member () and a stationary mount member (), a circumferentially extending portion of each foil and a moveable member () rotatable with respect to the stationary mount member are provided with magnets () so that a magnetic force between these magnets urges the foils toward the rotating member. By rotating the moveable member to vary the relative circumferential position of the moveable member with respect to the foils, it is possible to adjust an amount of magnetic force between the magnets of the moveable member and the magnets of the foils.

The present invention provides a miniature gas turbine engine for power generation. The engine has a highly integrated unitary rotor shaft where turbine, compressor and shaft are made in one piece in one fabrication process. The turbine and compressor are positioned back to back on the shaft in an overhung configuration, allowing the front bearings to be located in the cold zone of the engine. Preferably, the Mold SDM fabrication technique is utilized to make the unitary rotor shaft in one monolithic part out of ceramics such as silicon nitride, eliminating the need for post process assembly while strengthening the integrity, reliability, and performance of the unitary rotor shaft. Integrated with a permanent magnet in the unitary rotor shaft, the miniature gas turbine engine can generate electric power of 1 kW or less. Additionally, the axial length of the miniature gas turbine engine is about 100 mm or less. The miniature gas turbine engine according to the present invention is therefore particularly useful for powering lightweight, self-sustaining mobile devices such as unmanned vehicles and-autonomous robots.

Miniature gas turbine engine with unitary rotor shaft for power generation

In a permanent magnet rotor, a power transmitting shaft is connected to an axial end of a solid cylindrical permanent magnet, and a reinforcement sleeve is fitted on the outer circumferential surface of the permanent magnet. Thus, the shaft is not required to be passed through the permanent magnet as was the case with the conventional permanent magnet rotor for the purpose of transmitting the rotational torque and increasing the overall rigidity, and the increase in the axial dimension of the rotor due to the reduction in the cross sectional area of the permanent magnet can be avoided. Also, because the sleeve surrounds the permanent magnet, the resistance to centrifugal stress resulting from a high speed rotation and repeated bending stress owing to vibrations can be improved.

Permanent magnet rotor

In a micro gas turbine engine, a capacitive sensor is used for measuring a tip clearance of a radial compressor section thereof, and an actuator is used for axially displacing a rotor shaft in response to an output from the capacitive sensor. Because the capacitive change gives an accurate measure of the size of the tip clearance, a particularly high sensitivity can be achieved in parts where the tip clearance is small, thereby providing a highly precise tip clearance control.

Micro gas turbine engine with active tip clearance control

A thermal insulator between the turbine and the compressor of a gas turbine engine is provided and at the same time it enables the air that has passed through the compressor to be heated by the heat of the hot turbine. A gas turbine engine comprises a centrifugal compressor for compressing air that is drawn or sucked into the compressor, a compressed air passage supplying the air compressed by the compressor to a burner, and a turbine driven by means of combustion gas generated in the burner. The compressor and the turbine are provided on a rotating shaft adjacent to each other in the axial direction. Evaporation sections on the radially inner side of a plurality of heat pipes provided in a radial form face towards the outer periphery of the rotating shaft between the compressor and the turbine, and condensation sections on the radially outer side of the heat pipes face towards the compressed air passage.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Minoru Matsunaga