The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 18, 2023
Filed:
Jul. 23, 2021
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp., Longueuil, CA;
Guy Riverin, Montreal, CA;
PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP., Longueuil, CA;
Abstract
A turbofan engine has a fan drivingly engaged by a shaft for rotation about a rotation axis and having: fan blades circumferentially distributed about the rotation axis and drivingly engaged by the shaft; an ice-accruing feature located on a surface of the fan exposed to an air flow flowing between the fan blades, the ice-accruing feature having a shape providing a non-axisymmetric ice accumulation on the fan to create a rotational imbalance; a balancing feature secured to the fan or to the shaft to counteract the ice-accruing feature such that the fan is rotationally balanced when the fan is free of ice, the balancing feature being located such as to be outside the air flow; an aircraft controller; and a sensor operatively connected to the fan and operable to send a signal to the aircraft controller, the signal indicative of the rotational imbalance caused by the ice-accruing feature.