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:
Apr. 14, 1992
Filed:
Oct. 18, 1990
John C Groenendaal, Jr, Winter Springs, FL (US);
Robert C Wynn, Winter Springs, FL (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
Integral cast inlet ring sections for low pressure steam turbines are disclosed. Preferably, semicircular inlet ring sections from opposing sides of the steam inlet are joined together by integral staybars to form an inlet ring subassembly. After fabrication into a turbine inner cylinder, the two inlet ring subassemblies are preferably joined by a horizontal joint, such as a bolted connection, to form a circular inlet ring. The present invention eliminates welds and other connections typically associated with staybars and thereby eliminates a source of stress concentration and fatigue failures in steam turbines. The present invention also permits the inlet ring to be welded to a flange in a manner which eliminates potential delamination of the flange by fusing the sites of potential delamination.