Hydro-turbine runner
US5954474A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 12, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 21, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 12, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/4932
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A turbine, disposed in water flowing therethrough, includes a hub and associated runner blades. Each blade comprises an inner surface and a distal outer surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge separated by a water directing surface. Each blade is rotatable relative to the hub about a blade rotational axis. The hub includes a spherically-shaped outer surface in a region of the hub swept by the inner surface of the blades when the blades are rotated from maximum to minimum pitch. The hub may also be associated with blades in which the chord is reduced in the root region of the blade. The turbine may also include seals attached to the blade inner surface and an essentially spherically-shaped discharge ring to improve certain turbine parameters such as cavitation, efficiency, flow disturbance, and fish survivability.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.