Curved blade and vane attachment

Abstract

A turbo machine having a rotor disc with a plurality of rotor blades secured within slots, where the slots and blade roots have a curvature such that the blade is mounted in the slot by pivoting the blade. The blades can be installed or removed from an assembled turbo machine without having to disassemble the rotor discs. A blade pivots within the slot, and the blades are so arranged in adjacent discs, that a blade in an upstream disc will pivot in-between a space formed between blades in the adjacent rotor disc. The blade root and disc slot include a spring biased pin to lock the blade in place.

1 . A turbo machine blade for mounting within a slot of a turbo machine rotor disc, the blade comprising: 
 A blade extending from a root;    The root having a fir tree configuration for mounting within a slot of the turbo machine; and,    The root having a curved shape with a center of curvature located above the blade root such that the blade can pivot into a similarly curved slot in the turbo machine.    
   
   
       2 . The turbo machine blade of  claim 1 , and further comprising: 
 The center of curvature of the root being located at a point between the root ends and at or above a midpoint of the blade.    
   
   
       3 . The turbo machine blade of  claim 2 , and further comprising: 
 The center of curvature of the root being located at a point above a tip of the blade.    
   
   
       4 . The turbo machine blade of  claim 1 , and further comprising: 
 The root having a means to lock the root within a slot of the rotor disc.    
   
   
       5 . The turbo machine blade of  claim 1 , and further comprising: 
 The blade root having one end forming a substantially flush surface with the rotor disc, and an opposite end forming an adjacent rotor disc abutment surface.    
   
   
       6 . A turbo machine having a plurality of rotor discs in abutment, each rotor disc having a plurality of rotor blades with roots mounted in slots of the rotor discs, the improvement comprising: 
 The rotor disc slot having a curved shape with one end of the slot opening onto a top face of the disc and the other end of the slot opening onto a side face of the disc; and,    The blade root having a curved shape substantially equal to the curved shape of the disc slot such that the blade root can slide within the disc slot to secure the blade into the disc.    
   
   
       7 . The turbo machine of  claim 6 , and further comprising: 
 The curvature of the root is centered at a point above the blade root and between the root ends.    
   
   
       8 . The turbo machine of  claim 6 , and further comprising: 
 The center of curvature of the blade root is located above a rear half of the blade.    
   
   
       9 . The turbo machine of  claim 7 , and further comprising: 
 The slots of an upstream rotor disc are aligned with openings between slots in the adjacent downstream rotor disc such that a blade in the upstream rotor disc will pivot in the space between blades in the downstream rotor disc.    
   
   
       10 . The turbo machine of  claim 9 , and further comprising: 
 The slots in the rotor discs are angled with respect to a rotational axis of the rotor discs, the angle being from about 15 degrees to about 45 degrees.    
   
   
       11 . The turbo machine of  claim 6 , and further comprising: 
 Locks means in the slot to lock the blade root in the slot.    
   
   
       12 . The turbo machine of  claim 11 , and further comprising: 
 The lock means comprising a hole in both the root and the slot; and,    A spring biased pin slidable in both holes such that, when the spring is fully extended, the pin locks the root in the slot, and when the spring is fully contracted, the pin allows for the root to slide within the slot.    
   
   
       13 . A process for removing a rotor blade from a rotor disc of a turbo machine without having to disassembly the rotor discs, the rotor disc having a plurality of slots to accommodate a plurality of rotor blades, the process comprising the steps of: 
 Providing for the slot in the rotor disc to have a constant curvature; and,    Providing for the root to have a constant curvature substantially of the same curvature as the curvature of the slot in order that the rotor blade can be pivoted out of the rotor disc without the blade being obstructed by any member of the turbo machine.    
   
   
       14 . The process for removing a rotor blade from a rotor disc of  claim 13 , the process further comprising the step of: 
 Providing for the slot to have one end opening onto an outer surface of the rotor disc, and the slot having an opposite end opening onto a side face of the rotor disc.    
   
   
       15 . The process for removing a rotor blade from a rotor disc of  claim 13 , the process further comprising the step of: 
 Offsetting the slots on one rotor disc in order that a rotor blade will pivot between a space formed between blades in the adjacent rotor disc.    
   
   
       16 . The process for removing a rotor blade from a rotor disc of  claim 15 , the process further comprising the step of: 
 Angling the slots on the rotor discs from a line parallel to the rotational angle of the rotor discs, the angle being from about 15 degrees to about 45 degrees.    
   
   
       17 . The process for removing a rotor blade from a rotor disc of  claim 13 , the process further comprising the step of: 
 Providing for a lock means to lock the rotor blade root to the disc slot, whereby the lock means is disengaged in order to remove the blade from the slot.