Patent ID: 7070388
Filing Date: 2006-07-04
Classification: F01D,F04D

Abstract:
1. An inducer rotor rotatably mountable in an inducer for pressurizing fluid traveling through the inducer, said inducer rotor comprising: a hub having a central axis: a plurality of blades connected to the hub, each of said plurality of blades extending radially outward from a root adjacent the hub to a tip opposite the root; and a unitary, one-piece, shroud extending circumferentially between at least one pair of adjacent blades within the plurality of blades, said shroud having an inner surface facing the central axis, an outer surface opposite the inner surface and a thickness extending between said inner and outer surface, said thickness varying circumferentially around the shroud, wherein said shroud thickness varies around the shroud so that the outer surface of the shroud is substantially circular when the rotor is rotating at a predetermined rotational operating speed.