Patent ID: 8387393

Claim:
A fuel injector assembly including a fuel supply element that provides fuel to be mixed with air for ignition in a main combustion chamber of a combustor, the fuel injector assembly comprising: a pilot fuel shroud disposed about the fuel supply element, said pilot fuel shroud including a forward end defining a compressed air inlet and an opposed aft end defining an outlet; and a plurality of spanning members spaced circumferentially on a radially outer surface of said pilot fuel shroud and extending between said pilot fuel shroud and a base plate assembly that supports said pilot fuel shroud and said spanning members within the combustor and that comprises a base plate, a pilot annulus, and a cone structure, said spanning members spacing said pilot fuel shroud from said base plate assembly such that an annular gap is formed between said radially outer surface of said pilot fuel shroud and said base plate assembly, said gap permitting a flow of purge air therethrough to be mixed with compressed air entering said pilot fuel shroud compressed air inlet and passing out said pilot fuel shroud outlet, wherein said spanning members comprise elongate members having an upstream end and an opposed downstream end, said upstream end of each said spanning member circumferentially offset from its downstream end so that said spanning members provide tangential velocity to said purge air flowing through said annular gap.