Patent ID: 8177527

Claim:
A fan assembly driven by a tip turbine comprising: a fan generating a thrust from an intake side to an exhaust side of the fan assembly by being driven to rotate; a fan casing for supporting an outer peripheral part of the fan in a rotatable fashion; a tip turbine rotor cascade, provided at the outer peripheral part of the fan and rotatable within the fan casing, for driving the fan to rotate by being supplied with a fluid within the casing; and a duct, provided within the fan casing, for supplying the fluid to the tip turbine rotor cascade; wherein the duct includes a duct inlet associated with a side face of the fan casing, the side face being radially outward of the tip turbine rotor cascade; and wherein the duct supplies the fluid from the duct inlet to the tip turbine rotor cascade such that the fluid flows in a direction opposite from the thrust generated by the fan when the fluid initially contacts the tip turbine rotor cascade.