Patent ID: 7862296

Claim:
A turbine vane attachment system, comprising: a generally elongated airfoil formed from an outer wall, and having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a pressure side, a suction side, a first endwall at a first end, a second endwall at a second end opposite the first end; a base extending radially from the generally elongated airfoil, including an outer surface proximate to the airfoil, and including a first channel extending into a first side of the base that is generally orthogonal to the generally elongated airfoil and a second channel extending into a second side of the base generally opposite to the first side and generally aligned with the first channel; a first flange aligned with and forming a side of the first channel; a second flange aligned with and forming a side of the second channel; a support surface on the base that is radially remote to the generally elongated airfoil and nonparallel to the generally elongated airfoil; a wedge support block having a contact surface in contact with the support surface of the base and an opposite bearing surface, wherein the contact surface and bearing surface are nonparallel; wherein a protrusion of the wedge support block is positioned within a groove in the base that extends from a third side of the base between the first and second sides; a connection system movably engages the wedge support block to the base such that the wedge support block is movable relative to the base, which increases a distance between the outer bearing surface of the base and the channels thereby causing the wedge support block and base to be fixed tightly to tongues extending from a vane carrier into the first and second channels of the base such that rotation about the connection system is prevented and movement of the turbine airfoil and base relative to the vane carrier is prevented.