Patent ID: 7631484

Claim:
A fan assembly for a gas turbine engine having an inner wall, a core that generates pressurized combustion gases within the inner wall, and an outer wall radially spaced from the inner wall by a bypass duct that bypasses the core, the fan assembly comprising: (a) turbine rotor disposed aft of the core of the gas turbine engine; (b) a circumferential row of compound blades attached to and extending radially from the rotor, each compound blade comprising: (i) a turbine blade having a first end attached to the rotor and a second end extending radially from the rotor, the turbine blade disposed aft of the core to extract energy from the pressurized combustion gases generated by the core; (ii) a circumferential first row of fan blades attached to the second end of the turbine blade and extending radially from the turbine blade, the first row of fan blades disposed aft of the bypasses duct of the gas turbine engine; (iii) a circumferential second row of fan blades attached to the second end of the turbine blade and extending radially from the turbine blade, the second row of fan blades disposed aft of the first row of fan blades; and (c) a circumferential row of stator vanes extending radially inwardly from the outer wall of the gas turbine engine and disposed between the first and second rows of fan blades.