Patent ID: 7871245

Claim:
A turbine blade comprising: an airfoil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, with a plurality of cooling channels being formed within said body; said cooling channels being separated from adjacent cooling channels by ribs, and a plurality of said cooling channels communicating with each to form a serpentine flow path for cooling fluid; and two pairs of said ribs defining three intermediate cooling channels with each rib in each of said pairs of ribs extending parallel to the other rib in said pair, and the ribs in the first of said two pair of ribs being non-parallel to the ribs in the second of said two pair, with a first rib from said first pair being positioned spaced toward one of said leading and trailing edges, and with a first rib of said second pair then serially being positioned spaced toward the other of said leading and trailing edges, with a second rib of said first pair then being positioned toward said other of said leading and trailing edges relative to the first rib in said second pair, and a second rib in said second pair then being positioned toward said other of said leading and trailing edges relative to the second rib in said first pair, and such that said two pairs of ribs define said three intermediate cooling channels, with said three intermediate cooling channels having a generally triangular shape.