Patent ID: 7290394

Claim:
In a fuel injector assembly, for dispensing fuel in the combustion chamber of a gas turbine engine, having a contoured outer housing, attached on one end to an engine casing, fully enveloping a contoured deformable fuel feed, fixedly attached at one end thereof to a housing inlet and having a nozzle tip adapter assembly operatively connected therewith at another end, attached at a housing outlet end, said fuel feed being otherwise separated from said housing by a peripheral insulating space, wherein the improvement comprises: a. said housing outlet end having a first contoured surface portion; and b. said nozzle assembly including a movable nozzle spray-tip having a second contoured surface portion in complementary mating engagement with said housing first contoured surface portion, resulting in relative motion therebetween upon the operation of said gas turbine engine, as a result of the thermal expansion differential arising due to the differing temperatures of said housing and said fuel feed, wherein said first and second contoured surface portions are interior and exterior contoured surfaces, respectively, and wherein each of said contoured surface portions includes at least a portion of a spherical surface component.