Patent ID: 7255535

Claim:
A cooled vane assembly comprising: a vane formed by a radial stack of laminates having an airfoil-shaped outer periphery, the vane having a planar direction and a radial direction, the radial direction being substantially normal to the planar direction, wherein each of the laminates is made of an anistropic CMC material such that the planar tensile strength of the vane is substantially greater than the radial tensile strength of the vane; at least one of the laminates having a outer airfoil-shaped wall enclosing an inner wall, the inner wall being spaced from the outer wall so as to define a cooling passage therebetween, the inner wall being connected to the outer wall by at least one rib, wherein the at least one rib divides the cooling passage into a set of discrete cooling passage, the inner wall enclosing a central opening defining a plenum; a second laminate having an outer airfoil-shaped wall enclosing an inner wall, the inner wall being spaced from the outer wall so as to define a cooling passage therebetween, the inner wall being joined to the outer wall by least one rib, wherein the at least one rib divides the cooling passage into a set of discrete cooling passages, the inner wall including a central opening defining a plenum; wherein the vane is formed by an alternating arrangement of the at least one laminate and the second laminate, and wherein the cooling passages in the at least one laminate offsettingly overlap the cooling passages in the second laminate so as to be in fluid communication.