Patent ID: 7217097

Claim:
A turbine blade, comprising: a generally elongated blade having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a tip at a first end, a root coupled to the blade at an end generally opposite the first end for supporting the blade and for coupling the blade to a disc, and at least one serpentine cooling channel forming a cooling system in the blade; wherein the at least one serpentine cooling channel extends from the leading edge to the trail edge and receives cooling fluids from the root proximate to the leading edge and passes the cooling fluids toward the tailing edge; at least one flow guide positioned in the serpentine cooling channel and extending from a first turn of the serpentine channel to a second turn of the serpentine channel, wherein the flow guide includes a first turn section in the first turn of the serpentine cooling channel, a second turn section in the second turn of the serpentine cooling channel, and a flow guide body extending from the first turn section to the second turn section; wherein the first turn section is positioned proximate to the leading edge and the tip of the generally elongated blade separating a leading edge exit flow of cooling fluids into two channels and extends generally parallel to the tip of generally elongated blade for impinging cooling fluids onto an inner surface of the tip and minimizing cooling fluid separation.