Patent ID: 7547191

Claim:
A turbine airfoil, comprising: a generally elongated, hollow airfoil having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a tip section at a first end, a root coupled to the airfoil at an end generally opposite to the first end for supporting the airfoil and for coupling the airfoil to a disc, and a cooling system formed from at least one cavity in the elongated, hollow airfoil; the cooling system comprising a serpentine cooling channel positioned in a mid-chord region of the generally elongated airfoil and being formed from a first leg, a second leg, and a third leg wherein the legs are generally aligned with each other and the first leg is positioned between the leading edge of the generally elongated airfoil and the second leg; a cooling supply channel in fluid communication with the first leg for supplying cooling fluids to the first leg from the root; an airfoil tip cooling channel in fluid communication with the third leg of the serpentine cooling channel and extending proximate to an outer wall forming the tip section of the airfoil; a leading edge cooling channel in fluid communication with the airfoil tip cooling channel and extending along the leading edge of the generally elongated airfoil and into the root of the airfoil to exhaust cooling fluids into the root of the generally elongated airfoil.