Shroud support with impingement baffle

Claim 1

An improved turbine blade shroud support apparatus of the type having a support structure partially defining a cooling air plenum and providing support for a plurality of segmented shrouds located radially inward thereof with the cooling air plenum including leakage paths for relatively high pressure cooling air therein to leak therefrom without cooling the shroud where one of said leakage paths is between adjacent ones of said segmented shrouds and a second one of said leakage paths is between said segmented shrouds and said support structure, wherein the improvement comprises: a perforated impingement baffle attached to the support structure to define the remaining portion of the cooling air plenum and provide for the impingement of cooling air on the shroud wherein the cooling air plenum provided by the support structure and the perforated impingement baffle comprises a relatively high pressure plenum which is relatively free of said leakage paths such that relatively high pressure air passes through the perforated impingement baffle providing the impingement of cooling air on the shroud and wherein the relatively low pressure impinged air may then flow along said first and second leakage paths.