Validating parts using a number of contiguous coupons produced from part excess

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10018458-B2
Application number	US-201615262874-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2016
Priority date	Sep 12, 2016
Publication date	Jul 10, 2018
Grant date	Jul 10, 2018

Abstract

A method and a check fixture is presented. A part having a number of contiguous coupons is processed using an automated tool. Geometry of the number of contiguous coupons is inspected to produce inspection results. The part is validated using the inspection results.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
processing a part having a number of contiguous coupons using an automated tool;
inspecting geometry of the number of contiguous coupons to produce inspection results; and
validating the part using the inspection results.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the part having the number of contiguous coupons includes creating a number of holes in the number of contiguous coupons.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein inspecting geometry of the number of contiguous coupons comprises inspecting hole position using a check fixture.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein inspecting hole position using the check fixture comprises placing a portion of the number of contiguous coupons around at least one pin of the check fixture.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein inspecting geometry of the number of contiguous coupons comprises placing the number of contiguous coupons onto a plurality of check locations of a check fixture.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein inspecting the number of contiguous coupons comprises inspecting exterior geometry of edges of the number of contiguous coupons.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
separating the number of contiguous coupons from the part; and
trimming a number of tangs from the number of contiguous coupons while leaving a nominal machined edge of each contiguous coupon.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein inspecting the geometry of the number of contiguous coupons to produce inspection results comprises physically inspecting the number of contiguous coupons using a check fixture, the method further comprising:
processing a second part having a second number of contiguous coupons using the automated tool;
physically inspecting the second number of contiguous coupons using the check fixture to produce second inspection results; and
validating the second part using the second inspection results.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the part and the second part have different designs.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
measuring a diameter of a hole of the number of contiguous coupons using a metrology tool to form hole measurements, wherein validating the part also uses the hole measurements.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of contiguous coupons comprises a first contiguous coupon of a first end of the part and a second contiguous coupon of a second end of the part.

12. A method comprising:
processing a part having an excess using an automated tool to form a processed part and a number of contiguous coupons having representative part features;
separating the number of contiguous coupons from the processed part;
inspecting the representative part features of the number of contiguous coupons to produce inspection results;
determining if the inspection results are within tolerance; and
performing at least one of validating the part using the inspection results if the inspection results are within tolerance or making adjustments to manufacturing factors based on the inspection results if the inspection results are not within tolerance.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein inspecting the representative part features of the number of contiguous coupons inspects multiple axes of movement for the automated tool.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the manufacturing factors include at least one of a processing program for the automated tool, a holding fixture, or placement of the part on the holding fixture.

15. A check fixture for validation of geometric features of a part, the check fixture comprising:
a plurality of check locations for physical verification of geometry of a number of contiguous coupons processed with the part, wherein the plurality of check locations validates a plurality of representative part features.

16. The check fixture of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of check locations comprises a cutout for verifying an outer dimension of the number of contiguous coupons.

17. The check fixture of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of check locations comprises a pin configured to verify a hole position of the number of contiguous coupons.

18. The check fixture of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of check locations comprises a ledge configured to verify a hole position of the number of contiguous coupons.

19. The check fixture of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of check locations comprises pins configured to verify hole spacing of the number of contiguous coupons.

20. The check fixture of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of check locations comprises eight check locations.

21. A part validation system comprising:
an automated tool configured to process a part having a number of contiguous coupons;
an inspection tool configured to inspect geometry of the number of contiguous coupons to produce inspection results; and
a computer system configured to validate the part using the inspection results.

22. The part validation system of claim 21 , wherein the computer system attributes the inspection results from the number of contiguous coupons to the part.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Wade Daniel John
• Fuller Micah Barrett
• Walton Keith A
• Johnson Alan A

Classifications

• G06F30/17 Primary

  Mechanical parametric or variational design · CPC title

• G01B5/02

  for measuring length, width or thickness (G01B5/004, G01B5/08 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01B5/12 Primary

  internal diameters · CPC title

• G01B3/14 Primary

  Templates for checking contours {(templates for mounting doors or windows E04F21/0007)} · CPC title