Formation of thermoplastic parts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10300653-B2
Application number	US-201715679842-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2017
Priority date	Feb 18, 2014
Publication date	May 28, 2019
Grant date	May 28, 2019

Abstract

A method and apparatus is presented. A portion is cut from a thermoplastic sheet of a first thermoplastic material based on a three dimensional model. The portion is secured to a mold. The portion and the mold are heated under vacuum to form a structure. The structure may take the form of a protective covering. In some illustrative examples, the mold may be formed of a second thermoplastic material based on the three dimensional model using additive manufacturing.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a protective removable element of an aircraft part comprising:
cutting a portion from a thermoplastic sheet of a first thermoplastic material based on a three dimensional model, wherein the portion approximates at least part of a geometric net of the three dimensional model;
securing the portion to a mold; and
heating the portion and the mold under vacuum to form the protective removable element.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
forming the mold of a second thermoplastic material based on the three dimensional model using additive manufacturing.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising:
identifying a surface of a part from the three dimensional model;
designing a surface shape for a mold surface based on the three dimensional model; and
modifying the surface shape to form a modified surface shape, wherein forming the mold comprises forming the mold of the second thermoplastic material using the modified surface shape using additive manufacturing.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein modifying the surface shape to form the modified surface shape further comprises:
forming a draft angle in the modified surface shape relative to the surface shape; and
forming at least one index feature in the modified surface shape, wherein the index feature is configured to position the portion on the mold.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein heating the portion and the mold under vacuum to form the structure comprises heating the portion and the mold to a temperature lower than a melting temperature of the second thermoplastic material but sufficient to soften the first thermoplastic material.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Hackett Jr Andrew Roy

Classifications

• B29L2031/768

  Protective equipment (B29L2031/4821 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29C2791/006

  Using vacuum · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• C08J5/00

  Manufacture of articles or shaped materials containing macromolecular substances (manufacture of semi-permeable membranes B01D67/00 - B01D71/00) · CPC title

• B29C64/20

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title