Header assembly and method therefore

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10556685-B2
Application number	US-201715608192-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2017
Priority date	May 30, 2017
Publication date	Feb 11, 2020
Grant date	Feb 11, 2020

Abstract

A header assembly including a structural core member, at least one branding panel removably coupled to the structural core member, and at least one quick-connect coupling having a first quick-connect portion coupled to the structural core member and a second quick-connect portion coupled to the at least one branding panel, the second quick-connect portion being configured to mate with the first quick-connect portion to removably couple the at least one branding panel to the structural core member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A header assembly comprising:
a structural core member configured for coupling with a header rail of an aircraft;
at least one branding panel removably coupled to the structural core member; and
at least one quick-connect coupling having a first quick-connect portion coupled to the structural core member and a second quick-connect portion coupled to the at least one branding panel, the second quick-connect portion being configured to mate with the first quick-connect portion to removably couple the at least one branding panel to the structural core member.

2. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the structural core member comprises a diffuse light source; and
the at least one branding panel has a translucent portion configured so that light from the diffuse light source is exhibited through the translucent portion of the at least one branding panel.

3. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one branding panel is selected from a number of different branding panels, each of the different branding panels having a predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the number of different branding panels.

4. The header assembly of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined characteristic comprises one or more of a surface contour, a company logo, alphanumeric characters, translucency, a personalized message, wayfinding information, and decorative shapes.

5. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one branding panel comprises a molded structure.

6. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one branding panel comprises an additively manufactured structure.

7. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein the structural core member comprises a first portion and at least a second portion and the at least one branding panel is configured to be removably coupled to the first portion and the second portion.

8. The header assembly of claim 1 , wherein the structural core member includes a first side and a second side, the first side, the second side and one of the at least one branding panel are configured so that the one of the at least one branding panel is coupleable to either one of the first side and the second side.

9. The header assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a light blocking seal member disposed at least partially around a perimeter edge of the structural core member.

10. A header assembly comprising:
a structural core member configured for coupling with a header rail of an aircraft, the structural core member having an first side and a second side, the second side being spaced from the first side so as to form opposite sides of the structural core member;
a first branding panel removably coupled to the first side of the structural core member;
a second branding panel removably coupled to the second side of the structural core member; and
at least one quick-connect coupling disposed on each of the first side and the second side of the structural core member, each quick-connect coupling having
a first quick-connect portion coupled to a respective one of the first side and the second side of the structural core member, and
a second quick-connect portion coupled to a respective one of the first branding panel and the second branding panel, the second quick-connect portion being configured to mate with a respective first quick-connect portion to removably couple a respective one of the first branding panel and the second branding panel to the respective one of the first side and the second side of the structural core member.

11. The header assembly of claim 10 , wherein the first branding panel is selected from a first set of branding panels, each branding panel in the first set of branding panels having a first predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the first set of branding panels.

12. The header assembly of claim 10 , wherein the second branding panel being selected from a second set of branding panels, each branding panel in the second set of branding panels having a second predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the second set of branding panels.

13. The header assembly of claim 10 , wherein the first branding panel is removably coupleable to one of both the first side and the second side of the structural core member, and the second branding panel is removably coupleable to another one of both the first side and the second side of the structural core member.

14. The header assembly of claim 10 , wherein the at least one quick-connect coupling comprises a tool-less quick-connect coupling.

15. The header assembly of claim 10 , further comprising a light blocking seal member disposed at least partially around a perimeter edge of the structural core member.

16. A method using a header assembly, the method comprising:
selecting at least one branding panel from a number of branding panels; and
removably coupling the at least one branding panel to a structural core member with at least one quick-connect coupling having a first quick-connect portion coupled to the structural core member and a second quick-connect portion coupled to the at least one branding panel, the second quick-connect portion being configured to mate with the first quick-connect portion to removably couple the at least one branding panel to the structural core member;
wherein the structural core member forms a portion of the header assembly of an aircraft that is coupled to a frame of the aircraft.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein each branding panel in the number of different branding panels has a predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the number of different branding panels.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the different predetermined characteristic comprises one or more of a surface contour, a company logo, alphanumeric characters, translucency, a personalized message, wayfinding information and decorative shapes.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the structural core member comprises a first portion and at least a second portion and removably coupling the at least one branding panel to the structural core member comprises removably coupling the at least one branding panel to the first portion and the second portion.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein:
the at least one branding panel comprises a first branding panel and a second branding panel where
the first branding panel is selected from a first set of branding panels, each branding panel in the first set of branding panels having a first different predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the first set of branding panels, and
the second branding panel being selected from a second set of branding panels, each branding panel in the second set of branding panels having a second different predetermined characteristic that is different from other branding panels in the second set of branding panels; and

removably coupling the at least one branding panel to the structural core member comprises removably coupling the first branding panel to a first side of the structural core member and removably coupling the second branding panel to a second side of the structural core member.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Sexton Frank
• Wightman Jonathan R
• Malkinson Patrick

Classifications

• B64D11/0023 Primary

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