Aircraft wing-body section spray containment system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10604276-B2
Application number	US-201715723163-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 2, 2017
Priority date	Oct 2, 2017
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A spray containment system for a wing-body section includes a forward module, a center module, and an aft module. The forward module has a forward closeout panel configured to engage a forward end of a fuselage center section of the wing-body section. The center module has opposing module side panels each configured to engage a wing lower surface of a wing of the wing-body section. The aft module has an aft closeout panel configured to engage an aft end of the fuselage center section. The forward module and the aft module are independently movable and are configured to be assembled around the wing-body section to define an internal environment that is sealed from an external environment for containing contaminants including at least one of vapors, overspray, and liquids generated during application of one or more of coatings, sealants, and adhesives to localized areas of the wing-body section.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A spray containment system for a wing-body section of an aircraft, the wing-body section comprising a wing assembly including a pair of wings joined to a fuselage center section having an aircraft longitudinal axis, the spray containment system comprising:
a forward module having a forward closeout panel configured to engage and at least partially close off a fuselage center section forward end;
a center module having opposing module side panels on each of opposing sides of the center module, each module side panel having a panel upper edge configured to engage a wing lower surface of a wing of the wing-body section;
an aft module having an aft closeout panel configured to engage and at least partially close off a fuselage center section aft end; and
at least the forward module and the aft module being independently movable and configured to be assembled around the wing-body section to define an internal environment that is sealed from an external environment for containing contaminants including at least one of vapors, overspray, and liquids generated during application of one or more of coatings, sealants, and adhesives to localized areas of the wing-body section.

2. The spray containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the forward module and the aft module each include module side panels, each of the module side panels of at least one of the forward module and the aft module has a cutout;
the cutout in each module side panel of the forward module is contoured complementary to a wing leading edge for sealing the module side panel to the wing; and
the cutout in each module side panel of the aft module is contoured complementary to a wing aft portion of a respective one of the wings for sealing the module side panel to the wing.

3. The spray containment system of claim 2 , wherein:
the cutout in the module side panels of at least one of the forward module and the aft module is sized and configured to provide a gap relative to the respective wing leading edge and the wing aft portion; and
at least one of the forward module and aft module includes a movable seal plate mountable to each of the module side panels for sealing the gap between the cutout and the respective wing leading edge and the wing aft portion.

4. The spray containment system of claim 2 , wherein:
each cutout has a cutout seal formed of resiliently conformable material for sealingly engaging the wing.

5. The spray containment system of claim 4 , wherein:
the resiliently conformable material is one of foam, foam rubber, or silicone.

6. The spray containment system of claim 1 , further including:
a ventilation system incorporated into at least one of the forward module, center module, and aft module for circulating air through the internal environment collectively defined by the spray containment system and the wing-body section.

7. The spray containment system of claim 6 , wherein:
the ventilation system is configured to generate negative air pressure within the internal environment relative to air pressure external to the spray containment system.

8. The spray containment system of claim 6 , wherein the ventilation system includes:
a plurality of air filters removably installed in at least one of the forward module, center module, and aft module, and configured to filter the air circulating through the internal environment.

9. The spray containment system of claim 8 , wherein:
the center module includes a pair of filter housings each containing a row of the air filters.

10. The spray containment system of claim 9 , wherein:
the center module includes a plenum chamber located on at least one of opposing ends of the center module, the plenum chamber separating the pair of filter housings.

11. The spray containment system of claim 6 , wherein the ventilation system includes:
at least one air inlet located on an upper level of the fuselage center section at least one of the forward module and the aft module and configured to discharge air along a first airflow direction generally parallel to the aircraft longitudinal axis through the upper level above a cabin floor of the fuselage center section; and
at least one airflow cavity included in a remaining one of the forward module and aft module, the airflow cavity configured to receive the air flowing along the upper level in the first airflow direction, and direct the air downwardly below the cabin floor and into a lower level for movement along a second airflow direction opposite the first airflow direction.

12. The spray containment system of claim 11 , wherein:
the at least one air inlet comprises a pair of air inlets located on the upper level of the fuselage center section of at least one of the forward module and the aft module; and
the at least one airflow cavity comprises a pair of airflow cavities in the remaining one of the forward module and the aft module.

13. The spray containment system of claim 11 , wherein the ventilation system includes:
a diffuser in at least one of the forward module, the center module, and the aft module, the diffuser fluidly configured to receive air from the external environment and uniformly distribute the air from the air inlet into the upper level.

14. The spray containment system of claim 11 , wherein:
at least one of the forward module, the center module, and the aft module is configured to be fluidly coupled to an external duct system for providing air to the ventilation system and exhausting air from the ventilation system.

15. The spray containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of the forward module, center module, and aft module are supported on wheels facilitating movement of the forward module, center module, and aft module.

16. The spray containment system of claim 15 , wherein:
at least one of the wheels of at least one of the forward module, center module, and aft module is a powered drive wheel.

17. The spray containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
the internal environment includes a volume of space below the fuselage center section when the forward module, center module, and aft module are assembled around the wing-body section.

18. The spray containment system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an air heater for heating the air within the internal environment.

19. The spray containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of the forward module, the center module, and the aft module includes a work platform.

20. The spray containment system of claim 1 , wherein:
at least one of the forward module and the aft module includes a changing room.

21. An aircraft production line, comprising:
a plurality of aircraft manufacturing line positions for manufacturing of an aircraft and including a coating application position having a spray containment system for an aircraft wing-body section comprising a wing assembly including a pair of wings joined to a fuselage center section having an aircraft longitudinal axis, the spray containment system including:
a forward module having a forward closeout panel configured to engage and at least partially close off a fuselage center section forward end;
a center module having opposing module side panels on each of opposing sides of the center module, each module side panel having a panel upper edge configured to engage a wing lower surface a wing of the pair of wings of the wing-body section;
an aft module having an aft closeout panel configured to engage and at least partially close off a fuselage center section a

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Mindock Nikolas
• Kauffman Brent
• Lopez Iii Agustin
• Polyakov Aleksandr
• Ullerich Jeffrey
• Weinberg Daniel

Classifications

• B64F5/10 Primary

  Manufacturing or assembling aircraft, e.g. jigs therefor · CPC title

• B05B16/00

  Spray booths (arrangements for collecting, re-using or eliminating excess spraying material in spray booths B05B14/40) · CPC title

• B05B12/32

  Shielding elements, i.e. elements preventing overspray from reaching areas other than the object to be sprayed (nozzles with integral shielding elements B05B1/28) · CPC title

• B05B16/405

  Partly or totally cylindrical walls; Round floors · CPC title

• B05B16/80

  Movable spray booths · CPC title