High vibration pneumatic piston assembly made from additive manufacturing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11028923-B2
Application number	US-201514736799-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 11, 2015
Priority date	Jun 11, 2015
Publication date	Jun 8, 2021
Grant date	Jun 8, 2021

Abstract

A piston assembly includes a piston with a first cap disposed on a first end of the piston and a second cap disposed on a second end of the piston. A piston cross-member is in between the first cap and the second cap. A cover is formed with the piston cross-member and extends between the first cap and second cap.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A piston assembly comprising:
a piston including a first cap disposed on a first end of the piston and a second cap disposed on a second end of the piston;
a piston cross-member in between the first cap and the second cap, wherein the piston cross-member comprises a hollowed out portion defining a webbing that is a sheet of solid material extending across a portion of the piston cross-member, wherein the webbing does not form a hole or holes passing through the piston cross-member, wherein a thickness of the webbing is less than a thickness of other portions of the piston cross-member so as to provide weight reduction;
a cover formed with the piston cross-member, wherein the cover extends between the first cap and second cap, wherein the cover is hollow and is in a shape of a hollow tube that extends an entire length of the cover, and further wherein the piston, piston cross-member, and cover form a single piece of additively manufactured material; and
a crank mechanism including a shaft and a crank, wherein the piston cross-member is attached to the crank mechanism, and wherein a rotational axis of the shaft is disposed externally of the cover.

2. The piston assembly of claim 1 further including a cutout in the cover.

3. The piston assembly of claim 2 , wherein a first end of the crank is affixed to the shaft, and a second end of the crank is slidably and rotationally engaged with a slot in the piston cross-member.

4. The piston assembly of claim 1 , wherein the piston includes a natural frequency of at least 2,000 hz.

5. The piston assembly of claim 4 , wherein the piston includes a natural frequency of at least 2,300 hz.

6. The piston assembly of claim 1 , wherein the crank mechanism includes a Scotch yoke crank mechanism.

7. A method of additively manufacturing the piston assembly of claim 1 , the method comprising:
reading build instructions from a file stored in an electronic database;
depositing material in accordance with the file;
forming layers of solid material in accordance with the file; and
forming the piston assembly.

8. The method of claim 7 further including attaching a Scotch yoke crank mechanism including a shaft and a crank to the piston cross-member.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein attaching the Scotch yoke crank mechanism includes slidably and rotationally engaging a first end of the crank with a slot in the piston cross-member and affixing a second end of the crank to the shaft.

10. The method of claim 7 further including setting a natural frequency of the piston assembly to at least 2,000 hz.

11. The method of claim 10 further including setting a natural frequency of the piston assembly to at least 2,300 hz.

12. The method of claim 7 further including forming the piston assembly through direct metal laser sintering.

13. A piston assembly comprising:
a piston including a first cap disposed on a first end of the piston and a second cap disposed on a second end of the piston;
a piston cross-member in between the first cap and the second cap; wherein the piston cross-member comprises a hollowed out portion defining a webbing that is a sheet of solid material extending across a portion of the piston cross-member, wherein the webbing does not form a hole or holes passing through the piston cross-member, wherein a thickness of the webbing is less than a thickness of other portions of the piston cross-member so as to provide weight reduction;
a cover integrally formed with the piston cross-member, the cover including a cutout with a first notch and a second notch disposed along top and bottom edges respectively of the cutout, and a first slot and a second slot, wherein the cover is hollow and is in a shape of a hollow tube that extends the entire length of the cover between the first cap and second cap, and further wherein the piston, piston cross-member, and cover form a single piece of additively manufactured material; and
a crank mechanism including a shaft and a crank, wherein a first end of the crank is affixed to the shaft, and a second end of the crank is slidably and rotationally engaged with a third slot in the piston cross-member, and wherein a rotational axis of the shaft is disposed externally of the cover.

14. The piston assembly of claim 13 , wherein the piston includes a natural frequency of at least 2,000 hz.

15. The piston assembly of claim 14 , wherein the piston includes a natural frequency of at least 2,300 hz.

Assignees

• Hamilton Sundstrand Corp

Inventors

• Kamp Josh
• Army Donald E

Classifications

• F16J1/14 Primary

  with connecting-rods, i.e. pivotal connections · CPC title

• F15B15/066 Primary

  the motor being of the scotch yoke type · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title

• F15B15/1447

  Pistons; Piston to piston rod assemblies · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title