Mounting member with anti-rotation bushings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11072412-B2
Application number	US-201715811309-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2017
Priority date	May 28, 2014
Publication date	Jul 27, 2021
Grant date	Jul 27, 2021

Abstract

A mounting member for a vehicle, the mounting member including a mounting member body having a longitudinal axis, at least one static opening extending through the body transverse to the longitudinal axis, and at least one blind listener bushing, each blind fastener bushing having a bushing body and a blind fastener receptacle extending axially through the bushing body. The bushing body has a bushing cross-sectional shape that interlocks and couples with a static opening cross-sectional shape of a respective one of the at least one static opening so that rotation of the at least one blind fastener bushing is constrained relative to the mounting member body and the static opening cross-sectional shape is maintained upon application of a blind fastener installation torque or blind fastener removal torque being applied to the blind fastener receptacle by a respective blind fastener.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mounting member for a vehicle, the mounting member comprising:
a mounting-member body, having a longitudinal axis;
a static opening, extending through the mounting-member body transversely to the longitudinal axis; and
a blind-fastener bushing, comprising a bushing body and a blind-fastener receptacle, extending axially through the bushing body,
wherein:
the blind-fastener receptacle is configured to receive a retainer of a blind fastener,
the bushing body has a bushing-body cross-sectional shape that is complementary to a static-opening cross-sectional shape of the static opening,
the bushing body interlocks with and is coupled to the static opening,
the blind-fastener receptacle has a receptacle cross-sectional shape that is complementary to a cross-sectional shape of the retainer of the blind fastener, and
the blind-fastener receptacle is configured to interlock with and to couple to the retainer of the blind fastener so that rotation of the blind-fastener bushing and of the retainer of the blind fastener is constrained relative to the mounting-member body and the static-opening cross-sectional shape is maintained when a blind-fastener installation torque or a blind-fastener removal torque is applied to the blind-fastener receptacle by the retainer of the blind fastener.

2. The mounting member of claim 1 , wherein the blind-fastener bushing has a first material hardness that is greater than a second material hardness of the mounting-member body.

3. The mounting member of claim 1 , wherein the blind-fastener receptacle has an inner peripheral surface configured to engage the retainer of the blind fastener so as to substantially prevent rotation of the retainer relative to the bushing body.

4. The mounting member of claim 1 , wherein:
the bushing body comprises an outer peripheral surface that circumscribes the blind-fastener receptacle, the outer peripheral surface having at least one surface portion forming one or more of a substantially flat surface portion, a concave surface portion, and a convex surface portion; and
the static opening has an inner peripheral surface that is complementary to the outer peripheral surface so that the rotation of the blind-fastener bushing is constrained relative to the mounting-member body and the static-opening cross-sectional shape is maintained upon the blind-fastener installation torque or the blind-fastener removal torque being applied to the blind-fastener receptacle by the retainer of the blind fastener.

5. The mounting member of claim 4 , wherein the one or more of the substantially flat surface portion, the concave surface portion, or the convex surface portion of the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the static opening have one or more of a surface area or a surface profile that substantially prevents deformation of the static opening by the blind-fastener bushing upon the blind-fastener installation torque or the blind-fastener removal torque being applied to the blind-fastener receptacle by the retainer of the blind fastener.

6. The mounting member of claim 4 , wherein the blind-fastener bushing comprises a flange that radially extends from the bushing body so as to extend past an interface between the static opening and the outer peripheral surface.

7. The mounting member of claim 1 , wherein the blind-fastener bushing comprises a flange that radially extends from the bushing body, adjacent a first end of the bushing body, so as to form a shoulder with an outer peripheral surface of the bushing body.

8. The mounting member of claim 7 , wherein:
the blind-fastener bushing is configured to be attached to a frame of the vehicle with the blind fastener extending through the blind-fastener receptacle; and
the flange couples with the mounting-member body so that the shoulder retains the mounting-member body substantially against the frame of the vehicle.

9. A mounting member for a vehicle, the mounting member comprising:
a mounting-member body, having a first end and a second end, which is longitudinally spaced from the first end;
a static opening, extending through the mounting-member body, adjacent the first end of the mounting-member body and a second static opening, adjacent the second end of the mounting-member body; and
a bushing, configured for insertion into one of the static opening and the second static opening,
wherein:
the bushing comprises a bushing body and an aperture that extends axially through the bushing body where the bushing body forms an outer peripheral surface that circumscribes the aperture,
each of the static opening and the second static opening has an inner peripheral surface that is complementary to and interlocks with the outer peripheral surface of the bushing so that the bushing is rotationally fixed relative to the mounting-member body, and
the aperture has an inner peripheral surface that is complementary to and is configured to interlock with a retainer of a blind fastener so that the inner peripheral surface is configured to rotationally fix the retainer relative to mounting-member body.

10. The mounting member of claim 9 , wherein the inner peripheral surface of each of the static opening and the second static opening is complementary to and interlocks with the outer peripheral surface of the bushing so that a static-opening cross-sectional shape is maintained upon application of a fastener installation torque or a fastener removal torque to the bushing.

11. The mounting member of claim 9 , wherein the bushing comprises a flange that radially extends from the bushing body so as to extend past an interface between the static opening and the outer peripheral surface.

12. The mounting member of claim 9 , wherein the outer peripheral surface has a substantially rectangular cross-section, a substantially hexagonal cross-section, a substantially ovoid cross-section, or a multifaceted cross-section.

13. The mounting member of claim 9 , wherein:
the outer peripheral surface has at least one surface portion that forms one or more of a substantially flat surface portion, a concave surface portion, or a convex surface portion; and
the inner peripheral surface of each of the static opening and the second static opening is complementary to the one or more of the substantially flat surface portion, the concave surface portion, or the convex surface portion of the outer peripheral surface.

14. The mounting member of claim 13 , wherein the one or more of the substantially flat surface portion, the concave surface portion, and or the convex surface portion of the outer peripheral surface of the bushing, also the inner peripheral surface of each of the static opening and the second static opening, have one or more of a surface area or a surface profile that substantially prevents deformation of the static opening by the bushing upon a fastener installation torque or a fastener removal torque being applied to the aperture.

15. The mounting member of claim 9 , wherein:
the bushing body comprises a first end, and
the bushing further comprises a flange that radially extends from the bushing body, adjacent the first end of the bushing body, so as to form a shoulder with the outer peripheral surface of the bushing body.

16. The mounting member of claim 15 , wherein:
the bushing is configured to be attached to a frame of the vehicle with a fastener, extending through the aperture; and
the flange couples with the mounting-member body so that the shoulder retains the mounting-member body substantially against the frame of the vehicle.

17. The

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• JANG Su-Youn
• Liu Chunlei
• Siegmeth Jeff S
• Baker Joshua P
• Borjeson William N
• Constantinescu Marius

Classifications

• B64C1/20

  specially adapted for freight · CPC title

• B64C1/18 Primary

  Floors · CPC title