Composite preform assembly method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12195201-B2
Application number	US-202117454287-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2021
Priority date	Nov 18, 2020
Publication date	Jan 14, 2025
Grant date	Jan 14, 2025

Abstract

A method for fabricating a preform for a portion of an aircraft includes acquiring a sheet of broad good fiber reinforced material, trimming the sheet to form layup pieces having boundaries, placing the boundaries into alignment, arranging the layup pieces in a layup pattern to form a ply, performing a placement operation that transports the layup pattern onto a layup mandrel, and shaping the layup pattern into conformance with a contour of the layup mandrel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for fabricating a preform for a portion of an aircraft, the method comprising:
acquiring a sheet of broad good fiber reinforced material;
trimming, at a broad goods station, the sheet by applying a straight cut across an entire width of the sheet at an angle corresponding to a leading edge angle for a wing skin and a trailing edge angle for the wing skin to form layup pieces having boundaries;
cutting, at a small-piece station, a set of small-piece layup pieces from a roll of broad goods material;
fabricating, at a tow-piece station, a set of tow-piece layup pieces from fiber reinforced material stored on rolls, wherein fabricating comprises cutting to length and kitting;
placing the boundaries into alignment by rotating the layup pieces using a rotary table;
arranging the layup pieces having boundaries, the set of small-piece layup pieces, and the set of tow-piece layup pieces in a layup pattern to form a ply;
performing a placement operation that transports the layup pattern onto a layup mandrel comprising forming staggered from ply to ply splices between layup pieces of the layup pattern and layup pieces of another layup pattern disposed at the layup mandrel; and
shaping the layup pattern into conformance with a contour of the layup mandrel,
wherein trimming the sheet results in the layup pieces having boundaries exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
while arranged in the layup pattern the layup pieces are butted against each other.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:
placing the boundaries into alignment comprises rotating the layup pieces using the rotary table by orienting leading edges of the layup pieces to a common angle.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein:
placing the boundaries into alignment comprises rotating the layup pieces using the rotary table by orienting trailing edges of the layup pieces to a common angle.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the layup pattern forms a ply for the wing skin.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:
shaping the layup pattern comprises applying vacuum to the layup pattern via a carrier while performing the placing operation.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein:
arranging the layup pieces into the layup pattern comprises arranging the layup pieces into a shape of at least one ply for the wing skin.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the layup pattern is a first layup pattern and further comprising:
arranging an additional layup pattern onto the first layup pattern prior to performing the placement operation.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
iteratively trimming, placing, arranging, performing, and shaping until a preform is completed at the layup mandrel.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein:
shaping the layup pattern is performed by a carrier for performing the placement operation.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
placing pad-ups onto the layup mandrel such that they do not intersect the staggered from ply to ply splices.

12. A method for fabricating a preform for a composite structure of an aircraft, the method comprising:
dividing a wing skin into zones;
fabricating, at a broad goods station, a layup piece for each of the zones by applying a straight cut across an entire width of a sheet of broad good fiber reinforced material at an angle corresponding to a leading edge angle for the wing skin and a trailing edge angle for the wing skin;
cutting, at a small-piece station, a set of small-piece layup pieces from a roll of broad goods material;
fabricating, at a tow-piece station, a set of tow-piece layup pieces from fiber reinforced material stored on rolls, wherein fabricating comprises cutting to length and kitting;
arranging the layup piece for each of the zones, the set of small-piece layup pieces, and the set of tow-piece layup pieces into a layup pattern to form a ply;
transporting the layup pattern to a layup mandrel via a carrier;
disposing edges of the layup pattern onto the layup mandrel such that the edges are staggered from ply to ply with respect to other layup patterns for the layup mandrel; and
compacting the layup pattern onto the layup mandrel,
wherein applying a straight cut across the entire width of the sheet of broad good fiber reinforced material results in the layup pieces for each of the zones exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
transporting the layup pattern comprises operating a Pick and Place (PNP) station.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
arranging the layup pieces into the layup pattern comprises arranging the layup pieces into a shape of the wing skin.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the layup pattern is a first layup pattern and further comprising:
compacting an additional layup pattern onto the first layup pattern.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:
the additional layup pattern forms staggered from ply to ply splices with the first layup pattern.

17. The method of claim 12 further comprising:
iteratively performing dividing, fabricating, arranging, transporting, and compacting until a preform is completed at the layup mandrel.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
placing pad-ups onto the layup mandrel such that they do not intersect the staggered from ply to ply splices.

19. A method for fabricating a preform for a portion of an aircraft, the method comprising:
acquiring a sheet of broad good fiber reinforced material;
trimming, at a broad goods station, the sheet by applying straight cuts across an entire width of the sheet at angles corresponding to a leading edge angle for a wing skin and a trailing edge angle for the wing skin to form layup pieces exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other;
cutting, at a small-piece station, a set of small-piece layup pieces from a roll of broad goods material;
fabricating, at a tow-piece station, a set of tow-piece layup pieces from fiber reinforced material stored on rolls, wherein fabricating comprises cutting to length and kitting;
placing the boundaries into alignment by rotating the layup pieces to orient the leading edges or the trailing edges of the layup pieces to a common angle;
arranging the layup pieces exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other, the set of small-piece layup pieces, and the set of tow-piece layup pieces in a layup pattern to form a ply for the wing skin, wherein each layup piece exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other occupies a zone of the layup pattern, and while arranged in the layup pattern the layup pieces exhibiting a shared leading edge angle and shared trailing edge angle and having boundaries that are complementary to each other are butted against each other;
performing a placement operation in a manner that transports the layup pattern onto a layup mandrel forming staggered from ply to ply splices between the layup pieces of the layup pattern and other layup pieces of another layup pattern disposed at the layup mandrel;
shaping the layup pattern into conformance with a contour of the layup mandrel by applying vacuum to the layup

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Smith Daniel R
• Justice Jeremy Evan

Classifications

• B29C70/38

  Automated lay-up, e.g. using robots, laying filaments according to predetermined patterns {(application heads for tyres B29D30/28)} · CPC title

• B29C70/545 Primary

  Perforating, cutting or machining during or after moulding · CPC title

• B29C70/541

  Positioning reinforcements in a mould, e.g. using clamping means for the reinforcement (positioning inserts in moulds B29C33/12; lay-up on a mould B29C70/30) · CPC title

• B29L2031/3085

  Wings · CPC title

• B29C70/302

  Details of the edges of fibre composites, e.g. edge finishing or means to avoid delamination · CPC title