Manufacturing system to form a honeycomb core and a method of forming the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12565018-B2
Application number	US-202318481963-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2023
Priority date	Oct 5, 2023
Publication date	Mar 3, 2026
Grant date	Mar 3, 2026

Abstract

A manufacturing system to form a honeycomb core and a method of forming the same includes a sheet of fibrous material is fed into a perforation assembly. The sheet of fibrous material is perforated via the perforation assembly to form holes through the sheet of fibrous material. The sheet of fibrous material is cut to form layers. The layers are stacked on top of each other such that the holes of the layers align with each other and strips of adhesive bond the respective layers together to form a perforated stack. A coating is applied to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes. The perforated stack is expanded to form a honeycomb panel. The honeycomb panel is dipped in a solution, and the coating repels the solution. The solution adheres to the honeycomb panel except at the holes where the coating is applied to form the honeycomb core.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of forming a honeycomb core, the method comprising:
feeding a sheet of fibrous material into a perforation assembly; perforating the sheet of fibrous material via the perforation assembly to form a plurality of holes through the sheet of fibrous material; applying a plurality of strips of adhesive to the fibrous material, wherein the holes are spaced apart from the strips of adhesive; cutting the sheet of fibrous material to form a plurality of layers; stacking the layers on top of each other such that the holes of the layers align with each other and the strips of adhesive bond the respective layers together to form a perforated stack; applying a coating to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes; expanding the perforated stack to form a honeycomb panel,
wherein applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes occurs before dipping the honeycomb panel in a solution, and
wherein applying the coating includes flowing an amount of the coating out of the perforation assembly as the holes are punched through the sheet of fibrous material; and
dipping the honeycomb panel in the solution, wherein the coating repels the solution, and wherein the solution adheres to the honeycomb panel except at the holes where the coating is applied to form the honeycomb core.

2 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the perforation assembly is further defined as a die assembly including a male die and a female die, and wherein feeding the sheet of fibrous material into the perforation assembly further comprises feeding the sheet of fibrous material between the male die and the female die of the die assembly.

3 . The method as set forth in claim 2 wherein perforating the sheet of fibrous material further comprises punching out the sheet of fibrous material as the male die and the female die align with each other to form the holes.

4 . The method as set forth in claim 3 wherein applying the coating further comprises flowing the coating out of the male die or the female die during punching of the sheet of fibrous material.

5 . The method as set forth in claim 3 :
wherein the male die includes a first housing and a plurality of male punch dies extending out of the first housing, and the male punch dies are spaced from each other around the first housing; wherein the female die includes a second housing and a plurality of female punch dies extending out of the second housing, and the female punch dies are spaced from each other around the second housing; and wherein punching out the sheet of fibrous material further comprises rotating the first housing and the second housing in unison as the sheet is fed between the male punch dies and the female punch dies which causes one of the male punch dies and one of the female punch dies to align and engage each other one pair at a time to punch the sheet of fibrous material.

6 . The method as set forth in claim 2 wherein the coating includes a first film layer and a second film layer, and wherein:
feeding the sheet of fibrous material into the perforation assembly further comprises feeding the first film layer relative to a first side of the sheet of fibrous material between the male die and the female die as the sheet of fibrous material is fed between the male die and the female die; and
feeding the sheet of fibrous material into the perforation assembly further comprises feeding the second film layer relative to a second side of the sheet of fibrous material between the male die and the female die as the sheet of fibrous material is fed between the male die and the female die.

7 . The method as set forth in claim 6 further comprising kiss cutting the first film layer via the female die to form first coated tabs and kiss cutting the second film layer via the male die to form second coated tabs, wherein kiss cutting the first film layer and the second film layer occurs simultaneously with perforating the sheet of fibrous material.

8 . The method as set forth in claim 7 further comprising adhering each of the first coated tabs to the first side of the sheet of fibrous material around the respective holes of the sheet of fibrous material, and adhering the second coated tabs to the second side of the sheet of fibrous material around the corresponding respective holes of the sheet of fibrous material.

9 . The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein adhering the first coated tabs and the second coated tabs further comprises melting each of the first coated tabs to the first side of the sheet of fibrous material around the respective holes and melting each of the second coated tabs to the second side of the sheet of fibrous material around the corresponding respective holes.

10 . The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein adhering the first coated tabs and the second coated tabs further comprises gluing each of the first coated tabs to the first side of the sheet of fibrous material around the respective holes and gluing each of the second coated tabs to the second side of the sheet of fibrous material around the corresponding respective holes.

11 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the coating is a liquid fluid.

12 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the coating is a film.

13 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the perforation assembly is further defined as a laser/applicator assembly including a laser device and an applicator, and wherein feeding the sheet of fibrous material into the perforation assembly further comprises feeding the sheet of fibrous material past the laser device and the applicator, wherein perforating the sheet of fibrous material via the perforation assembly further comprises perforating the sheet of fibrous material via the laser device to form the holes through the sheet of fibrous material, and wherein applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes further comprises applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes via the applicator.

14 . The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material occurs after perforating the sheet of fibrous material.

15 . The method as set forth in claim 13 wherein applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material occurs before perforating the sheet of fibrous material.

16 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein applying the coating to the sheet of fibrous material at the holes occurs before stacking the layers on top of each other.

17 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein dipping the honeycomb panel in the solution further comprises submerging the honeycomb panel in the solution such that the solution enters the holes, wherein the solution adheres to the honeycomb panel except at the holes where the coating is applied to form the honeycomb core.

18 . The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the sheet of fibrous material is further defined as a non-metallic paper, the solution is further defined as a phenolic resin, and the coating is further defined as a phenolic-repellant coating.

19 . A manufacturing system to form a honeycomb core, the system comprising:
a perforation assembly configured to receive a sheet of fibrous material and perforate the sheet of fibrous material to form a plurality of holes through the sheet of fibrous material,
wherein the sheet of fibrous material has a plurality of strips of adhesive thereon, and the holes are spaced apart from the strips of adhesive,
wherein the perforation assembly is further de

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Pantoja Marcos
• Gross Gwen Marie Lanphere
• Polus Jeffrey E

Classifications

• B32B29/005

  next to another layer of paper or cardboard layer · CPC title

• B31D3/023 Primary

  by cutting webs longitudinally into strips, piling these strips and uniting them along lines perpendicular to the cuts · CPC title

• B32B29/06

  specially treated, e.g. surfaced, parchmentised · CPC title

• B32B2255/12

  on paper layer · CPC title

• B32B3/12

  characterised by a layer of regularly- arranged cells, e.g. a honeycomb structure · CPC title