Offset bushing and method of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016290391-A1
Application number	US-201514678930-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 4, 2015
Priority date	Apr 4, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An offset bushing for a structural member may include a tubular body having a cylindrical inner surface and a cylindrical outer surface. The cylindrical inner surface may have an inner diameter defining an inner axis. The cylindrical outer surface may have an outer diameter defining an outer axis. The inner axis may be spaced apart from the outer axis to define a linear offset. The offset bushing may include a bushing indexing feature configured to align with a member indexing feature of a member when the offset bushing is installed in a member bore. Alignment of the bushing indexing feature with the member indexing feature may cause the linear offset to be oriented substantially parallel to a loading axis of a load on the member.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An offset bushing for a structural member, comprising:
a tubular body having a cylindrical inner surface and a cylindrical outer surface, the cylindrical inner surface having an inner diameter defining an inner axis, the cylindrical outer surface having an outer diameter defining an outer axis, the inner axis being spaced apart from the outer axis to define a linear offset; a bushing indexing feature configured to align with a member indexing feature of the member when the offset bushing is installed in a member bore; and wherein alignment of the bushing indexing feature with the member indexing feature causes the linear offset to be oriented substantially parallel to a loading axis of a load on the member.

2 . The offset bushing of claim 1 , wherein:
the load on the member along the loading axis includes a tension limit load and a compression limit load; the tubular body having a minimum wall thickness and a maximum wall thickness; and the bushing indexing feature and the member indexing feature being configured such that when the offset bushing is installed in the member bore, the maximum wall thickness is located on a portion of the member bore that is subjected to a bearing force due to a larger of the tension limit load and the compression limit load.

3 . The offset bushing of claim 1 , further including:
a flange located on an end of the tubular body and having a flange underside configured to bear against a member side surface of the member.

4 . The offset bushing of claim 3 , wherein:
the flange is a radial flange having a flange diameter.

5 . The offset bushing of claim 1 , wherein:
the tubular body has a minimum wall thickness and a maximum wall thickness; and the bushing indexing feature being located in radial alignment with one of the minimum wall thickness and the maximum wall thickness.

6 . The offset bushing of claim 1 , wherein:
the bushing indexing feature comprises a notch formed in a flange of the offset bushing and configured to engage a tab located on the member; and engagement of the tab with the notch causes the linear offset to be aligned with the loading axis.

7 . The offset bushing of claim 6 , wherein:
the notch is wedge-shaped having notch sides defining an included angle of no greater than approximately 30 degrees.

8 . The offset bushing of claim 1 , wherein:
the bushing indexing feature and the member indexing feature are configured to limit angular misalignment of the linear offset with the loading axis to less than approximately 5 degrees.

9 . A method of attaching a structural member to a mating structure, comprising:
providing an offset bushing having a tubular body including a cylindrical inner surface and a cylindrical outer surface, the cylindrical inner surface having an inner diameter defining an inner axis, the cylindrical outer surface having an outer diameter defining an outer axis, the inner axis being spaced apart from the outer axis to define a linear offset; installing the offset bushing in a member bore of the member having a member indexing feature, the member bore having a member bore axis; and angularly aligning the member indexing feature with a bushing indexing feature of the bushing causing the linear offset to be substantially parallel to a loading axis of the member.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the offset bushing has a flange located on an end of the tubular body, the flange having a flange underside, and wherein installing the offset bushing in the member bore includes:
placing the flange underside in abutting contact with a member side surface of the member.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the flange is a radial flange having a flange diameter.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein angularly aligning the member indexing feature with the bushing indexing feature includes:
engaging a notch or a flat portion formed in a flange of the offset bushing with a tab on the member; and aligning the linear offset with the loading axis as a result of engaging the tab with the notch or flat portion.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the notch is wedge-shaped having notch sides defining an included angle of no greater than approximately 30 degrees.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the bushing indexing feature and the member indexing feature are configured to limit angular misalignment of the linear offset with the loading axis to less than approximately 5 degrees.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein a load applied to the member along the loading axis includes a tension limit load and a compression limit load, the offset bushing having a minimum wall thickness and a maximum wall thickness, and wherein angularly aligning the member indexing feature with the bushing indexing feature includes:
orienting the offset bushing within the member bore such that the maximum wall thickness is located on a portion of the member bore subjected to a bearing force due to a larger of the tension limit load and the compression limit load.

16 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the tubular body has a minimum wall thickness and a maximum wall thickness; and the bushing indexing feature being radially aligned with one of the minimum wall thickness and the maximum wall thickness.

17 . The method of claim 9 , wherein installing the offset bushing in the member bore comprises:
providing the offset bushing with an outer diameter larger than a member bore diameter of the member bore; and shrink fitting the offset bushing into the member bore.

18 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mating structure has a mating structure bore including a mating structure bore axis, and wherein providing the offset bushing and installing the offset bushing comprising:
providing a series of offset bushings each having a different linear offset between an inner axis and an outer axis of a respective inner and an outer diameter; determining an offset distance between the member bore axis and the mating structure bore axis of the mating structure to be coupled to the member; selecting for installation into the member bore the offset bushing in the series having a linear offset that most closely approximates the offset distance; and installing a selected offset bushing into the member bore such that the bushing indexing feature is aligned with the member indexing feature to cause the linear offset to be aligned with the loading axis.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the linear offset of any two of the offset bushings in the series differs by at least 0.010 inch.

20 . A method of attaching a nacelle strut to a wing, comprising:
providing a link for coupling a wing fitting to the strut fitting, the link having opposing link ends each having a link bore; providing a series of offset bushings having different linear offsets between an inner axis and an outer axis of a respective inner and an outer diameter; measuring a center-to-center distance between the wing fitting on the wing and the strut fitting on the nacelle strut; measuring a center-to-center distance between the link ends; selecting for installation into one of the link bores an offset bushing having a linear offset that results in a center-to-center distance between the link ends that most closely matches the center-to-center distance between the wing fitting and the strut fitting; installing the offset bushing into at least one link bore of the link; angularly aligning a member indexing feature on the l

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Hill Robert G
• Schnelz James R
• Wright Monte D

Classifications

• F16C23/10

  Bearings, parts of which are eccentrically adjustable with respect to each other · CPC title

• F16C17/12 Primary

  characterised by features not related to the direction of the load · CPC title

• F16C35/02 Primary

  in the case of sliding-contact bearings · CPC title

• B64D27/40

  Arrangements for mounting power plants in aircraft · CPC title

• B64D27/26

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic