Monolithic part and method of forming the monolithic part

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9452840-B2
Application number	US-201414252816-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2014
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	Sep 27, 2016
Grant date	Sep 27, 2016

Abstract

One example of the present disclosure relates to a monolithic part including an exterior wall and a first cavity. The first cavity includes a first aperture in communication with the exterior wall and a first inner surface defining a first shape. The first shape prevents extraction from the first cavity, via the first aperture, of a first virtual object having the first shape.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A monolithic aircraft part comprising:
a first cavity defined by a first wall and comprising:
a first aperture, extending through the first wall;
a second aperture, extending through the first wall; and
a first inner surface of the first wall, defining a first shape, wherein a first object permanently having the first shape would not be able to mechanically extracted from the first cavity, via the first aperture or the second aperture; and

a second cavity, defined by a second wall and comprising:
a third aperture and a fourth aperture, wherein the second wall extends beyond the first wall to define at least one of the third aperture and the fourth aperture; and
a second inner surface of the second wall, defining a second shape, wherein a second object permanently having the second shape would not be able to be mechanically extracted from the second cavity, via the third aperture or the fourth aperture; and

wherein:
the first cavity and the second cavity are not in communication with each other; and
the first wall and the second wall share a common wall portion so that the second cavity is partially contained within the first cavity; and
the first cavity comprises one or more of an aircraft fire-insulation medium or an aircraft acoustic-insulation medium; and
the second cavity comprises a portion of an aircraft electrical system, aircraft hydraulic system, or an aircraft cabin environmental system.

2. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein:
the second cavity forms an aircraft electrical system, an hydraulic electrical system, an aircraft cabin environmental system.

3. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein:
the wall of the second cavity, defining the third aperture, extends beyond the wall of the first cavity on one side of the first cavity; and
the wall of the second cavity, defining the fourth aperture, extends beyond the wall of the first cavity on another side of the first cavity.

4. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein the first wall of the first cavity or the second wall of the second cavity has a variable thickness.

5. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein the wall of the first cavity comprises at least one locally thickened portion that forms a rib that extends along one or more of an outer surface of the wall of the first cavity, an inner surface of the wall of the first cavity, or an inner surface of the wall of the second cavity.

6. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein:
the wall defining the first cavity has a variable thickness that includes a minimum thickness,
the exterior wall has a rigidity factor of at least about 0.0007, and
the rigidity factor is defined by a ratio of the minimum thickness to a greater of a length, a width, or a height of the monolithic aircraft part.

7. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an aperture plug tethered to the first wall, defining the first cavity, adjacent the first aperture and the second aperture.

8. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an aperture plug, tethered to the wall, defining the first cavity, adjacent each of the first aperture of the first cavity and the second aperture of the first cavity by respective tethers, wherein each tether is configured to provide insertion of a respective aperture plug into a respective one of the first aperture and the second aperture without separating a connection between the respective aperture plug and the wall through the tether.

9. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein the second wall further comprises at least one connecting feature associated with at least one of the third aperture and the fourth aperture.

10. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein:
a portion of the wall of the second cavity, defining at least one of the third aperture or the fourth aperture, extends beyond the wall of the first cavity and defines a connecting feature, associated with a respective one of the third aperture or the fourth aperture, and
the connecting feature is configured to join the second cavity to another monolithic aircraft part or to other aircraft components.

11. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 10 , wherein the connecting feature comprises a flange.

12. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 10 , wherein the connecting feature comprises a bell.

13. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 10 , wherein the connecting feature comprises a bead.

14. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an integral wiring restraint.

15. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising a wiring restraint, additively formed with the wall defining the first cavity.

16. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an integral mounting bracket, additively formed with the first wall defining the first cavity, wherein the mounting bracket is configured to connect the monolithic aircraft part to one or more of other monolithic aircraft parts, to other aircraft components, or to a mounting surface of an aircraft.

17. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an integral connector, additively formed with the first wall that defines the first cavity, wherein the connector is configured to connect the monolithic aircraft part to one or more other monolithic aircraft parts, to other aircraft components, or to a mounting surface of an aircraft.

18. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 17 , wherein the integral connector comprises one or more of a threaded member, a threaded aperture, or a snap-fit member.

19. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first cavity or the second cavity includes an integral anti-crush feature.

20. The monolithic aircraft part of claim 1 , further comprising an integral reinforcement feature.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Lyons Brett I
• Bartel Aaron W
• Tucker Trevor E

Classifications

• B29C64/118 Primary

  using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM] · CPC title

• B22F10/25

  Direct deposition of metal particles, e.g. direct metal deposition [DMD] or laser engineered net shaping [LENS] · CPC title

• B29C64/135

  the energy source being concentrated, e.g. scanning lasers or focused light sources · CPC title

• B32B3/263

  characterised by a layer having non-uniform thickness · CPC title

• B29C67/0062

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic