Automated fiber placement compensation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9694546-B2
Application number	US-2967608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2008
Priority date	Feb 12, 2008
Publication date	Jul 4, 2017
Grant date	Jul 4, 2017

Abstract

A method is provided to compensate for misplacement of tows by a fiber placement machine automatically controlled by programmed instructions. The method includes laying down a test layup of fiber tows using the machine; scanning the test layup to determine the position of the test layup relative to reference standards; determining misplacements in the position of the test layup; and, modifying the programmed instructions to compensate for the misplacements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of identifying mislocations in a placement of tows by a fiber placement machine, comprising:
laying down a first test layup comprising a first plurality of tows using the fiber placement machine and a controller program;
scanning the first plurality of tows, wherein scanning the first plurality of tows generates position data for the first plurality of tows, and wherein the position data comprises a separate corresponding position of each of the first plurality of tows;
comparing the position data with reference datum to identify mislocations, wherein the reference datum comprises a separate corresponding correct position of each of the plurality of tows;
determining if the mislocations are within predetermined limits;
generating compensation values from identified mislocations outside of the predetermined limits;
modifying the controller program using the compensation values to form a modified program; and
using the modified program to lay down a second test layup comprising a second plurality of tows, the second test layup being substantially similar to the first test layup but comprising placement adjustments resulting from the compensation values in the modified program.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning is performed by a laser.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
forming a tool base on which the plurality of tows is laid down; and
forming datum lines on the tool base representing the separate corresponding correct position of each of the plurality of tows, wherein the datum lines are visible to an optical scanner.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
scanning the datum lines, wherein scanning the datum lines generates the reference datum.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mislocations comprise a mislocation of an end of a first tow in the first plurality of tows.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mislocations comprise a mislocation of a first course of tows in the first plurality of tows relative to a second course of tows in the first plurality of tows.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining if the mislocations are within predetermined limits comprises calculating a dimensional difference between the separate corresponding position of each of the plurality of tows and the separate corresponding correct position of each of the plurality of tows.

8. A method of compensating for mislocations by a fiber placement machine, comprising:
laying down a first test layup comprising a first plurality of tows using the fiber placement machine and a controller program;
identifying mislocations in the first plurality of tows;
determining if the mislocations in the first plurality of tows are within predetermined limits;
generating compensation values from identified mislocations outside of the predetermined limits in the first plurality of tows;
modifying the controller program using the compensation values to form a modified program; and
using the modified program to lay down a second test layup comprising a second plurality of tows, the second test layup being substantially similar to the first test layup but comprising placement adjustments resulting from the compensation values in the modified program.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
identifying mislocations in the second plurality of tows; and
determining if the mislocations in the second plurality of tows are within the predetermined limits.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
laying down a production layup using the modified program if all of the mislocations in the second plurality of tows are within the predetermined limits.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
generating second compensation values from identified mislocations outside of the predetermined limits in the second plurality of tows;
modifying the modified program using the second compensation values to form a second modified program; and
using the second modified program to lay down a third test layup comprising a third plurality of tows, the third test layup being substantially similar to the second test layup but comprising placement adjustments resulting from the second compensation values in the second modified program.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein identifying mislocations in the first plurality of tows comprises:
scanning the first plurality of tows, wherein scanning the first plurality of tows generates position data for the first plurality of tows, and wherein the position data comprises a separate corresponding position of each of the first plurality of tows; and
comparing the position data with reference datum, wherein the reference datum comprises a separate corresponding correct position of each of the plurality of tows.

13. A method of compensating for mislocations by a fiber placement machine, comprising:
laying down a test layup comprising a plurality of tows using the fiber placement machine and a controller program;
identifying mislocations in the plurality of tows;
determining if the mislocations are within predetermined limits; and
laying down a production layup using the controller program if all of the mislocations are within predetermined limits.

Assignees

• Kisch Robert A
• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Kisch Robert A

Classifications

• B29C70/382

  Automated fiber placement [AFP] · CPC title

• B29C70/38 Primary

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