Method of making large airplane structures
US5694690A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 6, 1995 |
| Grant date | Dec 9, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 6, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T483/138
- WIPO fieldTransport
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method of making a large airplane structure from a plurality of subassemblies. The method comprises drilling coordination holes in selected components which are made for accurate assembly of the subassemblies, and that will be located on the subassemblies in a position to be used to accurately position the subassemblies relative to each other so the spatial relationships between key features of the subassemblies as defined by the coordination holes make the subassemblies self-locating and intrinsically determinate of the final contour and configuration of the large airplane structure, independent of tooling. The drilling of coordination holes in the selected components is done using an end effector carried by a precision computer controlled robot that is directed to the drilling locations using a digital dataset taken directly from original digital part definition records.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.