The Boeing Company

Jeffrey A Zornes

Patrick B Stone

Matthew Benjamin Moore

Matthew B Moore

Robert Dean Dixon

Kevin L Salt

David Arne Haverberg

Lile P Squires

Craig B Morgan

Michael D Hinckley

Chris Carlson

An airframe handling apparatus is operable to support and move a partially assembled aircraft fuselage. The aircraft fuselage is incomplete, lacking a wing and landing gear. The apparatus is attachable to the aircraft fuselage in place of the wing and landing gear, utilizing wing attachment structures on the aircraft fuselage that are designed for flight loads. With the aircraft fuselage attached to the apparatus, the entire fuselage is supported on the apparatus that can be operated to move and manipulate the aircraft fuselage as if the wing and landing gear were present. With the apparatus attached to the aircraft fuselage, movement of the fuselage by the apparatus imparts no handling-induced internal loads on the aircraft fuselage, and maximizes unobstructed access to the exterior surface of the fuselage for painting and other surface preparations.

Apparatus that supports an aircraft fuselage without exterior surface contact

A flay assembly for separating a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture has a horizontal beam assembly and a pair of vertical beam assemblies. The horizontal beam assembly includes a horizontal beam having a horizontal drive motor. Each vertical beam assembly includes a vertical beam operably engaged to the horizontal drive motor and has a workpiece attachment assembly operably engaged to a vertical drive motor. The workpiece attachment assembly has an attachment mechanism attachable to the workpiece. The horizontal drive motor and the vertical drive motors are operable in a manner to move the vertical beams away from each other along a horizontal drive axis while simultaneously moving each workpiece attachment assembly along a vertical drive axis to cause the attachment mechanisms to pull the workpiece side portions away from the manufacturing fixture while a center support of the horizontal beam maintains a workpiece crown in contact with the manufacturing fixture.

System and method for removing a workpiece from a manufacturing fixture

A rail fixture that may include a plurality of track sections suspending a plurality of rail sections. The rail fixture may further include a traveler that traverses across one of the track sections, and a trolley that traverses across the plurality of rail sections. The rail fixture may further include a motorized winch assembly that may be used to lift a load to be moved toward the rail sections. The rail fixture may be used to move a load from a first location to a second location, for example, through an enclosed space having little clearance.

Articulating rail for multidirectional movement of suspended load

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Everett, WA, United States of America

Jeffrey A Zornes