The Boeing Company

Kathryn A Soucy

Paul H Shelley, Jr

Roger W Engelbart

Brice Aaron Johnson

Michael Robert Chapman

Reed Hannebaum

Steve Schrader

Ronald Mellick

Kenneth Mateer

Linda A Caldwell Stancin

A method generally includes electronically accessing positional data defining a defect location on a composite structure, and automatically causing a material placement machine to return to the defect location as defined by the positional data. The method can also include automatically causing the material placement machine to place or lay down material sufficient for repairing a defect at the defect location. Alternatively, the material placement machine may automatically return to a defect location, and then an operator may manually repair the defect at the defect location.

Systems and methods enabling automated return to and/or repair of defects with a material placement machine

A portable system for non-destructively measuring amount of coating on a metallic substrate based upon infrared absorbance includes a portable, hand-held measurement unit housed in a pistol-gripped case and an optical sensing unit that has an infrared source and a detector. The infrared source is configured to transmit infrared energy toward a metallic substrate having a coating thereon. The infrared energy passes through the coating, reflects off a surface of the substrate, passes back through the coating, and is detected by the detector. A processor correlates amount of infrared absorbance in the coating to amount of the coating. A base unit holds the hand-held measurement when not in use and charges a battery of the hand-held measurement unit. The base unit includes connectors for uploading and downloading data from and to the hand-held measurement unit and for communicating with an optional host computer.

Portable coating weight reader

A non-destructive method is provided for determining the amount of an anodize coating on a metallic substrate. A value of infrared energy reflected from the metallic substrate without the anodize coating is determined. A value of infrared energy reflected from the metallic substrate with the anodize coating is determined. A value of infrared energy absorbed in the anodize coating is determined, and the value of the infrared energy absorbed in the anodize coating is correlated to an amount of the anodize coating.

Method of measuring anodize coating amount using infrared absorbance

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Kathryn A Soucy