United Technologies Corporation

Dow-united Technologies Composite Products, Inc.

Boeing Defense and Space Group

Lawrence Nicholas Varholak, Jr

Francis E Byrnes

Donald L Ferris

Kirk Douglas Skaggs

Harold M Goodridge

Peter Gregory Donecker

Mark John Schmitz

Jeffrey A Lauder

A method for making a corrugated fiber reinforced preform for a corrugated channel is disclosed which involves the sequential application of fiber plies to a shaping tool, each of the plies individually formed to the contours of the shaping tool, using a corrugating tools, restraining means used to maintain the plies in conformance with the tool. The plies are then subjected to debulking and heated to stabilize the fiber plies in their shaped condition, with additional plies applied thereover using the same steps of application, forming, restraining and stabilizing to produce a thick debulked fiber preform which avoids wrinkling of the fibers at the radius between the web and side portions of the corrugated channel.

Method for fabricating a corrugated composite channel

A helicopter composite swashplate ring that has a triaxial braided tubular ring that withstands both forces in-plane and normal to the plane of the swashplate. The triaxial braided tubular ring comprises substantially circumferential fibers interwoven with angled fibers oriented at a predetermined angle to the circumferential fibers. The tubular ring contains a composite circumferential spacer ring that comprises an upper ring plate connected to a lower ring plate by a plurality of first tubular support members. The upper ring plate and lower ring plate are adjacent the inside upper and insider lower surfaces of the tubular ring, respectively. The upper and lower plates have openings in alignment with the first tubular support members. The ring plates have a plurality of sections extending radially outward. The sections have lug openings that are in alignment with a plurality of second vertical support members to form channels therethrough for accepting servo or control rod lugs.

Composite helicopter swashplate

Growing community of inventors

Southbury, CT, United States of America

Lawrence Nicholas Varholak, Jr