The Boeing Company

Chapman Thermal Products, Inc.

Michael Robert Chapman

Khanh Mai Pham

Donald A Anderson

Marc Joel Piehl

Joseph L Sweetin

Douglas Lewis Grose

Robert M Watson

Daniel M Rotter

William J Hanyon

Gary E Georgeson

Douglas Alan McCarville

James C Kennedy

Paul Elfes Nelson

Dennis P Sarr

Michael D Fogarty

Brad Andrew Coxon

Robert Arthur Kisch

Charles Michael Richards

Jeffrey M Hansen

Douglas Allen Frisch

Derek Paul Vetter

Martin L Freet

Robert L Anderson

Kenneth Paul Zaballos

Thomas S Luhman

Marcin Artur Rabiega

Martin Wayne Hansen

Benjamin Bowen Lee

Gordon Dale Davis

Jason A Medenciy

Ronald E VonWahlde

Jose L Encinosa

Stephen Howard Williams

Stephen K Halladin

Russell D Chiupka

Andrey F Yurchik

Thomas P Harper

Tsai Jung Huang

Samuel F Zambrana

Harlow G Ahlstrom

Joshua Dee Little

Roger W Engelbart

Brice Aaron Johnson

Michael Strasik

Darryl F Garrigus

Reed Hannebaum

Lisa Christina Carlson

Steve Schrader

Michael Jeffrey Graves

Kathryn A Soucy

Patrick A Lowery

John R Barton

Paul D Nedervelt

John E Caldwell

Thomas D Martin

Kenneth J Goodwin

Douglas Alan Mccarville

Ronald E Vonwahlde

A composite charge is positioned onto lower plates of a plurality of placement end effectors. Upper plates of the plurality of placement end effectors are rotated along a first axis to cover the composite charge. The composite charge is contoured to a tool using the plurality of placement end effectors to form a contoured composite charge. The contoured composite charge is compacted using a roller.

Charge shaping system and apparatus

A flexible punch and die are used to form a flat composite laminate charge into a stiffener having a desired cross sectional shape. A desired contour is formed in the stiffener by bending the punch and die. Ply wrinkling is avoided during contouring by maintaining those portions of the stiffener subject to wrinkling in tension as the contouring is being performed. Bridging of the plies during the contouring process is avoided by first contouring those sections of the stiffener that are subject to wrinkling, and then contouring the remaining sections of the stiffener.

Apparatus for forming a contoured hat stiffener

A method and apparatus is presented. A layer of composite material is laid up on a forming tool. A bend is formed in the layer on the forming tool to form a bent layer. A laminate stack and the bent layer are assembled to form the composite filler.

Composite filler

Systems and methods for incrementally forming a composite part are disclosed herein. The systems include a forming mandrel, which includes a forming surface, and a forming machine. The forming machine includes a forming bladder, a pressure-regulating device, and a positioning device. The forming bladder is configured to be inflated to a forming pressure and to press the ply of composite material against the forming surface. The methods include placing a ply of composite material on a forming surface of a forming mandrel and pressing a forming bladder against the ply of composite material at a selected location to press a selected portion of the ply of composite material against the forming surface and conform the selected portion of the ply of composite material to a surface profile of the forming surface. The methods further include repeating the pressing a plurality of times at a plurality of selected locations.

Systems and methods for incrementally forming a composite part

Composite structure fabrication systems and methods. The systems include a plurality of ply carriers, each of which is configured to support at least one ply segment, and an elongate forming mandrel, which defines an elongate ply forming surface that is shaped to define a surface contour of the composite structure. The systems further include a carrier transfer device, which is configured to selectively convey a selected ply carrier from a ply kitting area to an intermediate location, and a forming machine, which is configured to deform the selected ply carrier and a respective ply segment over a selected portion of the elongate ply forming surface. The forming machine further is configured to separate the selected ply carrier from the respective ply segment and return the selected ply carrier to the carrier transfer device. The methods include methods of operating the systems.

Composite structure fabrication systems and methods

A tooling apparatus may include a pair of elongated tooling dies independently rotatable about a common central axis. Each tooling die may have a layup surface including a web layup surface and at least one flange layup surface oriented non-parallel to the web layup surface and configured to receive at least one composite ply to form a stringer layup half having a web and at least one flange. The tooling dies may be rotatable into side-by-side relation causing the webs of the stringer layup halves to be positioned in back-to-back mating contact with one another.

Rotational tooling apparatus for layup and cure of composite stringers

A compaction device for use with an automated fiber placement machine includes multiple compaction rollers mounted for independent displacement on a supporting frame. The attitude of the compaction rollers change relative to each other when fiber tows are laid up at an angle over an edge of a tool in order to maintain compaction pressure on the tows and thereby reduce non-compacted areas of the tows.

Compaction method for automated fiber placement

A method and apparatus is presented. Layers of composite material are laid down on a forming tool. A respective bend is formed in each of the layers to form the composite filler comprising bent layers on the forming tool. The composite filler comprising the bent layers is placed into a gap formed by at least one composite structure.

Method of forming a contoured hat stiffener

A method and apparatus are provided. A composite charge is positioned onto lower plates of a plurality of placement end effectors. Upper plates of the plurality of placement end effectors are rotated along a first axis to cover the composite charge. The composite charge is contoured to a tool using the plurality of placement end effectors to form a contoured composite charge. The contoured composite charge is compacted using a roller.

Charge shaping method

Systems and methods are provided for divergent laminates. A method comprises providing a layup tool having a first upper face and a second upper face that rise to intersect each other at a ridge line, the layup tool further having a protrusion on top of a portion of the ridge line, and laying up a laminate onto the upper faces and the protrusion. The method also comprises placing a cure tool on top of the layup tool, the cure tool having a lower face that is dimensioned to mate with the upper faces along a portion of the ridge line that is not covered by the protrusion, thereby leaving a divergent flange of the laminate on top of the protrusion exposed, and sweeping the divergent flange of the laminate upward from the layup tool onto a vertical side the cure tool.

Formation of composite laminates having one or more divergent flanges

Compaction method and device for automated fiber placement

Growing community of inventors

Federal Way, WA, United States of America

Michael Robert Chapman