The Boeing Company

USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Ryon Christopher Warren

Paul E Mikulencak

William C Quan

Richard Fraker

Domenic S Giuntoli

Michael A Ritts

Ralph N Bladt

Joseph P Condon

David E Dyer

Chun-Hua K Chuang

Charles H Hightower

Eric David Haugse

Robert Irving Ridgway

Patrick B Stickler

Frank D MacDonald

Richard  Fraker

Aircraft window

Aircraft windows and associated methods for installation. The windows can be installed in a passenger cabin of an aircraft and can include a frame that supports a pane assembly having a viewing area of at least 180 square inches. The viewing area can have a triangular shape, with the sides of the window aligned with none of the major axis of the aircraft. Alternatively, the window can have a longitudinally extended rectangular shape, a diamond shape or an elliptical shape. The window frame can have a divider portion that separates two window apertures, each of which carries a separate pane assembly. Adjacent windows can be closed out with a common bezel.

Aircraft windows and associated methods for installation

Provided is a fabrication that is simple to make and cost effective in optimizing performance for moderately extended high velocity missions of high performance airborne vehicles. To counter rapid thermal loading while providing a relatively low cost structure, a laminate, in a preferred embodiment an intermediate modulus carbon fiber laminated as fabric layers in a resin matrix, is stitched through with glass fiber material. This laminate is then cured and formed as a section of skin of a supersonic missile, enabling extended supersonic operation, nominally some minutes after the laminate's T has been reached or exceeded. Additionally, an airframe and airframe members constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention are disclosed. Compared to existing materials, it reduces cost and weight, increases thermal stability, and maximizes internal payload.

Low cost structural fabrication that resists catastrophic failure under rapid thermal loading

A deformation compensation system for use with a large phased-array antenna system to electronically compensate for surface deformations occurring on the phased-array antenna which would otherwise compromise antenna performance. In one embodiment, a plurality of strain gauges are disposed on or integrally formed in structure forming the phased-array antenna. The strain gauges are placed at those locations on the antenna structure, where, through prior structural modeling and testing, it has been determined that high strains associated with the expected deformation of the phased-array antenna are expected to occur to a significant degree. The strain gauges output signals to a data acquisition system which uses a strain-to-displacement algorithm to produce displacements corresponding to the estimated, deformed shape of the phased-array antenna. These displacements are input to a beam steering controller which is used to generate phase shift or time delay commands used for electronically compensating, in real time, for the overall estimated, deformed shape of the phased-array antenna. The invention eliminates the need for heavy and large structural supports or trusses which have traditionally been required to maintain surface planarity of a large, phased-array antenna, and further enables the use of even larger phased-array antennas in space-based applications. The invention enables surface deformation to be compensated for in a non-intrusive manner which does not significantly increase the overall complexity of the phased-array antenna system.

Structural deformation compensation system for large phased-array antennas

A self-actuated structure, such as an antenna structure, is provided that can be stowed in a compact manner and can be deployed in a self-actuated fashion. The self-actuated structure includes a flexible skin, a boom extending thereacross and rings about which the flexible skin can be folded such that a payload volume is defined therewithin. The self-actuated structure also has a plurality of ribs extending parallel to the boom that cooperate with the flexible skin to define a number of channels extending between the boom and an edge of the flexible skin. The structure also includes a plurality of self-deploying stiffeners disposed within respective channels. In this regard, the stiffeners can have an unbiased relaxed shape, such as a &ldquo;U&rdquo; shape, in the absence of external forces and a biased shape, such as a flat shape, upon the application of external bias forces. As such, the application of external bias forces, such as by cables interconnecting the rings and an outermost rib, can cause the stiffeners to assume a biased shape, i.e., a flat shape, by moving the structure into the first position, typically a stowed position, while the removal of external bias forces allows the stiffeners to assume the unbiased relaxed shape, which moves the structure into the second position, typically a deployed position.

Flexible self-actuated structure and associated method

Growing community of inventors

Seattle, WA, United States of America

Ryon Christopher Warren