The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jul. 11, 2023

Filed:

Mar. 02, 2022
Applicant:

The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);

Inventors:

Richard A. Prause, Charleston, SC (US);

Allen J. Halbritter, Charleston, SC (US);

Andrew E. Modin, Charleston, SC (US);

Assignee:

The Boeing Company, Arlington, VA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B29C 70/54 (2006.01); B29C 43/36 (2006.01); B29C 70/34 (2006.01); B29C 70/44 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B29C 70/541 (2013.01); B29C 43/3642 (2013.01); B29C 70/342 (2013.01); B29C 70/44 (2013.01); B29C 2043/3644 (2013.01);
Abstract

A ply transporting and compacting apparatus comprises a rigid frame, a top-layer sheet of flexible rubber material fastened to the frame, and a bottom-layer sheet of perforated flexible rubber material having openings. The apparatus also comprises a middle-layer sheet of flow media material disposed in a first plenum area that is defined between the top and bottom layer sheets. The apparatus further comprises a moving device coupled to the frame and arranged to lower the frame and sheets onto a composite ply at a trimming location to pick up the composite ply with a suction force when a vacuum is drawn in the first plenum area to create the suction force through the openings of the bottom-layer sheet.


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