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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 01, 2023
Filed:
Nov. 18, 2022
Spirit Aerosystems, Inc., Wichita, KS (US);
Mark Anthony Wadsworth, Wichita, KS (US);
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., Wichita, KS (US);
Abstract
A thermoplastic surfacer for providing lightning strike protection to a composite component of an aircraft, methods of manufacturing the surfacer, and methods of applying the surfacer to a composite part. The thermoplastic surfacer includes a broadgood having a thermoplastic resin, one or more fillers embedded into the broadgood, and a lightning strike protection mesh or foil embedded into the broadgood. When applying the surfacer to a composite part of an aircraft, the method includes draping the surfacer on an at least partially unconsolidated composite part, consolidating the at least partially unconsolidated composite part by heating the part to a temperature at or above a melt temperature of a resins used in the part and in the surfacer, and filling at least one surface defect in the consolidated part using the thermoplastic polymer resin and milled fibers provided in the thermoplastic surfacer.