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:
May. 21, 2024
Filed:
Jul. 31, 2020
Spirit Aerosystems, Inc., Wichita, KS (US);
Michael Arthur Champa, Clearwater, KS (US);
Matthew J. Nelson, Wichita, KS (US);
Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., Wichita, KS (US);
Abstract
A system including mold pieces coupled together with breakaway bolts or other fasteners for facilitating the fabrication of composite parts for, e.g., aerospace vehicles. First and second mold pieces are coupled together to form a mold within which the composite part is fabricated from a composite material. A coefficient of thermal expansion of the mold pieces is higher than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite part. One or more breakaway fasteners couple together the mold pieces while the mold pieces and the composite material are heated, and then purposefully break and thereby decouple the mold pieces and release the composite part when the mold pieces are cooled. The fasteners may be constructed from polytetrafluoroethylene, may include a structural weakness to ensure breakage, may break into two or more pieces when under a tension or a sheering force, or may include threads that sheer when under a tension force.