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:
Sep. 22, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 15, 1995
Alan Derek Collier, Balderstone, GB;
Stephen Harold Johnston, Balderstone, GB;
John Eastham, Balderstone, GB;
British Aerospace PLC, Farmborough, GB;
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of making a frame, particularly for the aircraft industry, having a central member (34) and one or more cantilever ribs (32); such a frame can be made by forging or machining but these are time-consuming and expensive. According to the present invention such frames are made by diffusion bonding and superplastic forming techniques, whereby a pack of sheets are bonded together except in certain areas. Gas is injected into those areas to inflate the pack superplastically to form one or more closed cells (16). The top of the cells is then machined off along line 23, while the side walls of the cells are retained, to provide a frame having cantilever ribs (32).