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:
Jul. 10, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 07, 1999
Edward Litwinski, Mission Viejo, CA (US);
Leo Delangis, Lomita, CA (US);
Juan Valdez, South Gate, CA (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
A back-up tooling apparatus for supporting the inner side of a hollow cylindrical workpiece during a circumferential friction stir weld includes a plurality of arcuate shoes configured to mate end-to-end to form a substantially continuous ring, and an expandable support for supporting the shoes and operable to retract and expand the shoes inward and outward. The expandable support includes at least one rotatable feed screw and central support members mounted on the feed screw or screws and pivotally connected to the shoes by support arms. The central support members are moved axially toward or away from each other for expanding or retracting the shoes. The shoes in one embodiment overlap in the circumferential direction, and a seal material is disposed between mating end faces of adjacent shoes. A restraining device is provided for clamping about the workpiece to reduce thermal expansion thereof. Cable-and-winch and geared drive devices are provided for rotatably driving the workpiece from its outer surface.