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:
Nov. 26, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 07, 2000
Raymond J. Meilunas, Hampton Bays, NY (US);
Gregory P. Dillon, Commack, NY (US);
Jerrell A. Nardiello, Hicksville, NY (US);
Northrop Grumman Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
In one form of the present invention, a system for constructing a laminate ( ) is disclosed. The system comprises a ply feeder ( ) that sequentially stacks one or more plies ( ) to form a ply stack ( ). A computer ( ) directs a laser ( ) to cut each ply ( ) to a desired shape after becoming part of the ply stack ( ). The ply stack ( ) is then placed on a reconfigurable tool ( ). An applied pressure compresses the ply stack ( ) against the reconfigurable tool ( ) while an actuator ( ) subsequently reconfigures the reconfigurable tool pins ( ) to a predetermined shape. In a more particular embodiment, a composites forming process is used, such as diaphragm forming, to compress the ply stack ( ) before the reconfigurable tool pins ( ) are reconfigured. In another particular embodiment, the reconfigurable tool pins ( ) are first reconfigured then a vacuum diaphragm forming process is utilized to compress the ply stack ( ) against the reconfigurable tool ( ).