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. 08, 2016
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2012
Applicant:
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Inventor:
Brian Gregory Robins, Renton, WA (US);
Assignee:
THE BOEING COMPANY, Chicago, IL (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B29C 33/38 (2006.01); B29C 33/50 (2006.01); B29C 37/00 (2006.01); B29L 31/00 (2006.01); B29C 33/48 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B29C 33/3842 (2013.01); B29C 33/505 (2013.01); B29C 33/485 (2013.01); B29L 2031/757 (2013.01);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for forming a tool is provided. A number of members comprised of a thermoplastic material is positioned within a hollow portion of a structure. The tool is formed within the hollow portion of the structure with the number of members positioned within the hollow portion of the structure. Heat is applied within a selected range to the number of members to reduce a size of each of the number of members. The number of members is removed from the tool such that the tool is left with a number of voids.