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:
Aug. 08, 2017
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2014
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Steven M. Gunther, O'Fallon, IL (US);
Steven J. Burpo, St. Louis, MO (US);
THE BOEING COMPANY, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A collapsible, coiled mandrel, for use in co-curing of a hollow carbon-epoxy structure such as a stringer in aircraft construction, is made of a fiber stiffened with doping material that maintains an outer coil shape resistant to external compression forces when used as a mandrel during lay-up and curing, and is collapsible when an end of the fiber is pulled along its longitudinal axis so that it can be easily removed after curing and discarded. A method of fabricating a collapsible, coiled mandrel employs a mold with a shaped recess for forming a coil with a fiber wetted with a doping material fed in by an applicator, and rotating the applicator while backing it out to form the coil in the mold. In an alternative embodiment, a collapsible, coiled mandrel may be formed of a metal coil having a mandrel-shaped cross section and sleeved in a protective liner.