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US 10,502,254 B2Granted
Integral nut-retaining cradle for a nut plate assembly and methods of manufacturing using additive manufacturing
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsPaul Dufour, Michael Hand, Matthew Molitor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Additively manufactured parts are disclosed comprising an integral additively manufactured nut plate cradle, and methods of their manufacture and use in part and component installation and to facilitate joining parts and components to larger structures.
Claims20
An additively manufactured part comprising:
- an additively manufactured nut-retaining cradle integral with the additive manufactured part, said integral nut-retaining cradle comprising an integral cradle bed and at least one integral cradle wall, said integral cradle wall extending substantially perpendicularly from the integral cradle bed and said integral cradle wall extending from the integral cradle bed to a predetermined distance;
- and
- wherein the integral cradle wall comprises at least one integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature, said integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature configured to receive a retainer, said retainer configured to engage the integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature, said integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature further configured to establish a restricted range of movement for a nut retained in the nut-retaining cradle along at least one axis.
An additively manufactured part comprising:
- an additively manufactured nut-retaining cradle integral with the additive manufactured part, said integral nut-retaining cradle comprising an integral cradle bed and at least one integral cradle wall, said integral cradle wall extending substantially perpendicularly from the integral cradle bed and said integral cradle wall extending from the integral cradle bed to a predetermined distance;
- and
- wherein the integral cradle wall comprises at least one integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature, said integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature configured to receive a retainer, said retainer configured to engage the integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature, said integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature further configured to establish a restricted range of movement for a nut retained in the nut-retaining cradle along at least one axis;
- wherein the vehicle is selected from the group consisting of:
- a manned terrestrial vehicle;
- an unmanned terrestrial vehicle;
- a manned aircraft;
- an unmanned aircraft;
- a manned rotorcraft;
- an unmanned rotorcraft;
- a manned spacecraft;
- an unmanned spacecraft;
- a manned surface water borne vehicle;
- an unmanned surface water borne vehicle;
- a manned sub-surface water borne vehicle;
- an unmanned sub-surface water borne vehicle;
- a satellite;
- a rocket;
- a missile;
- and combinations thereof.
17 more elements
A method of manufacturing a part, the method comprising:
- using an additive manufacturing process to construct a part;
- and
- forming a nut-retaining cradle for a nut plate assembly, said nut-retaining cradle additively manufactured integrally with the part and comprising a cradle bed and at least one integral cradle wall that includes at least one integral cradle wall nut-retaining feature configured to receive a retainer and further configured to establish a restricted range of movement for a nut retained in the cradle bed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.