Cuff-blade attachment bushing removal
AssigneeSikorsky Aircraft Corporation
InventorsScott O. Smith, Sven R. Lofstrom, Philip Petering
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cuff-blade attachment bushing removal tool system includes an alignment plate comprising alignment holes defined through the alignment plate in a pattern of a plurality of bushing holes of a blade root, a bladder plate connected to the alignment plate, and a bladder positioned on the bladder plate such that a gap is formed between the bladder and the alignment plate to receive a blade root to align the alignment holes and the bushing holes of the blade root, wherein the bladder is transitionable between an uninflated position where the blade root can be inserted into the gap and an inflated position where the blade root is clamped between the bladder and the alignment plate.
Claims6
A method for removing a cuff-blade attachment bushing from within one or more of a plurality of bushing holes defined in a blade, comprising:
- uniformly heating the bushing with a heating rod for a predetermined period of time;
- and
- after heating, working the bushing to loosen an adhesive bond between the bushing and its respective bushing hole to remove the bushing from its respective bushing hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.