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US 12,679,050 B2Granted
Vacuum bag sealing system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorMichael Kenneth-Que Louie
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vacuum bag sealing system comprises a bagging sheet comprising a sealing surface; a first interlocking strip connected to the sealing surface of the bagging sheet and forming a continuous perimeter connected to the sealing surface; a second interlocking strip between the first interlocking strip and the sealing surface of the bagging sheet in one portion of the perimeter, the second interlocking strip forming a continuous bladder perimeter.
Claims20
A vacuum bag sealing system comprising:
- a bagging sheet comprising a sealing surface;
- a first interlocking strip connected to the sealing surface of the bagging sheet;
- a material coupled to a portion of the sealing surface of the bagging sheet, the material defining an inner most surface;
- a second interlocking strip coupled to the inner most surface, the second interlocking strip forming a continuous bladder perimeter inside the material;
- a bladder configured to provide compression to a composite material during curing;
- and
- a bladder interlocking strip connected to an outer surface of the bladder and surrounding a circumference of the bladder, the bladder interlocking strip and the second interlocking strip configured to join the bagging sheet and the bladder along an entirety of the circumference of the bladder to seal the bagging sheet against the bladder.
4 more elements
A method for vacuum bag sealing a composite part comprising:
- releasably joining a bagging sheet to a forming tool;
- and
- releasably joining the bagging sheet to a bladder configured to provide compression to a composite material during curing,
- wherein a first interlocking strip is connected to a sealing surface of the bagging sheet,
- wherein a material is coupled to a portion of the sealing surface of the bagging sheet, the material defining an inner most surface,
- wherein a second interlocking strip is coupled to the inner most surface, the second interlocking strip forms a continuous bladder perimeter inside the material, and
- wherein releasably joining the bagging sheet to the bladder comprises releasably joining the second interlocking strip connected to the sealing surface of the bagging sheet to a bladder interlocking strip connected to an outer surface of the bladder and surrounding a circumference of the bladder to join the bagging sheet and the bladder along an entirety of the circumference of the bladder to seal the bagging sheet to the bladder.
4 more elements
A method for vacuum bag sealing a composite part comprising:
- sealing a bagging sheet to a forming tool using interlocking strips;
- sealing the bagging sheet to a bladder using interlocking strips, the bladder configured to provide compression to a composite material during curing;
- and
- pulling a vacuum beneath the bagging sheet after sealing the bagging sheet to the forming tool and sealing the bagging sheet to the bladder,
- wherein a first interlocking strip of the interlocking strips is connected to a sealing surface of the bagging sheet,
- wherein a material is coupled to a portion of the sealing surface of the bagging sheet, the material defining an inner most surface,
- wherein a second interlocking strip of the interlocking strips is coupled to the inner most surface, the second interlocking strip forms a continuous bladder perimeter inside the material, and
- wherein sealing the bagging sheet to the bladder comprises releasably joining the second interlocking strip of the bagging sheet to a bladder interlocking strip connected to an outer surface of the bladder and surrounding a circumference of the bladder, the bladder interlocking strip and the second interlocking strip configured to join the bagging sheet and the bladder along an entirety of the circumference of the bladder to seal the bagging sheet to the bladder, the second interlocking strip positioned between the first interlocking strip and the sealing surface of the bagging sheet.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.