US 2010/0278586 A1Published application

Structural connecting rod made of a composite and process for producing such a connecting rod

AssigneesEuropean Aeronautic Defence and Space Company Eads France, Composite Atlantic Limited

InventorsFrédérick Cavaliere, Maurice Guitton, Olivier Blanc, Claude Baril

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Abstract

A connecting rod is composed of two or more assembled shells made of a composite, open over the entire length of the connecting rod. The shells incorporate clevis joints for introducing stress at each of their ends. The shells are produced separately then assembled together to form a sealed section. Each shell is made from a material preimpregnated with long fibres. The production of each shell is simplified due to the overall shape of the shell as a simple curve, thus a shell may be produced industrially, for example, by thermoforming a flat composite preform. The two shells are assembled by simultaneous polymerization of the shells, by bonding, by welding, by riveting or any other assembly process or combination of assembly processes that are compatible with one another. The structural composite connecting rod obtained has very good mechanical properties, especially in compression, with a simple and economic production process.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A structural connecting rod of elongate form along an axis, comprising a hollow central zone, called body, of sealed straight section relative to the axis, produced mainly with a composite comprising fibers held in a hardened resin, between a first end, comprising first means of fixing the connecting rod to a structure, and a second end, comprising second means for fixing the connecting rod to a structure, wherein said structural connecting rod comprises, at least for a structural portion of the body, at least two assembled shells, and in which each shell:

extends in the direction of the axis over a length at least equal to a length of the body of the connecting rod;
has a straight section relative to the open axis determining a concave internal face and a convex external face, on a face opposite to the concave internal face;
comprises a first bearing surface, on one face of the shell, at the level of a first extension of an edge of the shell;
comprises a second bearing surface, on one face of the shell, at the level of a second extension of an edge of the shell, the second extension being opposite to the first extension over a straight section of the shell;
and in which each shell is assembled with an adjacent shell so that the first bearing surface of shell is bearing on the second bearing surface of the adjacent shell, the two or more assembled shells forming the body of the connecting rod and creating a sealed straight section.

2 more elements

A method of producing a structural connecting rod of elongate form along an axis, comprising a hollow central zone, called body, of sealed straight section relative to the axis, produced mainly with a composite comprising fibers held in a hardened resin, between a first end, comprising first means of fixing the connecting rod to a structure, and a second end, comprising second means of fixing the connecting rod to a structure, wherein said method comprises a step for producing at least two shells:

having an extension in the direction of the axis over a length at least equal to a length of the body of the connecting rod;
presenting a straight section relative to the open axis determining a concave internal face and a convex external face, on a face opposite to the concave internal face;
comprising a first bearing surface, on one face of the shell, at the level of the first extension of an edge of the shell;
comprising a second bearing surface, on one face of the shell, at the level of a second extension of an edge of the shell, the second extension being opposite to the first extension over a straight section of the shell;
and in that said method comprises a step for assembling at least two shells, a shell being assembled with an adjacent shell so that its first bearing surface is bearing on the second bearing surface of the adjacent shell, the two or more assembled shells forming the body of the connecting rod and creating a sealed straight section.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/666,517Filed 27 Jun 2008
Priority: FR 07 0465628 Jun 2007
Published: 4 Nov 2010
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification31 codes

B29C 65/48
Joining or sealing of preformed parts , e.g. welding of plastics materials; Apparatus therefor: using adhesives , i.e. using supplementary joining…
B29C 37/0085
Mechanical anchoring: by means of openings in the layers
B29C 65/56
Joining or sealing of preformed parts , e.g. welding of plastics materials; Apparatus therefor: using mechanical means or mechanical connections,…
B29C 66/1122
Single lapped joints: single lap to lap joints, i.e. overlap joints