Hybrid Tape for Robotic Transmission
AssigneeBell Helicopter Textron Inc.
InventorTroy C. Schank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The hybrid tape includes an outer member that is formed with a material having desirable tensile qualities, such that the outer member is tailored to exhibit superior fatigue performance in tension induced from bending. The hybrid tape further includes an inner member that is formed with a material having desirable compression qualities, such that the inner member is tailored to exhibit superior fatigue performance in compression induced from bending. The hybrid tape is configured such that the bend neutral axis is located between the inner material and the outer material, thereby insuring the outer material only experiences tension in bending while the inner material only experiences compression in bending.
Claims20
A hybrid tape for a transmission system, the hybrid tape comprising:
- an inner member having a first material suited to withstand compressive forces generated from a bending of the hybrid tape;
- an outer member having a second material suited to withstand tensile forces generated from a bending of the hybrid tape, the outer member being bonded to the inner member to form the hybrid tape;
- and
- wherein the outer member and inner member are each selectively tailored for a specified bending criteria so that the inner member is subjected to primarily compressive forces while the outer member is subjected to primarily tensile forces, when the hybrid tape endures bending associated with the specified bending criteria.
A robotic transmission system having a hybrid tape, the robotic transmission system comprising:
- a rotary drive element;
- a hybrid tape at least partially wrapped around the rotary drive element, the hybrid tape comprising:
- a first member being substantially formed of a first material;
- a second member being substantially formed of a second material, the second member being attached to the first member;
- wherein an exposed surface of the first member is in contact with the rotary drive element.
A method of manufacturing a hybrid tape, the method comprising:
- assembling an inner member on a tooled surface of a lower tool, the tooled surface having a concave contour, the inner member substantially conforming to the concave contour;
- assembling an outer member onto the inner member, the outer member having uncured composite material that substantially conforms to an upper surface of the inner member;
- curing the inner member and the outer member by applying heat, thereby creating a bond between the inner member and the outer member;
- cooling the inner member and the outer member, the thermal contraction of the inner member being greater than the outer member so as to cause the inner member and outer member to lay substantially flat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.