Wing box inspection
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsTimothy SANDERSON, David BRAWLEY
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of inspecting a wing box of an aircraft. The wing box includes at least one rib partitioning the wing box in to two bays and at least one stringer attached along an inner surface of the wing box, generally perpendicular to the rib, and extending through an aperture of the rib. The method includes: providing an inspection device on the stringer such that it is movable along the stringer and controlling the inspection device to pass along the stringer, including through the aperture between bays, to perform an inspection of the wing box.
Claims20
A method of inspecting a wing box of an aircraft, the wing box comprising at least one rib partitioning the wing box in to two bays and at least one stringer attached along an inner surface of the wing box and extending through an aperture of the rib, the method comprising:
- providing an inspection device on the stringer such that the inspection device is movable along the stringer;
- and
- controlling the inspection device to move along the stringer, including through the aperture between the two bays, to perform an inspection of the wing box.
A method to inspect a wing box of an aircraft, wherein the wing box includes a skin, a rib supporting the skin and partitioning the wing box into bays, and a stringer attached to an inner surface of the skin and extending through an opening in the rib, the method comprising:
- inserting an inspection device through the skin and into one of the bays;
- attaching the inspection device to the stringer;
- moving the inspection device along the stringer, wherein the movement includes passing the inspection device through the opening in the rib;
- and
- contemporaneously with the movement of the inspection device, inspecting the wing box by using the inspection device to collect information regarding structures in the wing box.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.