Fastener apparatus and method of fastening non-metallic structures
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorSteven G. Keener
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fastener for fastening and joining sections of composite material together is disclosed comprising a substantially cylindrical core component and substantially cylindrical hollow sleeve component, one or both of which are pre-coated with a curable organic coating, and methods of fastening aircraft components together using such fasteners.
Claims41
A two-piece fastener for non-destructively fastening materials, the fastener comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter and length, said component pre-coated with a curable organic coating;
- and
- a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an inner diameter greater than the core segment diameter.
A two-piece fastener for non-destructively fastening materials, the fastener comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter and length, said component pre-coated with a curable organic coating;
- and
- a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an inner diameter greater than the core segment diameter, said sleeve component having a wall thickness of from about 0.005 inch to about 0.020 inch.
A method for fastening aircraft components comprising the steps of:
- providing a plurality of composite sections to be fastened, each section having an opening having a first diameter;
- aligning the sections such that the openings align;
- inserting a fastener into the opening, the fastener comprising a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an outer diameter approximately equal to the first diameter of the opening and an inner diameter, and a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter approximately equal to the inner diameter of the sleeve component, said core component coated with a curable organic coating;
- deforming the core component within the sleeve component to cause core material to flow substantially uniformly in a substantially radially-outward direction against the sleeve component;
- and
- deforming the sleeve component substantially uniformly in a substantially radially-outward direction against the composite material.
An aircraft component fastened using two-piece fasteners for non-destructively fastening materials, the fasteners comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter and length, said core component having a diameter and length, said core component pre-coated with a curable organic coating;
- and
- a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an inner diameter greater than the core segment diameter.
An aircraft comprising two-piece fasteners for non-destructively fastening materials, the fasteners comprising:
- a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter and length, said core component having a diameter and length, said core component pre-coated with a curable organic coating;
- and
- a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an inner diameter greater than the core segment diameter.
A fastened component comprising two-piece fasteners for non-destructively fastening materials, the fasteners comprising;
- a substantially cylindrical core component having a diameter and length, said core component having a diameter and length, said core component pre-coated with a curable organic coating;
- and
- a substantially cylindrical sleeve component having an inner diameter greater than the core segment diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.