Adaptive positive feed drilling system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsAlan R. Merkley, Ronald W. Outous
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for a drilling operation. In one advantageous embodiment, the drilling operation includes a motor, a rotary sensor, and a controller connected to the rotary sensor. The rotary sensor may be capable of generating a signal in response to rotary movement of the drill motor. The controller may be capable of monitoring a speed of the air motor from the signal generated by the rotary sensor and may be capable of identifying a change from a current layer in a stackup to a new layer in the stackup using the signal.
Claims9
A drilling apparatus comprising:
- a rotary sensor, wherein the rotary sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to rotary movement of a spindle connected to a motor;
- and
- a controller connected to the rotary sensor;
- wherein the controller is configured to monitor a speed of the motor from the signal generated by the rotary sensor and is configured to identify a change from a current layer in a stackup to a new layer in the stackup using the signal;
- and
- wherein the controller is further configured to identify a difference between a current error and an average error and is configured to identify a change from the current layer in the stackup to the new layer in the stackup based on the difference.
A drilling apparatus for drilling a stackup, the drilling apparatus comprising:
- an air motor;
- an air supply unit connected to the air motor, wherein the air supply unit is configured to power the air motor;
- a rotary sensor comprising a hall effect transistor and a set of magnets wherein the rotary sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to a rotary movement of a drill motor and is configured to detect the rotary movement in revolutions per minute;
- a proportional flow valve located in the air supply unit and connected to a controller;
- a proportional-integral-derivative controller connected to the rotary sensor and the proportional flow valve, wherein the proportional-integral-derivative controller is configured to monitor a speed of the air motor from the signal generated by the rotary sensor, identify an error between an actual speed of the air motor and a desired speed of the air motor, identify a change from a current layer in a stackup to a new layer in the stackup based on the error and a base value for the error, and control the proportional flow valve in the air supply unit to change the actual speed towards the desired speed;
- a spindle connected to the air motor;
- a drill bit connected to the spindle;
- and
- a lubrication unit configured to supply lubrication to the drill bit and configured to be controlled by the proportional-integral-derivative controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.