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US 8,409,487 B2Granted
Processes and systems for manufacturing spars and other hollow structures
AssigneeFranklin D. Carson
InventorPeter G. C. Dixon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Processes for manufacturing hollow structures such as spars for helicopter rotor blades, fixed wings for aircraft, and other aerostructures can include the provision of a path for gases to exit the material from which the spar is formed as the material is heated and cured, to help eliminate voids within the material caused by the presence of such gases.
Claims14
A process for forming a hollow structure from a pre-form, comprising:
- providing a breather;
- positioning the breather between the pre-form and an inflatable bladder;
- providing a pressure relief valve in fluid communication with the breather;
- placing the pre-form, the bladder, and the breather in a mold;
- inflating the bladder so that the bladder exerts a pressure on the pre-form;
- heating the pre-form to cause at least a portion of the material from which the pre-form is formed to become molten and to assume a state of fluid communication with the breather;
- and
- curing the molten material;
- wherein the breather and the pressure relief valve are configured to provide a path for resin and gases to exit the molten material and reach the ambient environment around the mold in response to a pressure differential between the ambient environment around the mold and the resin and gases while the molten material is being heated and cured.
6 more elements
A process for manufacturing a hollow structure, comprising:
- placing a pre-form in a mold;
- providing a breather;
- positioning the breather between the pre-form and an inflatable bladder;
- providing a pressure relief valve in fluid communication with the breather;
- heating the pre-form to cause at least a portion of the material form which the pre-form is formed to become molten resin;
- subjecting an interior surface of the pre-form to a pressure to urge an exterior surface of the pre-form into an adjacent surface of the mold;
- and
- curing at least a portion of the material from which the pre-form is formed;
- wherein the breather and the pressure relief valve are configured to provide a path for gases and the molten resin to exit the material from which the pre-form is formed and the mold, in response to a pressure differential between an ambient environment around the mold and the gases and molten resin, while the material from which the pre-form is formed is being cured.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.