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US 8,556,619 B2Granted
Composite fabrication apparatus
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsMarc R. Matsen, Kim E. Peterson, William Dykstra
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A composite fabrication apparatus which may include a first tooling die and a second tooling die movable with respect to each other; a thermal control system having induction coils disposed in thermal contact with the first tooling die and the second tooling die; a first die susceptor provided on the first tooling die and a second die susceptor provided on the second tooling die and connected to the induction coils; and a cooling system disposed in thermal contact with the first tooling die and the second tooling die. A composite fabrication method is also disclosed.
Claims19
A composite fabrication apparatus, comprising:
- a first tooling die and a second tooling die movable with respect to each other, the first tooling die and the second tooling die comprising a plurality of stacked metal sheets, a plurality of air gaps defined between adjacent stacked metal sheets;
- a first contoured surface provided on said first tooling die and a second contoured surface provided on said second tooling die, the first contoured surface and the second contoured surface configured to impart a curved contour to a composite material;
- a first set of stacked metal sheets positioned with a varying alignment so as to configure the first contoured surface, and a second set of stacked metal sheets positioned with a varying alignment so as to configure the second contoured surface;
- a thermal control system having induction coils disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die;
- and
- a cooling system disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die, the cooling system comprising a first conduit having selected distribution in the first set of stacked metal sheets of the first tooling die and a second conduit having selected distribution in the second set of contoured stacked metal sheets of the second tooling die, and the cooling system configured such that the first conduit provides a cooling medium to the first set of stacked metal sheets and the second conduit provides the cooling medium to the second set of stacked metal plates such that the cooling medium passes through the air gaps between each of the first set of stacked metal sheets and the second set of stacked metal sheets.
3 more elements
A composite fabrication apparatus, comprising:
- a first tooling die and a second tooling die movable with respect to each other so as to mold a composite material;
- wherein each of said first tooling die and said second tooling die comprises a plurality of stacked metal sheets, a plurality of air gaps between said plurality of stacked metal sheets, and a plurality of thermal expansion slots in each of said plurality of stacked metal sheets;
- a first contoured surface provided on said first tooling die and a second contoured surface provided on said second tooling die, the first contoured surface and the second contoured surface configured to impart a curved contour to the composite material, a first set of stacked metal sheets of varying length aligned so as to configure the first contoured surface, and a second set of stacked metal sheets of varying length aligned so as to configure the second contoured surface;
- an electrically and thermally insulative coating provided on each of said first contoured surface of said first tooling die and said second contoured surface of said second tooling die;
- a thermal control system having induction coils disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die, the thermal control system configured to apply heat to the composite material;
- a first die susceptor provided on said first contoured surface of said first tooling die and a second die susceptor provided on said second contoured surface of said second tooling die, the first die susceptor generally conforming to the first contoured surface and the second die susceptor generally conforming to the second contoured surface;
- and
- a cooling system having a plurality of coolant conduits disposed in thermal contact with said first tooling die and said second tooling die, the cooling system comprising a first conduit provided in the first set of stacked metal plates of the first tooling die and a second conduit provided in the second set of contoured stacked metal plates of the second tooling die, and the cooling system configured such that the first conduit provides a cooling medium to the first set of stacked plates and the second conduit provides a cooling medium to the second set of stacked plates, such that the cooling medium passes through the air gaps between the stacked plates in each of the first set of stacked plates and the second set of stacked plates in order to cool the composite material.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.