Digitally designed shims for joining parts of an assembly
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsTheodore M. Boyl-Davis, Darrell D. Jones, Tracy E. Zimmerman
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Abstract
A method assembling parts uses a shim for filling a void between interfacing part surfaces. The surface profile of each of the part surfaces is determined and a digital volume is generated that substantially matches the void. A three dimensional digital representation of the shim is generated by mapping the part surface profiles onto the digital volume. The shim is fabricated using the three dimensional representation of the shim.
Claims22
A method of producing a shim for filling a void between two parts of an assembly, comprising:
- acquiring a set of digital data representing a surface of each of the parts;
- assembling the parts;
- determining the spatial relationship between the assembled parts;
- and
- fabricating a shim using the digital dataset and the determined spatial relationship between the parts.
A method of producing a shim for filling a void between parts of an assembly, comprising:
- assembling parts having mating surfaces with at least one gap between the parts;
- acquiring digital data representative of the mating surfaces;
- determining a relationship between the mating surfaces of the parts as assembled;
- and
- producing a shim substantially matching a shape of the gap using the digital data and the determined relationship between the mating surfaces.
A method of producing a shim for filling a void between parts of an assembly, comprising:
- determining surface profiles of part surfaces of a set of unassembled parts;
- generating a digital volume that substantially matches a gap between the part surfaces as assembled;
- generating a three-dimensional digital representation of a shim by mapping the surface profiles onto the digital volume;
- and
- fabricating a shim using the three-dimensional representation of the shim.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.