Joining composite fuselage sections along window belts
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsBernhard Dopker, Wallace Chi-Hua Chan, Henri Michael Ostroff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fuselage having a longitudinal window belt has a composite outer skin including upper and lower composite skin sections. The skin includes at least one window opening located at the window belt. The upper and lower skin sections are joined together by a longitudinal splice joint located at the window belt.
Claims45
A fuselage, comprising:
- a composite skin including upper and lower composite skin sections;
- a window belt in the composite skin, the window belt including at least one window opening in the composite skin;
- and
- a longitudinal splice joint along the window belt joining the upper and lower skins sections together at the window belt.
A fuselage barrel assembly, comprising:
- upper and lower fuselage barrel halves respectively including upper and lower composite skin sections forming a fuselage skin;
- window belts in the composite skin respectively on each side of the upper and lower fuselage barrel halves, the composite skin having an increased thickness within the window belts;
- window openings in the fuselage skin along each of the window belts;
- and
- splice joints between joining the upper and lower skin sections respectively extending longitudinally along at the window belts.
A method of making a fuselage barrel assembly having windows located along longitudinal window belts, comprising:
- fabricating an upper barrel half having an upper composite skin;
- fabricating a lower barrel half having a lower composite skin;
- and
- joining the upper and lower barrel halves, including splicing the upper and lower composite skins together along at the window belts.
A method of making a fuselage barrel having windows located along longitudinal window belts, comprising:
- fabricating a laminated composite fuselage skin, including fabricating upper and lower composite skin sections and forming ply pad-ups along edges of the upper and lower skin sections to increase the thickness of the fuselage skin along the window belts;
- and
- assembling the upper and lower composite skin sections together, including forming longitudinal splice joints between the upper and lower skin sections at section within the ply pad-ups.
A method of making a fuselage barrel assembly having a window belt, comprising:
- fabricating an upper barrel half having an upper composite skin;
- fabricating a lower barrel half having a lower composite skin;
- placing each of the upper and lower barrel halves in a splice assembly feature, including co-locating edges of the upper and lower skins;
- and
- splicing together the edges of the upper and lower skins at the window belt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.