초록 ▼

A method and apparatus for manufacturing wings includes a fixture that holds wing panels for drilling and edge trimming by accurate numerically controlled machine tools using original numerical part definition records, utilizing spatial relationships between key features of detail parts or subassemb

A method and apparatus for manufacturing wings includes a fixture that holds wing panels for drilling and edge trimming by accurate numerically controlled machine tools using original numerical part definition records, utilizing spatial relationships between key features of detail parts or subassemblies as represented by coordination features machined into the parts and subassemblies, thereby making the parts and subassemblies intrinsically determinant of the dimensions and contour of the wing. Spars are attached to the wing panel using the coordination holes to locate the spars accurately on the panel in accordance with the original engineering design, and in-spar ribs are attached to rib posts on the spar using accurately drilled coordination holes in the ends of the rib and in the rib post. The wing contour is determined by the configuration of the spars and ribs rather than by any conventional hard tooling which determines the wing contour in conventional processes.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of making an airplane wing, comprising: fastening stringers to a first wing skin panel and a second wing skin panel;after fastening stringers to the first wing skin panel and the second wing skin panel, normalizing the position of each wing skin panel to determine a normalized position t

1. A method of making an airplane wing, comprising: fastening stringers to a first wing skin panel and a second wing skin panel;after fastening stringers to the first wing skin panel and the second wing skin panel, normalizing the position of each wing skin panel to determine a normalized position that accounts for changes to a size of each wing skin panel during fastening;trimming each wing skin panel using the normalized position, the trimming creating an upper wing panel and a lower wing panel;supporting two airplane wing spars in chordwise spaced relationship on a supporting structure;positioning a plurality of in-spar ribs between said spars by aligning coordination holes in opposite ends of said in spar ribs with corresponding coordination holes in rib posts attached to said spars;connecting said ribs to said rib posts to produce a wing box frame;probing the two airplane wing spars to obtain accurate position information for the airplane wing spars with respect to the ribs on the supporting structure;updating a part program in a machine tool controller with the accurate position information of said spars on said supporting structure, said part program incorporating data from a digital wing product definition containing dimension and positioning information of said wing spars on said supporting structure;machining a coordination feature on one of the two airplane wing spars and the plurality of in-spar ribs to produce machined coordination features based on the updated position information; andafter producing the wing box frame, positioning the upper and lower wing panels on said wing box frame at certain positions by registering coordination features on said wing panels with corresponding machined coordination features on said wing box frame. 2. The method of making an airplane wing as defined in claim 1, further comprising: machining said corresponding coordination features on said wingbox frame with a machine tool programmed with said updated part program, said part program also incorporating data from said digital wing product definition containing dimension and positioning information of said wing panels relative to said wing spars and ribs, and containing location information of said corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame;whereby registration of said coordination features on said wing panels with corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame indexes said wing panels on said wingbox frame to said certain positions as specified in said digital wing product definition. 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising fastening said wing panels to said spars and ribs by drilling fastener holes through said wing panels and said spars and ribs, inserting fasteners through said fastener holes, and securing said fasteners in said fastener holes. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of probing further comprises probing said two airplane wing spars on said supporting structure to establish accurate position information of said wing spars on said supporting structure. 5. The method of making an airplane wing as defined in claim 1, wherein positioning said plurality of in-spar ribs between said spars by aligning coordination holes in opposite ends of said ribs with corresponding coordination holes in rib posts attached to said spars comprises: moving a portion of said supporting structure carrying one of said spars away from another portion of said supporting structure carrying the other spar;drilling said corresponding coordination holes in said rib post on said other spar with a machine tool operated under control of a machine tool controller programmed with data from a digital wing product definition established and maintained as an ultimate engineering authority for said wing;transporting said ribs to positions between said spars and temporarily supporting said ribs between said spars;aligning said coordination holes in one end of said ribs with said corresponding coordination holes in said rib posts to position said ribs at a position specified in said digital wing product definition˜andfastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein fastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts comprises drilling full-size fastener holes aligned with said coordination holes and said corresponding coordination holes through said ribs and said rib posts and securing fasteners in said full-size holes. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein fastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts further comprises reaming said full-size fastener holes. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of updating, further comprises updating a part program in a machine-tool controller with accurate position information of said wing spars on said supporting structure, said part program incorporating data from a digital wing product definition containing positioning information of said wing spars on said supporting structure. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital wing product definition further comprises dimension and positioning information of an upper wing panel and a lower wing panel, including coordination features thereof, relative to said wing spars and in-spar ribs. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the digital wing product definition further comprises location information of corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame. 11. A method of making an airplane wing, comprising: drilling a first set of coordination holes and fastener holes on a first wing skin plank and a second wing skin plank positioned on a header;probing the coordination holes to determine an actual position of each wing skin plank on the header and to normalize a digital product definition of each wing skin plank;drilling a second set of coordination holes in the first wing skin plank and the second wing skin plank, the second set of coordination holes common to a number of horizontal stringers;drilling a third set of coordination holes in the number of horizontal stringers;fastening the horizontal stringers to the first wing skin plank and the second wing skin plank;after fastening stringers to each wing skin plank, probing the second set of coordination holes and the third set of coordination holes to normalize the position of each wing skin plank to determine a normalized position that accounts for changes to a size of each wing skin plank during fastening;trimming each wing skin plank using the normalized position, the trimming creating an upper wing panel and a lower wing panel;supporting two airplane wing spars in a chordwise spaced relationship on a supporting structure;positioning a plurality of in-spar ribs between said wing spars by aligning coordination holes in opposite ends of said in-spar ribs with corresponding coordination holes in spar-rib posts attached to said wing spars;connecting said in-spar ribs to said spar-rib posts to produce a wingbox frame;probing said two airplane wing spars on said supporting structure to establish accurate position information of said wing spars on said supporting structure;updating a part program in a machine-tool controller with said accurate position information of said wing spars on said supporting structure, said part program incorporating data from a digital wing product definition containing positioning information of said wing spars on said supporting structure, dimension and positioning information of the upper wing panel and the lower wing panel, including coordination features thereof, relative to said wing spars and in-spar ribs, and location information of corresponding coordination features on said wingbox frame;machining said corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame with a machine tool programmed with said updated part program; andpositioning said upper and lower wing panels on said wingbox frame at certain positions by registering the coordination features on said wing panels with the corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame, whereby registration of said coordination features on said wing panels with corresponding coordination features on said wing box frame indexes said wing panels on said wing box frame to said certain positions as specified in said digital wing product definition. 12. The method of making an airplane wing in claim 11, wherein positioning said plurality of in-spar ribs between said spars further comprises: aligning coordination holes in opposite ends of said ribs with corresponding coordination holes in rib posts attached to said spars;moving a portion of said supporting structure carrying one of said spars away from another portion of said supporting structure carrying the other spar;drilling said corresponding coordination holes in said rib post on said other spar with a machine tool operated under control of a machine tool controller programmed with data from a digital wing product definition established and maintained as an ultimate engineering authority for said wing;transporting said ribs to positions between said spars and temporarily supporting said ribs between said spars;aligning said coordination holes in one end of said ribs with said corresponding coordination holes in said rib posts to position said ribs at a position specified in said digital wing product definition; andfastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein fastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts comprises drilling full-size fastener holes aligned with said coordination holes and said corresponding coordination holes through said ribs and said rib posts and securing fasteners in said full-size holes. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein fastening said one end of said ribs to said rib posts further comprises reaming said full-size fastener holes.