Gear cutting – milling – or planing – Milling – Randomly manipulated – work supported – or work following device
Patent
1998-08-13
2000-10-10
Howell, Daniel W.
Gear cutting, milling, or planing
Milling
Randomly manipulated, work supported, or work following device
408 76, 408 77, 409179, 409182, B23C 120
Patent
active
061294896
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to equipment for cutting a hole or cavity in a curved or flat wall element.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has previously been quite difficult, if at all possible, to make very precise and reliable repairs of damage to shell structures having a curved surface, especially in the field. This is the case when, for example, damage has occurred to a wing or a fuselage of an airplane. Due to the fact that the outer wall of the structural components of the airplane are often curved along a single axis and can be formed of composite material, special requirements are placed on the precision and geometry, not only in making a new larger hole or cavity about the damage, but also when making new disc-shaped pieces of material which must fit precisely into the cut out hole or cavity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention suggests equipment which makes possible cutting of a well-defined hole or cavity in a curved wall element, where the hole is of arbitrary configuration and a suitable joint arrangement, for example, a step joint with the desired geometry. The equipment according to the invention also makes possible creating a plurality of screw or rivet holes in a desired closely spaced hole distribution around wall damage. A corresponding hole distribution is created around a disc-shaped repair patch intended to overlap the damage, without the aid of special templates or drill bushings.
The invention includes a frame with devices mounted thereon for fixing the frame to the wall element; first rectilinear, parallel guide devices fixed in the frame for guiding a respective support device of a carriage displaceably mounted in the frame in a first linear direction, the support devices having slide or roller elements intended to be in contact with the surface of the wall element and facilitating the movement of the carriage thereon in the first linear direction; second rectilinear, parallel guide devices connecting respective support devices to each other; a slide which is displaceably mounted on the second guide devices in a second linear direction substantially perpendicular to the first linear direction, the slide being disposed to carry a tool unit for cutting a hole or cavity in the wall element; a guide slide which is displaceably mounted on cooperating first guide devices and which is joined to a respective support device in such a manner that the support device is, firstly, pivotally mounted relative to the guide slide about a pivot axis parallel to the second guide devices, and, secondly, is displaceably mounted relative to the guide slide in a direction normal to the surface of the wall element against which the slide or roller elements of the support devices are intended to be in contact; and devices arranged to bias each support device with its slide or roller element against the surface of the wall element. Such an arrangement makes it possible to anchor the frame in such a manner over the damage to the wall element that the carriage and the tool unit carried thereon can be made to follow the curvature of the wall element with the operating axis of the tool unit always oriented perpendicular to the surface of the curved wall element.
In order to facilitate guiding and limiting the movement of the tool unit over the wall element, the frame is suitably arranged to support a template having a cam surface with a profile corresponding to the perimeter of the hole or cavity which is to be cut into the wall element. The slide, or the tool unit carried thereon, has a component in the form of a cam follower designed to move in contact with the cam surface.
The equipment is preferably so dimensioned and designed so as to be portable and suitable for use in the field. The carriage and the slide with the tool unit mounted thereon can thus be manually operated for cutting the hole or cavity, with the cam follower in contact with the cam surface of the template. By virtue of the fact that the frame can be fixed
REFERENCES:
patent: 2546957 (1951-03-01), Ray
patent: 4281694 (1981-08-01), Gorman
patent: 4383870 (1983-05-01), Creech
patent: 4735531 (1988-04-01), Boerckel et al.
patent: 4755232 (1988-07-01), Thones et al.
patent: 5468099 (1995-11-01), Wheetley et al.
Howell Daniel W.
Novator AB
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