Additive Coating Tooling With Cantilevered Contact for Durable Fixturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tools for electrically driven aqueous coating processes, such as those used in the aviation industry for gas turbine blades, suffer from deformation and damage due to manual fabrication techniques, leading to reduced coating efficacy and increased costs due to the need for frequent tool replacement and potential damage to components.
Innovation Solution
The development of additively manufactured tools featuring a cantilevered plate and adapter with a unitary construction, integrated with a bracket and shaft, and a polymer cover, which ensures secure and consistent contact with components during the coating process, preventing deformation and damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If manual fabrication techniques are used to create tools for coating processes, then the tools can be manufactured with conventional methods, but the tools suffer from deformation and damage leading to reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies additive manufacturing technology to fundamentally change the manufacturing process parameters, transitioning from manual fabrication to automated layer-by-layer construction. This enables complex geometries and internal structures to be created with higher precision and consistency, eliminating the deformation and damage issues associated with manual fabrication while maintaining ease of manufacture through digital design and automated production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes composite materials in the additively manufactured tools, combining different materials with complementary properties to achieve both durability and manufacturability. The composite structure allows for optimized mechanical properties that resist deformation and damage during the coating process, while the additive manufacturing process enables efficient integration of these materials into functional tool geometries.
2Ease of manufacture
If manual fabrication techniques are used for tools, then manufacturing flexibility is maintained, but manufacturing precision deteriorates leading to inconsistent tool geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the manufacturing approach by changing from manual fabrication parameters to additive manufacturing parameters, which provide digital precision and automated consistency. The layer-by-layer construction process ensures uniform geometry and precise dimensional control, eliminating variability inherent in manual methods while maintaining flexibility through programmable design modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical fabrication processes with automated additive manufacturing systems. This substitution eliminates human error and variability in tool geometry creation, ensuring consistent and precise manufacturing while maintaining flexibility through software-controlled design and production parameters.
3Reliability
If tools are frequently replaced due to deformation and damage, then tool reliability is compromised, but productivity decreases due to increased replacement frequency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements parameter changes in the manufacturing process that result in tools with enhanced durability and consistency. The additive manufacturing process creates tools with optimized microstructures and material properties that resist deformation and damage, reducing replacement frequency and maintaining steady productivity levels without interruption from tool failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates design features and material selections in the additive manufacturing process that preemptively protect against deformation and damage during the coating process. By building in structural reinforcements and selecting damage-resistant materials before the tool is used, the patent prevents tool failure and maintains continuous productivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The additively manufactured tools provide durable and efficient coating solutions, reducing tool deformation and component damage, while ensuring consistent electrical contact and improved coating quality over a larger number of cycles.
Implementation Method 1
securing the component to the tool such that the cantilevered plate is in contact with the component
Implementation Method 2
lowering the support bar and the component secured to the tool in an aqueous solution to coat the component using an electrically driven aqueous process
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for securing a component for a treatment process and methods of making and using same. A method for securing a component for a treatment process includes obtaining a tool for retaining the component during the treatment process. The tool includes a cantilevered plate. The method includes associating the tool with a support bar and securing the component to the tool such that the cantilevered plate is in contact with the component.