Aircraft Structure Fastener Alignment for One-Side Drilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for joining aircraft components using threaded fasteners are inefficient and prone to misalignment, especially in spaces where access on both sides is limited, leading to increased production time and wastage.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves providing a threaded opening in one component, attaching an alignment insert, locating the second component, using the alignment insert to guide drilling, and inserting a threaded fastener to join the components, thereby avoiding the need for disassembly and reassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional matching drilling and assembly methods are used, then threaded openings can be formed in components, but the process requires disassembly and reassembly which increases production time and complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment insert is attached to the first component before the second component is positioned. This preliminary action establishes the correct alignment position in advance, allowing the hole to be drilled directly through both components without requiring subsequent disassembly and reassembly operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment insert serves as an intermediary device between the first and second components during the drilling operation. It provides a physical guide that ensures the hole in the second component aligns precisely with the threaded opening in the first component, eliminating the need for complex alignment procedures and repeated assembly cycles.
2Ease of manufacture
If components are positioned and drilled separately, then threaded openings can be formed, but manufacturing variation leads to misaligned holes requiring ad-hoc adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment insert acts as a precision intermediary that physically connects the position of the threaded opening in the first component to the drilling position of the second component. This mechanical linkage ensures that manufacturing variations in separate operations do not result in misalignment, as the insert enforces precise geometric relationship during the drilling process.
Solution Approach 2:
By attaching the alignment insert to the first component before positioning the second component, the correct alignment position is established in advance. This preliminary action locks in the precise alignment relationship, preventing misalignment issues that would otherwise require costly ad-hoc adjustments.
3Ease of operation
If access is required on both sides of the joint for fastener tightening, then conventional fastening can be used, but this limits aircraft design and increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring access to both sides of the joint for fastener installation and tightening, the invention inverts the approach by using a drill guide that can be positioned and operated from one side only. The alignment insert enables the drilling operation to be performed from a single accessible side, eliminating the need for complex two-sided access arrangements and reducing overall device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Two components of an aircraft structure are joined by providing a threaded opening in one of them and supporting an alignment insert in that opening. The alignment insert is used to guide drilling of the second component such that a hole is produced which is aligned with the threaded opening, for instance using an alignment projection which physically guides a drill. The alignment insert may then be removed. A fastener is then inserted through that hole and into the threaded opening, then tightened to form the completed joint.