Automated Aircraft Engine Inlet Assembly Workstation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual assembly of aircraft engine inlets leads to quality variations and ergonomic and safety issues due to repetitive motion injuries and requires large workspaces, limiting efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An automated workstation with an articulated assembly fixture docking station and an automated assembly tool, capable of two-degree freedom positioning, is used to assemble aircraft engine nacelle inlet lips, employing a plurality of assembly fixtures, including common fixtures for multiple steps, to ensure precise and ordered assembly of components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual assembly is used, then workers can assemble components with flexibility, but quality variations occur between workers and ergonomic issues arise from repetitive motion injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical assembly operations with an automated robotic system featuring a movable platform and end effector. The robotic system performs drilling, fastener installation, and sealing operations without human workers, thereby eliminating quality variations between workers and preventing repetitive motion injuries while maintaining assembly precision through automated control
Solution Approach 2:
The automated assembly system performs all assembly operations autonomously through programmed sequences. The robotic end effector automatically positions, drills, fastens, and seals components without requiring human intervention during the assembly process, achieving consistent quality and eliminating ergonomic hazards through self-service automation
2Ease of operation
If manual assembly workstations are provided with sufficient space for worker maneuvering, then ergonomic conditions improve, but large work areas are needed which limits productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a movable platform that provides three degrees of freedom (vertical movement, horizontal movement, and rotation) to the robotic end effector. This dimensional mobility allows the system to access all assembly positions within a compact footprint, eliminating the need for large work areas while maintaining full operational capability and increasing assembly throughput
3Productivity
If automated assembly is implemented, then quality consistency and productivity improve, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic end effector is designed as a multi-functional tool that performs drilling, fastener installation, and sealing operations through a single integrated system. The movable platform provides universal positioning capability for all assembly positions. This consolidation of multiple functions into one system reduces overall complexity compared to having separate specialized machines for each operation while maintaining high productivity and quality consistency
Data Source
AI summary
A method for assembling an aircraft engine nacelle inlet lip includes automatically positioning, with a controller an automated workstation in two degrees of freedom to position an articulated assembly fixture docking station in at least two predetermined joining positions, and effecting, with the controller, an ordered assembly of at least a forward bulkhead joint, a forward bulkhead to lipskin joint, a chord member to lipskin joint, an inner barrel to lipskin joint, an aft bulkhead to lipskin joint and an outer barrel to lipskin joint through an interface between an automated assembly tool and at least one of a plurality of assembly fixtures interchangeably mounted on the docking station, where each assembly fixture corresponds to an assembly step of the aircraft engine nacelle inlet lip and at least one of the assembly fixtures is common to more than one assembly step of the aircraft engine nacelle inlet lip.