Alignment Device for Drill Bit Pilot Hole Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current airplane wing manufacturing requires drilling holes in difficult-to-access positions, leading to misdrilled and misangled holes due to the difficulty in maintaining the drill bit's alignment with the drilling surface, and existing solutions involving custom-indexed drill motors are costly and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An alignment device with a base, alignment pin, and support structure that allows a single drill motor to be used across various locations by aligning the drill bit with a pilot hole, eliminating the need for custom indexing and reducing the number of required drill motors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a drill jig and drill cup are used to locate and drill holes, then hole positioning is improved, but maintaining alignment in difficult-to-access locations becomes difficult leading to misdrilled and misangled holes
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment device serves as an intermediary between the drill bit and the pilot hole. It includes an alignment pin that fits into the pilot hole and a support structure with a curved inner surface that contacts the drill bit, mediating the alignment relationship and ensuring accurate hole positioning even in difficult-to-access locations
2Manufacturing precision
If a standalone drill motor with custom indexing is created for each hole location, then perpendicular drilling is ensured, but device complexity and cost increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment device is designed as a universal tool that can be used for multiple hole locations without requiring custom indexing for each position. The alignment pin fits into pre-drilled pilot holes at various locations, and the support structure with its specific curvature accommodates different drill bit positions, eliminating the need for multiple specialized drill motors
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating custom-indexed drill motors for each hole location, the invention uses a standardized alignment device that replicates the alignment function across multiple locations. The alignment pin and support structure configuration can be reused for different hole positions, copying the alignment solution rather than creating unique solutions for each location
Data Source
AI summary
Example alignment devices for aligning a drill bit with respect to a pilot hole and methods of use are described herein. An example alignment device includes a base having a first surface and a second surface, where the first surface is opposite the second surface. The alignment device also includes an alignment pin extending from the first surface of the base. The alignment device also includes a support extending from the second surface of the base and positioned such that a longitudinal axis of the alignment pin is separated from the support by an offset distance. An inner surface of the support has a radius of curvature along a length of the support. The radius of curvature is substantially equal to the offset distance, and a center of curvature of the support is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the alignment pin.