Self-Propelled Drilling Machine Using Aircraft Structural Guides
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional drilling machines for aircraft components require complex structures and dedicated rails, making them cumbersome and inefficient for drilling parts with irregular surfaces like aircraft wings.
Innovation Solution
A self-propelled drilling machine that uses elongated structural objects on the aircraft as guides, allowing the machine to travel and drill along these objects while utilizing drilling structures coupled to the machine, position sensors, and IC tag readers for automatic control and positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional drilling machines use dedicated rails for positioning, then positioning accuracy is improved, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The drilling machine uses the aircraft structure itself (elongated structural objects like stringers or ribs) as the guide rail, eliminating the need for separate dedicated rails. The machine's travelling mechanism directly engages with existing structural features of the workpiece, allowing the workpiece to serve its dual purpose of being both the object to be drilled and the positioning reference.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongated structural objects on the aircraft serve multiple functions: they are both structural components of the aircraft and guide rails for the drilling machine. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated positioning rails, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining positioning accuracy along the drilling path.
2Stability of the object's composition
If conventional drilling machines use dedicated rails, then positioning stability is improved, but weight and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft structure provides the guiding function, eliminating the need for additional heavy rail infrastructure. The drilling machine's travelling mechanism engages directly with the aircraft's structural objects, using their inherent rigidity and stability for positioning without adding extra weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning function is extracted from a separate dedicated rail system and integrated into the aircraft's existing structural objects. By removing the need for separate positioning rails, the overall system weight is reduced while maintaining positioning stability through the aircraft's own structural integrity.
3Ease of manufacture
If the drilling machine structure is simplified, then ease of manufacture and portability are improved, but positioning precision may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft structure serves as the precision reference, eliminating the need for complex external positioning systems. The drilling machine only needs simple travelling mechanisms that engage with the aircraft's structural objects, simplifying manufacturing while maintaining precision through the aircraft's own geometric accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a complex external reference system to achieve precision, the solution inverts the approach by using the workpiece itself (aircraft structure) as the precision reference. This reverses the traditional paradigm where the tooling provides the reference, allowing simpler machine design while maintaining drilling position precision.
4Manufacturing precision
If dedicated rails are used for drilling, then drilling accuracy is improved, but adaptability to different aircraft structures decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The drilling machine is designed to engage with various types of elongated structural objects (stringers, ribs, beams) that are common in aircraft construction. By using the aircraft's own structural features as guides, the system adapts to different aircraft types and configurations without requiring dedicated rails designed for each specific structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The travelling mechanism is designed to be adaptable to different geometries of structural objects rather than requiring a fixed, dedicated rail configuration. This dynamic adaptability allows the same drilling machine to work on various aircraft structures while maintaining drilling accuracy through engagement with the specific structural features present on each aircraft.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to one embodiment, a drilling machine includes a drilling structure and a travelling machine. The drilling structure drills an object to be drilled composed of at least one structural object on a platy part. The travelling machine positions the drilling structure in a travelling direction of the travelling machine by travelling in a longitudinal direction of the at least one structural object using the at least one structural object as a guide.