Mobile Utility Support Frame With Angled Retainers for Aircraft Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support structures for utilities in aircraft manufacturing are cumbersome, difficult to maintain, and often require costly, single-use tooling for removal, with insufficient strength to support various types and numbers of cables.
Innovation Solution
A utilities support system featuring a base with caster assemblies, an upright beam, and angled utilities retainers with retaining channels, allowing for easy maintenance and secure retention of utilities without specialized tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If known support structures are used to convey utilities, then utilities can be supported during manufacturing, but maintenance becomes difficult and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into modular components including individual utility holders, sections, and support elements that can be independently accessed and maintained. Each utility can be serviced without requiring disassembly of the entire structure, enabling targeted maintenance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure incorporates adjustable and reconfigurable elements that allow utilities to be easily added, removed, or repositioned during maintenance operations. The modular design enables dynamic adaptation to different maintenance scenarios without requiring complete structure replacement.
2Productivity
If utilities are integrated into support structures, then utilities can be conveyed efficiently, but removal requires costly single-use tooling
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure employs universal mounting mechanisms and standardized interfaces that can accommodate multiple utility types and configurations. The same structural elements serve both utility support and maintenance access functions, eliminating the need for specialized single-use tooling while maintaining efficient utility conveyance.
Solution Approach 2:
The design enables maintenance personnel to service utilities using standard tools and procedures without requiring proprietary or single-use tooling. The self-contained modular sections allow utilities to be accessed and maintained through the structure's own architecture rather than requiring external specialized equipment.
3Reliability
If support structures are designed for utility retention, then utilities can be securely held, but structural strength may be insufficient for heavy cable loads
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure utilizes composite construction combining rigid structural elements for load-bearing with specialized retention mechanisms for utility holding. The integration of reinforcement elements and optimized material distribution provides both the structural strength for heavy cable loads and the secure retention for diverse utility types.
Solution Approach 2:
The structure distributes utility loads across multiple dimensions and attachment points rather than concentrating forces at single locations. By creating a three-dimensional network of support elements and retention points, the structure achieves both high strength for heavy loads and reliable retention for individual utilities through geometric distribution of forces.
Data Source
AI summary
A utilities support system is configured to support one or more utilities. The utilities support system includes a base, one or more caster assemblies extending downwardly from the base, an upright beam extending upwardly from the base, and utilities retainers extending from the upright beam. Each of the utilities retainers defines a retaining channel configured to retain one or more portions of the one or more utilities. One or more of the utilities retainers are upwardly angled in relation to the base.