Spark Containment Cap Jig Assembly for Accurate Wing Drilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge of securing fasteners to aircraft wing structures without access from both sides, particularly in designs where spark containment caps are required for safety, necessitates precise cap positioning and drilling without disassembling the wing skin.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a jig assembly with spark containment caps secured using adhesive material, followed by curing and then fastening with fasteners, ensuring accurate positioning and single-sided assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spark containment caps are fitted prior to drilling operation to ensure safety compliance, then protection from ignition sources is improved, but positioning precision and drilling accuracy become more difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The jig is assembled with spark containment caps positioned in advance, and the entire jig assembly is mounted to the wing structure before drilling. This preliminary positioning ensures both safety compliance and drilling accuracy, as the caps are already in their correct positions when the drilling operation begins.
Solution Approach 2:
The jig acts as an intermediary device that holds the spark containment caps in precise positions during assembly. The jig's positioning features (such as locators and alignment elements) ensure that the caps are accurately positioned relative to the drilling holes, thereby maintaining both safety and manufacturing precision.
2Productivity
If wing skins are not removed for cleaning or de-burring to enable single sided assembly, then assembly time and complexity are reduced, but access to the inside of the wings for tightening nuts is lost
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of removing wing skins to access the inside for nut tightening, the invention inverts the approach by installing fasteners from the outside only. The blind fasteners are inserted through holes drilled from the exterior, eliminating the need to remove wing skins while still achieving secure fastening.
Solution Approach 2:
The wing structure is designed with specific local features that enable single-sided assembly, such as recesses or access panels at fastener locations. These localized modifications provide the necessary access for fastener installation without requiring removal of the entire wing skin, thereby maintaining productivity while enabling operation.
3Reliability
If accurate positioning of cap and drilling is imperative to ensure drill break-out inside the cap, then safety compliance is improved, but device complexity and setup time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The jig assembly is designed as a universal fixture that can be mounted to the wing structure and automatically positions multiple spark containment caps simultaneously. The jig's design integrates cap holders, positioning features, and drilling alignment elements into a single multi-functional device, thereby ensuring safety compliance without proportionally increasing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables secure fastening with spark containment caps while allowing single-sided assembly, minimizing cap dislodgment and ensuring safety compliance.
Implementation Method 1
securing the spark containment caps to the first structure by injecting adhesive material into contact with the first structure and the spark containment caps and then curing the adhesive material
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of securing a first structure (12) to a second structure (60), the method comprising: providing a jig assembly comprising spark containment caps (50) carried by a jig (22); mounting the jig assembly on a structure so that the spark containment caps (50) and the jig (22) contact the first structure (12); securing the spark containment caps (50) to the first structure (12) by injecting adhesive material into contact with the first structure (12) and the spark containment caps (50) and then curing the adhesive material; removing the jig (22) after the adhesive material has cured; and securing the first structure (12) to the second structure (60) with fasteners (70), each fastener having a tail which is inserted through the first and second structures and into a respective one of the spark containment caps (50).