GB2492578A

GB2492578A - Fastener supporting tool

Info

Publication number: GB2492578A
Application number: GB201111572A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Kerfoot-Davies; Gareth Towlson
Original assignee: Airbus Operations Ltd
Current assignee: Airbus Operations Ltd
Priority date: 2011-07-07
Filing date: 2011-07-07
Publication date: 2013-01-09
Also published as: GB201111572D0

Abstract

A tool 100 for supporting a fastener 108 until it is fully secured during aircraft construction comprises a receiving portion 102, which includes an open end 104, and an associated support body 106. The support body 106 may be arranged within the receiving portion 102 opposite the open end 104 and may be movable towards the open end 104 by means of a handle 210 and may be biased by a spring (310 fig. 4) towards the fastener (312 fig. 4). The open end 104 may be plastic and positioned against a surface of a component 112 and may be attached by at least one adhesive pad or suction pad (306 fig. 4). The receiving portion 102 may be transparent or include a window to allow the fastener 108 to be viewed. Such a tool 100 may eliminate the risk of fingers being trapped in a zone (22 fig 1A) between a fastener and a component during the installation of the fastener. The fastener 108 may be a lightning strike protection fastener such as a radially expanding lock bolt (RXL) or sleeved taper lock fastener (STL) used in carbon fibre reinforced plastic components such as an aircraft wing bottom cover 112. The tool may support a plurality of fasteners (406 fig. 5) positioned according to a pre-configured template by means of a plurality of receiving portions (402 fig. 5), each of which may include an open end and an associated support body (404 fig. 5).

Description

FASTENER TOOL

Background of the Invention

The present invention concerns a tool for use in aircraft construction. More particularly, but not exclusively, this invention concerns a tool for supporting fasteners used in aircraft construction.

Modern aircraft, for example the Airbus A350, are constructed using a large proportion of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) . CFRP is particularly vulnerable to impact damage during construction and care must be taken to avoid this. In order to allow for dispersion of lightning strikes and prevent potentially destructive damage to the aircraft components made of CFRP, conductive membranes are often incorporated into those aircraft components. For example, conductive membranes may be incorporated into the skin of an aircraft wing.

Construction techniques include the use of fasteners to allow the flow of electricity from the CFRP components into the associated electrically conducting membrane. Typical examples of such fasteners are shown in figures 1A and lb. Figures 1A and lb show a radial expanding lock bolt (RxL) fastener 10. Such bolts are known in the art and are well understood by the skilled person. The RXL fastener includes a sleeve 12 and a bolt 14, the bolt 14 including a tail 20. Sealant is applied to the fastener 10, which is then placed within an opening 16 in an aircraft component 18. The RXL fastener 10 is a nominal fit in the opening 16 and to prevent the fastener 10 coming loose or falling out of the opening 16, the fastener 10 must be supported in the openIng 16 until the fastener is fully secured in the opening 16 by drawing the bolt 14 through the sleeve 12 using a pulling tool, for example a Muck <RIM> tool, attached to the tail 20 of the bolt 14, such that the sleeve is expanded outwards against the opening 16. The bolt 14 includes an external threaded portion which engages with the internal wall of the sleeve 12. An operator then cleans off any excess sealant covering the fastener 10 and a collar is fitted to and swaged to the tail of the fastener. At least part of the tail 20 may be sheared off under tensile stress as the bolt 14 is pulled into the opening 16. As can be seen in figure 1A, there is an area 22 between the end of the bolt 14 and the opening 16 in which fingers may be trapped when the bolt 14 is pulled through the opening 16.

The double arrows in figures 1A and lB show the direction of the force exerted on the fastener 10.

An alternative fastener is a sleeved taper lock (STL) fastener. The arrangement is similar to that as described for figures 1A and lb, with some modifications. The end of the bolt of the fastener includes a standard threaded arrangement. Once the bolt has been partially inserted into an opening, a nut is placed over and tightened to the threaded end of the bolt. The tightening of the nut pulls the bolt through the opening and into engagement with the expanding sleeve of the fastener. SIb fasteners do not reguire pulling eguipment to be appropriately located, though the finger trapping risk remains.

The present invention seeks to mitigate the above-mentioned problems.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides, according to a first aspect, a tool for supporting a fastener, the tool comprising: a receiving portion, the reoeiving portion inoluding an open end, and a support body, the support body arranged within the receiving portion opposite the open end and movable towards the open end.

The receiving portion may be configured to receive a fastener. The receiving portion may be configured to receive fasteners of a plurality of different sizes. The fastener may be a lightning strike protection fastener for an aircraft. The tool may allow a fastener to be supported during installation without presenting a finger trap area to the installation engineer/engineers. The open end of the receiving portion may be arranged to be positioned against a surface of an aircraft component. The receiving portion may be made, at least partially, of a plastics material. The open end of the receiving portion may comprise a material that does not damage a surface against which the open end is pressed. Such a material may be a plastics material. The receiving portion may be at least partially transparent in order that a fastener may be viewed through the receiving portion. The receiving portion may include a transparent window or cut out configured to allow a fastener to be viewed when the fastener is located within the receiving portion.

The support body may be movable both towards and away from the open end of the receiving portion. The support body may be resiliently biased with respect to the receiving portion. The support body may be resiliently biased towards the end portion of the receiving portion. Alternatively, the support body may be resiliently biased with respect to the receiving portion. The support body may be associated with a handle extending through the receiving portion. The handle may extend through the receiving portion in a direction away from the open end of the receiving portion.

The handle may be manually operated to move the support body away from or towards the open end of the receiving portion.

The handle position may provide the operator with feedback concerning the position of the fastener.

The open end of the receiving portion may comprise an attachment device. The attachment device may be configured to attach the receiving portion to an aircraft component, for example, the skin of an aircraft component. The attachment device may be adhesive pads or suction pads. The attachment device may be suction pads that may be reused several times. An embodiment of the invention comprising an attachment device may allow reduced engineer numbers when fixing fasteners to aircraft components. Such an embodiment may allow the tool to support a fastener without reguiring an engineer to hold the tool.

An additional aspect of the invention provides a tool for supporting a plurality of fasteners, the tool comprising a plurality of receiving portions, each receiving portion including an open end and a support body arranged within the receiving portion opposite the open end, each of the plurality of receiving portions positioned according to a pre-configured template. The support body may be movable towards the open end of the receiving portion. An arrangement according to this aspect of the invention may ailow several fasteners to be supported simultaneously.

Such an arrangement may be more efficient than supporting each fastener individually.

The invention, according to an additional aspect, also provides a method of installing a fastener to an aircraft component, the method including the following steps: positioning a fastener partially within an opening in the aircraft component, locating a receiving portion of a tool such that the fastener partially extends through an open end of the receiving portion, the fastener being partially located within the receiving portion, supporting the fastener with a support body associated with the receiving portion, and pulling the fastener through the aircraft component, away from the support body, such that the fastener becomes fixed within the aircraft component.

An advantage of this aspect of the invention is the elimination of the reguirement that an engineer support the fastener by directly holding it, thereby also eliminating the finger trap area and increasing the safety of the construction of the aircraft component.

Further aspects of the invention include an aircraft component, an aircraft wing, or an aircraft, each including fasteners, the aircraft component, aircraft wing, or aircraft, being constructed using a tool and/or method as described above.

It will of course be appreciated that features described in relation to one aspect of the present invention may be incorporated into other aspects of the present invention. For example, the method of the invention may incorporate any of the features described with reference to the apparatus of the invention and vice versa.

Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings of which: Figures 1A and lB show a fastener according to the prior art; Figure 2A and 2B show a cross-sectional view of a tool according to a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 2C shows a cross-sectional view of a fastener secured with the aid of the tool according to the first embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a tool according to a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a tool according to a third embodiment of the invention; and Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a tool according to a fourth embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Figure 2A shows a tool 100 according to a first embodiment of the invention. The tool 100 comprises a receiving portion 102 with an open end 104. Located opposite the open end 104 is a support member 10. The support member 10 is movable towards the open end 104, as shown in Figure 2B. Also shown in both figures 2A and 2B is a fastener 108. The fastener 108 may be of a type as previously described as prior art, for example, a RXL fastener or a STL fastener, or any other suitable fastener for use in aircraft construction. The fastener 108 has been partially inserted into and is a nominal fit with an opening in a bottom cover 112 of a CFRP aircraft component. In order to prevent the fastener 108 falling out of the opening 110, the receiving portion 102 is configured to be placed over and around the fastener 108. The open end 104 of the receiving portion 102 is placed in contact with the surface of the bottom cover 112. The part of the receiving portion 102 which is in contact with the surface of the bottom cover 112 is a plastics material chosen such that the contact does not damage the surface of the bottom cover 112. Such a material may be nylon. The material may also be chosen to be easily cleanable and non-reactive to the sealant used when fixing the fastening 108. The tool may be dismantled after use in order to assist in cleaning sealant off the tool.

Once the receiving portion 102 is placed over the fastener 108 as shown in figure 2A, the support body 106 is moved into supporting contact with the fastener 108. The double arrows in figure 23 show the direction of the force applied to the support body 106. The support body 106 may be moved and/or biased against the fastener 108 by the manual operation of an engineer and/or by a spring associated with the support body 106. These variations are described with regards to figure 3 and 4.

Once the fastener 108 is supported as shown in figure 23, the fastener 108 may be fixed within the bottom cover 112 by any of the prior art methods described or any other suitable method known to the skilled person. Figure 20 shows the fastener 108 fixed within the bottom cover 112 and the tool 100 removed. The fastener 108 may be secured by a bolt or a collar 114 swaged to the end of the fastener.

Figure 3 shows an embodiment of the invention 200 where the support body 206 is attached to a shaft 208 which extends through the receiving body 202 in a direction away from the open end 204, the shaft 208 terminating in a handle portion 210 which may easily be gripped by an engineer using the tool 200. The shaft 208 and handle 210 may be associated with a spring (not shown) which acts to bias the handle 210 away from the receiving portion 202.

Figure 4 shows an embodiment of the invention in which the tool 300 includes a receiving portion 302 comprising an attachment device 306. The attachment device 306 may be an suction attachment device or an adhesive attachment device.

The attachment device 306 allows the tool to be placed in a supporting position without requiring an engineer to constantly hold the tool 300. Such an embodiment may allow a single engineer to undertake the fastening process. The tool 300 includes a support body 308 associated with a spring 310 arranged to bias the support body 308 against a fastener 312 when placed in position as shown in figure 4.

Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the invention 400 comprising a plurality of receiving portions 402, each receiving portion 404 including a support body 404. The plurality of receiving portions 402 and support bodies 404 are arranged to receive and support a plurality of fasteners 406. The tool 400 is mounted to an aircraft structure 408 by a least one mounting portion 410. The double arrows show the direction of the force applied to the fasteners 406 by the support bodies 404. The receiving portions 402 and associated support bodies 404 are arranged according to a pre-configured template specific to the aircraft structure 408 to which the fasteners 406 are being fixed. Such an embodiment may allow for greater efficiency and increased speed when fixing the fasteners 406.

Whilst the present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention lends itself to many different variations not specifically illustrated herein. By way of example only, certain possible variations will now be described.

The embodiment described in relation to figure 5 may include movable support bodies as described with respect to figures 2A, 2B, 3, and 4. The receiving portions may include one or more windows, cut outs, or transparent sections, to ailow for easy positioning of the tool over the fastener. The invention has been described in relation to CFRP aircraft components but the tool may be used whenever -10 -suitable fasteners are being used during construction and require support.

Where in the foregoing description, integers or

elements are mentioned which have known, obvious or foreseeable equivalents, then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth. Reference should be made to the claims for determining the true scope of the present invention, which should be construed so as to encompass any such equivalents. It will also be appreciated by the reader that integers or features of the invention that are described as preferable, advantageous, convenient or the like are optional and do not limit the scope of the independent claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that such optional integers or features, whilst of possible benefit in some embodiments of the invention, may not be desirable, and may therefore be absent, in other embodiments.

Claims

<claim-text>-11 -Claims 1. A tool for supporting a fastener, the tool comprising: a receiving portion, the receiving portion including an open end, and a support body, the support body arranged within the receiving portion opposite the open end and movable towards the cpen end.</claim-text> <claim-text>2. A tool as claimed in claim 1, the receiving portion being configured to receive a fastener.</claim-text> <claim-text>3. A tool as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, the receiving portion being configured to receive fasteners of a plurality of different sizes.</claim-text> <claim-text>4. A tool as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the fastener is a lightning strike protection fastener for an aircraft.</claim-text> <claim-text>5. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, the open end of the receiving portion being arranged to be positioned against a surface of an aircraft component.</claim-text> <claim-text>6. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the receiving portion is at least partially a plastics material.</claim-text> <claim-text>7. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the receiving portion is at least partially transparent such that a fastener may be viewed through the receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>-12 - 8. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the receiving portion comprises a window or out out.</claim-text> <claim-text>9. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support body is movable both towards and away from the open end of the receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>10. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support body is resiliently biased with respect to the receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>11. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support body is associated with a handle extending through the receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>12. A tool as claimed in claim 11, wherein the handle is manually operable to move the support body away from or towards the open end of the receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>13. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the open end of the receiving portion comprises an attachment device for attaching the receiving portion to a surface of an aircraft component.</claim-text> <claim-text>14. A tool as claimed in claim 13, wherein the attachment device comprises at least one adhesive pad.</claim-text> <claim-text>15. A tool as claimed in claim 13, wherein the attachment device comprises at least one suction pad.</claim-text> <claim-text>-13 - 16. A tool for supporting a plurality of fasteners, the tool comprising a plurality of receiving portions, each receiving portion including an open end and a support body arranged within the receiving portion opposite the open end, each of the plurality of receiving portions positioned according to a pre-configured template.</claim-text> <claim-text>17. A tool as claimed in claim 16, wherein each support body is movable towards the open end of the respective receiving portion.</claim-text> <claim-text>18. A method of installing a fastener to an aircraft component, the method including the following steps: positioning a fastener partially within an opening in the aircraft component, locating a receiving portion of a tool such that the fastener partially extends through an open end of the receiving portion, the fastener being partially located within the receiving portion, supporting the fastener with a support body associated with the receiving portion, and pulling the fastener through the aircraft component, away from the support body, such that the fastener becomes fixed within the aircraft component.</claim-text> <claim-text>19. A method of installing a fastener to an aircraft component, the method including the following step: supporting the fastener with a tool as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17.</claim-text> <claim-text>-14 - 20. An aircraft component including one or more fasteners, the aircraft component constructed using the tool as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17, or the method of claims 18 or 19.</claim-text> <claim-text>21. An aircraft wing including one or more fasteners, the aircraft wing constructed using the tool as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17, or the method of claims 18 or 19.</claim-text> <claim-text>22. An aircraft including one or more fasteners, constructed using the tool as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17, or the method of claims 18 or 19.</claim-text>