当前申请(专利权)人地址：
PO Box 55, Ipsley House, Ipsley Church Lane, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0TL , United Kingdom
摘要：
A rib for an aircraft wing comprises a pair of opposing outer skins 11a, 11b defining an internal space therebetween. A plurality of internal reinforcement members 10 extend across the space and connect the pair of opposing skins. In a method of manufacturing the rib, the first skin is welded 10 to a first side of the reinforcement members and the opposing side of the reinforcement members are welded 10 to the second skin. In an alternative method of manufacturing the rib, rib sub-sections 19, 20 each comprising two opposing outer surface portions and a reinforcement portion are extruded and connected to form a rib. In an alternative method of manufacturing the rib, the skins and reinforcement members are built by means of an additive manufacturing process. Also provided is a modular rib for an aircraft comprising a plurality of sub-components 19, 20, each formed of two opposing outer surfaces and a reinforcement member extending between the outer surfaces, and connectable together to form a rib.
权利要求：
CLAIMS
1. A rib for an aircraft wing, said rib comprising a pair of opposing outer skins, the outer skins defining an internal space there-between, said rib further comprising a plurality of internal reinforcement members extending across the space and connecting the pair of opposing outer skins.
2. A rib as claimed in claim 1, wherein the internal reinforcement members are in the form of extrusions.
3. A rib as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein an internal reinforcement member has a stepped or tapered cross-section such that a portion of the reinforcement member between the opposing skins has a smaller cross-section than portions adjacent to the opposing skins.
4. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the opposing outer skins are substantially parallel.
3. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein upper and lower surfaces of the skins are configured to follow a predetermined contour corresponding to a wing aerofoil shape.
6. A rib as claimed in claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of reinforcement members extends along the length of the skin from the upper to the lower surface.
7. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcement members are all substantially parallel.
8. A rib as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, wherein at least two reinforcement members are arranged at varying angles with respect to each other.
8. A rib as claimed in any of claims 5 to 8, wherein at least one reinforcement member extends part-way along the length of the skin measured from an upper or lower surface.
10. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein spaces between adjacent reinforcement members are arranged to receive stringers to extend span wise along the length of the wing.
11. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a portion of a reinforcement member adjacent to an upper or lower surface of the rib and proximate to an inner surface of a skin is further provided with a hole arranged to receive a fastening.
12. A rib as claimed in claim 11, wherein the hole is a tapped hole arranged to receive a threaded fastening.
13. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a leading edge or trailing edge end of the rib is arranged to be coupled to a spar of the wing.
14. A rib as claimed in claim 13, wherein leading or trailing edges of the rib are provided with a plurality of holes to receive a fastener to attach the spar to the rib.
15. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcement members are connected to the skins by means of one of friction stir welding, linear friction welding or rotary friction welding.
16. A rib as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcement members and skins are formed of the same material.
17. A rib as claimed in any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the opposing skins are formed of a first material and wherein one or more reinforcement members are formed of a second material.
18. A method of manufacturing a rib for an aircraft wing, wherein the rib comprises a pair of opposing outer skins, the outer skins defining an internal space there-between, said rib further comprising a plurality of internal reinforcement members extending across the space and connecting the pair of opposing outer skins
said method comprising the steps of:
(A) welding a first skin to a first side of the reinforcement members; and
(B) welding the opposing side of each reinforcement member to the second skin.
19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the welding is selected from one of friction stir welding, linear friction welding or rotary friction welding.
20. An aircraft wing comprising a rib as claimed in any of claims 1 to 17.
21. A method of manufacturing a rib for an aircraft wing, said method comprising the steps of:
(A) extruding a plurality of rib sub-sections, each rib sub-section comprising two
opposing outer surface portions and a reinforcement portion extending between the
two opposing outer surface portions; and
(B) connecting a plurality of rib sub-sections together to form a rib.
22. A method as claims in claim 21, wherein the outer surface portions are provided with a matching portion arranged in use to abut with a corresponding matching portion of an adjacent rib sub-section.
23. A modular rib for an aircraft wing, said modular rib comprising a plurality of sub- components, each sub-component being formed of two opposing outer surfaces and a reinforcement member extending between the two opposing outer surfaces, wherein adjacent sub-components are connectable together to form a rib.
24. An additive manufacture method for manufacturing a rib for an aircraft wing, wherein the rib comprises a pair of opposing outer skins, the outer skins defining an internal space there-between, said rib further comprising a plurality of internal reinforcement members extending across the space and connecting the pair of opposing outer skins
wherein the opposing skins and reinforcement members are built by means of an additive manufacture process.
25. An additive manufacture method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the plurality of internal reinforcement members are non-uniform in cross-section and or shape.
26. An additive manufacture method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the cross-section and/or shape of each internal reinforcement member is formed by the additive manufacture process in response to a predetermined step of modelling the expected loading of the reinforcement member during use.
27. A method of operating an additive manufacturing machine, comprising the steps of programming the machine with a build model for a rib for an aircraft wing, wherein the rib comprises a pair of opposing outer skins, the outer skins defining an internal space there- between, said rib further comprising a plurality of internal reinforcement members extending across the space and connecting the pair of opposing outer skins; and wherein the structure of the internal reinforcement members is determined according to the expected in-use loading of the internal reinforcement member,
wherein the additive manufacturing machine is configured in use to form the opposing skins and reinforcement members.