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Temporally staged rapid panel access fastener for highly curved panels
A fastener for highly curved access panels on aircraft or other structures, featuring a bottom-grasping design allowing for an unblemished outer panel surface, simple and rapid pneumatic fastener actuation, built-in clamping pre-load, and full retractability of the fastener inside the supporting structure. The fastener includes a Belleville spring with a piston centrally disposed therein, where the piston and spring deflect outward upon application of pneumatic pressure. A pressure chamber within the piston has inlet and outlet orifices designed so that the pressure in the piston chamber gradually increases, requiring several seconds to reach a pressure which causes locking dogs in the piston to deploy radially into a cavity in the access panel. When pressure is removed, the Belleville spring relaxes, the locking dogs grasp a lip of the cavity, and the access panel is latched onto the structure with a clamping pre-load. A pneumatic sequence for unlatching is also provided.
Temporally staged rapid panel access fastener for highly curved panels
A fastener for highly curved access panels on aircraft or other structures, featuring a bottom-grasping design allowing for an unblemished outer panel surface, simple and rapid pneumatic fastener actuation, built-in clamping pre-load, and full retractability of the fastener inside the supporting structure. The fastener includes a Belleville spring with a piston centrally disposed therein, where the piston and spring deflect outward upon application of pneumatic pressure. A pressure chamber within the piston has inlet and outlet orifices designed so that the pressure in the piston chamber gradually increases, requiring several seconds to reach a pressure which causes locking dogs in the piston to deploy radially into a cavity in the access panel. When pressure is removed, the Belleville spring relaxes, the locking dogs grasp a lip of the cavity, and the access panel is latched onto the structure with a clamping pre-load. A pneumatic sequence for unlatching is also provided.
Temporally staged rapid panel access fastener for highly curved panels
NEAL MATTHEW A (author)
2017-02-14
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
FASTENER INSTALLATION IN COMPOSITE PANELS WITH FASTENER INSERT
European Patent Office | 2021
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