Patent ID: 11919617
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method for assembling an airframe of an aircraft, the method comprising:
forming a first skin of a first circumferential section of fuselage comprising the first skin and first stringers, wherein the first skin includes a distal portion comprising a lip and a shoulder;
aligning a second skin of a second circumferential section of fuselage with the shoulder such that the second skin overlaps the lip of the first skin to form a lap join, wherein the second circumferential section comprises the second skin and second stringers; and
affixing the first skin and the second skin together via a circumferential splice by:
placing a filler onto flanges of the second stringers;
aligning the filler with an end of the lip such that a combined thickness of the filler and a flange of a second stringer is equal to a combined thickness of the lip and a flange of a first stringer to form a flat plane;
straddling splice fittings across the lap join between the first stringers and the second stringers on the flat plane;
driving fasteners through the first skin, flanges of the first stringers, and the splice fittings; and
driving fasteners through the second skin, the flanges of the second stringers, the filler, and the splice fittings.