Patent ID: 11951698
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 12:
13. A method of positioning a composite charge onto a forming tool using a composite charge positioning assembly, the method comprising steps of:
moving the forming tool to the composite charge positioning assembly;
placing the forming tool between a first charge support arm assembly and a second charge support arm assembly of the composite charge positioning assembly;
locking the forming tool between the first charge support arm assembly and the second charge support arm assembly;
placing the composite charge onto a first surface of a first charge support arm of the first charge support arm assembly and a second surface of a second charge support arm of the second charge support arm assembly;
placing the composite charge in contact with a portion of a forming surface of the forming tool, wherein the first charge support arm assembly and the second charge support arm assembly are used to both restrain the forming tool and position the composite charge; and
removing the forming tool, with the composite charge in contact with the forming surface, from the composite charge positioning assembly; and
forming the composite charge on the forming surface of the forming tool after the step of removing the forming tool from the composite charge positioning assembly.