Patent ID: 11958257
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 18:
19. A method of consolidating an ingot of fiber-reinforced resin material, the method comprising steps of:
accessing an apparatus for consolidating the ingot, wherein:
the apparatus comprises a housing and a piston;
the housing comprises a barrel and a receptacle;
the receptacle comprises a base, a lid, and a de-gassing port;
the base of the receptacle extends from the barrel along a symmetry axis and comprises a tapered base-end that is opposite the barrel along the symmetry axis;
the lid of the receptacle is coupled to the base and comprising a tapered lid-end that is opposite the barrel along the symmetry axis;
the lid is selectively positionable relative to the base and the barrel such that the apparatus is in an open state or in a closed state;
in the closed state, the tapered base-end and the tapered lid-end collectively form a tapered receptacle-end of the receptacle;
the de-gassing port is located on the tapered receptacle-end of the receptable and is configured to be selectively open or selectively closed; and
the piston is movable along the symmetry axis between, inclusively, a retracted position, in which the piston, in its entirety, is in the barrel, and an extended position, in which a portion of the piston is in the receptacle and another portion of the piston is in the barrel;

positioning the apparatus is in the open state;
with the apparatus in the open state, positioning the ingot in the base;
with the de-gassing port selectively closed, positioning the apparatus in the closed state such that the housing and the piston form a closed, hermetically sealed chamber around the ingot;
with the de-gassing port selectively open, applying a vacuum to the ingot in the hermetically sealed chamber;
moving the piston from the retracted position to the extended position such that the ingot is compressed between the piston and the receptacle.