Patent ID: 11926078
Assignee: ROHR, INC.
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method for creating a fan cowl with a hollow hat stiffener comprising:
heating a resin film to a first temperature greater than a room temperature to increase a tackiness of the resin film;
tacking a non-crimp fabric (NCF) to a first side of the resin film to create a resin-fabric sheet while the resin film is heated by passing the NCF and the resin film between a first roller and a second roller that compresses the NCF and the resin film;
pressing the resin film between the NCF and a release poly-film via a third roller and a table in order to tack the release poly-film to a second side of the resin film of the resin-fabric sheet, wherein the resin film is pressed between the NCF and the release poly-film while the resin film is heated;
cutting the resin-fabric sheet to a pre-determined shape to create at least one of a first resin-fabric preform, a second resin-fabric preform, and a third resin-fabric preform;
draping at least the first resin-fabric preform over a tool to create an outer layer of the fan cowl;
setting a mandrel over the outer layer; and
draping the second resin-fabric preform over at least a portion of the mandrel and at least a portion of the outer layer to form the hollow hat stiffener having a geometry similar to a shape of the mandrel, wherein one or more edges of the second resin-fabric preform overlap the outer layer to create an exposed internal edge of the second resin-fabric preform and wherein the internal edge comprises a terminus of the second resin-fabric preform.