Patent ID: 11953880
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 20:
21. A system for indexing a layup mandrel for a composite part, the system comprising:
a lamination head comprising:
a roller;
a suspension that enables deflection of the roller;
a position sensor that measures deflection of the roller; and
a dispenser that dispenses tows of fiber-reinforced material; and

a controller that identifies a first side surface and a layup surface of the layup mandrel, wherein the layup mandrel travels in a process direction between serially arranged workstations during fabrication of the composite part, directs the lamination head to place the roller in contact with the first side surface, directs the lamination head to traverse the first side surface with the roller, acquires a stream of 3D coordinates of the roller as the roller traverses the first side surface, determines an alignment of the layup mandrel based on the stream of 3D coordinates, and alters a Numerical Control (NC) program that directs layup of fiber reinforced material at the layup mandrel, based on a difference between the alignment of the layup mandrel and a nominal alignment of the layup mandrel.