Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/558,650 filed on Apr. 1, 2004, herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to templates used for evaluating parts. Specifically, the present invention relates to templates for gross error evaluation of a manufactured product.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved template.  
         [0004]     This and other objects of the present invention are achieved in one aspect by a template for evaluating a part, comprising: a surface having a shape corresponding to the part; and at least one element on the surface corresponding to a desired location of a feature on the part. The element assists a user to determine whether the feature is at said desired location.  
         [0005]     This and other objects of the present invention are achieved in another aspect by a method of evaluating a part, comprising the steps of: providing a template having a shape corresponding to the part and at least one element thereon corresponding to a desired location of a feature on the part; associating the template with the part; and using the element to determine whether the feature is at the desired location. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     Other uses and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the specification and the drawings, in which:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the one possible embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 1   a  is a detailed view of the template of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the template of  FIG. 1  mounted on a product to be evaluated;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2   a  is a detailed view of the template and product of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of another possible embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the template of  FIG. 3  mounted on a product to be evaluated;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of another possible embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of the template of  FIG. 5 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the template of  FIG. 5 , taken along line  7 - 7 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the template of  FIG. 5  mounted on a product to be evaluated; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 8   a  is a detailed view of the template and product of  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]      FIGS. 1, 1   a ,  2  and  2   a  display one possible embodiment of the present invention. The figures display a template  11  manufactured, for example, using stereo lithography (SLA) from a suitable material such as an extra clear resin. The template  11  has a body  13  that generally corresponds to the shape of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. The shape of the body  13  could be determined from a solid model computer file of the object targeted for gross error evaluation.  
         [0019]     The body  13  has an interior surface  15  that faces the object and an exterior surface  17  that faces away from the object. The interior surface  15  includes a plurality of protuberances  19 . The protuberances  19  contact the object, and keep the remainder of the body  13  offset from the surface of the object. The protuberances  19  preferably have a height that accommodates variation in object size without the remainder of the body  13  contacting the object. The location of the protuberances  19  could conform to a point system used during the manufacturing process. Preferably, the body  13  has six protuberances  19  since the point system used during the manufacturing process identifies six points on the object.  
         [0020]      FIG. 1   a  is a detailed view of the exterior surface  17  of the body  13 . The exterior surface  17  preferably has one or more scribe lines  21  thereon. If formed during an SLA process, the scribe lines  21  could be grooves that extend a distance into the exterior surface  17  of the body  13 . The present invention could utilize other suitable techniques to form the scribe lines  21 . For example, the scribe lines  21  could be printed indicia. In other words, the scribe lines are printed onto the exterior surface  17  of the body  13 .  
         [0021]     The scribe lines  21  allow the user to evaluate the object, specifically a feature of the object, for gross errors. Accordingly, the scribes lines  21  are positioned on the exterior surface  17  so as to correspond to the location of such feature on the object. As shown in  FIG. 1   a , the template could have two scribe lines  21  per feature. One scribe line  21  could identify a minimum of a tolerance range for the location of the feature on the object. The other scribe line  21  could identify a maximum of a tolerance range for the location of the feature on the object.  
         [0022]     The template  11  could also include printed indicia  23  to identify the object targeted for gross error evaluation. For example, the printed indicia  23  could be the part number of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. Other manners of identifying the object targeted for gross error evaluation, however, could be used.  
         [0023]      FIGS. 2 and 2   a  display one possible application of the template  11 . The object targeted for gross error evaluation in the figure is a blade  50  of a gas turbine engine (not shown). The blade  50  includes a root section  51  for securing to a disc, an airfoil section  53  for converting the velocity of the fluid exiting the combustion section (not shown) of the engine into rotation of the disc, and a medial section  55  between the root section  51  and airfoil section  53 . The manufacturing process for the blade  50  identifies points  57  thereon. Preferably, the manufacturing process identifies six points  57  on the blade  50 .  
         [0024]     Due to the exposure of the airfoil section  53  to the high temperature fluid exiting the combustion section of the engine, the airfoil section  53  can have apertures  59  in communication with a hollow interior (not shown). Cooling air (not shown) provided to the hollow interior exits the apertures  59  to provide film cooling to the blade  50 .  
         [0025]     The template  11  allows the user to ensure, after the manufacture of the blade  50 , that: (1) the apertures  59  exist on the suction side of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 ; and/or (2) the apertures  59  are properly located (i.e. within the tolerance range of the location of the feature on the object) on the suction side of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 . As seen in  FIG. 2 , the blade  50  receives the template  11 . The protuberances  19  engage the blade  50  at the points  57  identified during the manufacturing process.  
         [0026]     Once associated with the blade  50 , the user can view through the template  11  to evaluate the blade  50 .  FIG. 2   a  displays a view through the template  11  with a properly located cooling hole  59  (the cooling hole  59  has been shown in phantom line to avoid confusion as the cooling hole  59  resides behind the clear template  11 ). As discussed above, the protuberances  19  keep the remainder of the body  13  of the template  11  away from the surface of the blade  50 . The distance between the body  13  and the blade  50  is kept to a minimum to avoid parallax error.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  displays another possible embodiment of the present invention. The figure displays a template  111 . The template  111  is preferably used to evaluate a different section of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. Save for a change in the hundreds digit, the reference characters identifying features of template  111  correspond to the reference characters identifying the same features of template  111 .  
         [0028]     Briefly, template  111  has a body  113  manufactured, for example, using stereo lithography (SLA) from a suitable material such as an extra clear resin. The body  113  generally corresponds to the shape of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. The body  113  has an interior surface  115  that faces the object and an exterior surface  117  that faces away from the object. The interior surface  15  includes a plurality of protuberances  119 . The protuberances  119  contact the object, and keep the remainder of the body  113  offset from the surface of the object. The protuberances  119  conform to a point system used during the manufacturing process. Preferably, the template  111  has six protuberances  119 .  
         [0029]     The exterior surface  117  of the body  113  preferably has one or more scribe lines  121  thereon. If formed during an SLA process, the scribe lines  121  could be grooves that extend a distance into the exterior surface  117  of the body  113 . The present invention could utilize other suitable techniques to form the scribe lines  121 . For example, the scribe lines  121  could be printed indicia. In other words, the scribe lines are printed onto the exterior surface  117  of the body  113 .  
         [0030]     The scribe lines  121  allow the user to evaluate the object, specifically a feature of the object, for gross errors. Accordingly, the scribe lines  121  are positioned on the exterior surface  117  so as to correspond to the location of such feature on the object. Preferably, the template  111  has two scribe lines  121  per feature. One scribe line  121  could identify a minimum of a tolerance range for the location of the feature on the object. The other scribe line  121  could identify a maximum of a tolerance range for the location of the feature on the object.  
         [0031]     The template  111  could also include printed indicia  123  to identify the object targeted for gross error evaluation. For example, the printed indicia  123  could be the part number of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. Other manners of identifying the object targeted for gross error evaluation, however, could be used.  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  displays the template  111  mounted on the blade  50 . The template  111  allows the user to ensure, after the manufacture of the blade  50 , that: (1) the apertures  59  exist on the pressure side of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 ; and/or (2) the apertures  59  are properly located (i.e. within the tolerance range of the location of the feature on the object) on the pressure side of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 . The protuberances  119  engage the blade  50  at the points  57  identified during the manufacturing process. Comparing  FIGS. 2 and 4  (note the figures show different sides of the blade), it is clear that the protuberances  119  contact the same points on the blade  50  as the protuberances  19  when using the template  11 .  
         [0033]      FIGS. 5-7  display another possible embodiment of the present invention. The figures display a template  211 . The template  211  is preferably used to evaluate a different section of the object targeted for gross error evaluation than templates  11 ,  111 . The template  211  has features corresponding to the features of templates  11 ,  111 . These features used the same reference character, save a change in the hundreds digit. Template  201  does have features different that those described with templates  11 ,  111 . The features will have different reference characters.  
         [0034]     Briefly, template  211  has a body  213  manufactured, for example, using stereo lithography (SLA) from a suitable material such as an extra clear resin. The body  213  generally corresponds to the shape of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. The body  213  has an interior surface  215  that faces the object and an exterior surface  217  that faces away from the object. The interior surface  215  includes a plurality of protuberances  219 . The protuberances  219  conform to a point system used during the manufacturing process.  
         [0035]     The template  211  could also include printed indicia  223  to identify the object targeted for gross error evaluation. For example, the printed indicia  223  could be the part number of the object targeted for gross error evaluation. Other manners of identifying the object targeted for gross error evaluation, however, could be used.  
         [0036]     Due to the location of the feature on the object, the template  211  also includes a section  225  having a depressed area  227 . The depressed area  227  has scallops  229  therein. The scallops  229  allow the user to evaluate the object, specifically features of the object, for gross errors. Accordingly, the scallops  229  are positioned on the depressed area  227  of the section  225  so as to correspond to the location of such features on the object.  
         [0037]      FIG. 8  displays the template  211  mounted on the blade  50 . The template  211  allows the user to ensure, after the manufacture of the blade  50 , that: (1) the apertures  59  exist on the radial tip of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 ; and/or (2) the apertures  59  are properly located (i.e. within the tolerance range of the location of the feature on the object) on the radial tip of the airfoil section  53  of the blade  50 .  FIG. 8   a  shows  
         [0038]     The protuberances  119  engage the blade  50  at the points  57  identified during the manufacturing process. Comparing  FIGS. 2 and 4  (note the figures show different sides of the blade), it is clear that the protuberances  119  contact the same points on the blade  50  as the protuberances  19  when using the template  11 .  
         [0039]      FIG. 8   a  displays a view through the template  211  with a properly located cooling hole  59  (the cooling hole  59  has been shown in phantom line to avoid confusion as the cooling hole  59  resides behind the clear template  211 ). Preferably, the template  211  has five protuberances  219 . The depressed area  227  serves as the sixth contact point with the blade  50 . In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 5-7 , the location where depressed area  227  contacts blade  50  does not correspond to the sixth point location used with templates  11 ,  111 . Nevertheless, the protuberances  219  and the depressed area  227  contact the object, and keep the remainder of the body  213  offset from the surface of the object.  
         [0040]     The present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures. It is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.

Technology Category: 7