Aircraft skin lap splice
First Claim
1. In a skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft which comprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, and a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions;
- the improvement which comprises means on said inner skin adjacent the longitudinal edge portion thereof and forming a part of said inner skin to provide flexibility at said longitudinal edge portion of said inner skin, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said flexibilizing means and connecting the longitudinal edge portion of said outer skin and the longitudinal edge portion of said inner skin.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Fuselage skin lap splice for aircraft formed of metal or composite skin panels. The adjacent skin panels comprise an outer skin and an inner skin, having contacting overlapping longitudinal edge portions, and a plurality of fasteners connecting such overlapping edge portions. A plurality of outwardly extending fingers are integrally connected along the edge portion of the inner skin and at least one longitudinal row of fasteners passes through the fingers and connects the outer skin and the fingers. Preferably the fingers are lollipopped, that is, have one or more protrusions thereon. The fingers at the end of the inner skin are flexible and soften and the load transfer through the fasteners, reducing the peak bearing stress and increasing the fatigue life of the splice. Alternatively, the desired flexibility at the end of the inner skin can be achieved by providing a plurality of large holes near the edge of the inner skin rather than by the provision of the fingers having apertures therebetween.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft which comprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, and a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions;
- the improvement which comprises means on said inner skin adjacent the longitudinal edge portion thereof and forming a part of said inner skin to provide flexibility at said longitudinal edge portion of said inner skin, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said flexibilizing means and connecting the longitudinal edge portion of said outer skin and the longitudinal edge portion of said inner skin.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
- 4. A skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft which coprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, a plurality of fingers on said inner skin along said edge portion of said inner skin, forming a part thereof and extending outwardly therefrom, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said fingers and connecting said outer skin and said fingers.
- 7. A skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft which comprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, a plurality of holes along the outer edge of the longitudinal edge portion of said inner skin, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said inner skin between said holes and connected to said outer skin.
- 13. A skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft and particularly adapted as an aircraft fuselage skin lap splice, which comprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, a plurality of lollipopped fingers integrally connected along said edge portion of said inner skin and extending outwardly therefrom, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said fingers and connecting said outer skin and said fingers, and wherein there are three said first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, said lollipopped fingers being spaced apart from each other a distance such that the number of fasteners in said at least one longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said lollipopped fingers is approximately half the number of fasteners in row of said three longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions.
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20. A skin lap splice between adjacent skin panels of aircraft which comprises an outer skin having a longitudinal edge portion and an inner skin having a longitudinal edge portion, said edge portions being in contact and overlapping, a plurality of first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, a plurality of lollipopped fingers integrally connected along said edge portion of said inner skin and extending outwardly therefrom, and at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said fingers and connecting said outer skin and said fingers, and wherein the spacing of fasteners in said at least one second longitudinal row of fasteners passing through said lollipopped fingers is greater than between the fasteners in each of said first longitudinal rows of fasteners connecting said edge portions, and wherein the thickness of said outer and inner skins is unequal, and including an additional lollipopped finger doubler disposed in contact with said adjacent to the thinner of said skins, said doubler being fastened to each of said skins.
Specification