IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO AIRFRAME MANUFACTURING

摘要

A machine for cutting openings in an airframe section comprises a gantry (1) which is translatable past an blank (6), open which cutting machines (4) are mounted, each cutting machine (4) comprising a platform (8) supported from the gantry by three pairs of legs (9) which are coupled to the platform by three universal joints, each pair of legs coupling together at a respective one of the universal joints, and at their other ends are coupling to spaced-apart locations of a mounting (10) in the gantry by means of leg-drive motors (11) which are mounted in universal joints. The motors enable the leg lengths to be adjusted independently so that the position and orientation of the platform can be precisely determined. A cutting head (12) is mounted on the other side of the platform and the entire machine is precision controlled by a computer system (3) which controls all aspects of the cutting machines (4) and the position of the gantry.