APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATED LAYUP OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURES

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system and method for laying up composite plies on a form tool with minimal touch labor and in an efficient and cost-effective manner.SOLUTION: An apparatus 200 for forming a material layer 458 onto a form tool 220 includes at least one nosepiece configured to laterally sweep a ply carrier 450 onto a form tool contour 236. Moreover the apparatus 200 includes a pair of tension arms configured to support opposing lateral sides of a ply carrier 450 having a material layer 458. The apparatus includes one or more actuators configured to position the tension arms during forming of the ply carrier 450 to the form tool contour 236. The one or more actuators are configured to sense and control lateral tension in the ply carrier 450 during forming of the ply carrier 450 to the form tool contour 236.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11