Abstract
A method for manufacturing a lining panel with an integrated electrical connector for a lining of a passenger cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft. An additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique is used to laterally form electrically conductive pins on a panel body of the lining panel to provide an electrical connector. The electrically conductive pins connect to electric lines attached to or formed on or into the panel body. A lining panel with an integrated electrical connector for a lining of a passenger cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft is disclosed. The lining panel has a panel body, electric lines attached to or formed on or into the panel body, and an electrical connector with electrically conductive pins formed laterally on the panel body of the lining panel using an AM or 3D printing technique. The electrically conductive pins are configured to connect to the electric lines.
Claims
1. A method for manufacturing a lining panel with an integrated electrical connector for a lining of a passenger cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft, comprising: using an additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing technique to laterally form electrically conductive pins on a panel body of the lining panel to provide an electrical connector, wherein the electrically conductive pins are formed to connect to electric lines attached to or formed on or into the panel body of the lining panel.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: forming an insulation on the panel body of the lining panel around the electrically conductive pins, wherein the insulation includes an insulating potting being selected from the group consisting of silicones, epoxies, polyesters, and urethanes.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using an additive manufacturing (AM) printing technique to form the electric lines on or into the panel body of the lining panel.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using a 3D printing technique to form the electric lines on or into the panel body of the lining panel.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using an additive manufacturing (AM) printing technique to manufacture the panel body of the lining panel.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using a 3D printing technique to manufacture the panel body of the lining panel.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the electrically conductive pins and the electric lines are simultaneously formed with the manufacturing of the panel body of the lining panel.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using an automated tape placement technique to manufacture the panel body of the lining panel.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: forming connector ports within the panel body of the lining panel configured to take in the electrically conductive pins, wherein the connector ports are formed by at least one of laser ablation and an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique; and forming circuit channels within the panel body of the lining panel configured to take in the electric lines, wherein the circuit channels are formed by at least one of laser ablation and an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique.
10. A lining panel with an integrated electrical connector for a lining of a passenger cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft, the lining panel comprising: a panel body; electric lines being attached to or formed on or into the panel body; and an electrical connector with electrically conductive pins formed laterally on the panel body of the lining panel using an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique, the electrically conductive pins being configured to connect to the electric lines.
11. The lining panel of claim 10, wherein the electrically conductive pins are formed within connector ports provided on the panel body of the lining panel, and wherein the panel body is interspersed by circuit channels, into which the electric lines are formed.
12. The lining panel of claim 10, wherein the electrically conductive pins are formed in a generally planar configuration.
13. The lining panel of claim 10, wherein the electric lines are configured as data lines and the electrically conductive pins are configured as data pins for connecting to the data lines.
14. The lining panel of claim 10, wherein the electric lines are configured as power lines and the electrically conductive pins are configured as power pins for connecting to the power lines.
15. The lining panel of claim 10, wherein an insulation is formed on the panel body of the lining panel around the electrically conductive pins, the insulation including an insulating potting being selected from the group consisting of silicones, epoxies, polyesters, and urethanes.
16. A lining panel assembly comprising a first lining and a second lining panel, each comprising: a panel body; electric lines being attached to or formed on or into the panel body; and an electrical connector with electrically conductive pins formed laterally on the panel body of the lining panel using an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique, the electrically conductive pins being configured to connect to the electric lines; wherein the electrically conductive pins of the first lining panel are complementary formed to the electrically conductive pins of the second lining panel, and wherein the first lining panel laterally joins the second lining panel such that the electrically conductive pins of the first lining panel establish an electrical contact with the electrically conductive pins of the second lining panel.
17. The lining panel assembly of claim 16, wherein the first lining panel is fixed to the second lining panel by fastening elements integrated into the first lining panel and the second lining panel.
18. An aircraft or spacecraft comprising a lining panel, comprising: a panel body; electric lines being attached to or formed on or into the panel body; and an electrical connector with electrically conductive pins formed laterally on the panel body of the lining panel using an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique, the electrically conductive pins being configured to connect to the electric lines.
19. An aircraft or spacecraft comprising a lining panel assembly comprising a first lining and a second lining panel, each comprising: a panel body; electric lines being attached to or formed on or into the panel body; and an electrical connector with electrically conductive pins formed laterally on the panel body of the lining panel using an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technique, the electrically conductive pins being configured to connect to the electric lines; wherein the electrically conductive pins of the first lining panel are complementary formed to the electrically conductive pins of the second lining panel, and wherein the first lining panel laterally joins the second lining panel such that the electrically conductive pins of the first lining panel establish an electrical contact with the electrically conductive pins of the second lining panel.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] The disclosure herein will be explained in greater detail with reference to exemplary embodiments depicted in the drawings as appended.
[0028] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure herein. Other embodiments of the present disclosure and many of the intended advantages of the present disclosure will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. In the figures, like reference numerals denote like or functionally like components, unless indicated otherwise.
[0029] FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a lining panel with integrated electrical connector according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein and a detail view of the integrated electrical connector.
[0030] FIG. 2 schematically shows a perspective view of a lining panel assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein utilizing the lining panel of FIG. 1.
[0031] FIGS. 3a-d schematically illustrate individual steps of a method for manufacturing the lining panel of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein.
[0032] FIGS. 4a and 4b schematically show a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a lining panel assembly according to another embodiment of the disclosure herein.
[0033] FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a lining panel according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure herein.
[0034] FIG. 6 schematically shows a passenger aircraft with a passenger cabin cladded with a plurality of lining panels according to FIG. 1.
[0035] Although specific embodiments are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0036] FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of a lining panel 1 with integrated electrical connector 5 according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein (left) and a detail view of the integrated electrical connector 5 (right). The lining panel 1 is configured to be adjoined to similar lining panels 1 to form the lining 10 of a passenger cabin 11 of a passenger aircraft 100, e.g. like the exemplary one depicted in FIG. 6. For example, the lining panel 1 may be customized as a wall panel, a floor panel, or, for example, a ceiling panel for separating the interior space of the passenger cabin 11 from the structural part and the infrastructure of the aircraft 100. In another embodiment, the lining panel 1 may be customized as a cover for a hatrack or similar stowage space or the like. In the following, the term lining panel 1 generally refers to any lining panel or cladding panel generally known from the interior design of aircraft passenger cabins 11, i.e. components that may serve a basic paneling function for functional or decoration purposes and in addition may provide additional structural or functional advantages. For example, a lining panel 1 configured as a wall panel may be customized to provide sound absorption as well as temperature insulation. Hence, lining panels 1 according to the disclosure herein may be configured for various and different purposes and applications. Thus, the person of skill will be aware that the exemplary embodiments of lining panels 1 and methods M of manufacturing the same described in the following paragraphs merely serve to illustrate the technical teaching of the present disclosure but should not limit the properties of the lining panels 1 beyond the purpose of the present disclosure.
[0037] Still referring to FIG. 1, the lining panel 1 comprises a panel body 3, electric lines 2 being formed on the panel body 3, and an electrical connector 5 with electrically conductive pins 6 formed laterally on the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1. The electric lines 2 and the electrically conductive pins 5 are formed using an AM or 3D printing technique such that the electrically conductive pins 5 connect to the electric lines 2. In principle, the complete lining panel 1 including the electric lines 2 and the electrically conductive pins 6 may be formed using one continuous multi-material 3D printing process, wherein the panel body 3 may be formed from a plastic material or fiber reinforced plastic material, and wherein the electric lines 2 and the electrically conductive pins 6 may be formed from highly conductive particles, fibers or filaments. In an alternative embodiment, the panel body 3 itself may be formed with a more conventional method, e.g. tape laying techniques, and only the electrically conductive pins 6 may be formed with an AM process. The electric lines 2 in that case may either be configured within separate cables or cable bundles or the like, e.g. as flat flexible cables, which may be attached to the panel body 3 from the outside, e.g. by bonding or similar, or, as an alternative, the electric lines 2 may also be formed on or into the panel body 3 with a 3D printing method.
[0038] The electrical connector 5 is configured to connect to the electric lines 2 of the lining panel 1 for electrically connecting this lining panel 1 to another similarly configured lining panel. Specifically, two lining panels may be formed to be joined to each other at their individual electrical connectors 5 in such a way that the electrically conductive pins 6 establish an electric contact between the electric lines 2 of both lining panels 1. This is explained in more detail with respect to FIG. 2 further below.
[0039] Again referring to FIG. 1, the electrically conductive pins 6 are formed within connector ports 4a provided on the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 in a generally planar configuration. The electric lines 2 on the other hand may formed within circuit channels 4b interspersing the panel body 3 (not shown here, cf. FIGS. 3a to 3d) or directly on the panel body 3 surface. Some of the electric lines 2 are specifically configured as data lines 2a and some as power lines 2b. Correspondingly, the respective electrically conductive pins 6 are configured as data pins 6a or as power pins 6b for connecting to the data lines 2a and the power lines 2b, respectively. The electrical connector 5 is formed within a recess 19 of the panel body 3, the purpose of which will become clearer with respect to FIG. 2 further below.
[0040] Still referring to FIG. 1, an insulation 16 is formed on the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 around the electrically conductive pins 6 in the form of a groove, into which an insulating potting 17 is filled, e.g. comprising a material selected from the group consisting of silicones, epoxies, polyesters, and urethanes. The insulation may provide electrical insulation of the electric components as well moisture insulation, or more general protection of the components against vibration, thermal shock, chemicals and other contaminants, etc.
[0041] The lining panel 1 depicted in FIG. 1 may replace and/or complement conventional lining panels of a passenger cabin 11 of an aircraft 100. The electric lines 2 and the electrical connector 5 particularly dispense with the need for individual electric wires, cable routes or bundles, cable connectors and similar components of an electrical infrastructure of a passenger cabin 11 as they are conventionally used. In the case of the present disclosure, an electrical connector 5 as well as electric lines 2 are directly implemented into the lining panels 1 of the cabin lining 10 in a (multi-material) printing process. Using 3D printing processes according to the present disclosure even complexly structured electrical connectors 5, electric lines 2 or electric circuitry may be manufactured directly on or in the panel bodies 3 of the lining panels 1 in cost and time efficient production manner.
[0042] Like this, cable connectors, electric wires and cable bundles and the like, as well as brackets and other holding components may be avoided or at least significantly reduced in number. In general, reductions in weight and space may be achieved. Electrical connectors 5 and electric lines 2 may be fully integrated into the lining panels 1 and hence the electric infrastructure is less vulnerable to mechanical or other influences or damage. Thus, not only weight, costs, installation and manufacturing efforts can be significantly lowered but also the general reliability of a lining 10 of a passenger cabin 11 can be improved.
[0043] FIG. 2 schematically shows a perspective view of a lining panel assembly 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein utilizing the lining panel 1 of FIG. 1. The lining panel assembly 20 comprises a first lining panel 1a, which may be the lining panel 1 of FIG. 1, and a second lining panel 1b. The electrically conductive pins 6 of the second lining panel 1b are complementary formed to the electrically conductive pins 6 of the first lining panel 1a such that the first lining panel 1a may be laterally joined (arrow in FIG. 2) to the second lining panel 1b via the electrical connector 5. To this end, both lining panels 1 are formed with respective recesses 19 that simplify the installation process as the lining panels 1 simply have to placed against each other at their recesses 19. Once the connection is established, the electrically conductive pins 6 of the first lining panel 1a form an electrical contact with the electrically conductive pins 6 of the second lining panel 1b. Thus, a lining panel assembly 20 is provided, wherein electric lines 2 as well as electrical connectors 5 are integrated into the lining panels 1 themselves such that the lining panels 1 may simply be joined side by side via their respective electrical connectors 5 to establish an electrical connection between the electric lines 2 of the lining panels 1. Hence, the lining panel assembly 20 according to the disclosure herein may render dispensable and/or replace separate cable connectors, electric wires and cable bundles and the like, as well as brackets and other holding components. The person of skill will be aware that lining panels according to the disclosure herein may be provided with more than one electrical connector 5 such that more than two lining panels 1 may be joined to each other at the same time in order to form a lining 10 of a passenger cabin 11 of an aircraft 100.
[0044] With reference to FIGS. 3a-d of the drawings, individual steps M1′, M2, M2′, M3, M3′ of a method M for manufacturing the lining panel 1 of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure herein are shown. The individual steps M1′, M2, M2′, M3, M3′ of the method M according to FIGS. 3a-d may be reiterated as often as required and in different sequence from the one shown.
[0045] The method M comprises under M1′ using an automated tape placement technique to manufacture the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1. The tape placement technique may be, for example, a rapid fiber- or tape-placement process as it is known from the production of plastic components, composite preforms and/or the fabrication of fiber-reinforced composite components. The tape placement may comprise drawing tapes 14 from a tape spool 13 and placing the tapes 14 on a support surface or similar, where the tapes 14 are superimposed upon another to form a preform 15, i.e. a semi-finished component. The tapes 14 are laid down by a tape placement head 12 that presses each tape 14 onto the already placed tapes 14. The individual tapes 14 may consist of or comprise one or more layers of tape material, e.g. layers of a continuous web, such as strip or sheet material, or layers made of fabric impregnated with a curable material, like epoxy resin or the like. The individual layers of material may be essentially the same or may differ from one another depending on the specific requirements for the tape 14 and/or the lining panel 1. The person of skill will be aware that various manufacturing processes for the fabrication of plastic or composite panels may be used in the method of this embodiment of the disclosure herein. Hence, in a first method step of the embodiment, the panel body 3 may be particularly manufactured as a composite component by tape placement, e.g. by conventional tape placement methods such as laser assisted tape placement or variants thereof. The method step under M1′ may particularly comprise consolidating, curing or hardening the semi-finished component into a (fiber-reinforced) composite component to form the panel body 3.
[0046] With reference to FIG. 3b in particular, the method M further comprises under M2 forming connector ports 4a within the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 configured to take in the electrically conductive pins 6. The connector ports 4a are formed by laser ablation. The method M further comprises under M2′ forming circuit channels 4b within the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 configured to take in the electric lines 2. The circuit channels 4b are equally formed by laser ablation. During the laser ablation, the material of panel body 3 is evaporated along a line or curve by a laser beam 8 provided by a laser head 7 to form a recess that either constitutes the connector ports 4a or the circuit channels 4b. This may be done, for example, with a pulsed laser beam 8 or with a continuous laser beam 8. Depending on the desired width and/or depth of the connector ports 4a or the circuit channels 4b, material may be removed in a single pass of the laser beam 8, or, alternatively, in multiple passes in succession. The person of skill will readily conceive appropriate variants on basis of the individual requirements of the specific application with respect to quality and rapidness. To form the connector ports 4a, the laser beam 8 may be moved along the lateral region of the lining panel 1, whereas it may be moved above the surface of the panel body 3 in order to form the circuit channels 4b. In FIGS. 3a-3d the connector ports 4a and the circuit channels 4b as well as the electrically conductive pins 6 and the electric lines 2 are depicted interchangeably for reasons of simplicity.
[0047] Referring now to FIG. 3c of the drawings, the method M further comprises under M3 using an AM or 3D printing technique to laterally form electrically conductive pins 6 on a panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 with a 3D print head 9 to provide an electrical connector 5. The electrically conductive pins 6 are formed to connect to electric lines 2 attached to or formed on or into the panel body 3 of the lining panel. The method M further comprises under M3′ using an AM or 3D printing technique to form electric lines 2 on or into the panel body 3 with the 3D print head 9. For this, the AM or 3D printing technique may be optimized to employ different materials in a multiple material printing process. In the embodiment shown here, the electric lines 2 of the disclosure herein (as well as the electrically conductive pins 6) are printed by a separate 3D print head 9 of a separate 3D printer on a panel body 3 prepared beforehand by the tape-placement process. The respective 3D printer is particularly configured to print electrically conductive circuits. In one exemplary embodiment, a powder bed or inkjet head 3D printer may be employed to place highly conductive particles, e.g. silver nanoparticles or other highly conductive metal or metal alloy materials, or highly conductive fibers or filaments on the panel body 3. Once the electric lines 2 are placed, it is possible to place more layers of tape material on top of the panel body 3 and the electric lines 2, and, thus, to reiterate the method step under M1′, M2′, and M3′ until a panel body 3 with a plurality of embedded electric lines 2 is formed that may be positioned in various layers and orientations. In this respect, FIG. 3d illustrates the final lining panel 1 after forming one or several electric lines 2 and electrically conductive pins 6.
[0048] FIGS. 4a and 4b schematically show a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of a lining panel assembly 20 according to another embodiment of the disclosure herein. Basically, the first lining panel 1a and the second lining panel 1b of the lining panel assembly 20 correspond to the lining panels 1a, 1b as depicted in FIG. 2. However, the embodiment of FIGS. 4a and 4b additionally includes fastening elements 18a, 18b integrated into the lining panels 1a, b to improve the assembly of the lining panels 1a, 1b. Specifically, the recess 19 of the first lining panel 1a may be placed against the recess 19 of the second lining panel 1b such that the electrical connectors 5 establish electrical contacts between the electrically conductive pins 6 of both lining panels 1a, 1b. The fastening elements 18a, 18b may fix the lining panels 1a, 1b, to each other such that their relative position is secured and thus the electrical contact between the electrically conductive pins 6 will be maintained, e.g. in case of external mechanical influences or stress, e.g. due to vibrations, shaking or similar, or due to thermal expansion of the lining panels, etc. The fastening elements 18a, 18b may further serve as a safeguard against minor tolerance and warping related geometry deviations of the components. Gaps between the lining panels 1a, 1b may be prevented or minimized, so that for example moisture cannot enter between the lining panels 1a, 1b. For example, the fastening elements 18a, 18b may provide a “snap & click” functionality, wherein the fastening element 18a of the first lining panel 1a may be formed as a male-ended member, e.g. a protruding plug, while the fastening element 18b of the second lining panel 1b may be complementary formed to the male-ended member, e.g. as a female-ended socket. The embodiment of FIGS. 4a and 4b exemplarily shows a lining panel assembly 20 that utilizes a separate fastening element 21, e.g. a screw. The fastening elements 18a, 18b are in this cased customized as threaded holes, into which the separate fastening element 21 may be inserted to couple both lining panels 1a, 1b.
[0049] Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram of a method M for manufacturing a lining panel 1 according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure herein is shown. As in the method M described in reference to FIGS. 3a-3d, the method M may comprise under M1 using an automated tape placement technique to manufacture the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1. However, as an alternative, the method M may also comprise under M1 using an AM or 3D printing technique to manufacture the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1. Next, the method M may comprise under M2 forming connector ports 4a within the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 configured to take in the electrically conductive pins 6, and under M2′ forming circuit channels 4 within the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 configured to take in the electric lines 2, as in FIGS. 3a-3d. The method further comprises under M3 using an AM or 3D printing technique to laterally form electrically conductive pins 6 on a panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 to provide an electrical connector 5, and under M3′ forming the electric lines 2 on or into a panel body 3 of the lining panel 1.
[0050] Hence, the embodiment of FIG. 5 provides the possibility to manufacture the complete lining panel 1 with the help of 3D printing processes. It may be particularly advantageous to implement the method M of FIG. 5 in one single integrated, multi-material 3D printing method, wherein the panel body 3, the electrical connector 5 and the electric lines 2 are formed simultaneously by one 3D printer with one or several print heads. In one embodiment, such the 3D printer may for example be configured as a powder bed or inkjet head 3D printer and may be able to place highly conductive particles, e.g. silver nanoparticles or other highly conductive metal or metal alloy materials, or highly conductive fibers or filaments on a substrate material (forming the panel body 3), e.g. a plastic material or fiber reinforced plastic material. Like this, even highly complex and intricate panel and circuit configurations can be manufactured in a relatively straightforward way, configurations that may be impossible or nearly impossible to realize by conventional cables, connectors and panels.
[0051] Still referring to FIG. 5, the method may further comprise under M4 forming an insulation 16 on the panel body 3 of the lining panel 1 around the electrically conductive pins 6. Here, the insulation 16 may include an insulating potting 17 being selected from the group consisting of silicones, epoxies, polyesters, and urethanes.
[0052] In the foregoing detailed description, various features are grouped together in one or more examples or examples with the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. It is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Many other examples will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reviewing the above specification.
[0053] The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure herein and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure herein and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Many other examples will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reviewing the above specification.
[0054] While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.
