AIR CONDITIONING PIPE AND PRODUCTION METHOD

Abstract

An air conditioning pipe for carrying a gas in an aircraft includes a wall which is a sandwich component. The wall contains at least one woven fabric which forms a first ply of the wall and at least one fibrous web, made from a material containing glass, which forms a second ply of the wall. A method for producing the air conditioning pipe is also provided.

Claims

1. An air conditioning pipe for carrying a gas in an aircraft, the air conditioning pipe comprising: a gas-carrying air conditioning pipe wall being a sandwich component containing: at least one woven fabric forming a first ply of said wall, and at least one fibrous web made of a material containing glass and forming a second ply of said wall; said at least one woven fabric including at least one woven fabric of a prepreg; and said at least one fibrous web containing a resin soaking said at least one fibrous web.

2. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein said at least one fibrous web includes a fibrous web forming a covering ply facing an internal space.

3. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein: said wall contains a further woven fabric forming a third ply of said wall; and said at least one fibrous web of said second ply is disposed between said at least one woven fabric of said first ply and said woven fabric of said third ply.

4. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein said at least one fibrous web has a basis weight of 20 g/m.sup.2 to 70 g/m.sup.2.

5. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioning pipe is configured for carrying air as the gas.

6. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein said at least one fibrous web includes at least one fibrous web having a thickness of 0.1 to 0.8 millimeters.

7. The air conditioning pipe according to claim 1, wherein said at least one fibrous web includes at least one fibrous web having a binder content of 3 to 10 percent.

8. A method for producing an air conditioning pipe for carrying a gas in an aircraft, the method comprising the following steps: forming a gas-carrying air conditioning pipe wall containing a sandwich component including: at least one woven fabric forming a first ply of the wall, and at least one fibrous web being soaked with a resin, being made from a material containing glass and forming a second ply of the wall.

9. The method according to claim 8, which further comprises: supplying the at least one woven fabric as a prepreg; consolidating the at least one fibrous web with the prepreg to form an assembly; and producing the wall by using the assembly.

10. The method according to claim 9, which further comprises carrying out the step of consolidating the assembly by rolling up the prepreg together with the fibrous web.

11. The method according to claim 9, which further comprises: laying the assembly and at least one further ply of the wall in a mold in separate work steps to form a structure; and then making the structure laid in the mold into the wall in the mold.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0032] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of an air conditioning pipe according to the invention;

[0033] FIG. 2 is an elevational view of a wall of an air conditioning pipe according to the invention during the production thereof; and

[0034] FIG. 3 is an elevational view showing the laying of components of the air conditioning pipe in a mold during manufacture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a finished air conditioning pipe 2. The air conditioning pipe has a wall 8. The wall 8 delimits the air conditioning pipe with respect to an external space 16. The air conditioning pipe is therefore surrounded by the external space 16. The air conditioning pipe extends along a central longitudinal axis 18. The wall 8 surrounds an internal space 24 of the air conditioning pipe. The internal space 24 is used to carry a gas (not shown), in this case air.

[0036] FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a segment of the air conditioning pipe 2 or the wall 8 thereof during its production, between a metallic mold 4 and a plunger 6. In this case, the central longitudinal axis 18 is indicated diagrammatically. The wall 8 is a sandwich component. The wall 8 contains a woven fabric 10 which forms a first ply or layer of the wall 8, a fibrous web, fleece or mat 12 which is formed from a glass-containing material and which forms a second ply or layer of the wall 8, and a woven fabric 14 which forms a third ply or layer of the wall 8.

[0037] Thus, the fibrous web 12 is disposed between the two woven fabrics 10, 14. In the example, the woven fabrics 10, 14 are prefabricated as prepregs, i.e. they are impregnated or soaked with a resin.

[0038] In order to produce the air conditioning pipe 2 or the wall 8, the components are joined together between the mold 4 and the plunger 6 by pressing the plunger 6 in the direction of the mold 4.

[0039] The woven fabrics 10, 14 are each supplied in the form of a prepreg 20. In an alternative embodiment, the woven fabric 10 and the fibrous web 12 are consolidated into an assembly 22 before being inserted between the mold 4 and the plunger 6. The assembly is indicated in FIG. 1 by a dashed box. During consolidation, the fibrous web 12 is applied to the prepreg 20 and is held on the prepreg by the excess resin or the adhesive surface of the prepreg 20. The assembly 22 and the remaining woven fabric 14, which is likewise supplied as a prepreg 20, are then made into the air conditioning pipe 2 or the wall 8. Consolidation to yield the assembly 22 takes place outside the configuration including the mold 4 and the plunger 6 and before insertion between these elements.

[0040] The fibrous web 12 is supplied as a dry fibrous semifinished product or, like the woven fabrics 10, 14, as a prepreg for consolidation into the assembly 22. In the example (not shown), the assembly 22 was consolidated by rolling up the prepreg 20 together with the fibrous web 12 before introduction into or laying onto the mold 4. The assembly 22, on one hand, and the further ply in the form of the woven fabric 14 are laid in the mold 4 in separate work steps before the structure laid in the mold 4, in this case therefore the assembly 22 and the woven fabric 14, are made into the air conditioning pipe 2 in the mold 4.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows successive steps a), b) and c) in the method for producing the air conditioning pipe 2. The illustration is diagrammatic and shows only a portion of the mold 4 and of the air conditioning pipe 2 or the components thereof. Once again, the central longitudinal axis 18 is indicated. The plunger 6 has been omitted for the sake of clarity.

[0042] Initially, as shown in the first step a) of FIG. 2, the woven fabric 10 is laid in the mold 4. In the second step b) shown in FIG. 2, the fibrous web 12 is laid on woven fabric 10.

[0043] In an alternative embodiment, the step shown in FIG. 2a) is omitted, namely when woven fabric 10 and the fibrous web 12 have already been consolidated into an assembly 22. FIG. 2b) then shows the first method step, in which the assembly 22 is laid in the mold 4.

[0044] According to step c) of FIG. 2, a further ply of the wall 8, namely the woven fabric 14, is then laid on the fibrous web 12 or the assembly 22.

[0045] The wall 8 or the air conditioning pipe is then produced as described above by joining the components laid in the mold 4.

[0046] The following is a summary list of reference numerals and the corresponding structure used in the above description of the invention: [0047] 2 air conditioning pipe [0048] 4 mold [0049] 6 plunger [0050] 8 wall [0051] 10 woven fabric [0052] 12 fibrous web [0053] 14 woven fabric [0054] 16 external space [0055] 18 central longitudinal axis [0056] 20 prepreg [0057] 22 assembly [0058] 24 internal space