SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCAL SURFACE TREATMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for the local surface treatment of an aeronautical part (1) to be treated.

Said system is characterised in that it comprises a plurality of containers (18, 19, 20, 21) each comprising a treatment product (22, 23, 24, 25), at least one bath enclosure (102a, 102b) suitable for delimiting a fluid-tight space (26a, 26b) between this bath enclosure (102a, 102b) and a portion (101a, 101b) of the part to be treated, and a controlled circuit (10) for supplying said fluid-tight space (26a, 26b) with treatment product (22, 23, 24, 25) the containers (18, 19, 20, 21) connecting at least this container (18, 19, 20, 21) to said fluid-tight space (26a, 26b) and comprising valves for managing the supply to the fluid-tight space by one or more containers from the plurality of containers.

Claims

1. A system for the local surface treatment of an aeronautical part to be treated, the system comprising: a plurality of containers each comprising a treatment product; at least one bath enclosure suitable for delimiting a fluid-tight space between the at least one bath enclosure and a portion of an aeronautical part to be treated; and a controlled circuit supplying said fluid-tight space with said treatment product from at least one of the plurality of containers, and connecting the plurality of containers to said fluid-tight space said controlled circuit comprising valves managing a supply of said treatment product to the fluid-tight space by one or more ones of the plurality of containers.

2. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bath enclosure comprises a wall having an opening, adapted to cover the portion of the aeronautical part to be treated so that the fluid-tight space is delimited by the wall of the at least one bath enclosure and the portion of the aeronautical part to be treated.

3. The local surface treatment system according to claim 2, wherein the opening is surrounded by seals.

4. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bath enclosure comprises a device controlling a temperature in the fluid-tight space, said device comprising a heater and a temperature measurer.

5. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bath enclosure comprises a stirrer stirring the treatment product in the fluid-tight space.

6. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, wherein the aeronautical part to be treated is a large-sized part.

7. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one batch enclosure comprises a multiplicity plurality bath enclosures adapted to delimit a plurality of fluid-tight spaces between each of the multiplicity of bath enclosures and a plurality of portions of the aeronautical part to be treated.

8. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, further comprising an electricity generator comprising a negative pole connected to the at least one bath enclosure and a positive pole connected to the aeronautical part to be treated.

9. The local surface treatment system according to claim 1, further comprising a filtration device arranged on the controlled supply circuit.

10. A method for the local surface treatment of an aeronautical part to be treated, in which at least one treatment product is applied to a portion of the aeronautical part to be treated, the method comprising: prior to the application of the at least one treatment product to the portion of the aeronautical part to be treated, fitting a bath enclosure on the aeronautical part to be treated, so as to delimit a fluid-tight space between the bath enclosure and the portion of the aeronautical part to be treated; and, supplying the fluid-tight space from one or more containers with the at least one treatment product.

Description

5. LIST OF FIGURES

[0050] Other aims, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the description given solely by way of a non-limiting example and which refers to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0051] FIG. 1 is a schematic view in cross section of a local surface treatment system according to a first embodiment of the invention,

[0052] FIG. 2 is a schematic view in cross section of a local surface treatment system according to a second embodiment of the invention,

[0053] FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a local surface treatment method according to one embodiment of the invention.

6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0054] The following embodiments are examples. Although the description refers to one or more embodiments, this does not necessarily mean that each reference relates to the same embodiment or that the features apply only to one embodiment. Simple features of various embodiments can also be combined in order to form other embodiments.

[0055] FIG. 1 depicts schematically in cross section a system 100 for the local surface treatment of a portion 101a, 101b of a part 1 to be treated according to a first embodiment of the invention.

[0056] The system 100 makes it possible to treat a part 1 to be treated by means of treatment products 22, 23, 24, 25, each treatment product 22, 23, 24, 25 being respectively stored in a container 18, 19, 20, 21. The part 1 to be treated is, for example, a metal part forming part of an aircraft.

[0057] To carry out local treatment of the part 1 to be treated, for example on one or more portions 101a, 101b of the part to be treated, the local treatment system 100 comprises one or more bath enclosures, for example two bath enclosures 102a, 102b in this first embodiment, each being located on a face of the part 1 to be treated. Each bath enclosure 102a, 102b delimits a fluid-tight space 26a, 26b between walls 7a, 7b of each bath enclosure 102a, 102b and the portion 101a, 101b of the part to be treated. Each bath enclosure 102a, 102b comprises an opening adapted to cover the portion 101a, 101b of the part to be treated so as to close the fluid-tight space 26a, 26b.

[0058] The opening is surrounded by seals 8, making to it possible to avoid runs of one of the treatment products onto zones of the part to be treated other than the portion 101a, 101b of the part to be treated. These seals 8 can be produced for example by means of an adhesive of the adhesive masking tape type affording protection of the part 1 to be treated, or by means of electromagnetic suckers, affording connection with the part 1 to be treated, covered with an elastomer material providing the seal, or by means of a mechanical mount compressing a seal.

[0059] The containers 18, 19, 20, 21 are connected to each fluid-tight space 26a, 26b by a controlled supply circuit 10. The controlled supply circuit comprises a set of valves, here solenoid valves 35, allowing the supply of one or more fluid-tight spaces 26a, 26b with treatment products 22, 23, 24, 25 coming from one or more containers 18, 19, 20, 21. The treatment products 22, 23, 24, 25 are conveyed in the supply circuit by means of pumps 33, one per container, and connected to the containers by pipes 14, 15, 16, 17. A programmable controller 34 controls the opening and closing of the solenoid valves 35 and the functioning of the pumps 33 (start/stop, flow rate, etc.).

[0060] The controlled supply circuit 10 is connected to the fluid-tight spaces 26a, 26b by supply and discharge pipes 9a, 9b. These supply and discharge pipes 9a, 9b pass through the walls 7a, 7b of the bath enclosures 102a, 102b to allow the supply of treatment product 22, 23, 24, 25 to the fluid-tight spaces 26a, 26b. The discharge of the treatment products takes place through the supply and discharge pipes 9a, 9b by means of plungers 38 or by a simple discharge cap (not shown) and by acting on the relative slope of the bath enclosure allowing total discharge of the treatment product 22, 23, 24, 25 present in the fluid-tight space 26a, 26b. Two other additional supply and discharge pipes 9c and 9d are shown, having the same features as the supply and discharge pipes 9a, 9b. The additional supply and discharge pipe 9d is connected for example to a bath enclosure, not shown, and the additional supply and discharge pipe 9c is equipped with a filtration device comprising for example a filter and an oil separator (neither being shown) and for decontaminating a treatment product already used, for example, before reinjecting said product into the supply circuit.

[0061] The local surface treatment system 100 makes it possible to carry out various types of local treatment on the part 1 to be treated. To do this, the containers 18, 19, 20, 21 contain different types of treatment product 22, 23, 24, 25, for example, in this embodiment: [0062] the container 18 comprises an alkaline degreasing product 22, [0063] the container 19 comprises demineralised water 23, [0064] the container 20 comprises a pickling product 24 composed of sodium acid, [0065] the container 21 comprises a deoxidation product 25.

[0066] Other containers, not shown, may contain other types of treatment product.

[0067] Furthermore, to allow treatments by anodisation, the system 100 comprises an electricity generator 2, of which a negative pole is connected to the walls of the bath enclosures 102a, 102b via points 6 of connection to the enclosures and by means of cathode cables 3, and of which a positive pole is connected to the part 1 to be treated via a point 5 of connection to the part and by means of anode cables 4. Thus the bath enclosures 102a, 102b form cathodes and the part 1 to treated forms an anode for treatment by anodisation. During such treatment, the fluid-tight spaces 26a, 26b are filled with a treatment product serving as an electrolytic solution. The electric current supply of the electricity generator is read by an ammeter 32, and the voltage thereof is read by a voltmeter 31.

[0068] Various sensors and items of equipment are present on the bath enclosures 102a, 102b and allow monitoring and control of various parameters related to the application of the treatment product in each fluid-tight space. For example, each bath enclosure 102a, 102b comprises: [0069] heating means, here an electric resistor 12 supplied by a current generator 11, for heating the treatment product present in the fluid-tight space, [0070] temperature-measurement means, here a temperature sensor 27, for measuring the temperature, and forming with the resistor 12 a temperature control device, [0071] a timer 28 for measuring the time at which the treatment product is applied, [0072] stirring means, here a filtered-air stirrer 29, for homogenising the treatment product, [0073] spray nozzles 36 for spraying treatment product onto the portion of the part to be treated, [0074] a temperature control system 37, immersed in the bath and designed so as to have components resistant to the treatment products used.

[0075] The containers 18, 19, 20, 21 may also each comprise sensors and/or equipment of this type, for example a resistor 12, a temperature sensor 27 and a temperature control system 37.

[0076] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross section of a local surface treatment system 104 according to a second embodiment. This second embodiment repeats the elements of the first embodiment described in FIG. 1. The elements already described above are not described again and bear the same references. The different elements are described below.

[0077] In this second embodiment, a single bath enclosure 105 is shown for treating a cylindrical part 106 to be treated, for example a pipe element. The part 106 to be treated is surrounded by the bath enclosure 105, and the bath enclosure 105 comprises a wall formed by portions 7c and 7d, joined by seals 8, for example electromagnetic suckers. The fixing of the two portions 7c, 7d of the wall is also reinforced by the addition of mounting flanges 40. The cylindrical part 106 to be treated is inserted in the bath enclosure through a circular opening having the same diameter as the cylindrical part 106 to be treated (not visible in the cross-sectional view). For reasons of legibility in the cross section shown in FIG. 2, the point 5 of connection to the part is shown inside the part, but the point 5 of connection to the part is advantageously located on a portion of the part that is not surrounded by the bath enclosure 105. The connection point 5 may also be located on a metal support for the part (not shown), on which the part rests during treatment.

[0078] The bath enclosure 105 according to this embodiment therefore allows treatment of an external portion of the cylindrical part 106 to be treated.

[0079] FIG. 3 shows schematically a local surface treatment method 107 according to an embodiment of the invention. The local surface treatment method 107 comprises a step 108 of fitting a bath enclosure on the part to be treated, so as to delimit a fluid-tight space 26, 26a, 26b as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, between the bath enclosure and the portion of the part to be treated. The local surface treatment method 107 next comprises a step 109 of supplying the fluid-tight space with a treatment product by means of the controlled supply circuit 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and then a step 110 of applying the treatment product to a portion of the part to be treated.

[0080] The invention is not limited solely to the embodiments described. In particular, the number of containers and bath enclosures in the system may vary according to requirements, as well as the number and type of treatment products used, the number of sensors and appliances present on the bath enclosure in the fluid-tight spaces delimited by these bath enclosures, and/or on the containers, etc. Furthermore, the plurality of bath enclosures may make it possible to treat simultaneously not only a plurality of portions of the same part to be treated but also a plurality of different portions of parts to be treated, which makes it possible for example to accelerate the production rate in the context of mass production by allowing the treatment of a plurality of parts simultaneously.