US 11,807,396 B2
Mirrored fabrication and assembly of aircraft wings
Darrell D. Jones, Mill Creek, WA (US); and Daniel R. Smith, Woodinville, WA (US)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Nov. 10, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/454,279.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/115,037, filed on Nov. 18, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0153439 A1, May 19, 2022
Int. Cl. B64F 5/10 (2017.01); B64C 3/26 (2006.01)
CPC B64F 5/10 (2017.01) [B64C 3/26 (2013.01)] 29 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for assembly line processing of aircraft wing panels, said method comprising:
inputting wing panels in series into an assembly line, the assembly line having a number of work stations, the wing panels oriented such that leading edges are all on a first side of the work stations, and trailing edges are all on a second side of the work stations, wherein inputting the wing panels in series into the assembly line comprises inputting wing panels in series into the assembly line such that at least one of two wing root sections of consecutive wing panels in the series are adjacent or two wing tip sections of consecutive wing panels in the series are adjacent;
advancing the wing panels in a process direction through the number of work stations, at least a first portion of the work stations dedicated to wing panel leading edge processing, and a second portion of the work stations dedicated to wing panel trailing edge processing; and
operating at least one work station configured to perform wing root section processing or wing tip section processing, wherein wing root processing comprises processing wing root sections of two adjacent wing panels simultaneously and wing tip processing comprises processing wing tip sections of two adjacent wing panels simultaneously.