SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE DISTANCE BETWEEN A FIRST HYDRAULIC LINE

AND A SECOND HYDRAULIC LINE

5 The present invention relates to the field of airplane assembling. In particular, the present invention relates to a determination system to determine a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane. Further, the present invention is directed to a method of determining a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second 10 hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane.

During the assembly of an airplane the fuselage has to be connected with the wings. This connection does not only require the connection of the fuselage and the wing itself but also the connection of various liners, supplies and the like, such as 15 hydraulics, pneumatics, fuel, etc.

In particular, hydraulic lines within the wing and the fuselage need to be connected by a hydraulic connection unit. The distance to be bridged by this connection unit differs from airplane to airplane and thus the connection unit requires individual 0 manufacture. The distance between the wing of the airplane and the fuselage differs from airplane to airplane due to manufacturing tolerance of the huge wings. The manufacture of a suitable connection unit affords time and may often require several process steps. 5 Currently, the hydraulic connection unit is manually adapted to provide a final suitable connection unit for connecting a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane.

The connection unit exhibits a length which is greater than the distance between a 0 first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane. In a first process step the connection unit is connected to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of the airplane. The excess length of the hydraulic connection unit in relation to the desired distance is evaluated by visual judgment

and manually marked to display the excess length of the connection unit. The hydraulic connection unit is then again disconnected from the second hydraulic line for further processing.

The length of hydraulic connection unit is manually adjusted to the marked lengths. After adjusting the lengths of the hydraulic connection unit, the unit is again connected to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage and the new adjusted length of the connection unit is once more evaluated by visual judgment. In case the length of the connecting unit is still longer than the distance between the first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and the second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane, the above mentioned process steps of visual evaluation, marking, disconnection and further processing need to be repeated until the length of the connecting unit has reached the desired distance between the first and the second hydraulic line. This iterative process may take several cycles of connecting and disconnecting the connection unit to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of the airplane and various adjustment steps of the length of the connection unit.

In case the length of the connection unit has not been marked correctly and the length of the connection unit does not provide the required distance between the first and the second hydraulic line any more, and is considered too "short", the complete process has to be started all over again with a new connection unit.

As the evaluation of the length of the connection unit is done by visual judgment, this process allows for many faults. This may result in a increased amount of time for adjustment of the connection unit and of course also in an increased amount of scrap during adjustment. Further, the additional process steps, which may be necessary in the iterative adjustment of the length of the connection unit in combination with the additional process steps which are necessary to adjust the length of the connection unit, require an increased amount of time and resources.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide for an improved determination of the distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane.

In one exemplary embodiment, the determination system for determining a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane is provided. The determination system comprises a calibration unit and an adjustment unit, wherein the adjustment unit comprises a first connection region for connecting the calibration unit with the adjustment unit, wherein the distance corresponds to a position of the connection region.

Even though the present invention is directed to a determination system for a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic of a fuselage of an airplane, it is apparent for a person skilled in the art that the determination system may also be applicable for determining various other distances between two distanced connections.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the invention an adjustment unit for determining a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane is provided, wherein the adjustment unit comprises a first region for connecting the adjustment unit and a second region for determining a distance between the first hydraulic line and the second hydraulic line.

Again, although the present invention is related to an adjustment unit for determining a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic of a fuselage of an airplane, it is apparent for a person skilled in the art that the adjustment system according to the present invention may also be applicable for

determining various other distances between two connections, in particular distances between connections of a wing and a fuselage of an airplane.

In yet another exemplary embodiment the invention provides a method for determining a distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane, comprising a calibration unit and an adjustment unit, wherein the adjustment unit comprises a first connection region for connecting the calibration unit with the adjustment unit; and wherein the method comprises the steps of a) connecting the calibration unit to either one of the first hydraulic line or the second hydraulic line, and b) connecting the adjustment unit to the other second or first hydraulic line and c) determining the distance between the first hydraulic line and the second hydraulic line, wherein the distance corresponds to a position of the connection region.

The term "calibration unit" as used herein means a unit which exhibits a predetermined length. The calibration unit may comprise any suitable geometric form known to the person skilled in the art for the purpose of the invention. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the calibration unit is a liner.

The term "connection unit" as used herein means any suitable unit, which may be applicable for the final connection of the first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of an airplane.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention the calibration unit exhibits the same form as the final connection unit, which connects the first hydraulic line of the wing of an airplane and the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of the airplane.

In one exemplary embodiment, the adjustment unit comprises units, which may have a constant length. In another exemplary embodiment, the adjustment unit comprises a

variable length i.e. the length of the adjustment unit may be varied e.g. by pulling out a region.

The determination system according to the present invention may allow for a one step determination of a distance between the first and the second hydraulic line. Thus, compared to known processes, it may be possible to save various iterative process steps, which might have been required for determining the length of the final connecting unit by the known method.

Further, since the likelihood for scrap production has been reduced by the determination system of the present invention, also material, production time and costs may be saved.

Moreover, by improving the assembly process of the connections between a wing of an airplane and the fuselage, the overall lead time for airplane assembly may also be reduced.

In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the determination system may further comprise a second connection region adapted for connecting the calibration unit to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the determination system comprises an adjustment unit which comprises a third connection region, wherein the third connection region is adapted to be connected with the first hydraulic line of the wing of an airplane. In another preferred embodiment, the adjusting unit may further comprise a variable length which can be adjusted such that the first connection region is adapted to be connected to the calibration unit to determine the distance between a first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and a second hydraulic line of

a fuselage of an airplane.

In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the adjustment unit further comprises a scale for determining a distance. By determining a distance via a scale the likelihood for mistakes in the visual evaluation of the excess length of the process of the prior art is minimized. Thus, additional iterative process steps, which require the connection of the final connection unit to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage may not be necessary and therefore, the assembly time may be reduced.

In yet another exemplary embodiment the adjustment unit further comprises a thread located at the connection region. The thread may be applied for connecting the connection region of the adjustment unit to the connection region of the calibration unit. In yet another embodiment of the invention the thread is adapted to be connected to the first hydraulic line of the wing.

Suitable threads are known to a person skilled in the art, such like external screw threads.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the calibration unit is adapted to be a liner.

Another embodiment of the present invention comprises an adjustment unit to be adapted to be a liner.

In an alternative exemplary embodiment of the invention the adjustment unit comprises a first region for connecting the adjustment unit, wherein the connection region is adapted to be connected to the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of an airplane.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the second region of the adjustment unit further comprises a scale.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention the adjustment unit further comprises a thread located at the first region.

In a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, the adjustment unit comprises a second region which is adapted to be a liner.

The method according to the present invention may in a further exemplary embodiment comprise a calibration unit which is adapted to be connected with the second hydraulic line. Further, in yet another embodiment of the invention the adjustment unit is adapted to be connected to the first hydraulic line.

In an exemplary embodiment according to the present invention, the method may comprise an adjustment unit which further comprises a scale adapted to determine a distance.

In addition, in another exemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the adjustment unit further comprises a thread located at the connection region.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the calibration unit and/or the adjustment unit is/are adapted to be a liner.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic drawing of the adjustment unit of an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic drawing of the determination system of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The illustration in the drawings is schematic. In different drawings similar or identical drawings elements are provided with the same reference numerals.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic drawing of an adjustment unit according to the present invention. The adjustment unit 100 comprises a first connection region 101 for connecting the adjustment unit. Further, the adjustment unit comprises a second region 102 for determining a distance between the first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane and the second hydraulic line of a fuselage of an airplane. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1 , the adjustment unit further comprises a scale 103, which allows for an easy determination of the distance to be determined. Further, the adjustment system may optionally comprise a thread 104 located at the first region of the adjustment unit 100.

Fig. 2 depicts a schematic drawing of the determination system 200 of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The adjustment unit 100 described in Fig. 1 is connected via the first connection region 101 to the calibration unit 202. The second region 102 of the adjustment unit is connected to the first hydraulic line 201 of a wing of an airplane. In the exemplary embodiment, the adjustment unit further comprises a scale 103. The distance between the first hydraulic line of the wing of the airplane and the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of the airplane corresponds

to a position of the connection region. In other words, in the exemplary embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the distance can be determined by the predetermined length of the calibration unit and the position of the connection region of the adjustment unit. In case, the embodiment of the invention comprises a scale, the position of the connection region may be determined by the scale.

Once the distance between the first hydraulic line of the wing of the airplane and the second hydraulic line of the fuselage of the airplane has been determined, the final connection unit for connecting the first hydraulic line of the wing with the second hydraulic line of the fuselage may be individually manufactured.

The method of the present invention thus allows for a determination of the distance between the first hydraulic line and the second hydraulic line in one step, which may reduce the assembly time for the connection unit due to fewer iteration steps in the adjustment of the connection unit. Further, the amount of scrap may also be reduced by the method according to the present invention, which enables savings in material costs and work time.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first connection region (101) is adapted to be connected with the connection region of the calibration unit (202). In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the first connection region (101) is adapted to be connected to the first hydraulic line of a wing of an airplane.

In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the second region (102) of the adjustment unit (100) for determining a distance between the first hydraulic line and a second hydraulic line may have a predetermined length. In another exemplary embodiment, the second region of the adjustment unit is adapted to exhibit a variable length, i.e. the second region may be adapted to be pulled out e.g. like a tape measure.

In yet another embodiment the second region (102) of the adjustment unit (100) comprises a scale (103) to determine the position of the connection region.

Beyond this, according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the position of the connection region may be automatically determined by any suitable measure such like an optical sensor e.g. a laser. Thus, in an exemplary embodiment mistakes in determining the position of the connection region are reduced or even prevented.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the invention, outputting the information of the automatically determination of the distance, will be display e.g. on a computer monitor.

Those skilled in the art readily appreciate that the method of determining a distance between a first hydraulic line and a second hydraulic line of an airplane may be embodied as a computer program, i.e. by software, or may be embodied using one or more special electronic optimization circuits, i.e. in hardware, or the method may be embodied in hybrid form, i.e. by means of software components and hardware components.

The program element according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may preferably be loaded into working memories of a data processor. The data processor may be equipped to carry out exemplary embodiments of the methods of the present invention. The computer program may be written in any suitable programming language, such as, for example, C++ and may be stored on a computer- readable medium, such as a CD-ROM. Also, the computer program may be available from the network, such as the Worldwide Web, from which it may be downloaded into image processing units or processors, or any suitable computers.

- l i ¬

lt should be noted that the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps and the ''a" or "an" does not exclude plurality. Also elements described in association with different embodiments may be combined.

It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.