Drilling apparatus and method

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for securing a first target element to a second target element. The method includes the steps of locating a support member arranged to simultaneously support a drilling head device and a riveting head device at a predetermined location proximate to the first and second target elements, via the drilling head drilling at least one hole through the first and second target elements at a desired location and without relocating the support member via the riveting head device, inserting a rivet in said hole and securing the inserted rivet.

Description

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described hereinafter, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional drilling process;

FIG. 2 illustrates a support structure for a drill and rivet head;

FIG. 3 illustrates the movement of a support structure when a row of holes is to be drilled and riveted;

FIG. 4 illustrates a drilling process;

FIG. 5 illustrates a riveting process;

FIG. 6 illustrates drilling a countersunk hole; and

FIG. 7 illustrates process steps when drilling and riveting.

Claims

1. A method for securing a first target element to a second target element, comprising the steps of: locating a support member arranged to simultaneously support a drilling head device and a riveting head device at a predetermined location proximate to the first and second target elements; andvia said drilling head device, drilling at least one hole through the first and second target elements at a desired location; andwithout re-locating said support member, via said riveting head device, inserting a rivet in said hole and securing the inserted rivet.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: for each hole of said at least one hole, said step of drilling a hole comprises drilling a round hole through the first and second target elements.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: for each hole of said at least one hole, said step of drilling a hole comprises drilling a hole having dimensions selected to allow the hole to receive the rivet which is to be inserted in the hole in a single-pass process.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: said drilling head device comprises an orbital drill head and said step of drilling at least one hole comprises drilling at least one hole through the first and second target objects via the orbital drill head.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of drilling at least one hole comprises drilling a blind hole.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step of drilling at least one hole comprises drilling a countersunk hole.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: the step of drilling at least one hole comprises drilling one hole and subsequently inserting and securing a rivet in said one hole prior to drilling a further hole through the first and second target elements.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: said step of drilling at least one hole comprises drilling a plurality of holes through said first and second target objects in a row and subsequently inserting and securing a rivet in each hole of said row one-by-one.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: said step of inserting a rivet comprises locating a body portion of the rivet through each drilling hole, said body portion having a cross section matching a diameter of a drilled hole.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said step of securing an inserted rivet comprises urging a rivet shank away from the first target element thereby forming a “stopper” portion of the rivet on a side of the second target element.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising the steps of: monitoring yield in a rivet shank as the shank is urged away from the target elements and storing data indicating the monitored yield over time.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the steps of: marking a rivet so as to indicate a potentially faulty securement responsive to data stored during said monitoring step.

13. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said rivet is an aluminum rivet or a stainless steel rivet or a duralumin rivet.

14. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said rivet comprises a single sided access rivet.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first target element is a sheet material having a cross section of less than 8 mm.

16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first target element is a sheet material having a cross section of less than 5 mm.

17. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: applying a wet adhesive between said first and second target elements prior to said step of drilling at least one hole and subsequently drilling the hole whilst the adhesive remains wet.

18. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: subsequent to drilling the at least one hole and inserting and securing a rivet in each hole, relocating the support member to a further predetermined location proximate to said first and second target elements.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, further comprising the steps of: via said drilling head, drilling at least one further hole through the first and second target element and inserting and securing rivets at each further hole with said support member fixed at said further predetermined location.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first target element comprises an outer skin sheet of material for an aircraft and said second target element comprises a rib member or stringer member of an aircraft.

21. An apparatus for securing a first target element to a second target element, comprising: a drilling head;a riveting head; anda support member arranged to simultaneously support the drilling head and riveting head during a drilling and riveting mode of operation.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, further comprising: at least one guide rail arranged in a fixed orientation with respect to said support member wherein each of said drilling head and riveting head are slidably mounted to said guide rail and are locatable at desired locations by being slid along the guide rail and then held in position.

23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein said at least one guide rail comprises a pair of guide rails secured to the support member.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein said support member comprises a support plate including a hole therethrough through which a drill bit of said drilling head can pass during a drilling mode of operation.

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, further comprising: a base plate to which said support member is secured and which is securable to an end effector plate of a robot wrist.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22, further comprising: urging means for urging at least one of the drilling head or riveting head to a desired location along said at least one guide rail.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 26, wherein said urging means comprises a pneumatic cylinder or a stepping motor.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, further comprising: a robot arm arranged to locate the support member at a location proximate to first and second target elements which are to be secured together and to hold the support member in a fixed relationship with respect thereto during a drilling and riveting mode of operation.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 28, wherein said robot arm is arranged to locate the support member at a new location with respect to the first and second target elements by relocating the support member.