Patents by Inventor Adriana W. Blom-Schieber

Adriana W. Blom-Schieber has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20250042107
    Abstract: Stamp-forming a composite assembly includes applying a low-melt film on an interface surface of at least one spar, loading the spar onto at least one tooling segment such that the interface surface is exposed, and heating the tooling segment to a first temperature that is above a crystallization temperature of the low-melt film and below a melt temperature of a resin of the spar. A second low-melt film may be applied on a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic skin blank, and the skin blank is heated to a second temperature above a melt temperature of a resin of the skin blank. The skin blank is then draped around the tooling segment such that at least some of any second low-melt film contacts the low-melt film on the interface surface of the spar. The stamp press is then closed to co-consolidate the skin blank and the spar, thereby stamp-forming the composite assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2023
    Publication date: February 6, 2025
    Inventor: Adriana W. Blom-Schieber
  • Patent number: 12165387
    Abstract: A method of inspecting a composite structure formed of plies of tows is provided. The method involves receiving an image of an upper ply overlapping lower plies, the upper ply tow ends defining a boundary between plies, and applying extracted sub-images to a trained machine learning model to detect the upper or lower ply. Probability maps are produced in which pixels of the sub-images are associated with probabilities the pixels belong to an object class for the upper or lower ply. The method may also involve transforming the probability maps into reconstructed sub-images, stitching together a composite image, and applying the composite image to a feature detector to detect locations of tow ends of the upper ply. The method may also involve comparing the locations to as-designed locations of the tow ends, inspecting the composite structure, and indicating a result of the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2024
    Assignees: The Boeing Company, University of Washington
    Inventors: Adriana W. Blom-Schieber, Wei Guo, Ashis G. Banerjee, Ekta U. Samani
  • Publication number: 20240336016
    Abstract: Fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite structural members (FRTCSM), aircraft including the same, and related methods are disclosed herein. The FRTCSMs include a first thermoplastic sub-structure that includes a first web, a first flange that extends away from the first web, and a first transition region between the first flange and the first web. The FRTCSMs also include a second thermoplastic sub-structure that includes a second web, a second flange that extends away from the second web, and a second transition region between the second flange and the second web. The first web is welded to the second web. The aircraft include at least one FRTCSM. The methods include positioning the first thermoplastic sub-structure and the second thermoplastic sub-structure such that the first web faces the second web, compressing the first web and the second web together, and welding the first web and the second web to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2023
    Publication date: October 10, 2024
    Inventor: Adriana W. Blom-Schieber
  • Publication number: 20240119192
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to methods and system for determining fiber placement start locations for manufacturing a laminated composite component. The method includes one or more processors accessing a computer geometric model of the laminated composite component, which includes various characteristics of the component that will be generated. Then, the processors break individual plies of the model into different groups. For each of the groups of plies, stagger requirements are determined and an algorithm (e.g., an integer optimization algorithm or other method described herein) for resolving the stagger requirements is executed. A three dimensional fiber placement start location for each ply in the group is then calculated based on the output from the executed algorithm, a reference curve determined on a definition surface, and a geodesic curve on the surface that is normal to the definition surface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2022
    Publication date: April 11, 2024
    Inventors: Adriana W. Blom-Schieber, Christopher Loesche
  • Publication number: 20220215651
    Abstract: A method of inspecting a composite structure formed of plies of tows is provided. The method involves receiving an image of an upper ply overlapping lower plies, the upper ply tow ends defining a boundary between plies, and applying extracted sub-images to a trained machine learning model to detect the upper or lower ply. Probability maps are produced in which pixels of the sub-images are associated with probabilities the pixels belong to an object class for the upper or lower ply. The method may also involve transforming the probability maps into reconstructed sub-images, stitching together a composite image, and applying the composite image to a feature detector to detect locations of tow ends of the upper ply. The method may also involve comparing the locations to as-designed locations of the tow ends, inspecting the composite structure, and indicating a result of the comparison.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2021
    Publication date: July 7, 2022
    Inventors: Adriana W. Blom-Schieber, Wei Guo, Ashis G. Banerjee, Ekta U. Samani
  • Publication number: 20200196402
    Abstract: A method for curing a thermoset composite part, including placing the composite part within a heating assembly and using the heating assembly to heat the composite part; placing the heating assembly within a pressurization vessel and applying a consolidation pressure; removing the heating assembly from the pressurization vessel and using the heating assembly to cool down the composite part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2018
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Marc R. Matsen, John F. Spalding, Bret Alan McGinness Voss, Adriana W. Blom-Schieber