Patents by Inventor Elizabeth Adele Walker-Heckman

Elizabeth Adele Walker-Heckman 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).

  • Patent number: 11618067
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to remedying a non-conforming feature of an aluminum alloy part. A method may include identifying a yield strength as a function of temperature for a designation of the aluminum alloy part, determining a stress to be applied to the feature to re-form the non-conforming feature to within a dimensional tolerance, correlating the stress to the identified yield strength to determine a process temperature of the part upon applying the stress to the feature, determining a time duration for applying the stress to the feature at the determined process temperature, and applying the stress to the feature of the part, the feature being restrained to oppose the stress, while heating the feature to the determined process temperature, and maintaining the application of the stress and the heat to the feature for the time duration in order to reform the restrained feature to within the dimensional tolerance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Michael Ryan Zolnowski, Elizabeth Adele Walker-Heckman
  • Publication number: 20210094085
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to remedying a non-conforming feature of an aluminum alloy part. A method may include identifying a yield strength as a function of temperature for a designation of the aluminum alloy part, determining a stress to be applied to the feature to re-form the non-conforming feature to within a dimensional tolerance, correlating the stress to the identified yield strength to determine a process temperature of the part upon applying the stress to the feature, determining a time duration for applying the stress to the feature at the determined process temperature, and applying the stress to the feature of the part, the feature being restrained to oppose the stress, while heating the feature to the determined process temperature, and maintaining the application of the stress and the heat to the feature for the time duration in order to reform the restrained feature to within the dimensional tolerance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Inventors: Michael Ryan Zolnowski, Elizabeth Adele Walker-Heckman