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US4472473A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Curved cap corrugated sheet

Assignee: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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Filing: 1983-07-01
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Granted: 1984-09-18
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Expires: 2003-07-01
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Abstract

Abstract The invention is a structure for a strong, lightweight corrugated sheet. The sheet is planar or curved and includes a plurality of corrugation segments, each segment being comprised of a generally U-shaped corrugation 12 with a part-cylindrical crown 13 and cap strip 20, and straight side walls 14 and 15 with secondary corrugations 16 oriented at right angles to said side walls. The cap strip 20 is bonded to the crown 13 and the longitudinal edge 18 of said cap strip extends beyond edge 17 at the intersection between said crown and said side walls. The high strength relative to weight of the structure makes it desirable for use in aircraft or spacecraft.

Inventors

  • 👤 Randall C. Davis
  • 👤 Thomas T. Bales
  • 👤 Dick M. Royster
  • 👤 L. Robert Jackson

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-24 06:24
CPC Classifications
E; E04; E04C; E04C2/00; E04C2/30; E04C2/32; E04C2/322; E04C2/326; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/12; Y10T428/12354; Y10T428/24; Y10T428/24628; Y10T428/24669; Y10T428/24694; Y10T428/24711

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim 105 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet comprising: a sheet comprised of a plurality of corrugated members, said members having sidewalls which are themselves corrugated; said corrugated members further being composed of alternate top crown means and bottom crown means which tie the sidewalls together to form the sheet; each of said sidewalls having upper and lower edges intersecting at an angle with the adjacent top crown means and bottom crown means and being rigidly secured therealong; said top and bottom crown means being part-cylindrical thereby forming an arcuate structure to strengthen the corrugated sheet in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the corrugated sidewalls.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 105 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet comprising: a sheet comprised of a plurality of corrugated members, said members having sidewalls which are themselves corrugated; said corrugated members further being composed of alternate top crown means and bottom crown means which tie the sidewalls together to form the sheet; each of said sidewalls having upper and lower edges intersecting at an angle with the adjacent top crown means and bottom crown means and being rigidly secured therealong; said top and bottom crown means being part-cylindrical thereby forming an arcuate structure to strengthen the corrugated sheet in a direction generally transverse to the direction of the corrugated sidewalls.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 29 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 1, wherein said part-cylindrical top and bottom crown means are concave, being curved inwardly toward the central plane of the sheet.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 29 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 1, wherein said part-cylindrical top and bottom crown means are convex, being curved outwardly from the central plane of the sheet.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 40 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 1 having elongated cap strips bonded to the outermost surfaces of said top and bottom crown means; said cap strips being part-cylindrical and curved in accordance with the curvature of said crowns.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 47 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 4, wherein said elongated cap strips are coextensive with said top and bottom crown means, thereby covering the entire outer surface of each crown means and terminating at the intersection between said crown means and the adjacent side wall.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 44 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 3 wherein said sidewalls are coterminous with said top and bottom crown, means thereby imparting an outline to the intersection of the crown means with the side walls corresponding to the cross-sectional outline of its corrugations.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 13 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 6 having sinusoidal sidewall corrugations.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 38 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 6 having cap strips of longer arc length, wherein the longitudinal edge of each cap strip projects beyond the intersection between the associated crown means and the corrugated side wall.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 51 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 8, wherein each extended longitudinal cap strip portion is crimped down against the adjacent side wall thereby forming a planar flange with a straight elongated edge; said flange being bonded to the adjacent corrugated side wall at the edges of the sidewall corrugations.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 51 words
A strong, lightweight corrugated sheet as in claim 9, wherein said flange is bonded to the adjacent corrugated side wall, thereby imparting a shape to said flange corresponding to the shape of said wall and imparting an outline to the flange edge corresponding to the cross-sectional outline of the sidewall corrugations.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US1889784A Cited
US2160677A Cited
US3902288A Cited
US4144369A Cited
US4084029A Cited
US4198018A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1987-09-18 1988-03-19 1988-09-18 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1991-09-18 1992-03-19 1992-09-18 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1995-09-18 1996-03-19 1996-09-18 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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