US 12,291,330 B2
Aircraft wing having a truss system for coupling a center wing section to an outboard wing section
Justin Grey Albright, La Mirada, CA (US)
Assigned to The Boeing Company, Arlington, VA (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Arlington, VA (US)
Filed on Aug. 10, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/232,808.
Prior Publication US 2025/0051001 A1, Feb. 13, 2025
Int. Cl. B64C 3/18 (2006.01); B64C 1/14 (2006.01); B64C 3/32 (2006.01); B64C 1/26 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 3/18 (2013.01) [B64C 1/1446 (2013.01); B64C 3/32 (2013.01); B64C 1/26 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft structure comprising:
an aircraft wing comprising:
a center wing section having a continuous structure that spans beyond opposite sides of an aircraft fuselage and which terminates respectively at center wing section ends;
a pair of outboard wing sections each having an inboard end, and each outboard wing section is attached to a center wing section end by a truss system that is accessible via a closeout panel;
wherein:
the center wing section and the outboard wing sections each have a top portion and a bottom portion each having one or more span-wise extending stringers;
at least one stringer on the bottom portion of the center wing section terminates at a spaced distance from at least one stringer on the bottom portion of an outboard wing section to define a spanwise stringer gap at the location of the closeout panel;
each truss system comprises:
an upper fitting coupling a stringer on the top portion of the center wing section to a stringer on the top portion of an outboard wing section;
a lower fitting extending across the spanwise stringer gap and interconnecting a stringer on the bottom portion of the center wing section to a stringer on the bottom portion of an outboard wing section;
a center wing section strut extending between the upper fitting and the lower fitting at the center wing section end; and
an outboard wing section strut extending between the upper fitting and the lower fitting at the inboard end of the outboard wing section.