US 12,091,196 B2
Systems and methods for manufacturing aircraft
Jeremy Justice, Mill Creek, WA (US); Daniel Richard Smith, Jr., Woodinville, WA (US); and Darrell Darwin Jones, Mill Creek, WA (US)
Assigned to THE BOEING COMPANY, Arlington, VA (US)
Filed by The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US)
Filed on Dec. 6, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/076,011.
Application 18/076,011 is a division of application No. 17/505,505, filed on Oct. 19, 2021, granted, now 11,623,766.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/115,163, filed on Nov. 18, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0100054 A1, Mar. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. B64F 5/10 (2017.01); B23P 21/00 (2006.01); B62D 65/02 (2006.01)
CPC B64F 5/10 (2017.01) [B23P 21/004 (2013.01); B23P 2700/01 (2013.01); B62D 65/022 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An aircraft manufacturing system for repetitively manufacturing aircraft assemblies, the aircraft manufacturing system comprising:
a first manufacturing zone configured to repetitively manufacture first aircraft subassemblies, wherein the first aircraft subassemblies include both a left-side wing and a right-side wing;
a second manufacturing zone configured to repetitively manufacture second aircraft subassemblies, wherein the second aircraft subassemblies include fuselage sections;
a third manufacturing zone configured to receive the first aircraft subassemblies from the first manufacturing zone, to receive the second aircraft subassemblies from the second manufacturing zone, and to repetitively assemble the first aircraft subassemblies and the second aircraft subassemblies into the aircraft assemblies; and
a first transportation device configured to transfer the left-side wing in a final left-side wing orientation and the right-side wing in a final right-side wing orientation from the first manufacturing zone to the third manufacturing zone, wherein the left-side wing is configured to be coupled to a fuselage in the final left-side wing orientation, and wherein the right-side wing is configured to be coupled to the fuselage in the final right-side wing orientation; and
wherein the first manufacturing zone comprises a first assembly line, and wherein the first assembly line is configured to deliver the left-side wing in the final left-side wing orientation to the first transportation device and deliver the right-side wing in the final right-side wing orientation to the first transportation device, and wherein the first manufacturing zone and the second manufacturing zone are separated from one another by at most 3 kilometers (km).