ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,240,191, issued on March 4, was assigned to Spirit AeroSystems Inc. (Wichita, Kan.).
"System and method for promoting inter-ply slippage" was invented by Mark Anthony Wadsworth (Wichita, Kan.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A composite part forming system for shaping a composite material blank having a plurality of plies, the composite part forming system comprising opposing tools including shape-forming features, an actuator, and a composite tensioning system. The composite tensioning system is connectable to a periphery of the composite material blank to apply tension to the composite material blank the first and second tools are moved ...