US Patent Issued to The Boeing on March 17 for "Multipiece ribs for aircraft wing" (Washington Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,576,959, issued on March 17, was assigned to The Boeing Co. (Arlington, Va.).

"Multipiece ribs for aircraft wing" was invented by Michael L. Gilbertson (Arlington, Wash.) and Stephen P. Watkins (Marysville, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A wing assembly includes an upper wing skin, a lower wing skin, and ribs extending between an upstream spar and a downstream spar with the upper wing skin and the lower wing skin at least partially enclosing the ribs. Each of the ribs includes a first rib portion having an upper wing skin engagement surface and a first rib engagement surface located on an opposite side of the first rib portion for...