WO2023193222A1

WO2023193222A1 - Carbon fiber bicycle component structure and manufacturing method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2023193222A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/085740
Authority: WO
Inventors: 许秀政
Original assignee: 许秀政
Priority date: 2022-04-08
Filing date: 2022-04-08
Publication date: 2023-10-12

Abstract

The present invention provides a carbon fiber bicycle component structure and a manufacturing method therefor. A hollow shell having the shape of a bicycle component is first manufactured from a carbon fiber material by using a secondary forming method, the hollow shell is then arranged in a mold, an inner component which is also made of the carbon fiber material is arranged inside the hollow shell, and then the mold is heated and pressurized to manufacture the bicycle component.

Description

Carbon fiber bicycle component structure and manufacturing method thereof

Technical field

The present invention relates to a finished component structure made of carbon fiber materials and a manufacturing method thereof, in particular to a carbon fiber bicycle component structure and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

In order to reduce the weight of bicycles, it is now very common to use carbon fiber materials to manufacture bicycle-related components, such as bicycle frames, front forks, seat stays, rear chain stays, wheel frames or bicycles made of carbon fiber materials. Handlebars and more. In terms of its technology, the current common practice in the industry is to use one-time integrated molding, wrapping multiple layers of carbon fiber cloth soaked in epoxy resin, or carbon fiber prepregs (pre-pregs), one by one and wrapping them in a hollow The inner mold core material is usually made of expandable polystyrene (EPS). Then, 8-10 or more layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth are covered according to the strength requirements of the product structure, so that the carbon fiber prepreg cloth can achieve a certain thickness and structural strength by stacking multiple layers. There is an air bag in the core material of the inner mold. The bicycle components that have been covered with carbon fiber prepreg cloth are then placed into a molding mold. The molding mold is then heated and pressurized and the air bag is inflated at the same time. The air bag is used to push outwards. Zhang makes the carbon fibers stacked on the air bag mold and harden against the wall of the mold cavity. After molding, the mold is opened and the bicycle component is taken out for subsequent processing.

Although this approach has been practiced for many years, there is a problem in practice. Due to the need for structural strength, the number of coated carbon fiber layers is generally as many as 8 to 10 or more. However, the number of coated carbon fiber layers is too high. This will make these superimposed carbon fibers have a certain thickness when combined into a whole, which is not easy to bend. Therefore, during the process of stretching and pushing from the inside to the outside, the outermost layer of carbon fibers is not easy to bend and deform and is completely attached. On the surface of the mold cavity, it is not easy to show up at some smaller bends or corners or even sharp angles or may even be impossible to form. Due to this limitation, the appearance of the product cannot be made. Some more subtle or angled exterior shapes.

invention disclosure

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a carbon fiber bicycle component structure that can exhibit a delicate appearance and a manufacturing method thereof.

In order to achieve the above main purpose, the manufacturing method of the present invention uses secondary molding to first make a second shell in the shape of a bicycle component, and then sets an inner component inside the second shell to supplement its structural strength, completing a A complete bicycle component, the manufactured bicycle component will include two shells covering an inner component.

Preferably, the thickness of the shell is 0.15-1.2mm.

Preferably, the shape of the inner component corresponds to the shape of the shell.

Preferably, the thickness of the inner component is greater than or equal to the thickness of the shell

The detailed structure, features, assembly or usage provided by the present invention will be described in the subsequent detailed description of the embodiments. However, those skilled in the art should understand that these detailed descriptions and specific examples for implementing the present invention are only used to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bicycle component of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front schematic view of the shell of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the position of section line C1-C1 in Figure 2 placed in the mold;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the semi-finished product of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the semi-finished product of the present invention placed in a mold;

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the hollow shell in the mold according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the hollow shell in the second embodiment of the present invention.

Among them, reference signs

10 shell forming mold

11 mold cavity

20 shell parts

30 internal components

40 air bags

50 forming mold

51 mold cavity

60 hollow shell parts

61 shell blanks

62 air bags

Best way to carry out the invention

The structural principle and working principle of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

The applicant would like to first explain that in this specification, including the embodiments introduced below and the claims in the patent application scope, terms related to directionality are based on the direction in the drawings. Secondly, in the embodiments and drawings to be introduced below, the same component numbers represent the same or similar components or structural features thereof.

Please first refer to FIGS. 1 to 5 , which show a first embodiment of the present invention. The carbon fiber bicycle component manufacturing method of the present invention can be used to manufacture bicycle components such as frames, front forks, handlebars, etc. Although the appearance of these bicycle components , the structure and assembly position may be different, but the manufacturing method is the same, so the following is a bicycle component for illustration. In this embodiment, the manufacturing of a bicycle frame is used as an example, but it is not limited to this. The drawings are only for reference to facilitate the understanding of the present invention and are not limiting conditions. The manufacturing method of the carbon fiber bicycle component 1 of the present invention includes:

Step A, prepare a shell forming mold 10. The shell forming mold 10 is provided with a mold cavity 11 for molding the shape of the bicycle component. In this embodiment, it is the mold cavity 11 for molding the bicycle frame. The mold cavity can be formed. The bicycle component has a shape cut in half. If a round tube is taken as an example, the mold cavity can form a semi-circular tube, which in the case of the vehicle frame is the left half or the right half of the vehicle frame.

Step B, lay multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth in the mold cavity 11, control its thickness to 0.15-1.2 mm, cover the mold, heat and pressurize the mold to harden and form a shell 20, as shown in Figure 3 .

Step C: Open the mold and take out the formed shell for later use, as shown in Figure 2.

Step D: Cover the surface of an inner mold core material with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth to achieve the required thickness and size to form an inner component 30. The inner mold core material is provided with an air bag 40, and the shape of the inner component corresponds to the shell. The shape of the piece. The predetermined thickness referred to here refers to the thickness remaining after subtracting the thickness of the shell 20 from the total thickness of the bicycle components. For example, if the total thickness of the bicycle components is 2 mm and the thickness of the shell 20 is 0.5 mm, the thickness of the inner component 30 must reach 1.5 mm, and the thickness of the inner component 30 is greater than or equal to that of the shell 20 The thickness is best practice.

Step E, remove the inner mold core material of the inner member 30 and cover the inner member 30 with the shell member 20 made in step C, and cover the inner member 30 with the two shell members 20 to form a Semi-finished product.

In step F, the semi-finished product is placed in the mold cavity 51 of a mold 50 and heated and pressurized, and the air bag 40 is inflated at the same time to harden and shape the semi-finished product to form the required bicycle component.

In the aforementioned step E, since two shells 20 are required to cover the inner component 30, a set of shells that can cover each other must be manufactured when manufacturing the shell 20. However, the two shells 20 do not have to be symmetry.

The bicycle component produced by the above-mentioned method of the present invention will structurally include two shells 20. The thickness of each shell 20 is between 0.15 and 1.2mm. The two shells 20 cover the inner component 30. The two shells 20 can cover each other to form the outer shape of the bicycle component, which is the frame in this embodiment.

The advantage of the present invention is that when the shell 20 is formed, the thickness of the shell 20 is very thin and is easy to bend and shape. Therefore, very detailed shapes or corners can be made on the outer surface of the shell, just like a piece of paper. Paper can easily be folded into sharp right angles in appearance, but a very thick cardboard is not easy to be folded into right angles in appearance. Because of the thickness of the thick paper, the corners will have arc chamfers instead of Very delicate and sharp right angles. Thereby, the shell 20 of the present invention can clearly and clearly show the detailed structure or shape design of the bicycle component. In addition, because the shell and the inner component are made of the same material, there is no need to combine them. There will be problems of non-reciprocity or insufficient structural strength. Using this secondary molding method can improve the detail of the product and improve a long-standing problem in the existing manufacturing process.

As shown in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, it is the second embodiment of the present invention. The same second embodiment of the present invention can be used to manufacture bicycle components such as frames, front forks, handlebars, etc. The following embodiments The manufacturing of a vehicle frame is used as an illustrative example, but is not limited thereto. The second embodiment of the present invention includes:

Step A: Prepare a shell forming mold 10. The shell forming mold is provided with a mold cavity 11 in the shape of a preformed bicycle component. In this embodiment, it is the mold cavity in which the shape of the bicycle frame is to be formed.

In step G, the surface of a core material is covered with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth, and its thickness is controlled to be between 0.15 and 1.2 mm to form a shell blank 61. The core material is hollow and has an air bag 62 inside.

Step H, remove the core material, place the shell blank 61 into the mold cavity 11 in step A, heat and pressurize the mold 10 and inflate the air bag 62 to harden the shell blank to form a hollow shell. Part 60, as shown in Figure 6.

Step 1: Open the mold and take out the formed hollow shell, take out the air bag and cut the hollow shell to make the hollow shell 60 become two shells 20 that can cover each other. The cutting method is preferably to the opposite direction. Cut in half as shown in Figure 7.

In step D, the surface of an inner mold core material is covered with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth to achieve the required thickness and size to form an inner component 30. The inner mold core material is provided with an air bag 40, and the shape of the inner component 30 is suitable for the inner mold core material. The shape of the shell 20.

Step E, remove the inner mold core material of the inner component and cover the inner component 30 with the shell 20 made in step I. Cover the inner component 30 with the two shells 20 to form a Semi-finished product.

The difference between the second embodiment of the present invention and the first embodiment is that the shell formed in step C of the first embodiment is part of the vehicle frame, so the two shells 20 need to be covered with each other to form a complete frame, but the hollow shell formed in step H of the second embodiment is a frame that is complete in appearance but hollow inside. The hollow shell 60 can be cut into two shells 20 formed in step C of the first embodiment.

Of course, the present invention can also have various other embodiments. Without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make various corresponding changes and modifications according to the present invention. However, these corresponding Changes and deformations should fall within the protection scope of the appended claims of the present invention.

Industrial applicability

The carbon fiber bicycle component structure and its manufacturing method of the present invention can clearly improve the long-standing problems in the current traditional manufacturing methods to improve the sophistication of carbon fiber bicycle components.

Claims

A method for manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components, which is characterized by including:

Step A, prepare a shell forming mold, the shell forming mold is provided with a mold cavity to form the shape of the bicycle component;

Step B: After laying multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth in the mold cavity, the mold is closed, and the mold is heated and pressurized to harden and form a shell;

Step C, open the mold and take out the formed shell;

Step D: Cover the surface of an inner mold core material with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth to form an inner component, and the inner mold core material is provided with an air bag;

Step E, remove the inner mold core material of the inner component and wrap the shell made in step C around the inner component to form a semi-finished product;

In step F, the semi-finished product is placed into a mold cavity of a mold, heated and pressurized, and the air bag is inflated to harden and shape the semi-finished product into the required bicycle component.
The method of manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the shell is 0.15-1.2 mm.
The method of manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 2, wherein the outer shape of the inner member is the same as the outer shape of the shell.
The method of manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 3, wherein the stacked thickness of the inner component carbon fiber prepreg is greater than or equal to the thickness of the shell.
A method for manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components, which is characterized by including:

Step A, prepare a shell forming mold, the shell forming mold is provided with a mold cavity to form the shape of the bicycle component;

Step G: Cover the surface of a core material with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth to form a shell blank. The core material is hollow and has an air bag inside;

Step H: remove the core material, place the shell blank into the mold cavity of step A, heat and pressurize the mold and inflate the air bag to harden the shell blank to form a hollow shell;

Step 1: Open the mold to take out the formed hollow shell and cut the hollow shell into two shells that can cover each other;

Step D: Cover the surface of an inner mold core material with multiple layers of carbon fiber prepreg cloth to form an inner component, and the inner mold core material is provided with an air bag;

Step E, remove the inner mold core material of the inner component and wrap the shell made in step I around the inner component to form a semi-finished product;

In step F, the semi-finished product is placed into a mold cavity of a mold, heated and pressurized, and the air bag is inflated to harden and shape the semi-finished product into the required bicycle component.
The method of manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 5, wherein the thickness of the shell is 0.15-1.2 mm.
The manufacturing method of carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 6, wherein the outer shape of the inner member is the same as the outer shape of the shell.
The method of manufacturing carbon fiber bicycle components according to claim 7, wherein the stacked thickness of the inner component carbon fiber prepreg is greater than or equal to the thickness of the shell.
A carbon fiber bicycle component structure is characterized by including:

The second shell is made of carbon fiber material, and the thickness of each shell is 0.15~1.2mm;

An inner component is wrapped in the two shells. The inner component is made of carbon fiber material. The two shells cover each other and cover the inner component to form a bicycle component.
The carbon fiber bicycle component structure according to claim 9, wherein the thickness of the inner component is greater than or equal to the thickness of the shell.