U.S. patent application number 14/695676 was filed with the patent office on 2016-10-27 for bicycle component with reinforced structure and manufacturing method thereof.
The applicant listed for this patent is Louis Liu. Invention is credited to Bill Wu.
Application Number | 20160311495 14/695676 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 57046596 |
Filed Date | 2016-10-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160311495 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wu; Bill |
October 27, 2016 |
BICYCLE COMPONENT WITH REINFORCED STRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING
METHOD THEREOF
Abstract
A bicycle component with reinforced structure and a
manufacturing method thereof are disclosed. The bicycle component
includes a hollow main body and a foam material. The main body is
manufactured by stacking plural carbon fiber prepreg layers and
provided with a force bearing area. The foam material is disposed
on the force bearing area and wrapped by the carbon fiber prepreg
layers. Therefore, the present invention improves the structural
strength of the bicycle component, lightens the weight of a bicycle
made of the bicycle components, and provides a greater
controllability of the bicycle.
Inventors: |
Wu; Bill; (Taichung City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Liu; Louis |
Taichung City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
57046596 |
Appl. No.: |
14/695676 |
Filed: |
April 24, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B29K 2105/0872 20130101;
B62K 19/32 20130101; B29C 70/68 20130101; B29L 2031/3091 20130101;
B62K 19/16 20130101; B29C 2049/028 20130101; B62K 3/04 20130101;
B62K 19/28 20130101; B29C 49/02 20130101; B29K 2307/04 20130101;
B29C 49/0005 20130101; B29K 2105/04 20130101; B29C 70/467
20130101 |
International
Class: |
B62K 21/04 20060101
B62K021/04; B29C 70/46 20060101 B29C070/46; B29C 70/68 20060101
B29C070/68; B29C 49/02 20060101 B29C049/02; B29C 49/00 20060101
B29C049/00 |
Claims
1. A bicycle component with reinforced structure, comprising: a
hollow main body, manufactured by stacking plural carbon fiber
prepreg layers and provided with a force bearing area; and a foam
material, disposed on the force bearing area and wrapped by the
carbon fiber prepreg layers.
2. The bicycle component with reinforced structure of claim 1,
wherein the force bearing area is in an arc shape.
3. The bicycle component with reinforced structure of claim 2,
wherein the foam material is provided with a first end, a second
end, and an arc section between the first end and the second end,
wherein the arc section overlaps with the force bearing area.
4. The bicycle component with reinforced structure of claim 3,
wherein the first end and the second end are both in a taper
shape.
5. The bicycle component with reinforced structure of claim 1,
wherein the foam material is solid.
6. A manufacturing method of bicycle component with reinforced
structure, comprising following steps: a. preparing a foam
material; b. stacking plural carbon fiber prepreg layers to produce
a semi-product of the bicycle component having a force bearing
area; c. placing the foam material on the force bearing area of the
semi-product, and coating and wrapping the foam material with the
carbon fiber prepreg layers; and d. hot-pressing and blow molding
the semi-product with the foam material by use of a mold, so that a
bicycle component is acquired.
7. The manufacturing method of bicycle component with reinforced
structure of claim 6, wherein the force bearing area is in an arc
shape.
8. The manufacturing method of bicycle component with reinforced
structure of claim 6, wherein the foam material is solid.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to bicycle components, and
more particularly, to a bicycle component with reinforced structure
and a manufacturing method thereof.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] In order to achieve a lighter weight of a bicycle, most of
bicycle-related industries have already used carbon fiber
composites to manufacture bicycle components, such as frames, front
forks, handlebars, vertical pipes, seat tubes, cranks, and rims, so
as to satisfy the demands of consumers.
[0005] The force bearing area of each bicycle component mostly
locates on a turning or bending section, resulting in stress
concentration, thereby causing structure damages and further
affecting normal usage. Therefore, to overcome such problems,
bicycle-related industries increase the thickness of the force
bearing area to improve the structural strength thereof, and also
increase the cross-sectional square measure of such area, whereby
the stiffness and shock absorbing capability of the force bearing
area are enhanced.
[0006] However, the aforementioned method leads to excessive usage
of materials, raising the material and manufacturing cost.
Moreover, thickness increasing of the force bearing area results in
whole component weight gaining, while the moment of inertia is also
increased. As a result, when riding the bicycle, riders may face
difficulty of operation which is disadvantageous during bicycle
controlling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] For improving aforementioned issues, the present invention
discloses a bicycle component with reinforced structure and a
manufacturing method thereof. The bicycle component applies a foam
material wrapped by the carbon fiber prepreg layers, and the foam
material is disposed on the force bearing area, so as to enhance
the structural strength of the bicycle component.
[0008] For achieving the objective above, the present invention
provides a bicycle component with reinforced structure,
comprising:
[0009] a hollow main body, manufactured by stacking plural carbon
fiber prepreg layers and provided with a force bearing area;
and
[0010] a foam material, disposed on the force bearing area and
wrapped by the carbon fiber prepreg layers.
[0011] Therefore, with the foam material, the structural strength
and the cross-sectional square measure of the bicycle component are
improved, so as to acquire the capability of shock absorption and
impact resistance. Also, compared with the conventional structure,
it is unnecessary to adopt excessive carbon fiber composites on the
force bearing area, thus lowering the material cost and decreasing
the weight of the whole component. As a result, the present
invention avoids increasing the moment of inertia of the bicycle
component, facilitating the bicycle controllability.
[0012] Furthermore, for achieving the objective above, the present
invention provides a manufacturing method of bicycle component with
reinforced structure, comprising following steps:
[0013] a. preparing a foam material;
[0014] b. stacking plural carbon fiber prepreg layers to produce a
semi-product of the bicycle component having a force bearing
area;
[0015] c. placing the foam material on the force bearing area of
the semi-product, and coating and wrapping the foam material with
the carbon fiber prepreg layers; and
[0016] d. hot-pressing and blow molding the semi-product with the
foam material by use of a mold, so that a bicycle component is
acquired.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the bicycle
component applied to a bicycle front pipe.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bicycle component with
reinforced structure in accordance with the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the bicycle component with
reinforced structure in accordance with the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a second sectional view of the bicycle component
with reinforced structure in accordance with the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the manufacturing method of the
bicycle component with reinforced structure in accordance with the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The aforementioned and further advantages and features of
the present invention will be understood by reference to the
description of the preferred embodiment in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings where the components are illustrated based on
a proportion for explanation but not subject to the actual
component proportion.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, the present invention
provides a bicycle component 100 with reinforced structure,
comprising a main body 10, and a foam material 30.
[0024] The main body 10 is hollow and manufactured by stacking
plural carbon fiber prepreg layers 20. Also, the main body 10 is
provided with an arc-shaped force bearing area 11. In the
embodiment provided by the present invention, the main body 10 is
allowed to be a front pipe, a handlebar and a frame.
[0025] The foam material 30, which is solid, is disposed on the
force bearing area 11 and wrapped by the carbon fiber prepreg
layers 20. Moreover, the foam material 30 is provided with a first
end 31, a second end 32, and an arc section 33 between the first
end 31 and the second end 32. The first end 31 and the second end
32 are both in a taper shape. The arc section 33 overlaps with the
force bearing area 11.
[0026] In the molding process of the main body 10, the pre-formed
foam material 30 is placed on the force bearing area 11 of the main
body 10 and then wrapped by the carbon fiber prepreg layers 20, so
that the foam material 30 is prevented from exposing outward. Next,
the bicycle component 100 is formed by hot-pressing and blow
molding process, whereby the structure of the force bearing area 11
of the bicycle component 100 is structurally strengthened.
[0027] Therefore, compared with the conventional structure, the
force bearing area 11 of the present invention saves excessive
usage of the carbon fiber composites, thus reducing the cost of
material and decreasing the weight of the whole component. Also,
the moment of inertia of the bicycle component 100 is prevented
from increasing, such that the controllability of the bicycle made
of the bicycle component 100 is enhanced.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 5 which is a flow chart illustrating the
manufacturing method of the bicycle component 100, the
manufacturing method of the bicycle component 100 with reinforced
structure comprises following steps:
[0029] a. preparing a foam material 30 which is solid;
[0030] b. stacking plural carbon fiber prepreg layers 20 to produce
a semi-product of the bicycle component having an arc-shaped force
bearing area 11;
[0031] c. placing the foam material 30 on the force bearing area 11
of the semi-product and coating and wrapping the foam material 30
with the carbon fiber prepreg layers 20; and
[0032] d. hot-pressing and blow molding the semi-product with the
foam material 30 by use of a mold, so that a bicycle component 100
is acquired.
[0033] In sum, the present invention provides a bicycle component
100 with reinforced structure manufactured by post-forming, so as
to adopt the foam material 30 as a reinforcement construction.
Therefore, the structural strength of the bicycle component 100 is
improved without increasing the thickness with carbon fiber
composites, such that the bicycle component 100 is lightened and
provided with greater controllability.
[0034] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been
described in detail for purposes of illustration, various
modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention
is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
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