TW202000488A - Bicycle rim and manufacturing method thereof manufacturing the bicycle rim capable of simultaneously achieving both weight reduction and structural strength - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a bicycle rim and a manufacturing method thereof. The bicycle rim is manufactured by using the manufacturing method of the bicycle rim and is provided with a wheel frame. The wheel frame is a ring-shaped hollow frame body and has a plurality of equal-sized wheel frame strips. Each wheel frame strip is composed of two halves. Each half is made of a thermoplastic prepreg after being laminated, heated and molded. The two corresponding halves are combined with each other to form one wheel frame strip. Accordingly, the bicycle rim capable of simultaneously achieving both weight reduction and structural strength is manufactured.

Description

Bicycle rim and manufacturing method thereof

The invention relates to a bicycle rim and a manufacturing method thereof, in particular to a bicycle rim capable of achieving lightweight and structural strength at the same time and a manufacturing method thereof.

According to the press, bicycle is one of the most popular leisure activities at present, and in order to provide users with a more convenient and easier riding effect, most manufacturers will use a variety of structural design, material composition or transmission method and other directions. Carry out research and development and improvement; for example, most of the frames and rims will use lighter materials, and composite materials are one of the choices. There are many types of composite materials, of which fiber reinforced polymer composites are the most Widely used, the basic composition of polymer composite materials is fiber and polymer resin substrate. Fiber is the main factor that determines the mechanical properties of the composite material. It is used to withstand the main load, improve the rigidity of the material and resist fatigue and deformation performance. There are many types of plastics (thermoplastic), such as polycarbonate (Polycarbonate, PC) and polyamide (Polyamide, PA), etc. Furthermore, fibers have different materials and forms. The commonly used materials in the industry are glass fiber, carbon fiber, There are several types of Kevlar fibers, in the form of short fibers, continuous long fibers, braided fibers and powdered fibers. In addition, in the application of structures, due to the higher requirements for the strength of the material, the choice of reinforcing fibers, It is usually dominated by continuous long fibers.

Further, the rim is an important medium for the entire bicycle to convert energy into speed, and its quality will affect riding speed, pedaling force and wind breaking performance; in addition to light weight, its inertia, smoothness, rigidity and low wind resistance Sex is also one of the important considerations. Therefore, how to achieve a balance between light weight and structural strength is a technology that is strongly learned from the existing industry. Therefore, the current quality of bicycle rims has been improved. .

Therefore, in view of the shortcomings and deficiencies of the existing bicycle rims in actual use, the present invention has finally developed a present invention that can improve the existing deficiencies, the bicycle rim of the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof through continuous testing and research. It is mainly made of thermoplastic composite materials, and combined with modularization and lamination design, while considering parameters such as time, temperature and pressure, so as to provide a bicycle wheel rim that can achieve lightweight and structural strength at the same time. By.

Based on the above object, the present invention is to provide a bicycle rim provided with a wheel frame, wherein the wheel frame is an annular hollow frame body and has a plurality of wheel frames of equal size, wherein each wheel frame is It is composed of two halves, and each half is made of a thermoplastic prepreg after lamination, heating and molding. The two corresponding halves are combined with each other to form a wheel frame strip. Wheel frames of equal size are combined to form the wheel frame

Further, the bicycle rim as described above, wherein the bicycle rim is further provided with a plurality of ribs, the plurality of ribs are combined with the wheel frame at radial intervals, and one end of each rib is in contact with the inner side of the wheel frame The other end of each rib is combined with the other end of the rib to form the bicycle rim. Each rib is composed of two halves, and each half is composed of a thermoplastic prepreg. After heating and forming, the two corresponding halves are combined with each other to form a rib, and the aforementioned ribs are combined with the wheel frame to form the bicycle rim.

Preferably, the bicycle rim as described above, wherein the wheel frame is disassembled to have 2-10 wheel frames of equal size.

Preferably, the bicycle rim as described above, wherein the two corresponding halves of each wheel frame bar or wheel frame bar are combined with each half body and each wheel frame bar through the bonding ability of the material itself, Instead, the wheel frame is formed.

Preferably, the bicycle rim as described above, wherein the two corresponding halves of each wheel frame bar or wheel frame bar are formed by combining each half body and each wheel frame bar through a binding additive. The round frame.

Further, the present invention provides a manufacturing method for manufacturing the above-mentioned bicycle rim, which includes the following operation steps: Preparation step: preparing a thermoplastic prepreg, several modular molds, a cutting device, a heating device, a The molding device and at least one processing machine disassemble the bicycle rim into several parts according to the shape and size of each part. The modular molds have the appearance size and structure corresponding to these parts, and will first According to the appearance size of each module, the pre-cutting of the thermoplastic prepreg material is performed first through the cutting device; the heating device is used to arrange a plurality of the thermoplastic prepregs after the pre-cutting and the upper and lower layers are arranged in layers Heating the material to combine several of the laminated thermoplastic prepregs into a thermoplastic composite material, the forming device is used to shape the thermoplastic composite material, and the at least one processing machine is used to shape the Subsequent processing; module and lamination step: according to the mechanical performance, size and thickness requirements of each part, with the design of these modular molds, the number of lamination of the thermoplastic prepreg and the fiber angle arrangement of each layer will be determined Direction, place the thermoplastic prepreg pre-cut by the cutting device, place each thermoplastic prepreg on the heating device in sequence, and the heating temperature of the heating device must be greater than the glass transfer of the thermoplastic prepreg Temperature, allowing the laminated thermoplastic prepreg to pre-bond between the materials to form the thermoplastic composite material; molding step: using the plurality of modular molds or the molding device to mold each part to complete each part After the molding, the thermoplastic composite material is combined into the components of each module to complete the overall structure of the bicycle rim; and the subsequent processing steps: the finished product molded in the foregoing molding processing step, using the at least one processing machine After subsequent processing, the bicycle rim can be obtained.

Further, the method for manufacturing a bicycle rim as described above, wherein in the preparation step, the thermoplastic prepreg is formed by impregnating a continuous fiber, a fiber woven cloth, or a powdered fiber with a resin, wherein the continuous fiber, The fiber woven cloth and the powdery fiber may be a carbon fiber, a glass fiber or a reinforced fiber.

Preferably, the method for manufacturing a bicycle rim as described above, wherein in the module and lamination step, the fiber angle is between -180 and 180 degrees, and the heating temperature of the heating device is between 250 and 300°C; In the molding step, the molding process is performed at a temperature of 180~300°C, a pressure of 1~15Mpa and a time of 5~15 minutes.

Preferably, the bicycle rim manufacturing method as described above, wherein in the subsequent processing step, if the molding process is performed through a modular mold, the material in the non-finished product area can be cut and separated after the finished product is formed, You can get the bicycle rim.

By the above-mentioned technical means, the bicycle rim of the present invention mainly uses thermoplastic composite materials with laminated design and parameters such as time, temperature and pressure to disassemble each part of the bicycle rim in a modular concept, and then The cutting size of the thermoplastic prepreg, the number of laminated thermoplastic prepregs and the fiber arrangement direction of each layer can be determined according to the product's mechanical properties, size, thickness requirements and mold design to achieve the required rigidity of the rim, and To make the overall weight lighter, and further, bicycle rims can be manufactured through a variety of different molding methods (hot pressing, rolling, pultrusion, vacuum heating or mold molding, etc.), and finally in the process of combining various parts, the resin is used The polymers are bonded to each other or add materials (such as glue) that can be bonded to this polymer to provide excellent bonding strength, so as to obtain a bicycle rim that can achieve lightweight and structural strength at the same time. Not only can the utility of the bicycle rim be increased, but also the quality of the bicycle rim can be greatly improved.

In order to understand the technical features and practical effects of the present invention in detail and can be implemented according to the content of the specification, the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings is further described below, and the detailed description is as follows:

The present invention provides a bicycle rim 10. Please refer to the first and second preferred embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 7. In the first preferred embodiment, the bicycle rim 10 is only provided with a rim 20 In the second preferred embodiment, the bicycle rim 10 is provided with a wheel frame 20 and a plurality of ribs 30, wherein the wheel frame 20 is an annular hollow frame body, and as shown in FIG. 2, 3 or 4 It is composed of two equal parts, four equal parts or six equal parts equal size wheel frame strips 21 (also can be three equal parts, five equal parts, etc.). Preferably, the wheel frame 20 is disassembled in this case It is divided into 2 to 10 wheel frames 21 of equal size, where each wheel frame 21 is composed of several halves, of which an upper half 211 (outer frame) and a lower half can be formed as shown in FIG. 5 212 (inner frame), or as shown in FIG. 6 by a left half 213 and a right half 214, and each half is made of a thermoplastic prepreg 40 after lamination, heating and forming It is made by combining two corresponding halves with each other to form a wheel frame bar 21, and combining the aforementioned wheel frame bars 21 to form the wheel frame 20, preferably, the two corresponding half bodies or wheel frames The bars 21 are combined with each half body and each wheel frame bar 21 through the bonding ability of the material itself or through a binding additive to form the wheel frame 20.

Please refer to the second preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the ribs 30 are combined with the wheel frame 20 at a radial interval, and one end of each rib 30 is combined with the inner side of the wheel frame 20. The other end of each rib 30 is combined with one end of the remaining ribs 30 to form the bicycle rim 10, wherein each rib 30 is composed of several halves, of which an upper half 31 can be formed as shown in FIG. 8 And the lower half 32, or as shown in FIG. 9 by a left half 33 and a right half 34, and each half is formed by a thermoplastic prepreg 40 after lamination, heating and forming It is made by combining two corresponding halves with each other to form a rib 30, and combining the aforementioned ribs 30 with the wheel frame 20 to form the bicycle rim 10, preferably, as shown in FIG. 14 between the two corresponding halves or ribs 30 and the wheel frame 20 through the bonding ability of the material itself or through a combination of additives to combine each half and each rib 30 and the wheel frame 20.

The present invention further provides a manufacturing method for manufacturing the above-mentioned bicycle rim. Please refer to the flow block diagram of the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 10, the bicycle rim manufacturing method includes a preparation step, a module and lamination step, and a molding Steps and a subsequent processing step, the details of each operation step are as follows.

A. Preparation steps: Please refer to Figures 10 to 13 to prepare a thermoplastic prepreg 40, several modular dies 70, a cutting device, a heating device, a molding device and at least one processing machine, The thermoplastic prepreg 40 is formed by impregnating a continuous fiber, a fiber woven cloth or a powdery fiber with resin, wherein the continuous fiber, fiber woven cloth and powdery fiber can be a carbon fiber, a glass fiber or A reinforced fiber; as shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, 8, and 9, the bicycle rim 10 is disassembled into several parts (wheel frame 20 and rib 30) according to the shape and size of each part, and these modular molds are It has the appearance size and structure corresponding to these parts, and will first perform pre-cutting of the thermoplastic prepreg 40 through the cutting device according to the outline size of each module of the wheel frame 20 and the rib 30; The heating device is used to heat the plurality of thermoplastic prepregs 40 that are pre-cut and arranged in an upper and lower laminate, so as to combine the plurality of thermoplastic prepregs 40 in a laminated arrangement into an integrated thermoplastic composite material 50. The forming device is used for forming the thermoplastic composite material 50, and the at least one processing machine is used for subsequent processing after the forming process.

B. Modules and stacking steps: disassemble the bicycle rim 10 into two modules of the wheel frame 20 and the rib 30 as shown in FIGS. 2, 8 and 9, and disassemble each module into several parts, as shown in the figure According to the mechanical performance, size and thickness requirements of each part, the design of these modular molds as shown in 11 will determine the number of laminated layers of the thermoplastic prepreg 40 and the direction of the fiber angle of each layer. The fiber angle is between At -180~180 degrees, the thermoplastic prepreg 40 pre-cut by the cutting device is placed in sequence, and each thermoplastic prepreg 40 is placed on the heating device in sequence. The heating temperature of the heating device must be greater than the The glass transition temperature (Tg, 150~190°C) of the thermoplastic prepreg 40, the heating temperature of the heating device of the present invention is between 250~300°C, and then the resin of each layer of the thermoplastic prepreg 40 is used Based on the viscosity characteristics, the laminated thermoplastic prepreg 40 is pre-bonded between materials to form the thermoplastic composite material 50.

C. Molding step: With the parameters of temperature 180~300°C, pressure 1~15Mpa and time 5 to 15 minutes, etc., use these modular molds or the molding device to mold each part to complete each part After the molding, the components of each module are combined with the bonding ability of the thermoplastic composite material 50 or a combined additive to complete the overall structure of the bicycle rim 10, as shown in FIG. 12 through a The rolling machine 60 performs molding processing on the thermoplastic composite material 50, and is provided with a plurality of rollers 61, a heating source 62 and at least one pressing roller 63, so as to perform hot pressing, rolling, pultrusion, etc. on the thermoplastic composite material 50 Forming process, or as shown in FIG. 13, the laminated thermoplastic composite material 50 is put into the modular mold 70, wherein the modular mold 70 is provided with a lower mold 71 and an upper mold 72, and each The molds 71 and 72 are respectively provided with a mold cavity 711 and 721, and the thermoplastic composite material 50 is placed in the two mold cavity 711 and 721, and the molding process is performed according to the above temperature, pressure and time parameters. The purpose of the high temperature is to let The resin flows and utilizes its viscosity characteristics to diffuse and combine the resins between the layers. At the same time, the pressure can arrange the fibers between the layers closely. When the temperature drops below Tg, the modular mold 70 is demolded.

D. Subsequent processing steps: use the at least one processing machine to perform subsequent processing such as stamping or CNC on the finished products formed in the foregoing forming processing steps; and if the molding process is performed through the modular mold 70, the finished products can be molded After that, the material in the non-finished product area is cut and separated to obtain the bicycle rim 10.

With the above technical means, the bicycle rim of the present invention mainly uses the thermoplastic composite material 50 with the lamination design and parameters such as time, temperature and pressure to disassemble the bicycle rim in a modular concept. Furthermore, the cutting size of the thermoplastic prepreg 40, the number of laminated thermoplastic prepregs 40 and the fiber arrangement direction of each layer can be determined according to the product mechanical properties, size, thickness requirements and mold design to meet the needs of the rim Rigidity and lighter overall weight. Further, the bicycle rim 10 can be manufactured through a variety of different molding methods (hot pressing, rolling, pultrusion, vacuum heating or mold molding, etc.), and finally in the process of combining various parts , In the way that the polymers in the resin are bonded to each other or add materials that can be bonded to the polymer (such as glue) to provide excellent bonding strength, in order to achieve a lightweight and structural strength The bicycle rim 10 can not only increase the practicality of the bicycle rim 10 but also greatly improve the quality of the bicycle rim 10.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field of the art, if not departing from the scope of the technical solution provided by the present invention, use this The equivalent embodiments of local changes or modifications made by the technical content disclosed in the present invention, and without departing from the technical solution content of the present invention, still belong to the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Bicycle rim 20‧‧‧ Wheel frame 21‧‧‧ Wheel frame strip 211‧‧‧Upper half 212‧‧‧‧Lower half 213‧‧‧Left half 214‧‧‧Right half 30‧ ‧‧Rib 31‧‧‧upper part 32‧‧‧lower part 33‧‧‧left half 34‧‧‧right half 40‧‧‧thermoplastic prepreg 50‧‧‧thermoplastic composite material 60‧‧‧ Roller press 61‧‧‧Roller 62‧‧‧Heating source 63‧‧‧Press wheel 70‧‧‧Mold machine 71‧‧‧Lower mold 711‧‧‧Mold cavity 72‧‧‧Upper mold 721‧‧‧Mold cavity

1 is a schematic side view of the appearance of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 2 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of the wheel frame in two equal parts of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 3 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of the wheel frame in four equal parts of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 4 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of six equal parts of the wheel frame of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 5 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of the wheel frame strip in two equal parts of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 6 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of another two equal parts of the wheel frame strip of the first preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 7 is a schematic side view of the appearance of the second preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of the rib in two equal parts of the second preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 9 is a schematic diagram of disassembly of another two equal parts of the rib of the second preferred embodiment of the bicycle rim of the present invention. 10 is a flow block diagram of the bicycle rim manufacturing method of the present invention. 11 is a schematic view of the operation of laminating several thermoplastic prepregs in the manufacturing method of the bicycle rim of the present invention. FIG. 12 is one way of performing the molding step in the bicycle rim manufacturing method of the present invention. 13 is another way of performing the molding step in the bicycle rim manufacturing method of the present invention. 14 is a schematic view of the operation of combining various parts of the rim in the manufacturing method of the bicycle rim of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Bicycle wheels

20‧‧‧wheel frame

Claims (11)

A bicycle rim is provided with a wheel frame, wherein the wheel frame is a ring-shaped hollow frame body and has a plurality of wheel frames of equal size, wherein each wheel frame is composed of two halves, and each half is It is made of a thermoplastic prepreg after lamination, heating and molding, and the two corresponding halves are combined with each other to form a wheel frame bar, and the wheel frame bars of the same size are combined to form the wheel frame . The bicycle rim according to claim 1, wherein the bicycle rim is further provided with a plurality of ribs, the plurality of ribs are combined with the wheel frame at radial intervals, and one end of each rib is in contact with the inner side of the wheel frame The other end of each rib is combined with the other end of the rib to form the bicycle rim. Each rib is composed of two halves, and each half is composed of a thermoplastic prepreg. After heating and forming, the two corresponding halves are combined with each other to form a rib, and the aforementioned ribs are combined with the wheel frame to form the bicycle rim. The bicycle rim according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the wheel frame disassembly has 2 to 10 equal-sized wheel frame bars. The bicycle rim according to claim 3, wherein the two corresponding halves of each wheel frame bar or wheel frame bar are combined with each half body and each wheel frame bar through the bonding ability of the material itself to form the Round frame. The bicycle rim according to claim 3, wherein the two corresponding halves of each wheel frame bar or wheel frame bar are combined with each half body and each wheel frame bar through a binding additive to form the wheel frame . The bicycle rim according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the two corresponding halves of each rib or between the rib and the wheel frame are combined with each half and each rib and the wheel frame through the bonding ability of the material itself. The bicycle rim according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the two corresponding halves of each rib or between the rib and the wheel frame are combined with each half body and each rib and the wheel frame through a bonding additive. A manufacturing method of bicycle rim, which includes the following operation steps: Preparation steps: preparation of a thermoplastic prepreg, several modular molds, a cutting device, a heating device, a molding device and at least one processing machine , The bicycle rim is disassembled into several parts according to the shape and size of each part, the modular molds have the appearance size and structure corresponding to these parts, and will first follow the appearance of each module Size, the pre-cutting of the thermoplastic prepreg material is first performed by the cutting device; the heating device is used to heat the plurality of thermoplastic prepregs after the pre-cutting and the upper and lower laminates are arranged to make the laminate Several of the aligned thermoplastic prepregs are combined into a thermoplastic composite material, the forming device is used to mold the thermoplastic composite material, and the at least one processing machine is used for subsequent processing after the molding process; modules and stacks Layer step: According to the mechanical properties, size and thickness requirements of each part, the design of the modular molds will determine the number of laminated layers of the thermoplastic prepreg and the direction of the fiber angle of each layer, which will be cut The thermoplastic prepreg pre-cut by the device, and each thermoplastic prepreg is placed on the heating device in sequence. The heating temperature of the heating device must be greater than the glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic prepreg. The thermoplastic prepreg material is pre-bonded between the materials to form the thermoplastic composite material; molding step: the modularized molds or the molding device are used to mold the various parts, and after the molding of each part is completed, the The thermoplastic composite material is combined into various components of each module to complete the overall structure of the bicycle rim; and subsequent processing steps: the finished product formed in the foregoing molding processing step is subjected to subsequent processing using the at least one processing machine to obtain The bicycle rim. The method for manufacturing a bicycle rim according to claim 8, wherein in the preparation step, the thermoplastic prepreg is formed by impregnating a continuous fiber, a fiber woven cloth, or a powdered fiber with a resin, wherein the continuous fiber, The fiber woven cloth and the powdery fiber may be a carbon fiber, a glass fiber or a reinforced fiber. The method for manufacturing a bicycle rim according to claim 8 or 9, wherein in the module and lamination step, the fiber angle is between -180 and 180 degrees, and the heating temperature of the heating device is between 250 and 300°C; and In the molding step, the molding process is performed at a temperature of 180 to 300°C, a pressure of 1 to 15 MPa, and a time of 5 to 15 minutes. The method for manufacturing a bicycle rim according to claim 10, wherein in the subsequent processing step, if the molding process is performed through a modular mold, the material in the non-finished product area can be cut and separated after the finished product is formed, and then it can be obtained The bicycle rim.

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