Integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method and integrated bicycle front fork

Abstract

The invention discloses an integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method, which belongs to the technical field of bicycle manufacturing, and comprises the following steps: front fork design, material preparation, forming process, processing and fine trimming and quality detection, and the front fork design comprises performance demand analysis and geometric shape design; the material preparation comprises material selection and material pretreatment; the molding process is a compression molding process; the machining and fine trimming comprises machining and surface pretreatment; the quality detection comprises appearance detection, dimensional precision detection and performance detection, in the material preparation stage, a nano material is uniformly dispersed into a matrix material by adopting ultrasonic dispersion, mechanical stirring and other methods, and in the compression molding process, a resin matrix containing the nano material is combined with carbon fibers. According to the manufacturing method of the integrated bicycle front fork, the comprehensive performance of the front fork can be remarkably improved, the front fork is lighter, stronger and more durable, meanwhile, the reliability of the front fork can be improved, and performance reduction caused by small damage is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of bicycle manufacturing, and in particular relates to a manufacturing method of an integrated bicycle front fork and an integrated bicycle front fork. Background Art

[0002] The front fork of a bicycle is located in the front part of the whole structure of the bicycle. Its upper end is connected to the handlebar, the middle part cooperates with the front tube of the frame, and the lower end cooperates with the front axle to form the guiding system of the bicycle. Turning the handlebar to drive the front fork can change the direction of the front wheel, which plays a guiding role in the bicycle. In addition, it can also play a role in controlling the driving of the bicycle. From the perspective of mechanical structure, the stress of the front fork is a cantilever beam, so the front fork must have sufficient strength and other properties.

[0003] Front fork components made of carbon fiber composite materials are characterized by light weight and high strength. They have been widely used in the industry while greatly reducing their own weight while still maintaining high strength. However, the existing bicycle front forks made of carbon fiber composite materials do not have the ability to self-repair microcracks. When microcracks appear on the surface, the performance of the front fork will be reduced. During high-intensity riding, the front fork may be damaged, thus affecting riding safety. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide an integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method and an integrated bicycle front fork, so as to solve the problem that the existing bicycle carbon fiber composite material front fork proposed in the above background technology does not have the self-repair ability of microcracks. When microcracks appear on its surface, the performance of the front fork will be reduced. During high-intensity riding, the front fork may be damaged, thereby affecting riding safety.

[0005] A first aspect provides a method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork, comprising the following steps: Step 1: Front fork design: including performance requirements analysis and geometry design; Step 2: Material preparation: including material selection and material pretreatment; Step 3, molding process: use compression molding process; Step 4: Processing and finishing: including machining and surface pretreatment; Step 5: Quality inspection: including appearance inspection, dimensional accuracy inspection and performance inspection. Performance inspection includes strength test and stiffness test.

[0006] In a further embodiment, the performance requirement analysis: firstly, the type of bicycle is considered, and the mechanical performance indicators such as stiffness and strength of the front fork are determined according to the purpose of the bicycle; Geometric design: Design the overall shape of the front fork, including the shape of the fork legs (straight legs, curved legs, etc.), the width and shape of the fork crown, etc., and determine the size of the front fork installation interface; In a further embodiment, material selection: high-quality carbon fiber prepreg is selected, and the fiber direction and number of layers of the carbon fiber prepreg are determined according to the design of the front fork; Material pretreatment: Carbon fiber prepregs should be stored in a clean and dry environment. Before use, the prepregs should be cut according to the design drawings. The cutting accuracy should be high and the error should be controlled within a small range. Ultrasonic dispersion, mechanical stirring and other methods should be used to evenly disperse the nanomaterials into the matrix material. In a further embodiment, the cut carbon fiber prepreg is placed into a mold according to the designed layering sequence, and the mold is cleaned and coated with a release agent in advance; After closing the mold, the mold is placed in a hot press, where a certain amount of pressure is applied and the temperature is raised to the curing temperature. In the compression molding process, the resin matrix containing the nanomaterial is combined with the carbon fiber; According to the curing characteristics of the resin, a certain curing time is maintained, usually about several hours, so that the carbon fiber is fully cured to form the shape of an integrated front fork. After the curing is completed, the carbon fiber front fork is demoulded and taken out; In a further embodiment, mechanical processing: trimming some edges, removing excess carbon fiber material, and making the edges neat; processing holes required for mounting accessories, using special drill bits and processing techniques to avoid delamination or damage of the carbon fiber during processing; Surface treatment: A layer of transparent protective paint is applied to the surface by spraying or dipping; In a further embodiment, appearance inspection: check whether the surface of the front fork has scratches, fiber delamination (for carbon fiber front forks) and other defects; check whether the protective paint is uniform and complete, and whether there is peeling or blistering; Dimensional accuracy inspection: Use measuring tools (such as calipers, micrometers, three-dimensional coordinate measuring machines, etc.) to measure the key dimensions of the front fork (such as tube diameter, fork length, installation hole size, etc.); compare the measurement results with the design drawings to ensure that the dimensions of the front fork meet the requirements; Strength test: Through compression test and impact test, etc. In the impact test, a certain weight of the falling weight is used to impact the front fork from a certain height to check whether the front fork is damaged, such as carbon fiber breakage or delamination; Stiffness test: static or dynamic stiffness test method is adopted. In the static stiffness test, a certain force is applied to the front fork, the deformation of the front fork is measured, and its stiffness value is calculated.

[0007] The second aspect provides an integrated bicycle front fork, wherein the front fork is an integral seamless front fork.

[0008] Technical effects and advantages of the present invention: The integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method and the integrated bicycle front fork add nano ceramic particles to the carbon fiber composite material to improve its impact resistance and high temperature resistance. The addition of nanomaterials can significantly improve the comprehensive performance of the front fork, making it lighter, stronger and more durable. At the same time, by utilizing the special properties of nanomaterials, such as self-repairing properties (some nano-composite materials have the ability to self-repair microcracks under certain conditions), the reliability of the front fork can be improved, and the performance degradation caused by minor damage can be reduced. The integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method and the integrated bicycle front fork can significantly improve the comprehensive performance of the front fork, making it lighter, stronger and more durable. At the same time, the reliability of the front fork can be improved, and the performance degradation caused by minor damage can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0010] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the process of the present invention; Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the front fork of the present invention.

[0011] In the figure: 1. vertical tube; 2. fork leg; 3. connecting part. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] In the following description, a large number of specific details are provided to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the present invention, some technical features well known in the art are not described.

[0013] Unless otherwise defined, the up, down, left, right, front, back, inside and outside directions involved in this document are based on the up, down, left, right, front, back, inside and outside directions in the figures shown in the present invention, and are explained here together. Example

[0014] The present invention provides Figure 1 The manufacturing method of the integrated bicycle front fork shown includes the following steps: Step 1: Front fork design: including performance requirement analysis and geometry design; Performance requirement analysis: First of all, the type of bicycle should be considered, such as road bikes, mountain bikes, urban commuter bikes, etc. For example, the front fork of a road bike needs to reduce weight as much as possible while ensuring strength to improve riding speed and efficiency; the front fork of a mountain bike emphasizes impact resistance and can withstand severe vibration and impact caused by complex terrain; Determine the mechanical performance indicators of the front fork, such as stiffness and strength, according to the purpose of the bicycle. Stiffness affects the handling of the bicycle, while strength is related to the durability and safety of the front fork. For example, the stress conditions of the front fork under different working conditions (such as braking, driving over potholes, etc.) can be simulated through finite element analysis and other means to determine the appropriate mechanical performance parameters; Geometry design: Design the overall shape of the front fork, including the shape of the fork legs (straight legs, curved legs, etc.), the width and shape of the fork crown, etc. The shape of the fork legs will affect the appearance and aerodynamic performance of the bicycle, and the width of the fork crown should match the head tube of the frame; Determine the installation interface size of the front fork, such as the size of the headset connected to the head tube of the frame, the position and size of the brake mount, etc. These dimensions must strictly comply with the bicycle standards to ensure that the front fork can be correctly installed and matched with other components; Step 2: Material preparation: including material selection and material pretreatment; Material selection: select high-quality carbon fiber prepreg, and determine the fiber direction (such as 0°, 90°, ±45°, etc.) and number of layers of the carbon fiber prepreg according to the design of the front fork. These factors will affect the mechanical properties of the front fork; Material pretreatment: Carbon fiber prepregs should be stored in a clean and dry environment. Before use, the prepregs should be cut according to the design drawings with high cutting accuracy and within a small error range. For example, for complex-shaped front forks, CNC cutting equipment may be required to ensure that the size and shape of the prepregs meet the requirements. Ultrasonic dispersion, mechanical stirring and other methods are used to evenly disperse nanomaterials into the matrix material. For carbon fiber composite materials, adding nano-ceramic particles can improve their impact resistance and high temperature resistance. The addition of nanomaterials can significantly improve the overall performance of the front fork, making it lighter, stronger and more durable. The multi-layer carbon fiber layup design is adopted. The direction and number of carbon fiber layers are reasonably arranged according to the stress conditions of different parts of the front fork. For example, in the area that bears the main bending load, the number of 0° (along the axial direction of the front fork) carbon fiber layers is increased to improve the bending strength and durability of the front fork. Step 3, molding process: Use compression molding process; put the cut carbon fiber prepreg into the mold according to the designed layering sequence, and the mold should be cleaned and coated with release agent in advance; After closing the mold, put the mold into a hot press, apply a certain amount of pressure, and heat it up to the curing temperature, generally around 130-150°C. In the molding process, the resin matrix containing nanomaterials is combined with carbon fibers. The special properties of nanomaterials, such as self-repairing properties (some nanocomposites have microcrack self-repairing capabilities under certain conditions), can be used to improve the reliability of the front fork and reduce performance degradation caused by minor damage. According to the curing characteristics of the resin, a certain curing time is maintained, usually about several hours, so that the carbon fiber is fully cured to form the shape of an integrated front fork. After the curing is completed, the carbon fiber front fork is demoulded and taken out; During the molding process, the temperature, pressure, curing time and other parameters are precisely controlled to ensure that the carbon fiber prepreg can be fully cured to form a uniform and dense structure. Excessive temperature deviation may lead to incomplete resin curing, affecting the strength of the front fork; insufficient pressure may make the bonding between the carbon fibers loose, reducing the integrity of the front fork. For example, the curing temperature is controlled at 130-150℃, the pressure is controlled at 5-10MPa, and the curing time is determined according to factors such as the resin system and the thickness of the front fork, generally about 3-5 hours; Using advanced molding processes, such as Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Molding (VARTM), this process can effectively reduce the porosity in carbon fiber products and improve the resin impregnation effect on carbon fiber, thereby enhancing the strength and durability of the front fork. In the VARTM process, vacuum is used to make the resin evenly penetrate into the carbon fiber prepreg under low pressure, which can better ensure the quality of the front fork; Step 4, processing and finishing: including machining and surface pretreatment; machining: trimming some edges, removing excess carbon fiber materials, and making the edges neat; machining the holes required for installing accessories, using special drill bits and processing technology to avoid delamination or damage of carbon fiber during processing; Surface treatment: A layer of transparent protective paint is applied to the surface by spraying or dipping; When machining the holes for the carbon fiber front fork to install the accessories, special tools and processing techniques are used, such as using carbide drills, drilling at low speed and high feed rate, and cooling during the drilling process to prevent carbon fiber delamination and damage; When painting the surface, choose high-performance protective paint, such as polyurethane paint with good weather resistance, wear resistance and chemical corrosion resistance. Before painting, the carbon fiber surface should be properly pretreated, such as polishing, cleaning and activation treatment, to enhance the adhesion between the paint layer and the carbon fiber. After painting, proper curing treatment should be carried out to ensure the quality of the paint layer. Step 5, quality inspection: including appearance inspection, dimensional accuracy inspection and performance inspection. Performance inspection includes strength test and stiffness test. Appearance inspection: check whether there are scratches, fiber delamination (for carbon fiber front forks) and other defects on the surface of the front fork; check whether the protective paint is uniform and complete, and whether there is any peeling or blistering. Dimensional accuracy detection: Use measuring tools (such as calipers, micrometers, three-dimensional coordinate measuring machines, etc.) to measure the key dimensions of the front fork (such as tube diameter, fork length, installation hole size, etc.). For example, the dimensional tolerance of the front fork tube diameter is generally controlled within ±0.1mm, and the position accuracy of the installation hole is controlled within ±0.05mm; Compare the measurement results with the design drawings to ensure that the fork dimensions meet the requirements. Any dimensional deviation may affect the fit of the fork with other bicycle parts. Strength test: For aluminum alloy front forks, tensile test, bending test and other methods can be used. In the tensile test, the front fork is fixed on the testing machine, and gradually increasing tensile force is applied to measure the yield strength and tensile strength of the front fork. For example, the yield strength of aluminum alloy front forks should generally reach more than 200MPa; The strength test of carbon fiber front forks can be carried out through compression test and impact test. In the impact test, a certain mass of drop weight is used to drop from a certain height to impact the front fork to check whether there is any damage to the front fork, such as carbon fiber breakage or delamination; Stiffness test: static or dynamic stiffness test methods are used. In the static stiffness test, a certain force is applied to the front fork, the deformation of the front fork is measured, and its stiffness value is calculated. For example, the lateral stiffness of the front fork should meet certain requirements to ensure the handling stability of the bicycle during driving. For the integrated front fork of a road bike, its lateral stiffness is generally within a certain range to provide good steering response. Example

[0015] The present invention provides Figure 2 The integrated bicycle front fork shown is an integral seamless front fork, which is composed of a vertical tube 1, fork legs 2 and a connecting part.

[0016] The standard parts used in the present invention can all be purchased from the market, and special-shaped parts can be customized according to the description in the specification and the drawings. The specific connection methods of each part adopt conventional means such as mature bolts, rivets, welding, etc. in the prior art. Machinery, parts and equipment all adopt conventional models in the prior art, and the circuit connection adopts the conventional connection method in the prior art, which will not be described in detail here. The control method of the present invention is controlled by a controller, and the control circuit of the controller can be realized by simple programming by technicians in this field. The contents not described in detail in this specification belong to the prior art known to professional and technical personnel in this field.

[0017] In the description of the present invention, it is necessary to understand that the indicated orientation or positional relationship is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present invention.

[0018] The integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method and the integrated bicycle front fork add nano-ceramic particles to the carbon fiber composite material to improve its impact resistance and high temperature resistance, significantly enhance the comprehensive performance of the front fork, make it lighter, stronger and more durable, and at the same time, utilize the special properties of nano-materials, such as self-repairing properties (some nano-composite materials have micro-crack self-repairing capabilities under certain conditions), to improve the reliability of the front fork and reduce performance degradation caused by minor damage.

[0019] The above shows and describes the basic principles and main features of the present invention and the advantages of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions are only for explaining the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, which fall within the scope of the present invention to be protected. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1: Front fork design: including performance requirements analysis and geometry design; Step 2: Material preparation: including material selection and material pretreatment; Step 3, molding process: use compression molding process; Step 4: Processing and finishing: including machining and surface pretreatment; Step 5: Quality inspection: including appearance inspection, dimensional accuracy inspection and performance inspection. Performance inspection includes strength test and stiffness test.

2. The method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork according to claim 1, characterized in that: Performance requirements analysis: First, consider the type of bicycle and determine the mechanical performance indicators such as stiffness and strength of the front fork according to the purpose of the bicycle; Geometric design: Design the overall shape of the front fork, including the shape of the fork legs (straight legs, curved legs, etc.), the width and shape of the fork crown, etc., to determine the size of the front fork's mounting interface.

3. The method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork according to claim 1, characterized in that: Material selection: Use high-quality carbon fiber prepreg, and determine the fiber direction and number of layers of the carbon fiber prepreg according to the design of the front fork; Material pretreatment: Carbon fiber prepreg should be stored in a clean and dry environment. Before use, the prepreg should be cut according to the design drawings. The cutting accuracy should be high and the error should be controlled within a small range. Ultrasonic dispersion, mechanical stirring and other methods should be used to evenly disperse the nanomaterials into the matrix material.

4. The method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork according to claim 1, characterized in that: Place the cut carbon fiber prepreg into the mold according to the designed layering order. The mold should be cleaned and coated with release agent in advance. After closing the mold, the mold is placed in a hot press, where a certain amount of pressure is applied and the temperature is raised to the curing temperature. In the compression molding process, the resin matrix containing the nanomaterial is combined with the carbon fiber; According to the curing characteristics of the resin, a certain curing time is maintained, usually about several hours, so that the carbon fiber can be fully cured to form the shape of an integrated front fork. After the curing is completed, the carbon fiber front fork is demoulded and removed.

5. The method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork according to claim 1, characterized in that: Machining: trim some edges, remove excess carbon fiber material, and make the edges neat; process the holes required for installing accessories, using special drill bits and processing technology to avoid delamination or damage of carbon fiber during processing; Surface treatment: A layer of transparent protective paint is applied to the surface by spraying or dipping.

6. The method for manufacturing an integrated bicycle front fork according to claim 1, characterized in that: Appearance inspection: Check whether there are scratches, fiber delamination (for carbon fiber front forks) and other defects on the surface of the front fork; check whether the protective paint is even and complete, and whether there is any peeling or blistering; Dimensional accuracy inspection: Use measuring tools (such as calipers, micrometers, three-dimensional coordinate measuring machines, etc.) to measure the key dimensions of the front fork (such as tube diameter, fork length, installation hole size, etc.); compare the measurement results with the design drawings to ensure that the dimensions of the front fork meet the requirements; Strength test: Through compression test and impact test, etc. In the impact test, a certain mass of drop weight is dropped from a certain height to impact the front fork to check whether the front fork is damaged, such as carbon fiber breakage or delamination; Stiffness test: static or dynamic stiffness test method is adopted. In the static stiffness test, a certain force is applied to the front fork, the deformation of the front fork is measured, and its stiffness value is calculated.

7. The integrated bicycle front fork manufactured by the integrated bicycle front fork manufacturing method according to claims 1 to 6 is characterized in that: The front fork is an integral seamless front fork.

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