Preparation method of bionic feather piece and shuttlecock made of bionic feather piece

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of shuttlecock preparation, and particularly relates to a preparation method of bionic feather pieces and a bionic shuttlecock. The method includes preparing wool fibers; wool fibers are prepared through a melt spinning-stretching method; pre-finishing the wool fibers; the wool fibers are arranged in parallel and preliminarily shaped; preparing hair rods; performing injection molding on a modified material to prepare a hair rod; preparing a feather piece intermediate; preparing a semi-feather piece; the feather piece intermediate is cut into half feather pieces at a time through laser or cutting die cutting; preparing a whole feather piece; the bristle rods on the two half bristle pieces are welded and attached through ultrasonic welding; cutting the feather pieces; cutting the whole feather piece into a full circle shape of a standard feather piece at one time by using a cutting die or laser cutting; shaping the feathers; the invention aims to solve the problems that the existing natural badminton has many manufacturing procedures and is not durable, the production cost of the badminton is effectively reduced, and the yield of the badminton is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of badminton shuttlecock manufacturing technology, and specifically relates to a method for preparing biomimetic feather pieces and a biomimetic badminton shuttlecock thereof. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, badminton shuttlecocks can be divided into two main categories: those made with natural feathers and those made with synthetic feathers. Natural feather shuttlecocks are generally made from duck and goose feathers after selection and processing. Several issues need to be addressed during the production stage: ① Limited production of high-quality feathers, resulting in high prices; ② Difficulty in controlling the consistency of feathers in shuttlecocks made from natural feathers; ③ Short shelf life of natural feathers; ④ Complex processing and quality control. Furthermore, the main problems with finished natural feather shuttlecocks in use are their lack of durability: ① Feather fraying affects the shuttlecock's flight and speed; ② The shuttlecock shaft is prone to breakage, preventing normal flight. On the other hand, synthetic feather shuttlecocks are simpler to manufacture and cheaper, but their flight performance is a weakness, preventing them from becoming mainstream products. Currently, synthetic badminton shuttlecocks on the market are mainly divided into four categories based on the material of the feathers: nylon, meltblown fabric, Teflon, and foamed materials (carbon fiber shuttlecocks, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), pearl cotton, and EPE).

[0003] Of the four types of materials mentioned above, nylon, meltblown fabric, Teflon, and foam are all single strands of material treated as a whole, which is completely different from the many fine down strands on a single strand of a natural feather.

[0004] Therefore, this invention urgently needs to develop a method for preparing biomimetic feather pieces and a biomimetic shuttlecock to solve the problems of multiple manufacturing processes and the lack of durability of natural shuttlecocks. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a method for preparing biomimetic feather pieces and a biomimetic badminton shuttlecock. This invention aims to solve the problems of multiple manufacturing processes and low durability of existing natural badminton shuttlecocks, effectively reducing the production cost of badminton shuttlecocks and improving the yield rate of badminton shuttlecocks.

[0006] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides a method for preparing a biomimetic feather, comprising:

[0007] Step S1: Prepare wool fibers; prepare wool fibers by melt spinning-stretching method; wherein the prepared wool fibers have a hollow structure and their cross-section is a square, regular polygon or circle;

[0008] Step S2: Pre-treatment of wool fibers; The wool fibers are arranged in parallel and preliminarily shaped to form a group of wool fibers with a width constraint of 3cm;

[0009] Step S3: Prepare the blank rod; use modified material to injection mold the blank rod; wherein the cross-section of the blank rod is saddle-shaped and reinforced in the middle of the blank rod;

[0010] Step S4: Prepare the intermediate body of the wool sheet; move the wool fiber group down along its length direction and attach it to the surface of several parallel wool rods, and then use ultrasonic welding to attach and weld the wool fiber group and wool rods at an angle of 30° to 70° to form the intermediate body of the wool sheet, and the distance between each two adjacent wool rods is 10mm to 13mm.

[0011] Step S5: Prepare semi-finished pieces; cut the intermediate piece of raw material into semi-finished pieces in one go using laser or die cutting.

[0012] Step S6: Prepare whole wool sheets; weld the wool rods on the two half wool sheets together by ultrasonic welding, and the wool fiber groups on the two half wool sheets are symmetrically distributed.

[0013] Step S7: Cut the feather pieces; Use a die or laser cutter to cut the entire feather piece into a standard full circle shape in one go;

[0014] Step S8: Wool shaping; The wool fibers and wool rods are heated and shaped by upper and lower heating clamps to make the wool fibers on the whole wool piece in the same plane and to make the wool rods in a certain bending state.

[0015] Preferably, the raw material for the wool fibers is PA material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PA: 55% to 65%; LCF: 28% to 32%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

[0016] Preferably, the raw material for the wool fibers is PP material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PP: 55% to 65%; LCF or LGF: 28% to 32%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

[0017] Preferably, the length of the LCF is 6mm to 12mm; the PA is specifically selected as PA6, PA66 or PA12.

[0018] Preferably, the wool fiber has a specification of 180D to 300D and the width of the formed fiber is 0.2mm to 0.3mm.

[0019] Preferably, in step S1, the melt spinning-stretching method specifically includes: feeding PA or PP granules into a single-screw extruder through a hopper and heating it to 180°C to 250°C to melt the PA or PP granules into a viscous melt. The melt is stably delivered to a customized spinneret by a metering pump and then rapidly cooled and solidified by a cooling duct.

[0020] Preferably, in step S3, the injection molding includes the following process parameters:

[0021] 1) Barrel temperature setting;

[0022] For PP material: The barrel adopts a stepped heating method, including: the temperature of the rear feeding section is 190℃~210℃; the temperature of the middle compression section is 200℃~220℃; and the temperature of the front metering section and nozzle section is 210℃~230℃.

[0023] For PA materials, the barrel temperature is 250℃~280℃;

[0024] 2) Screw operating parameters;

[0025] Back pressure: Set back pressure to 1 bar to 5 bar;

[0026] Screw speed: 30 rpm to 80 rpm;

[0027] 3) Mold temperature setting:

[0028] For PP material, the mold temperature is 60℃~90℃;

[0029] For PA materials, the mold temperature is 90℃~110℃.

[0030] Preferably, in step S2, the pre-treatment of the wool fibers specifically includes the following steps: placing 80 to 120 yarn bobbins wound with wool fibers on the warping machine frame, and after the wool fibers are treated, forming a wool fiber group with a width constraint of 3cm through the reed teeth.

[0031] Preferably, the ultrasonic welding power is 1000W to 1200W, the welding time is 0.8s to 1.2s, and the temperature of the heating fixture is 95℃ to 140℃.

[0032] The present invention also provides a badminton shuttlecock, comprising a biomimetic feather prepared using the biomimetic feather preparation method described above.

[0033] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages:

[0034] The materials used in this invention are all polymers or modified polymers, allowing for large-scale production. The moderate price of the raw materials significantly reduces the manufacturing cost of badminton shuttlecocks. This invention strictly adheres to the physical morphology of natural feathers; the shafts and fibers are identical to natural feathers, achieving the same flight performance as natural shuttlecocks. This invention solves the inconsistencies exhibited in the production of shuttlecocks from natural feathers, greatly reducing the need for screening natural feathers in subsequent stages. The shuttlecock feathers produced by this invention can be stored for extended periods without easily oxidizing or aging. The fibers and shaft materials selected in this invention have superior physical properties compared to natural feathers, making the shuttlecocks produced using this invention more durable than those made from natural feathers. Attached Figure Description

[0035] Figure 1 Electron micrograph of the heterogeneous hollow fiber provided by the present invention.

[0036] Figure 2 The diagram shows the structure of the hair shaft provided by this invention.

[0037] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of fiber arrangement provided by the present invention.

[0038] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of fiber pretreatment provided by the present invention.

[0039] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of ultrasonic welding provided by the present invention.

[0040] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the preparation of semi-hair pieces provided by the present invention.

[0041] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the welded roughening sheet provided by the present invention.

[0042] Figure 8 The schematic diagram shows that the cut wool sheet provided by this invention is a full circle shape.

[0043] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the state of the fully circular wool piece after shaping provided by the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0044] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The advantages and features of the present invention will become clearer from the following description. It should be noted that the drawings are all in a very simplified form and use non-precise proportions, and are only used to facilitate and clarify the illustration of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0045] This invention relates to a biomimetic badminton shuttlecock. Each feather consists of numerous fine down fibers arranged together, mimicking the growth pattern of natural feathers. This facilitates airflow between the individual down fibers during high-speed impact. Unlike traditional methods that "make a single feather into a whole," this invention's feather comprises numerous fine down fibers, similar to the downy principle of natural feathers. Because this invention involves the arrangement of many fine down fibers, a chemical bonding method was employed for arrangement and adhesion. After experimenting with various types of adhesives and their parameters, it was discovered that the liquid tension of the various adhesive formulations was difficult to control precisely, leading to uneven arrangement. Subsequently, an ultrasonic method was used for experimentation. Through repeated trials, experiments, and parameter comparisons, a single feather composed of fine down fibers was finally successfully produced.

[0046] This invention specifically discloses a method for preparing a biomimetic feather, comprising:

[0047] Step S1: Prepare wool fibers; prepare wool fibers by melt spinning-drawing method; wherein the prepared wool fibers have a hollow structure and their cross-section is square, regular hexagonal or circular;

[0048] Step S2: Pre-treatment of wool fibers; The wool fibers are arranged in parallel and preliminarily shaped to form a group of wool fibers with a width constraint of 3cm;

[0049] Step S3: Prepare the blank rod; use modified material to injection mold the blank rod; wherein the cross-section of the blank rod is saddle-shaped, and reinforcement is provided in the middle of the blank rod;

[0050] Step S4: Prepare the intermediate body of the wool sheet; move the wool fiber group down along its length direction and attach it to the surface of several parallel wool rods, and then use ultrasonic welding to attach and weld the wool fiber group and wool rods at an angle of 30° to 70° to form the intermediate body of the wool sheet, and the distance between each two adjacent wool rods is 10mm.

[0051] Step S5: Prepare semi-finished pieces; cut the intermediate piece of raw material into semi-finished pieces in one go using laser or die cutting.

[0052] Step S6: Prepare whole wool sheets; weld the wool rods on the two half wool sheets together by ultrasonic welding, and the wool fiber groups on the two half wool sheets are symmetrically distributed.

[0053] Step S7: Cut the feather pieces; Use a die or laser cutter to cut the entire feather piece into a standard full circle shape in one go;

[0054] Step S8: Wool shaping; The wool fibers and wool rods are heated and shaped by upper and lower heating clamps to make the wool fibers on the whole wool piece in the same plane and to make the wool rods in a certain bending state.

[0055] As a further description of the embodiments of the present invention, in order to better select the raw materials for the feather fibers and the feather shaft, the properties of the polymer materials are shown in Table 1 below. The design concept includes: Since natural feathers consist of two parts, the skirt (feather fiber) and the feather shaft, these two parts have different physical properties: the skirt has a certain degree of toughness and is extremely lightweight, with the skirt weighing 0.025–0.04 grams in a single natural feather. The feather shaft must possess extremely high rigidity and toughness, and is also extremely lightweight, with the feather shaft weighing 0.09–0.11 grams in a single natural feather.

[0056] Table 1

[0057]

[0058] These two parts require the use of two different materials. Through extensive experimentation, PP and PA were selected as the base materials suitable for raw films. The material combination that meets the requirements after modification is as follows:

[0059] The skirt fibers (PA6, PA66, PA12, etc.) are combined with the shaft fibers (PA66, PA6, PA12, etc.) modified with 30% LCF (toughening agent can be added as appropriate). PA6, PA66, and PA12 all belong to the polyamide (nylon) family. The skirt fibers are made of pure nylon, while the shaft is made of nylon with 30% long carbon fiber (fiber length 6mm-12mm) and 5%-20% POE toughening agent, giving it better rigidity and flexibility. This combination of nylon and 30% long carbon fiber particles cannot be made white, so the shuttlecock shaft will be dark-colored. Using fiberglass material results in a material density exceeding the weight limit of the feather.

[0060] The skirt fiber is made of PP (polypropylene) and the shaft is made of modified PP with 30% LGF or 30% LCF (toughening agents can be added as appropriate). PP is a thermoplastic resin made from propylene monomers through polymerization. The skirt fiber is made of pure PP, and the shaft is made of PP with 30% long glass fiber or long carbon fiber (fiber length between 6mm and 12mm). In this selection, since natural badminton shuttlecocks are mainly white, carbon fiber granules cannot be made white.

[0061] Preferably, the raw material for the wool fibers is PA material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PA: 55% to 65%; LCF: 28% to 32%; preferably 30%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

[0062] Preferably, the raw material for the wool fibers is PP material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PP: 55% to 65%; LCF or LGF: 28% to 32%; preferably 30%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

[0063] Preferably, the length of the LCF is 6mm to 12mm; the PA is specifically selected as PA6, PA66 or PA12.

[0064] Preferably, the wool fiber has a specification of 180D to 300D and the width of the formed fiber is 0.2mm to 0.3mm.

[0065] Preferably, in step S1, the melt spinning-stretching method specifically includes: feeding PA or PP granules into a single-screw extruder through a hopper and heating it to 180°C to 250°C to melt the PA or PP granules into a viscous melt. The melt is stably delivered to a customized spinneret by a metering pump and then rapidly cooled and solidified by a cooling duct.

[0066] Preferably, in step S3, the injection molding includes the following process parameters: the shuttlecock used in this invention is injection molded from modified plastic. Considering the characteristics of badminton shuttlecocks, the required shuttlecock shape of this invention is as follows: Figure 2 The cross-section of the fiber sprue is designed in a saddle shape to increase its rigidity and shear force without increasing its volume. Points to note in injection mold making: 1. Gate: As large as possible; prioritize fan gates, thin-film gates, or direct gates. Avoid point gates, as small gates generate extremely high shear forces, instantly cutting off large amounts of fiber; 2. Runner: Use circular or trapezoidal runners, with sufficiently large dimensions to ensure smooth melt flow; all corners should use large rounded transitions to reduce flow resistance and shear; 3. Venting: A thorough venting system is crucial. Fiberglass materials easily trap air during mold filling and may release small amounts of volatile substances; poor venting can lead to scorching, incomplete filling, and surface defects. The depth of venting channels is typically 0.02-0.03 mm; 4. Mold material and polishing: The surfaces of the cavity and runner should be highly polished or hard chrome plated to reduce flow resistance, prevent fiber adhesion, and facilitate demolding. The mold steel should have sufficient hardness to resist wear. During injection molding, the following points should be noted: 1. Temperature control: For PP material, the barrel temperature should be 190-210℃ for the rear section, 200-220℃ for the middle section, 210-230℃ for the front section, and 210-230℃ for the nozzle. For PA material, the barrel temperature should be 250-280℃. 2. Mold temperature: Use a higher mold temperature for PP material (usually 60-90℃). Use a higher mold temperature for PA material (usually 90-110℃). 3. Injection speed and pressure: Use medium-low to medium speed injection for PP material, and medium to medium-high speed injection for PA material. 4. Back pressure: Use a lower back pressure (usually 1-5 bar). The purpose of back pressure is to compact the melt and remove air bubbles, but excessive back pressure will increase the shear of the melt by the screw, leading to fiber breakage. 5. Screw speed: Use a lower screw speed (usually 30-80 rpm). High speed will also bring high shear heat and shear force.

[0067] Preferably, in step S2, the pre-treatment of the wool fibers specifically includes the following steps: placing 80-120 yarn bobbins wound with wool fibers on the warping machine's yarn frame, and after the wool fibers are treated, passing them through the reed teeth (according to...). Figure 4 (As shown in the diagram) to form a group of wool fibers with a width constraint of 3cm.

[0068] As a further explanation of the embodiments of the present invention, this application selected four methods for material bonding in the experiment: laser welding, ultrasonic welding, thermofusion welding, and adhesive bonding. Laser welding requires a black material to achieve industrial-scale production speeds, and the equipment is expensive. Ultrasonic welding has high material requirements, especially good compatibility of the material's crystal structure. Thermofusion welding can only weld larger components and is unsuitable for small parts like raw materials. Adhesive bonding has the weakest bond strength, and industrial production is harmful to the environment and personnel. Therefore, we chose ultrasonic welding for this purpose, and the material selection also incorporated the characteristics of ultrasonic waves.

[0069] Preferably, the wool fibers and wool shafts are bonded together at a 45° angle using ultrasonic plastic welding (e.g., Figure 5 As shown), the welding spacing is 1cm. Ultrasonic welding parameters: welding power 1200w and welding time 0.8s (for PA material), welding power 1000w and welding time 0.8s (for PP material).

[0070] Temperature control of the upper and lower heating clamps: 140℃ for PA material and 95℃ for PP material. The purpose of shaping is to ensure the feather fibers are on a flat plane, resulting in aesthetically pleasing feathers. The curvature of the feather shaft can be adjusted to produce badminton shuttlecocks with different speed standards.

[0071] The embodiments of the present invention also include the following performance tests:

[0072] ① Impact force comparison test data of the bristle: The average value of 5 tests was taken. The testing instrument model was JPL-10K; the specific test data is shown in Table 2 below:

[0073] Table 2

[0074] Natural feathers 2.927 KJ / ㎡ This invention relates to raw PP + 30% LGF 6.335 KJ / ㎡ This invention relates to a product containing PA + 30% LCF. 8.233 KJ / ㎡

[0075] ② Tensile strength test of the sprue: The average value of 3 tests was taken. The testing instrument was model HW-WS-1000S. The specific test data is shown in Table 3 below:

[0076] Table 3

[0077] project Maximum force (KGF) Tensile strength (MPa) Elongation at break (%) Natural feathers 25.15 6.17 4.775 This invention relates to raw PP + 30% LGF 58.77 12.21 2.662 This invention relates to a product containing PA + 30% LCF. 78.92 14.45 2.113

[0078] ③ Test on the bonding strength between the skirt and the bobbin. This test was conducted 3 times and the average value was taken. The specific test data is shown in Table 4 below:

[0079] Table 4

[0080] Natural feathers 6N This invention relates to raw PP + 30% LGF 27N This invention relates to a product containing PA + 30% LCF. 31N

[0081] The above description is merely a description of preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Any changes or modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the above disclosure shall fall within the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a biomimetic feather, characterized in that, include: Step S1: Prepare wool fibers; prepare wool fibers by melt spinning-stretching method; wherein the prepared wool fibers have a hollow structure and their cross-section is a square, regular polygon or circle; Step S2: Pre-treatment of wool fibers; The wool fibers are arranged in parallel and preliminarily shaped to form a group of wool fibers with a width constraint of 3cm; Step S3: Prepare the blank rod; use modified material to injection mold the blank rod; wherein the cross-section of the blank rod is saddle-shaped, and reinforcement is provided in the middle of the blank rod; Step S4: Prepare the intermediate body of the wool sheet; move the wool fiber group down along its length direction and attach it to the surface of several parallel wool rods, and then use ultrasonic welding to attach and weld the wool fiber group and wool rods at an angle of 30° to 70° to form the intermediate body of the wool sheet, and the distance between each two adjacent wool rods is 10mm to 13mm. Step S5: Prepare semi-finished pieces; cut the intermediate piece of raw material into semi-finished pieces in one go using laser or die cutting. Step S6: Prepare whole wool sheets; weld the wool rods on the two half wool sheets together by ultrasonic welding, and the wool fiber groups on the two half wool sheets are symmetrically distributed. Step S7: Cut the feather pieces; Use a die or laser cutter to cut the entire feather piece into a standard full circle shape in one go; Step S8: Wool shaping; The wool fibers and wool rods are heated and shaped by upper and lower heating clamps to make the wool fibers on the whole wool piece in the same plane and to make the wool rods in a certain bending state.

2. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The raw material for the wool fibers is PA material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PA: 55% to 65%; LCF: 28% to 32%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

3. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The raw material for the wool fibers is PP material; the modified material for the wool shaft includes the following components by weight percentage: PP: 55% to 65%; LCF or LGF: 28% to 32%; toughening agent POE: 5% to 20%.

4. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The length of the LCF is selected from 6mm to 12mm; the PA is specifically selected from PA6, PA66 or PA12.

5. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The specifications of the wool fibers are 180D to 300D, and the width of the formed fibers is 0.2mm to 0.3mm.

6. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S1, the melt spinning-stretching method specifically includes: feeding PA or PP granules into a single screw extruder through a hopper and heating them to 180°C to 250°C to melt the PA or PP granules into a viscous melt. The melt is then stably transported to a customized spinneret by a metering pump and rapidly cooled and solidified by a cooling duct.

7. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S3, the injection molding includes the following process parameters: 1) Barrel temperature setting; For PP material: The barrel adopts a stepped heating method, including: the temperature of the rear feeding section is 190℃~210℃; the temperature of the middle compression section is 200℃~220℃; and the temperature of the front metering section and nozzle section is 210℃~230℃. For PA materials, the barrel temperature is 250℃~280℃; 2) Screw operating parameters; Back pressure: Set back pressure to 1 bar to 5 bar; Screw speed: 30 rpm to 80 rpm; 3) Mold temperature setting: For PP material, the mold temperature is 60℃~90℃; For PA materials, the mold temperature is 90℃~110℃.

8. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, In step S2, the pre-treatment of the wool fibers specifically includes the following steps: placing 80 to 120 yarn bobbins with wool fibers wound on the warping machine frame, and after the wool fibers are treated, forming a wool fiber group with a width constraint of 3cm through the reed teeth.

9. The method for preparing a biomimetic feather as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The ultrasonic welding power is 1000W to 1200W, and the welding time is 0.8s to 1.2s; the temperature of the heating fixture is 95℃ to 140℃.

10. A badminton shuttlecock, characterized in that, This includes biomimetic feathers prepared using a method for preparing biomimetic feathers as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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