Embedding Electronics in Fiber-Composite Parts via Preform Charge
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current single-step compression-molding technologies are limited in their ability to precisely embed and constrain electronic components at arbitrary locations within the internal volume of molded parts, as they rely on surface registration features and lack the necessary organization or orientation to position components accurately.
Innovation Solution
The use of fiber-bundle-based preforms, which are unidirectionally aligned and impregnated with polymer resin, allows for precise location and spatial orientation of electronic components within the internal volume of molded parts, enabling their precise positioning and constraint through a preform charge structure that can be shaped to fit the mold and align fibers according to anticipated stress vectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If surface registration features are used to position components during molding, then component positioning is constrained to surface locations, but the ability to embed components at arbitrary internal locations is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional surface registration features to three-dimensional internal positioning structures. The molded part itself is designed with internal registration features (protrusions, recesses, cavities) that provide positioning capability in the depth dimension, enabling components to be precisely located anywhere within the part volume rather than only on the surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces internal registration features as intermediary structures within the molded part that mediate between the component and the molding process. These features act as physical mediators that constrain component position during molding, replacing the need for surface-only registration and enabling arbitrary internal embedding locations.
2Manufacturing precision
If multi-step over-molding techniques are used to embed components, then components can be positioned within internal volume, but process complexity and manufacturing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines component embedding with the primary molding operation by integrating registration features directly into the molded part design. This merging of functions allows component positioning and part formation to occur in a single molding step, eliminating the need for separate over-molding operations while achieving precise internal embedding.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates positioning registration features into the molded part design before the molding process begins. These pre-designed internal features prepare the part structure to automatically constrain and position components during the molding operation, eliminating the need for subsequent positioning operations or multi-step processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If registration features are located at mold surface, then component positioning is simplified, but components must reside on part surface rather than within internal volume
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves registration features from the two-dimensional mold surface to the three-dimensional internal volume of the molded part. This dimensional transition allows components to be positioned and constrained within the part interior while maintaining positioning simplicity through the integrated registration features designed into the part geometry.
Data Source
AI summary
A fiber-composite part having one or more electronic components that are located in arbitrary regions of the internal volume of the part are fabricated using a preform charge. The preform charge has a structure that corresponds to that of the mold cavity in which the part is being formed. By incorporating the electronic components in the preform charge, such components are then precisely located, spatially oriented, and constrained, and such location and orientation is maintained during molding to produce a part with the electronic components in the desired locations and orientations within its internal volume.