Surfboard Fin Injection Molding Pre-impregnated Composite Inserts
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surfboard fin manufacturing techniques are slow and inefficient, and they struggle to create exotic configurations of woven sheets due to design limitations, which restrict the fin's responsiveness and maneuverability.
Innovation Solution
The use of pre-loaded, pre-impregnated insert sheets embedded within an injection molded resin material allows for quicker formation times and unique sheet placements, enhancing the fin's responsiveness by stretching and locking the sheets in a stretched configuration, enabling new flex characteristics and improved performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional lay-up manufacturing techniques are used to form fins with resin material flowing over fabric layers, then the fin structure can be formed, but the manufacturing process becomes slow and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-preg sheets are pre-impregnated with resin material before being placed in the mold, eliminating the time-consuming step of introducing and flowing resin over fabric layers during manufacturing. This preliminary preparation of materials significantly accelerates the production process while maintaining fin quality
Solution Approach 2:
The injection molding process replaces the conventional manual or semi-manual lay-up process with an automated injection system that delivers resin under pressure, dramatically improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing formation time
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional lay-up manufacturing techniques are used with stacked woven sheets, then fins can be formed, but exotic configurations with spaced-apart sheets become difficult or impossible to attain
Solution Approach 1:
The use of multiple separate pre-preg sheets that can be independently positioned and spaced apart within the mold cavity enables exotic configurations that are impossible with conventional stacked lay-up techniques, while the injection molding process simplifies the manufacturing of these complex arrangements
Solution Approach 2:
The injection molded resin material acts as an intermediary that bonds the pre-preg sheets in their desired spaced-apart configurations, enabling complex designs without increasing manufacturing difficulty
3Productivity
If pre-loaded pre-impregnated insert sheets are used in injection molding, then production time is reduced and unique placements are enabled, but the process requires stretching and loading sheets in tension
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-preg sheets are stretched and loaded in tension during mold closure to achieve the desired pre-load conditions, and the resin injection process parameters are optimized to accommodate this stretching while maintaining quality
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-impregnation of sheets with resin before molding eliminates the need for on-site resin application and curing, significantly accelerating production while the stretching process is integrated into the mold closure sequence
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The injection molded surfboard fin achieves enhanced responsiveness and performance by locking pre-loaded insert sheets in a stretched state, allowing for quicker production and unique configurations that improve the fin's resistance to external forces and maneuverability.
Implementation Method 1
The pre-preg insert sheet is placed within a mold and the injectable resin material is injected into the mold under pressure, which causes the pre-preg insert sheet to be stretched and loaded in tension
Implementation Method 2
As the injected resin material cools, the pre-preg insert sheet is locked in the stretched configuration
Implementation Method 3
As the injected resin material cools, the pre-preg insert sheet is locked in the stretched configuration
Data Source
AI summary
A method of forming a fin configured for use with a water sports board. The method includes providing a mold having a mold cavity and first and second insert pre-preg sheets each including structural strands respectively bonded by first and second resin materials. The method further includes placing the insert pre-preg sheets within the mold cavity. The method further includes injecting a third resin material under pressure into the mold cavity between the first insert pre-preg sheet and the second insert pre-preg sheet to urge the first insert pre-preg sheet and the second insert pre-preg sheet away from each other and towards respective ones of the pair of mold cavity faces, and dispose the third resin material between the first insert pre-preg sheet and the second insert pre-preg sheet to space at least a portion of the first insert pre-preg sheet from the second insert pre-preg sheet.