Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Hollow or container type article – Glass – ceramic – or sintered – fused – fired – or calcined metal...
Patent
1990-05-21
1992-06-16
Ball, Michael W.
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Hollow or container type article
Glass, ceramic, or sintered, fused, fired, or calcined metal...
428 361, 428 364, 220613, 156 69, 156156, 156314, B29D 2300, B32B 108
Patent
active
051224003
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a novel method of creating an inflatable product with an extremely high compressive and tensile strength which can be deflated to form a very lightweight small package.
In my previous Patent Co-operation Treaty Application No. PCT/GB 86/00757 corresponding to British Patent Application No. 8529049 one of the main purposes (although not the sole purpose) of the patent application was to form an inflatable mould which could be hardened to form a shell or building etc., but which was not capable of being deflated and packed up.
The invention provides a method of making an article including the steps of providing a gas impermeable inflatable envelope, positioning the envelope within an at least partially surrounding shell of reinforcement material, positioning a flexible adhesive between the envelope and the shell, and expanding the envelope to fill the shell to cause the adhesive to form a bond between the envelope and the shell and allowing the adhesive to cure to form a permanent flexible bond between the envelope and the shell; characterised in that said shell includes a body and an end cap; and in that the end cap is secured by positioning it between adjacent end portions of said shell and said envelope and allowing adhesive to unite the cap with the shell body and the envelope whilst the cap is sandwiched therebetween. The inflatable envelope can be of polyurethane, polyolefin or nylon/polyurethane.
The reinforcement can be of textile material, for example of glass fibre, carbon fibre, an extended chain polyester, (known as Spectra), or aramid (known as Kevlar). The textile material can be woven or non-woven.
In a tubular structure both the envelope and the reinforcement can be in the form of preformed tubes. A highly flexible settable epoxy or polyurethane resin or other chemical which reacts with the envelope and outer reinforcement material can be used not only to unite the envelope and laminate it to the shell but can at the same time stop `creep` in the reinforcement material. Creep can be a considerable problem in Spectra particularly but also in Kevlar. The flexible settable epoxy or polyurethane resin can also include a flame barrier material to increase the flame retardent qualities of the outer reinforcement material which is particularly important in a material such as Spectra where the melt point is relatively low at 150.degree. C.
The structure made by the invention can be a tube capable of withstanding a higher pressure and greater hoop strength than is possible with the outer reinforcement material on its own by means of the settable material and yet at the same time allowing the product to be deflated and packaged repeatedly without materially affecting the integrity or pressure capability of the tube. The higher pressure so created and the settable material itself gives a higher compressive strength than has been possible before on such lightweight material.
One or more further skins can be added to create a stronger product and the envelope can have an internal ribbed system to create a particular shape. A particular feature of this invention is the capability of forming a rigid sail or mast or aerofoil section by means of tubes outside of which is a further skin of reinforcement material which joins the tubes together to form a particular shape.
The outer reinforcement material can be secured to the tubes, which can be of different sizes and numbers according to the product to be manufactured, but the outer skin need not necessarily have to be inflated and if inflated would generally be of a lower pressure. In certain circumstances (such as in an inflated Flettner rotor) it may be required that one section of a product remains rigid on deflation whereas another section is required to be very flexible.
The settable material can be of a different flexibility for different sections in order to facilitate this requirement.
It is possible to create a more rigid product by inserting reinforcing ribs e.g. composed of glass fibre, carbon fibreglass, Kevlar or plastics
REFERENCES:
patent: 3010602 (1961-11-01), Randolph
patent: 3137898 (1964-06-01), Geringer
patent: 3161553 (1964-12-01), Visser
patent: 3282757 (1966-11-01), Brussee
patent: 3292338 (1966-12-01), MacClarence et al.
patent: 3385744 (1968-05-01), Van Sciver
patent: 3654050 (1972-04-01), Fraser
patent: 3657379 (1972-04-01), Hilbelink et al.
patent: 3827094 (1974-08-01), Fisher
patent: 3837981 (1974-09-01), Flint
patent: 3962506 (1976-06-01), Dunahoo
patent: 4132577 (1979-01-01), Wintermantel
patent: 4144632 (1979-03-01), Stroupe
Aftergut Jeff H.
Ball Michael W.
Stewkie Limited
LandOfFree
Inflatable articles and method of creating inflatable products does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Inflatable articles and method of creating inflatable products, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Inflatable articles and method of creating inflatable products will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1752884