초록 ▼

A flexible rubber boot that transmits molding pressure to the inner surface of the structure to be molded is placed on a support fixture. The boot is held in place by a vacuum applied between the fixture and the boot. Prepregs are laid up on the boot to the desired depth and in a desired configurati

A flexible rubber boot that transmits molding pressure to the inner surface of the structure to be molded is placed on a support fixture. The boot is held in place by a vacuum applied between the fixture and the boot. Prepregs are laid up on the boot to the desired depth and in a desired configuration. A female mold assembly, consisting of two sections, is then placed over the prepreg material and sealed to the boot. A vacuum is applied to the sealed region between the mold and boot, compressing the material against the interior of the mold that defines the outer surface of the structure. The assembly of boot, mold, and material is then placed in an autoclave. After the material has cured, the finished structure is separated from the mold and boot. The tooling is reusable and the process completed easily, allowing the efficient fabrication of structure having smooth inner and outer surfaces.

대표청구항 ▼

A molding system, comprising: a layup support fixture; a boot securable over the support fixture to define a layup surface for a prepreg structure and; a female mold, having a plurality of sections sealingly interconnected and disassemblable to allow easy release of the cured structure from the fema

A molding system, comprising: a layup support fixture; a boot securable over the support fixture to define a layup surface for a prepreg structure and; a female mold, having a plurality of sections sealingly interconnected and disassemblable to allow easy release of the cured structure from the female mold, the mold having a smooth inner surface corresponding to the desired exterior surface configuration of the structure; wherein the boot is sealingly securable to the female mold to define a cavity between the boot and mold for housing the structure during curing, and wherein the fixture, boot, and female mold allow layup of prepregs on the boot and curing of the prepreg structure thereafter in the female mold to yield a structure having an aerodynamically smooth outer surface formed to within close tolerance.