Reinforced Composite Materials for Use in the Manufacture Moulds and the Use of Such Moulds

• US 20130130016A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spoke Holdings, LLC
• Original Assignee: MIRteq Pty LTD
• Inventors: Hodgson, Peter, Bystrzynski, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 9,132,614 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/317.9
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/3842 Manufacturing moulds, e.g. shaping the mould surface by machining
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 33/40 Plastics, e.g. foam or rubber
• CPC Class Codes: B29K 2105/12 of short lengths, e.g. chopped filaments, staple fibres or bristles
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/757 Moulds, cores, dies
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 13/14 next to a fibrous or filamentary layer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 21/02 the layer being formed of fibres, chips, or particles , e.g. MDF, HDF, OSB, chipboard, particle board, hardboard
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 21/10 Next to a fibrous or filamentary layer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/102 synthetic resin or rubber layer being a foamed layer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2255/26 Polymeric coating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2260/021 Fibrous or filamentary layer layers of natural mineral fibres or particles being impregnated in a plastic substance B32B19/02
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2260/023 Two or more layers
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2260/046 Synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/0269 Aromatic polyamide fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/04 Cellulosic plastic fibres, e.g. rayon
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/062 Cellulose fibres, e.g. cotton
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/101 Glass fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/105 Ceramic fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2262/106 Carbon fibres, e.g. graphite fibres
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2266/0228 Aromatic vinyl resin, e.g. styrenic (co)polymers
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2266/0278 Polyurethane
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2305/022 : Foam
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/406 : Bright, glossy, shiny surface
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/546 : Flexural strength; Flexion stiffness
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/558 : Impact strength, toughness
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/714 : Inert, i.e. inert to chemical degradation, corrosion
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/732 : Dimensional properties
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/734 : Dimensional stability
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2605/00 : Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2605/08 : Cars
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2605/12 : Ships
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/08 : of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/18 : characterised by the use of special additives
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 37/14 : characterised by the properties of the layers
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/02 : characterised by structural features of a fibrous or filamentary layer layer formed of metallic wires B32B15/02; layer formed of natural mineral fibres B32B19/02; layer formed of wood fibres B32B21/02
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/16 : characterised by features of a layer formed of particles, e.g. chips, powder or granules layer formed of natural mineral particles B32B19/00; layer being formed of wood fibres, chips or particles B32B21/02
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/18 : characterised by features of a layer of foamed material
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/245 : another layer next to it being a foam layer
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/26 : another layer next to it also being fibrous or filamentary relative arrangement of fibres or filaments of different layers B32B5/12
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/30 : one layer being formed of particles, e.g. chips, granules, powder
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 7/12 : using interposed adhesives or interposed materials with bonding properties
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 35/02 : Homopolymers or copolymers of esters C08L35/06, C08L35/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 : Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/249986 : Void-containing component contains also a solid fiber or solid particle

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the preparation of composite moulds and methods of preparing the same, wherein the composite moulds may be prepared exclusive or inclusive of a plug. Certain composites comprise a substrate, a structural laminate, and a syntactic foam moulding product.

Claims

1. A method for producing a composite mould, comprising:

i) forming a substrate;

ii) applying a fibre reinforced structural laminate to the substrate, wherein said fibre reinforced structural laminate comprises;

a) a first plurality of reinforcing fibres; and

b) a first curable resin mixture, comprising a first curable resin and optionally a wetting agent;

iii) applying a syntactic foam moulding product to the fibre reinforced structural laminate, wherein said syntactic foam moulding product comprises;

a) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres;

b) a second curable resin mixture, comprising a second curable resin, and optional thixatropes and plastic spheres/hemispheres; and

c) a coupling agent;

iv) optionally applying a tooling gel coat to the surface of said syntactic foam moulding product for the manufacture of moulds that require a high gloss surface finish; and

v) curing said composite mould;

wherein;

i) optionally applying a foam sealer product to the substrate prior to applying the structural laminate, wherein the optional foam sealer product comprises;

a) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres and/or Mica flakes;

b) a foam sealer; and

c) a coupling agent; and

ii) the method of producing the composite mould is inclusive or exclusive of making and/or using a plug or composite plug.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said syntactic foam moulding product adds rigidity and provides a durable, and machineable moulding surface for the production of composite parts.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said syntactic foam moulding product is sprayable and/or machineable.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises:

i) a structural substrate, comprising;

a solid substrate;

a wooden substrate;

a plywood substrate;

a particle board substrate;

a MDF substrate;

a composite material;

a structural fibre board;

a polymer concrete substrate;

a concrete substrate;

a fibreglass substrate;

a polymer composite substrate;

or a plastic composite substrate;

ii) a non-structural substrate, comprising;

a foam substrate;

a plastic foam, meshing, or fabric;

a sealed polystyrene foam substrate;

a polyurethane foam substrate;

or a rigid plastic foam substrate;

iii) a machined substrate, a CNC machined substrate, a fabricated substrate, and/or a sealed substrate; and

/or

iv) combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is sealed with a foam sealer product.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the foam sealer comprises:

i) a sprayable/rollable water based sealer formulated from polyvinyl alcohol;

ii) a sealer made from a low viscosity sprayable/rollable epoxy compound that when cured allows unsaturated polyester or vinyl ester resins to adhere to its surface;

or

iii) a specially formulated vinyl functional resin that does not attack the polystyrene foam surface such as CCP Styroguard or equivalent.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise:

i) mineral fibres, comprising wollastonite and/or Mica;

ii) glass fibres, comprising E-, S-, or C-class glass;

iii) aramid fibres;

iv) ceramic fibres;

v) cellulose fibres; and

/or

vi) carbon fibres.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres are coated with a coupling agent.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the coupling agent comprises a plurality of molecules, each having:

i) a first end adapted to bond to a fibre of the plurality of reinforcing fibres; and

ii) a second end adapted to bond to the resin when cured.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and/or second curable resin comprises a liquid curable resin.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of reinforcing fibres comprise an average length of between about 5 mm and 20 mm for the structural layer.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the said first and/or second curable resin comprises an unsaturated polyester resin;

a vinyl ester resin;

or a blend of unsaturated polyester and vinyl ester resins.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said coupling agent, wetting agent, and/or surface tension modifier is prepared by reacting the polyol with the organo-functional silane.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said polyol comprises trimetholylpropane or pentaerythritol.

16. A moulded composite capable of producing 20 to 1000 parts, wherein the moulded composited is manufactured according to the method of claim 1.

2. (canceled)

17. A syntactic foam moulding product, comprising:

i) a plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres;

ii) a curable resin mixture, comprising a curable resin, and optionally, thixatropes, and plastic spheres/hemispheres; and

iii) a coupling agent.

18. The syntactic foam moulding product of claim 17, wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise microfibres having an average fibre diameter in the range of between 5-15 microns.

19. The syntactic foam moulding product of claim 17, wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres comprise microfibres having a mean fibre length in the range of between 250-800 microns.

20. The syntactic foam moulding product of claim 17, wherein the plurality of treated reinforcing microfibres have been treated, coated and/or modified with a coupling agent such that the properties of an interphase is substantially equivalent to those of the bulk cured resin, wherein the cured resin adjacent to said reinforcing microfibres defines an interphase.