LIGHTWEIGHT PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING BICYCLE'S RIMS AND RIM STRUCTURE MANUFACTURED THEREBY

Abstract

This invention is related to a lightweight process of manufacturing a bicycle's rim and a rim structure manufactured thereby. A rim frame comprising an inner frame, a cladding part, and a support part between the inner frame and the cladding part. The inner frame and the support part are milled to form plural through holes uniformly distributed thereon. The areas occupied by the through holes is 35% to 85% of a total surface of the inner frame and the support part. Moreover, a proper distance is formed between the adjacent through holes in the process, and a carbon fiber layer covers the outer surface of the rim frame. Therefore, the weight of the bicycle's rim is decreased, and the carbon fiber layer can stably attach on the rim frame to increase the structural strength of the rim.

Claims

1. A lightweight process of bicycle's wheels, comprising: S1) providing a rim frame comprising an inner frame, a cladding part, and a support part between the inner frame and the coating part, wherein the inner frame comprises several spoke coupling holes disposed circularly and a gas nozzle hole penetrating the inner frame part and the support part; S2) milling the inner frame and the support part to form plural through holes uniformly distributed thereon, wherein areas occupied by the through holes is 35% to 85% of a total surface of the inner frame and the support part, as io well as a distance between the adjacent through holes is 0.5-1.5 mm; S3) roughening the surface of the rim frame to increase the roughness thereof; S4) trimming a carbon fiber cloth to a predetermined shape and then covering the rim frame and the through holes by the trimmed carbon fiber cloth; S5) heatsetting the rim frame covered by the trimmed carbon fiber cloth in a mold to form a carbon fiber layer; and S6) treating the surface of the rim frame covered by the carbon fiber layer to obtain a product of a bicycle's lightweight rim.

2. The lightweight process of claim 1, wherein the rim frame is made from an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy.

3. The lightweight process of claim 1, wherein the surface treating step (S6) comprises polishing the surface and spraying to form a protective layer thereon.

4. The lightweight process of claim 1, wherein the rim frame is covered by 1-2 layers of the carbon fiber cloth.

5. The lightweight process of claim 4, wherein striations of the carbon fiber cloth are staggeringly laminated.

6. The lightweight process of claim 3, wherein the rim frame is covered by 1-2 layers of the carbon fiber cloth.

7. The lightweight process of claim 6, wherein striations of the carbon fiber cloth are staggeringly laminated.

8. A lightweight structure of a bicycle's rim, comprising: a rim frame comprises an inner frame combined with spokes, a cladding part corresponding to an assembled tire, and a support part between the inner frame and the cladding part, wherein plural spoke coupling holes are circularly disposed on the inner frame, a gas nozzle hole penetrates the inner frame, and through holes are distributed on the inner frame and the support part, wherein area occupied by the through holes is 35% to 85% of the total surface of the inner frame and the support part, and a distance between the adjacent through holes is kept at 0.5-1.5 mm; and a carbon fiber layer covering the rim frame made from at least a layer of carbon fiber cloth having holes corresponding to the spoke coupling holes and the gas nozzle hole but covering the through holes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram of this invention.

[0029] FIG. 2 is an appearance diagram of a rim frame of this invention.

[0030] FIG. 3 is an appearance diagram of the rim frame having the milled through holes of this invention.

[0031] FIG. 4 is an appearance diagram of the rim frame covered by a carbon fiber cloth of this invention.

[0032] FIG. 5 is an appearance diagram of a lightweight rim of this invention.

[0033] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional diagram of a lightweight rim of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] First, the utilized technology and means of this invention are shown in FIGS. 1-6. FIG. 1 is a process follow chart of the lightweight process of bicycle wheels according to this invention. The steps are described below.

[0035] S1) A rim frame 1 is provided. The rim frame 1 has an inner frame 11 combined with spokes, a cladding part 12 corresponding to the assembled tire, and a support part 13 between the inner frame 11 and the cladding part 12. Several spoke coupling holes 14 are circularly disposed on the inner frame, and a gas nozzle hole 15 penetrates the inner frame 11.

[0036] S2) Through holes are formed by milling. The surfaces of the inner frame 11 and the support part 13 are milled to form plural through holes 16 uniformly distributed on the surfaces of the inner frame 11 and the support part 13. The area occupied by the through holes 16 is 35% to 85% of the total surface of the inner frame 11 and the support part 13. The distance between the adjacent through holes 16 is kept at 0.5-1.5 mm.

[0037] S3) The surface roughening is performed. After milling to form the through holes 16, the surface of the rim frame 1 is roughened to increase the surface roughness thereof. In this step, the surface roughness of the rim frame 1 is increased to produce good combination effect with a carbon fiber cloth 21.

[0038] S4) The carbon fiber cloth is coated. The carbon fiber cloth 21 is trimmed to a predetermined shape and leave the holes 211 for the spoke coupling holes 14 and the gas nozzle hole 15. Then, the surface of the rim frame 1 and the through holes 16 are covered by the carbon fiber cloth 21. The rim frame 1 is covered by 1-2 layers of the carbon fiber cloth 21, and the striations of the carbon fiber cloth 21 are staggeringly laminated.

[0039] S5) Heat setting is performed. The rim frame 1 covered by the carbon fiber cloth 21 is placed in a mold, and then heatset to form a carbon fiber layer 2. S6) Surface treatment is performed. The surface of the rim covered by the carbon fiber layer 2 is treated by polishing and then spraying to form a protection layer. Accordingly, a lightweight rim product of a bicycle is obtained.

[0040] As in the embodiment of the lightweight process of the bicycle's wheel in this invention, the rim frame 1 is made from an aluminum alloy or a magnesium alloy. The magnesium alloy is the lightest metal having advantages of high strength and high rigidity, but the magnesium alloy is highly reactive to be easily oxidized and thus cannot be exposed in the air for a long time. The carbon fiber layer 2, from the carbon fiber cloth 21, covering the rim frame made from magnesium alloy can prevent the magnesium alloy from being oxidized to increase the product's durability.

[0041] Please refer to FIGS. 5-6. The lightweight rim structure produced by the lightweight process of a bicycle's wheels in this invention comprises the following parts.

[0042] The rim frame 1 comprises the inner frame 11 combined with spokes, the cladding part 12 corresponding to the assembled tire, and the support part 13 between the inner frame 11 and the cladding part 12. Several spoke coupling holes 14 are circularly disposed on the inner frame, and a gas nozzle hole 15 penetrates the inner frame 11. The through holes 16 are uniformly distributed on the surfaces of the inner frame 11 and the support part 13. The area occupied by the through holes 16 is 35% to 85% of the total surface of the inner frame 11 and the support part 13. The distance between the adjacent through holes 16 is kept at 0.5-1.5 mm.

[0043] The rim frame 1 is covered by 1-2 layers of the carbon fiber cloth 21. The carbon fiber cloth 21 has left the holes 211 for the spoke coupling holes 14 and the gas nozzle hole 15. The carbon fiber cloth 21 covers the through holes 16.

[0044] From the illustrations of the element and embodiments above, it can be known that this invention has the following advantages, comparing with the existing structures.

[0045] 1. In this invention, the through holes are uniformly distributed on the surfaces of the inner frame and the support part. A distance is left between the adjacent through holes for combining with the carbon fiber layer to increase the attaching surface of the carbon fiber layer. Therefore, the carbon fiber layer can be smoothly attached on the rim frame.

[0046] 2. The weight of the rim frame is decreased most by the though hole milling. Carbon fiber layers covering the rim frame can increase the structural strength of the rim product. Therefore, the carbon fiber rim has advantages of both light weight and strong structure.

[0047] 3. The light weight rim uses metal to be the rim frame, and then the carbon fiber cloth covers the rim frame. Therefore, the number of the covering carbon fiber layers can be greatly decreased to decrease the usage amount of the carbon fiber cloth and thus the production cost.

[0048] 4. In this invention, the lightweight rim can greatly decrease the needed number of the carbon fiber cloth layers, and the stable attachment can be also maintained. Therefore, the working hours and the process of the manufacturing can be shortened to speed the manufacturing process and increase the productivity and the yield.