Bicycle rim and method of manufacturing
AssigneeDt Swiss Inc.
InventorAndreas Henig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bicycle rim for bicycles with a rim body with a visible surface perceptible in proper operation, wherein a supporting structure of the rim body is made from fibrous composite materials of prepreg layers is disclosed. The rim body includes rim flanks disposed opposite one another, a rim well, and a rim base. The visible surface is formed by a thin non-woven layer on the supporting structure, so as to form directly during manufacturing, an optically appealing, visible surface on the rim body, involving no postprocessing. The non-woven layer forms on the rim body, an outer layer of a composite layer. The composite layer includes a prepreg layer and the non-woven layer.
Claims7
A method of manufacturing a bicycle rim having at least one rim body, a supporting structure of which is manufactured from a fibrous composite material of prepreg layers, wherein the rim body comprises rim flanks disposed opposite one another, a rim well, and a rim base,
- comprising:
- forming a visible surface on the rim body which is visible in proper operation, a composite layer of a thin, non-woven layer and the supporting structure of the prepreg layers is inserted into a manufacturing mold so that the non-woven layer bears against the manufacturing mold, so that the visible surface is formed by the thin non-woven layer, and the supporting structure is formed by the prepreg layers, so as to form during manufacturing an optically appealing, visible surface on the rim body,
- and the non-woven layer on the rim body is an outer layer of the composite layer, which comprises at least one prepreg layer and the non-woven layer,
- wherein the composite layer is made by joining at least one of the prepreg layers with the non-woven layer and wherein the composite layer is then inserted into the manufacturing mold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.