Process for producing a complex elastic molded structure of the sandwich type

A process for molding a reinforced ski of the sandwich type that includes the steps of

• pre-impregnating a reinforcing textile sheet containing reinforcing fibers by passing said sheet through a solventless bath of epoxy resin;
• drying and pre-hardening said sheet to a non-tacky state by maturing said sheet at ambient temperature so that the sheet can be handled without adhering to handling equipment;
• forming said sheet to a desired shape and placing the sheet and a stiffening member in contact against a first wall of a mold cavity to form an assembly;
• closing the mold cavity to establish a volume behind said assembly;
• injecting a polyol component and an isocyanate component into said volume so that they react exothermically to produce a polyurethane core having a temperature high enough to cause cross-linking of said epoxy resin;
• allowing the core to expand into contact against said assembly to effect a cross linking rise in temperature of said epoxy resin in said impregnated textile sheet to develop its wetting and adhesive properties so that the core, and the reinforcing sheet are bonded together about the stiffening member into a sandwich-like structure as the epoxy resin and core cure, to a solid intimately physically and chemically linked structure;
• and
• removing the structure from the mold cavity after the core and epoxy resin have at least partially cured.