Hybrid composite leaf springs
AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation
InventorJemei Chang
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Abstract
A hybrid composite automotive leaf spring comprises parallel glass and polyethylene terephthalate fibers distributed in a pattern replicated throughout a resin matrix. A method of producing the hybrid composite leaf spring comprises winding various proportions of glass and polyethylene terephthalate or nylon fibers together into a homogeneous mass in an epoxy matrix in a mold to form a blank, which is then compressed and cured into a leaf spring having a predetermined homogeneous mixture of parallel fibers distributed throughout the cross-section of the spring. The unitary spring has a spring rate that is a composite of the resin-bonded glass and other fibers. Different spring rates are obtained by varying the percentage content of the glass and other fibers, while maintaining the homogeneity of the resultant leaf spring.
Claims5
A molded resin-bonded hybrid composite automotive leaf spring comprising a plurality of parallel strands of fibers bonded in a resin matrix, said fibers comprising strands of glass fibers and strands of different modulus fibers grouped together in bundles which form a pattern that is replicated throughout the cross-section of the spring, all of said strands being distributed throughout the resin matrix to provide a homogeneous structure, said different modulus fibers being selected from the group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate and nylon fibers and having a lower modulus, greater ductility and better abrasion resistance than said glass fibers.
A molded resin-bonded hybrid composite automotive leaf spring comprising a plurality of parallel strands of fibers bonded in a resin matrix, said fibers comprising strands of glass fibers and strands polyethylene terephthalate fibers grouped together in bundles which form a pattern that is replicated throughout the cross-section of the spring, all of said strands being distributed throughout the resin matrix to provide a homogeneous structure, said polyethylene terephthalate fibers having a lower modulus, greater ductility and better abrasion resistance than said glass fibers.
A molded resin-bonded hybrid composite automotive leaf spring comprising a plurality of parallel strands of fibers bonded in a resin matrix, said fibers comprising strands of glass fibers and strands of different fibers having a lower modulus than said glass fibers, said glass fibers and said different fibers being grouped together in bundles which form a pattern that is replicated throughout the cross-section of the spring, all of said strands being distributed throughout the resin matrix to provide a homogeneous structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.