Method for reinforcing structural members
OwnerJoseph S Wycechinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for reinforcing a selected portion of a structural part utilizes a flexible tube having a unexpanded, preferably thermally expandable resin sheath. The sheath may be limited to a selected region along the length of the flexible tube. The flexible tube is inserted through a curved passage and conforms to the geometry of the part to be reinforced. After the portion of the tube having the sheath reaches the desired location, the tube is secured in place. Upon heating, the resin expands to several times its original volume and fills the structural cavity only at that region.
Claims28
A method of reinforcing a part, comprising the steps of:
- providing a flexible member having a length greater than its width;
- covering at least a portion of the flexible member with an expandable resin mounted directly on the flexible member;
- inserting the flexible member with the expandable resin into a cavity of a hollow part, the inserting step including the step of bending the flexible member with the expandable resin to accommodate the geometry of the cavity while the resin is of smaller outside dimension than the inside dimension of the part whereby the flexible member and the resin move freely through the part without the resin and the portion of the flexible member having the resin mounted thereon contacting the inside dimension of the part;
- and expanding the expandable resin into contact with the inside dimension of the part and thereby bonding the resin to the part.
A method of reinforcing a structural part having a space which is difficult to access due to the geometry of the part, comprising the steps of:
- providing a hollow flexible member having a length at least five times its width;
- coating at least a portion of the flexible member with an expandable resin;
- inserting the flexible member with the expandable resin into the cavity of a hollow structural part, the inserting step including the step of bending the flexible member with the expandable resin to accommodate the geometry of said cavity while the resin is of smaller outside dimension than the inside dimension of the structural part whereby the flexible member and the resin move freely through the structural part without the resin and the portion of the flexible member having the resin mounted thereon contacting the inside dimension of the structural part;
- securing the flexible member with the expandable resin in the structural part by expanding the expandable resin into contact with the inside dimension of the structural part and thereby bonding the resin to the structural part.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.