Sporting & Leisure Goods
Ultra light - ultra strong - ultra cool
Bar End produced by Composite Insert
Moulding
CIM is a new technology, ideal for any injection mouldings which
require enhanced strength and stiffness.
Mountain bike bar ends
Product requirements :
- Ultra-lightweight bar ends for mountain bike market.
- Must withstand extreme side loads.
- High quality surface finish and styling.
- High volume production at lowest possible cost.
Solution :
Conventional injection moulding was inadequate to meet the demanding weight, size and strength requirements. The solution was a Composite Insert Moulding (CIM), which fulfills all design criteria and maximises production throughput at minimum unit cost.
This new technology, pioneered by C2 Composites, places a high strength carbon insert within an injection moulding, which fuses and bonds to the injection moulding material. The insert is a thermoplastic stamping which is produced on fully automated machinery, at a rate which exceeds the injection moulding rate. This therefore allows continuous high volume manufacture.
Each bar end contains a small fibre insert positioned at the area of highest loading around the aperture. This increases the overall strength of the injection moulding by 400%, whilst retaining all the benefits of this low cost form of production.
Mountain bike handlebars
Product requirements :
- Ultra-lightweight handlebars (145g) for mountain bike market.
- Must be very strong to withstand 1100lb bending load.
- High quality surface finish and styling.
- High volume production at lowest possible cost.
Solution :
A high strength carbon fibre braid is applied over a very thin aluminium core in a "resin transfer moulding process". The result is a high quality surface finish for a high volume product at the lowest possible cost. Careful engineering of the carbon braid and aluminium core meant the product achieved very demanding weight and strength criteria.
Aerofoil ski poles
Product requirements :
- Ultra-lightweight carbon fibre ski poles with aerofoil section.
- Must be strong to withstand normal activities but, for safety reasons, must break at a pre-defined load.
- Smooth, polished surface, with no jagged edges.
- Impervious to adverse weather conditions.
- High volume production at lowest possible cost.
Solution :
This aerofoil section cannot be produced using conventional ski pole manufacturing technology. However, C2 Composites utilised bladder moulding to provide the shape, whilst careful control of fibre orientation results in an ultra-light pole which meets stringent 3 point bending criteria.
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