United Technologies Corporation

Kenneth M Adams

Philip J Ramey

Richard Joseph Simkulak

Robert L Faiz

Nicholas P Flonc

Dean Nguyen

William J Walker

A composite braiding apparatus has a rotatable cantilever mandrel support 20 that is capable of supporting multiple mandrels 17a and 17b. The mandrels can be properly oriented to be braided without removing them from the mandrel support 20. Once the braiding operation has begun on one mandrel 17, subsequent mandrels can be mounted on the mandrel support 20 while braiding is taking place. Then, when a braiding operation is completed, the other mandrel 17 can be moved into proper position for braiding. The invention also allows one mandrel 17a (or 17b) to be braided while the opposite mandrel 17b (or 17a) that is not being braided can be worked on manually without stopping the braiding operation. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a braiding apparatus 10' has two braid ring assemblies 11a and 11b. Both braiding rings 12a and 12b are mounted at opposite ends of a guide track 26. The inclusion of the second braiding ring 12b allows a second set of composite filaments 28 to be wound onto a mandrel 17a (or 17b) by a 180 degree rotation of the mandrel support 20, and possibly allows simultaneous braiding of two mandrels 17a and 17b.

Multiple mandrel/braiding ring braider

A shrinkable foam mandrel that can be easily removed and composite resin transfer molding process that uses the foam mandrel. The foam is dimensionally stable at a first temperature that typically corresponds to the cure temperature of the composite resin. The foam is capable of irreversibly shrinking to less than about 0.5 said foam's original size at a second tempertaure that is above said first tempertaure. The foam is encapsulated by a non-stick elastomer skin and covered with fibers. The fiber covered elastomer encapsulated foam is disposed in a female mold cavity and resin is injected into the female mold cavity. The resin and fibers are cured and the resulting composite component is removed from the female mold. The temperature is raised to the second temperature and the elastomer encapsulated foam male mandrel irreversibly shrink to less than about 0.5 its original size. Finally the shrunken male mandrel is removed from said composite component. These mandrels are a solution to the aerospace industry's flyaway mandrel problem as they are lightweight and can easily be removed from the composite component.

Removable irreversibly shrinking male mandrel

Growing community of inventors

Sandy Hook, CT, United States of America

Kenneth M Adams