Claims
- 1. A system for manufacturing a perforated laminate sheet, comprising:
a pinmat coupled to a tool base, said pinmat having a mat portion and a plurality of pins extending from said mat portion, said plurality of pins intended to penetrate an uncured laminate sheet; a flowable pressure pad comprising of at least one of a liquid material and a semi-liquid material, said flowable pressure pad intended to flow and deform around said plurality of pins so as to directly apply a force to said uncured laminate sheet; and a positive pressure source for forcing said flowable pressure pad against said uncured laminate sheet.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said flowable pressure pad is comprised of at least one of:
a thermoplastic material; a malleable material; a room-temperature deformable material; a room-temperature penetrable material; and an elongation material.
- 3. The system of claim 2 wherein said thermoplastic material is comprised of at least one of:
a polyethylene material; an ethylene vinyl acetate material; a styrene-butadiene-styrene material; a thermoplastic polyolefin material; a polyolefin elastomer material; and a thermoplastic polyurethane material.
- 4. The system of claim 2 wherein said malleable material is comprised of at least one of:
a thermoset adhesive film; a gel material; a glycol material; and a thermoset elastomer sheet.
- 5. The system of claim 2 wherein said room-temperature deformable material is comprised of at least one of:
a caulk material; a clay material; and a wax material.
- 6. The system of claim 2 wherein said room-temperature penetrable material comprises:
a thermoset foam material including at least one of a polyethylene foam material, a polypropylene foam material, a cross-linked polyvinyl, and a soft plastic film.
- 7. The system of claim 2 wherein said elongation material is comprised of at least one of:
a nylon bagging film; and a thermoset rubber material.
- 8. A system for manufacturing a perforated laminate sheet, comprising:
a pinmat coupled to a tool base, said pinmat having a mat portion and a plurality of pins extending from said mat portion, said plurality of pins comprising a plurality of shank portions extending from said mat portion and a plurality of tip portions extending from said plurality of shank portions, each of said plurality of tip portions having at least one facet with at least one edge positioned adjacent thereto, said at least one edge intended to fracture a plurality of fibers in an uncured laminate sheet; a flowable pressure pad comprising at least one of a liquid material and a semi-liquid material, said flowable pressure pad intended to flow and deform around said plurality of pins so as to directly apply a force to said uncured laminate sheet; and a positive pressure source coupled to said flowable pressure pad for forcing said flowable pressure pad and said uncured laminate sheet onto said pinmat.
- 9. The pinmat of claim 8 wherein said at least one facet is planar and said at least one edge is linear.
- 10. The pinmat of claim 9 wherein said at least one edge is positioned at a predetermined edge angle relative to said longitudinal axis.
- 11. The pinmat of claim 10 wherein said predetermined edge angle is less than 40 degrees.
- 12. The pinmat of claim 8 wherein said at least one facet is positioned at a predetermined facet angle relative to said longitudinal axis.
- 13. The pinmat of claim 8 wherein said at least one facet comprises a first facet and a second facet that is positioned at a predetermined blade angle relative to said first facet.
- 14. The pinmat of claim 8 wherein said mat portion and said plurality of pins comprise a one-piece injection molded body.
- 15. The system of claim 8 wherein said positive pressure source is an autoclave machine.
- 16. The system of claim 8 further comprising:
a heat source for heating said uncured laminate sheet.
- 17. A method for manufacturing a perforated laminate sheet, comprising:
applying a positive pressure to a flowable pressure pad; at least one of flowing and deforming said flowable pressure pad around a plurality of projections; and compressing an uncured laminate sheet between said flowable pressure pad and a pinmat.
- 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
forming said pinmat having a mat portion and a plurality of pins extending from said mat portion, said plurality of pins comprising a plurality of shank portions extending from said mat portion and a plurality of tip portions extending form said plurality of shank portions, said plurality of tip portions having at least one facet positioned adjacent to at least one edge, said at least one edge intended to fracture a plurality of fibers in an uncured laminate sheet; mounting said pinmat onto a tool base; forcing said uncured laminate sheet onto said pinmat; and creating a stress concentration within a plurality of fibers that comprise said uncured laminate sheet.
- 19. The method of claim 16 wherein forming said pinmat comprises at least one of:
injection molding said pinmat; and coupling a plurality of individual pin members to a separate mat structure.
- 20. The method of claim 16 wherein creating said stress concentration comprises:
bending said plurality of fibers within said uncured laminate sheet around said at least one edge and beyond a minimum bend radius of said plurality of fibers.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. (Attorney Docket No. 02-0050/011635) entitled “LOW PENETRATION-FORCE PINMAT FOR PERFORATING AN UNCURED LAMINATE SHEET” and U.S. application Ser. No. (Attorney Docket No. 01-1048/011690) entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOW PRESSURE PERFORATION OF AN UNCURED LAMINATE SHEET”, which are simultaneously filed herewith and the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.