Abstract:
A method for manufacturing a composite material is disclosed, and the method includes providing a core object, submerging the core object in the thermosetting resin to form the composite material, heating up and solidifying the thermosetting resin, and extruding to form a shape by extrusion molding.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a composite material, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a composite material. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    To protect the natural environment globally, developing materials to save power, reduce waste and prevent environmental damage has become very important and has greatly influenced the research direction of polymer production and materials. 
         [0005]    Take the architecture industry for example, the building material, decoration material, furniture material are mostly wood. As awareness of environmental protection grows, manufacturers aim at developing wood substitutes to protect forests and jungles and thereby protect the earth&#39;s ecology. 
         [0006]    Wood-plastic composites (WPC) that have wood-like appearance, greater hardness than plastic material and recycle benefits have been developed and are widely used in the construction and interior decorating industry. However, WPC quality depends on manufacturing processes, and inappropriate proportion distribution of the ingredients affects the mechanical performance of the product. In addition, there are other substitutes constructed by foam and multiple flexible bars (ex. plastic bars) wherein the flexible bars are extruded into the foam. This kind of substitute has better hardness than the foam itself because of the flexible bar design, but nails are difficult to fasten on the substitute because of the foam elasticity such that the substitute is too loose to attach on a surface (wall surface etc.). 
         [0007]    As a result, developing another composite material that can be applied in many fields (such as building material, decoration material, furniture material etc.), that can replace wood, conform to environmental protection demands, reduce cost and improve hardness and stiffness is the aim of the present invention. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    It is therefore an aspect to provide a method for manufacturing a composite material whereby the composite material thereof can be applied to building material, decoration material and furniture material to decrease weight, conform to environmental protection standards and reduce material cost. 
         [0009]    It is therefore another aspect to provide a method for manufacturing a composite material to enhance the strength and stiffness of the material through the core object design, and shorten the manufacturing period through the thermosetting resin which is capable of being manufactured easily. 
         [0010]    In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the method for manufacturing a composite material includes providing a core object, submerging the core object in the thermosetting resin, heating up and solidifying, and extruding and forming the composite material with an extruder. 
         [0011]    The method for manufacturing a composite material further includes forming a skin by coating a film, spreading a lacquer or attaching a grained surface to provide decoration and protection effects. 
         [0012]    As a result, the method for manufacturing a composite material of the present invention has the following effects: 
         [0013]    Applying the composite material to various fields (such as building material, decoration material, furniture material etc.) to replace conventional wood can decrease weight, conform to environmental protection standards and reduce the material cost. In addition, the core object design raises the strength and stiffness, and the thermosetting resin is capable of being manufactured and fabricated easily such that the manufacturing period is shortened and the fastening effect is also improved. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]    The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings, 
           [0015]      FIG. 1  is a schematic manufacturing process of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of the embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the composite material of the embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view of the composite material of another embodiment in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the composite material of another embodiment in accordance with the present invention; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the composite material of another embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts. 
         [0022]    While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. 
         [0023]    Refer to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic manufacturing process of an embodiment in accordance with the present invention;  FIG. 2  illustrates a flow chart of the embodiment in accordance with the present invention;  FIG. 3  illustrates a sectional view of the composite material of the embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0024]    In step  110 , a core object  310  is provided wherein the core object  310  may be but not limited to cardboard, non-woven fabric, polyester fiber, polyamide fiber, fiber glass, carbon fiber, plastic film or the fabric made of any of the above fibers or the combination thereof. 
         [0025]    In step  120 , conveying the core object  310  to a tank  220  through feeding wheels  210  wherein the tank  220  includes a sprue  230  whereby the thermosetting resin  320  is supplied to fill up the tank  220 . The core object  310  is submerged in the thermosetting resin  320  to form a compound. In this embodiment, the thermosetting resin  320  may be but not limited to unsaturated polyester, phenol resin, epoxy resin, silicon resin or urethane resin. 
         [0026]    In step  130 , the compound is cured by the heating area  240  to solidify the compound to form a precursor material. The heating temperature in the heating area  240  is approximately between 60° C. and 150° C., but the practical heating temperature depends on various conditions, such as the heat endurance of the core object, process design, hardening agent and so on. In other words, the heating temperature is predetermined at a lower temperature when the heat endurance of the core object  310  is inferior wherein the predetermined temperature is between the heating temperature enabling the thermosetting resin  320  to generate chemical reaction and the limit temperature which is endurable for the core object  310 . Regarding process design, raising the heating temperature shortens the hardening period of the thermosetting resin  320 , and lowering the heating temperature extends the hardening period of the thermosetting resin  320 . Through this step, the thermosetting resin  320  is gradually solidified to shape a formation by heating. In this embodiment, the thermosetting resin is disclosed for illustration only, other resins having irreversible rigid and melt properties on being heated constantly can also replace the material strengthening the core object  310 . 
         [0027]    In step  140 , the solidified precursor material (the compound of the core object  310  and the cured thermosetting resin  320 ) is extruded through a die of the extruder  250  to form a composite material  300 . Therefore, the final appearance of the product is variable because of different die in accordance with the customer requirement. In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , the core object  310  is a sheet object, and the thermosetting resin  320  has a rectangular section by a rectangular die. The core object  310  of the composite material  300  is used to enhance the strength and stiffness thereof, so other core objects with various formations can also be used to provide the same strength and stiffness effects. Refer to other composite material embodiment in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the core object  310   a  has a saw-tooth formation, and the core object  310   b  has a wavy formation. 
         [0028]    In addition, the thickness of the core object is altered in accordance with composite material size, and the smaller core object makes the composite material harder. In general, the core object has the same weight proportion as the thermosetting resin. In this embodiment, the distribution in proportion between the core object and the thermosetting resin is approximately 1:9. The practical distribution in proportion should be designed in accordance with various conditions (size, material, weight proportion, hardness etc.) of the product, and the above distribution in this embodiment is disclosed for illustration only. 
         [0029]    Refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  illustrates a sectional view of the composite material of another embodiment in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, the thermosetting resin  320   c  is extruded by a circular die, and the core object  310   c  includes three ribs outward scattered alternately from the center of the composite material  300   c.    
         [0030]    In step  150 , forming a skin  330  on the composite material  300  to provide decoration and protection effects after the formation of the product is determined. This step includes coating a film through thermal melt-joint method, spreading a lacquer, or attaching a grained surface for ornamental purposes. In addition, other skin forming methods such as wrapping a metal slice (iron slice or aluminum slice) can be used to enhance the strength when the product application field has impact endurance requirement. In this embodiment, the skin  330  is a thermoplastic film with a thickness between 0.5 and 3 mm. 
         [0031]    In step  160 , cooling the composite material  300  with the skin  330  through the cooling area  260  to firm the skin  330  to provide the final product of the embodiment. 
         [0032]    As embodied and broadly described herein, applying the composite material  300  to various field (such as building material, decoration material, furniture material etc.) to replace conventional wood can decrease weight, conform to environmental protection standards and reduce the material cost. In addition, the core object  310  design raises the strength and stiffness, and the thermosetting resin  320  is capable of being manufactured and fabricated easily such that the manufacturing period is shortened and the fastening effect is also improved. 
         [0033]    Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments contained herein. 
         [0034]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.