Patent ID: 7261026

Claim:
A pinmat for perforating a composite laminate sheet, comprising: a mat portion; and a plurality of pins extending from said mat portion; wherein each pin of said plurality of pins has a shank portion extending from said mat portion and a tip portion extending from said shank portion; wherein said tip portion includes a base portion extending from said shank portion, an accelerating portion extending from said base portion, and a piercing portion extending from said accelerating portion; wherein said piercing portion is utilized for penetrating the composite laminate sheet within a substantially low range of applied pressure for forming a hole within the composite laminate sheet; wherein said accelerating portion possesses an annular ogive curvature with a concave configuration, and a top portion of the annual ogive curvature is substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the shank portion; wherein said accelerating portion is utilized for penetrating the composite laminate sheet at a substantially high speed forcing said base portion into the composite laminate sheet within said substantially low range of applied pressure; said base portion being utilized to enlarge said hole formed by said piercing portion.