Patent ID: 7464950

Claim:
A fiber reinforced plastic fork for a cycle, the fork having a steer tube, crown portion, a blade extending from the crown portion to a tip, the tip having a wheel engaging member mounted thereto, comprising: fiber reinforced plastic having overlapping layers of unidirectional fibers in crossing relation to one another, compacted against one another in a plastic matrix and having low or no voids therebetween, in a fiber reinforced plastic shell; the fork having unidirectional fibers in a lamination extending from the tip to the steer tube, which lamination has first fibers being longitudinally continuous and extending from the tip to the steer tube and second fibers arranged proximate one another to be adjacently continuous but not extend longitudinally continuously from the tip to the steer tube; the fiber reinforced plastic shell of the fork being formed substantially entirely of laminations of unidirectional synthetic fibers in which each lamination is comprised of layers of individual parallel fibers; the fiber reinforced plastic shell being formed of walls defined between continuous inner and outer surfaces; said walls substantially entirely forming a structural support between a wheel and the cycle; the synthetic fibers being carbon fibers; the wheel engaging member is a dropout; said dropout, said plastic shell and said steer tube being formed and arranged to provide a smooth stress transition zone from the crown portion to the steer tube; a crown race mounting formed proximate the transition between the steer tube and said crown portion; comolding the shell for the fork so that said crown race mounting is formed to size so that no post machining is required for operative receipt of a bearing for the cycle, thereby maintaining said first fibers longitudinally continuous as they extend longitudinally through the highest stress areas of the fork; said dropout being formed of metal; the steer tube being formed in part of metal; said fiber reinforced plastic shell being formed and arranged in an uncured state to contact mating portions of the steer tube and dropout; said uncured shell, dropout and steer tube being placed in a mold and comolded to form said fork; the fork having a pair of blades each ending in the metal dropout; the fork being operatively connected to the cycle; the steer tube of the invention receiving a threadless fork arrangement in which the handlebar stem clamps to an exterior of the steer tube under preload from an adjusting cap, thereby locking a top bearing race in place; the dropouts are formed to each have a socket that receives a tip portion of the shell, the dropouts and shell being comolded with the forming and curing of the shell; an adhesive placed in the mold securely bonds the dropouts, while a laminating resin formed into prepreg laminations provides a solid matrix for the fiber reinforcements.