Process for manufacturing reinforced rod assemblies, including tool handles

摘要

A composite tool handle includes one or more load-bearing jackets surrounding a core of lightweight or reinforcing material. The interface between the core and the jacket is corrugated to increase the flexural strength of the tool handle while minimizing weight. The composite tool handle is manufactured by pultrusion wherein the core having a corrugated outer surface is fed through a pultrusion die tube. Resin coated fibers are channeled into the space between the core and the die tube for compression and heating to form a fiber-resin jacket having an internal surface conforming to the shape of the core for key-lock engagement therewith. The outer surface of the fiber-resin jacket can be formed with a corrugated or other discontinuous surface shape by placing one or more external mold members into the space between the resin coated fibers and the die tube for pultrusion therewith through the die tube, and for separation from the fiber-resin jacket upon exiting the die tube. A secondary jacket can then be molded onto the fiber-resin jacket in conformance with the corrugated shape thereof.