Method of fabricating hollow plastic objects and apparatus therefor

Claim 1

A process for fabricating a closed, generally flat, object such as a surfboard, said process comprising the following steps: (a) providing a disassemblable mold having at least four parts comprising a bottom part, a top part and a pair of side rail parts, the interior surface of said mold having the desired shape of the exterior surface of said object; (b) disassembling said mold and applying a clear gel coat to the interior surface of each said mold part; (c) applying laminations of a resin and reinforcing material mixture to each of said mold parts; (d) applying a layer of toluene diisocyanate to at least said top and bottom parts; (e) subjecting said top and bottom parts to a vacuum until said layers of toluene diisocyanate are each firmly adhered to the respective laminations of said mixture; (f) affixing the side rail parts to the bottom part and attaching an elongated mold to the side rail parts, said elongated mold having an L-shaped protrusion extending inwardly into the cavity of the mold parts, the bottom part of the "L" directed toward the center of the cavity; (g) coating the interior of the cavity and the inwardly facing portion of the L-shaped portion of the elongated mold with a resin and reinforcing material mixture thereby forming an L-shaped step along the edge of the opening of said cavity; (h) allowing the resin mixture to become structurally strong and removing the elongated mold thereby exposing an L-shaped step about the opening in said cavity; (i) applying strips of resin and reinforcing material mixture to said L-shaped step and closing said cavity by connecting said top part to said rail parts; and (j) allowing the resulting assembly to cure.