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US 10,369,754 B2Granted
Composite fibers and method of producing fibers
OwnerOleksandr Biland, Robert Fergusoninventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Composite fibers created by a process including vertically texturizing and impregnating resin into the fibers at controlled viscosity results in stronger fibers in which virtually no microbubbles are trapped resulting in improved tensile strength for use in reinforcing concrete and other materials.
Claims29
A method of producing composite fibers, said method comprising:
- feeding a plurality of fiber strands vertically down through a texturizer to obtain texturized fibers, wherein the texturized fibers are unstrained;
- vertically feeding the texturized fibers down through an injection device;
- injecting resin into the injection device at a viscosity of 5 mPa*S or less;
- rotating the plurality of fibers in the injection device, effective to twist the fibers into a bundle where the twisting point is below the level of resin in the injection device while allowing at least a portion of any trapped gases to rise to the surface of the resin;
- squeezing the twisted bundle with squeezing rollers inside the injection device effective to further release any trapped gases to rise to the surface of the resin;
- removing the bundle from the bottom of the device by pulling the bundle;
- pulling the bundle into a first curing station;
- pulling the bundle through shaping grips in which the shaping grips are adapted to:
- (i) pull the bundle from the first curing station,
- (ii) impart a shape to the bundle and
- (iii) push the bundle without tension out of the shaping grips, and
- pushing the bundle from the shaping grips through a second curing station without tensioning the bundle.
9 more elements
The method of claim wherein the plurality of fibers are fed into two or more texturizers from two or more roving spools.
A method of producing composite fibers, the method comprising:
- feeding a plurality of fiber strands through a texturizer to obtain texturized fibers, wherein the texturized fibers are unstrained;
- vertically feeding the texturized fibers down through an injection device;
- injecting resin into the injection device at a viscosity of 5 mPa*S or less;
- rotating the plurality of fibers in the injection device to twist the fibers into a bundle, wherein the bundle is below the level of resin in the injection device, and wherein at least a portion of trapped gases rise to the surface of the resin;
- squeezing the bundle with squeezing rollers inside the injection device, wherein the trapped gases rise to the surface of the resin;
- removing, the bundle from the bottom of the device by pulling the bundle;
- pulling the bundle into a first curing station;
- pulling the bundle through shaping grips, wherein the shaping grips are adapted to:
- (i) pull the bundle from the first curing station,
- (ii) impart a shape to the bundle, and
- (iii) push the bundle without tension out of the shaping grips;
- pushing the bundle from the shaping grips through a second curing station without tensioning the bundle;
- pushing the bundle from the second curing station to a cutter;
- and
- cutting the bundle into fragments of a specified length using the cutter.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.