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US 10,518,442 B2Granted
Fiber-reinforced composites and methods of forming and using same
AssigneeAerlyte, Inc.
InventorChristopher Johnston, VII
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of forming fiber-reinforced composites. The method includes stabilizing two or more carbon fibers tows together (a) with a stabilizing resin and (b) in-line with a commercial carbon fiber production process to form a semi-finished tape; and impregnating the semi-finished tape with a matrix resin in a process offline of the carbon fiber production process to form a prepreg.
Claims39
A method comprising:
- providing a tow band including a first set of carbon fiber tows coplanar with a second set of carbon fiber tows, the tows of the first and second sets of carbon fiber tows horizontally spaced from one another in the tow band;
- vertically separating the first set of carbon fiber tows from the second set of carbon fiber tows onto first and second elevations, respectively, to form a first horizontal gap on the first elevation between tows of the first set and a second horizontal gap on the second elevation between tows of the second set, a tow of the second set of carbon fiber tows at the second elevation being aligned with the first horizontal gap, and a tow of the first set of carbon fiber tows at the first elevation being aligned with the second horizontal gap;
- spreading carbon filaments of the first set of carbon fiber tows into the first horizontal gap at the first elevation to form a spread first set of carbon fiber tows;
- stabilizing the carbon filaments of the spread first set of carbon fiber tows with a stabilizing resin to form one or more semi-finished tapes configured to form one or more first packages from the spread first set of carbon fiber tows;
- and
- winding the second set of carbon fiber tows into one or more second packages separate from the one or more first packages.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- conveying a tow band including a first set of carbon fiber tows coplanar with a second set of carbon fiber tows, the tows of the first and second sets of carbon fiber tows horizontally spaced from one another in the tow band;
- separating the first set of carbon fiber tows from the second set of carbon fiber tows onto first and second elevations, respectively, to form a first horizontal gap on the first elevation between tows of the first set and a second horizontal gap on the second elevation between tows of the second set, a tow of the second set of carbon fiber tows at the second elevation being aligned with the first horizontal gap, and a tow of the first set of carbon fiber tows at the first elevation being aligned with the second horizontal gap;
- horizontally spreading carbon filaments of the first set of carbon fiber tows into the first horizontal gap at the first elevation to form a spread first set of carbon fiber tows;
- winding the spread first set of carbon fiber tows into one or more first packages;
- and
- winding the second set of carbon fiber tows into one or more second packages separate from the one or more first packages.
3 more elements
A method comprising:
- unspooling a precursor material;
- treating the precursor material to form a tow band including a first set of carbon fiber tows coplanar with a second set of carbon fiber tows, the first and second sets of carbon fiber tows horizontally spaced from one another in the tow band;
- separating the first set of carbon fiber tows from the second set of carbon fiber tows onto first and second elevations, respectively, to form a first horizontal gap on the first elevation between tows of the first set and a second horizontal gap on the second elevation between tows of the second set, a tow of the second set of carbon fiber tows at the second elevation being aligned with the first horizontal gap, and a tow of the first set of carbon fiber tows at the first elevation being aligned with the second horizontal gap;
- horizontally spreading carbon filaments of the first set of carbon fiber tows into the first horizontal gap at the first elevation to form a spread first set of carbon fiber tows;
- winding the spread first set of carbon fiber tows into one or more first packages;
- and
- winding the second set of carbon fiber tows into one or more second packages separate from the one or more first packages.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.