Method for composite flow molding
AssigneeArris Composites Inc.
InventorsErick Davidson, Ethan Escowitz, Sean Hennessee, Riley Reese
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for molding a part includes a plunger cavity, a plunger, and a mold cavity, wherein the plunger is oriented out-of-plane with respect to a major surface of the mold cavity, and first and second vents couples to respective first and second portions of the mold cavity. In a method, resin and fiber are forced into the mold cavity from a plunger cavity, and at least some of the fibers and resin are preferentially flowed to certain region in the mold cavity via the use of vents.
Claims16
A method for molding a fiber-composite part, wherein a design requires the part to exhibit at least one of (i) a difference in the magnitude of a property or characteristic, or (ii) differing properties or characteristics, between a first region and a second region of the part, the method comprising:
- advancing a plunger through a plunger cavity, the advancing plunger forcing liquefied resin and a plurality of fibers, sourced from a plurality of preforms, from the plunger cavity into a mold cavity;
- preferentially flowing liquefied resin and a first group of fibers of the plurality thereof toward a first region in the mold cavity, the first group of fibers imparting at least one of a first magnitude of the property or characteristic, or a first property or characteristic, at the first region of the part;
- and
- after the liquefied resin and first group of fibers flow to the first region of the mold cavity, preferentially flowing liquefied resin and a second group of fibers of the plurality thereof toward a second region in the mold cavity, the second group of fibers imparting at least one of a second magnitude of the property or characteristic, or a second property or characteristic, at the second region of the part.
A method for molding, comprising:
- ordering, in a stack within a plunger cavity, first and second groups of preforms, each group comprising plural preforms, each preform comprising resin-coated fibers, wherein the first group of preforms and the second group of preforms differ from one another as to at least one characteristic;
- liquefying the resin;
- advancing a plunger through the plunger cavity to force, into a mold cavity, fibers and resin from the two groups of preforms;
- and
- actuating, in sequence, a first vent and then a second vent, wherein:
- the first vent is fluidically coupled to a first region of the mold cavity,
- the second vent is fluidically coupled to a second region of the mold cavity,
- actuation of the first vent results in preferential flow of fiber to the first region,
- actuation of the second vent results in preferential flow of fiber to the second region, and wherein the ordering of preforms in the stack and the sequencing of actuation of the vents are coordinated so that fibers from the first group of preforms flow to the first region and fibers from the second group of preforms flow to the second region.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.