Prepreg master rolls and slit tape and method

A method for the production of a continuous sheet or multiple strips of curable, unidirectional thermoset prepreg which method comprises:

• A) i) feeding a curable thermoset prepreg component consisting of two or more continuous sheets of conventional curable thermoset prepreg, each with or without a liner or backing material on a surface thereof and each having a continuous length of at least 10 meters and at least one mating surface, said mating surface(s) being free of the liner or backing material, if present, to a mating point;
• ii) concurrently aligning the two or more continuous sheets of conventional curable thermoset prepreg, one over the other, along their length;
• iii) and mating the sheets along their mating surfaces to form a single continuous thick curable thermoset prepreg sheet material;
• and
• B) either iv) winding the continuous thick curable thermoset prepreg sheet material into a master roll, v) passing the continuous thick curable thermoset prepreg sheet material on to a manufacturing process for building a composite structure, vi) passing the continuous thick curable thermoset prepreg sheet material through a slitter to form continuous strips of the curable thermoset prepreg material which is then wound, or vii) passing the continuous thick curable thermoset prepreg sheet material through a slitter to form continuous strips of the curable thermoset prepreg material which are then passed on to a manufacturing process for building a composite structure:
• the conventional curable thermoset prepreg sheets characterized as comprising a plurality of parallel unidirectional fibers/fiber bundles infused with a curable thermosetting matrix resin wherein the fibers/fiber bundles are aligned along the length of the prepreg sheet.