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US 2014/0083267 A1Published application
Method and Apparatus for Making a Fiber Reinforced Article
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsRaymond Silva, Jeffrey Scott Dahl
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for producing an article. The method includes providing a fiber material, splitting the fiber material with a splitting roller having a set of grooves that extend continuously around a circumference of the splitting roller, and cutting the fiber material to a desired length.
Claims20
A method of producing an article, comprising:
- providing a fiber material configured as a ribbon that includes a plurality of fibers;
- splitting the fiber material with a splitting roller having a set of grooves that extend continuously around a circumference of the splitting roller such that the splitting roller engages the ribbon and separates the ribbon into bundles without cutting the fiber material;
- and
- cutting the fiber material to a desired length.
1 more element
An apparatus for producing a fiber reinforced article, comprising:
- a splitting roller configured to rotate about a first axis, the splitting roller having a set of grooves that extend around a circumference of the splitting roller in a substantially parallel relationship, wherein the splitting roller engages and separates a ribbon of fiber material into bundles of fibers without cutting the fibers;
- a cutting roller spaced apart from the splitting roller and configured to rotate about a second axis;
- and
- a drive roller configured to rotate the splitting and cutting rollers about the first and second axes.
1 more element
An apparatus for producing an article, comprising:
- a splitting roller having a set of grooves that extend around a circumference of the splitting roller in a substantially parallel relationship;
- and
- a fiber material that is configured as a ribbon, wherein fibers of the fiber material are separated into bundles that are received in the set of grooves when the ribbon engages the splitting roller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.