Annealed unidirectional thermoplastic composite tape

Abstract

A method for forming an annealed thermoplastic tape is disclosed. The method includes supplying continuous fibers to an extrusion device, supplying a thermoplastic feedstock to the extrusion device, wherein the feedstock comprises a thermoplastic polymer, pre-heating, tensioning, spreading, and flattening the continuous fibers, extruding the continuous fibers and the feedstock within an impregnation die to form an extrudate in which the continuous fibers are embedded with a matrix of the thermoplastic polymer while under continuous tension and heat, and maintaining the continuous tension on the extrudate until cooled to a solid thermoplastic tape. The resulting annealed thermoplastic tape is formed of a plurality of unidirectional fibers, and a thermoplastic resin.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.