Methods for recovering expanded polymer tooling
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsXiaoxi Wang, Gary Ernest Georgeson, Jonathan A. Santiago
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods of recovering and/or recycling expanded polymer tooling, the methods including collecting expanded polymer tooling, reducing the collected expanded polymer tooling into smaller particles, treating the reduced expanded polymer tooling in order to yield an at least partially purified recovered polymer composition, and then collecting the at least partially purified recovered polymer composition. The at least partially purified recovered polymer composition can then be used to form new expandable polymer tooling.
Claims20
A method for recycling expandable tooling, where the tooling includes foamed polymer pellets;
- comprising:
- expanding the foamed polymer pellets within a constraining container in order to apply pressure to a workpiece;
- collecting the expanded polymer pellets from the constraining container;
- reducing the collected expanded polymer pellets into smaller particles;
- treating the reduced polymer pellets to yield an at least partially purified polymer composition;
- collecting the at least partially purified polymer composition;
- and
- forming recovered-polymer pellets using the at least partially purified polymer composition.
A method for recycling expandable tooling, where the tooling includes expandable polymer pellets;
- comprising:
- expanding the expandable polymer pellets within a constraining container to apply pressure to a workpiece;
- collecting the expanded polymer pellets from the constraining container;
- moving the collected expanded pellets into a reducing apparatus using a directed fluid flow;
- reducing the collected expanded polymer pellets into smaller particles using the reducing apparatus;
- removing an amount of at least one foaming agent from the reduced polymer pellets by one or more processes of heating, degassing, solvent cleaning, and phase separation to yield an at least partially purified polymer composition;
- feeding the at least partially purified polymer composition into an extruding apparatus;
- and
- forming recovered-polymer pellets from the at least partially purified polymer composition.
A method for recycling expandable tooling, where the tooling includes foamable pellets;
- comprising:
- expanding the foamable pellets within a constraining container in order to apply pressure to an uncured composite workpiece;
- curing the composite workpiece while the pressure is applied to the composite workpiece;
- collecting the expanded foamable pellets from the constraining container;
- reducing the collected expanded foamable pellets into smaller particles;
- treating the reduced foamable pellets to yield an at least partially purified polymer composition;
- collecting the at least partially purified polymer composition;
- and
- forming recovered-polymer pellets using the at least partially purified polymer composition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.