Means for centrifugally casting a plastic tubular member

Apparatus for producing filament reinforced tubular members and the like having an annular side wall, said apparatus comprising a first work station, a die forming element at said first work station, strand application means for centrifugally applying filament strands to said die forming element to produce a configuration similar to a surface of said die forming element, means for applying a resin curable matrix to said filament strands to form a tubular member, means for curing said resin matrix while residing in said die forming element, a second work station, transfer means shiftable between said first work station and said second work station and being shiftable in a first direction laterally toward and away from said die forming element, conveyor means operating associated with said transfer means and being shiftable in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction to engage and remove said die forming element from said first work station so that said transfer means can shift said die forming element to said second work station, ejection means at said second work station for ejecting said tubular member from said die forming element, a third work station, and ejection means at said third work station for also ejecting said tubular member from said die forming element, said second and third work stations alternately receiving said die forming element with a tubular member formed therein, and one of said second or third work stations being adapted to retain an empty die forming element for transference to said first work station when a die forming element with a tubular member formed therein is transferred to the other of said second or third work stations.

Apparatus for making a filament reinforced tubular structure comprising:

• a. a substantially cylindrical die forming element having an interior major surface similar to that of the reinforced structure to be produced,
• b. a strand feeding member extendable into said die forming element substantially along the axis of said die forming element and carrying continuous filament containing strands into said die forming element,
• c. said strand feeding member having a plurality of strand feeding heads associated therewith for receiving portions of the filament containing strands carried by said strand feeding member, and said feeding heads being located in spaced apart relationship along the length of said strand feeding member and extending toward said interior major surface for issuing the continuous filament containing strands to said receiving surface,
• d. first powered means operatively associated with said die forming element to rotate said die forming element relative to said strand feeding member and at a rate sufficient to centrifugally retain the filament strands on said interior major surface,
• e. second powered means operatively associated with said die forming element and said feeding member to generate a relative reciprocation between said die forming element and said strand feeding member so that each of said strand feeding heads traverse only a portion of the axial length of said die forming element thereby permitting the strands issuing therefrom to be applied to said surface only for the portion of the length traversed by said strand feeding heads,
• f. said strand feeding member being moved sufficiently so that the area covered by one of said heads is at least abutting to the area covered by the next adjacent head,
• g. the number of feeding heads on said strand feeding member being sufficient so that at least the greater portion of said interior major surface is covered by said strands,
• h. matrix material feeding means operatively associated with said strand feeding member for adding a matrix curable material to said filament containing strands,
• i. particulate matter feeding means operatively associated with said strand feeding means for adding a particulate matter to the filament containing strands and resin matrix,
• j. and means for curing the matrix curable material in the filament containing strand composite with the particulate matter incorporated therein to form a hardened filament reinforced tubular structure.

Apparatus for making a filament reinforced tubular structure comprising:

• a. a die forming element having an interior major surface similar to that of the reinforced structure to be produced,
• b. carriage means shiftable in an axial direction with respect to said die forming element toward and away from one end of said die forming element,
• c. a lance member carried by said carriage means and being reciprocatably shiftable with respect to said carriage means for insertion into said die forming element through said one end thereof and being axially reciprocatable therein,
• d. means for rotating said die forming element relative to said lance,
• e. strand feeding means carried by said lance and being reciprocatably shiftable therewith and with respect to said die forming element to apply filament containing strands to said interior major surface and which strands are centrifugally retained thereon,
• f. feed control means also carried by said carriage means for feeding the strands in timed relation to the rate of rotation of the die forming element so that the strands are issued from the feeding means and centrifugally applied to and retained on the interior major surface.
• g. means carried by said lance member for adding a curable matrix material to said strands,
• h. means carried by said lance member for adding a particulate matter to the strands and curable matrix material,
• i. and means for curing the composite of the matrix material and strands with the particulate matter incorporated therein to form a filament reinforced tubular structure.

Apparatus for making a filament reinforced tubular structure comprising:

• a. a die forming element having an interior major surface similar to that of the reinforced structure to be produced,
• b. carriage means shiftable toward and away from one end of said die forming element,
• c. a lance member carried by said carriage means and being reciprocatably shiftable with respect to said carriage means, said lance member being located on said carriage means for insertion into said die forming element through said one end thereof and being reciprocatable therein,
• d. means for rotating said die forming element relative to said lance,
• e. strand feeding means carried by said lance and being reciprocatably shiftable therewith and with respect to said die forming element to apply filament containing strands to said interior major surface and which strands are centrifugally retained thereon,
• f. feeding control means operatively associated with said strand feeding member for feeding said strands in timed relationship to the rate of rotation of said die forming element so that said strands are centrifugally applied to and retained on said interior major surface,
• g. said feeding control means comprising:
• 1. inlet means for accommodating a plurality of individual filament containing strands,
• 2. metering means for providing a proper amount of the strands in response to demand therefor,
• 3. means forming a plurality of ducts leading to said feeding means,
• 4. and means for creating a venturi effect in said ducts to urge said strands through said ducts and into said feeding means,
• h. means carried by said lance member for adding a curable matrix material to said strands,
• i. means carried by said lance member for adding a particulate matter to the strands and curable matrix material,
• j. and means for curing the composite of the matrix material and strands with the particulate matter incorporated therein to form a filament reinforced tubular structure.