Techniques for stripping a sleeve from resin impregnated fibrous rovings
AssigneeBush Universal, Inc.
InventorsRaymond M. Bowler, Jules N. Allard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for stripping a sleeve from a length of resin-impregnated fiberglass rovings and for cutting a length of the impregnated fibers. The invention severs and separates the sleeve in a manner which assures that the fibers will remain compact and in which substantially all of the resin remains with the fiber rovings. The material is advanced through the stripper solely by drawing on the severed sleeve and without gripping or otherwise disrupting the fibers.
Claims10
A method for stripping an encasing sleeve from resin-impregnated fiber rovings comprising:
- preheating the material to decrease the viscosity of the resin;
- passing the sleeve over a separator tube while passing the fiber rovings through the separator tube, the separator tube having a generally circular, ring-like inlet whereby the rovings are confined into a generally circular, cross-sectional configuration and the sleeve is spread to a generally circular cross-sectional configuration;
- slitting the sleeve at a location downstream of the inlet to the separator tube and then separating the sleeve from the roving by drawing the sleeve in a different direction than that of the roving;
- said drawing of said slit sleeve comprising the sole means for advancing the material.
An apparatus for stripping an encasing sleeve from a resin-impregnated fiber roving comprising:
- means for drawing and guiding the encased material along a predetermined path;
- preheating means disposed along the path for heating the material to control its viscosity;
- a separator tube located along said pad, the separator tube being adapted to be received within the sleeve, and being further adapted to receive fibrous roving through the interior of the sleeve;
- the separator tube having an inlet end which is generally circular in cross section thereby to spread the interior of the sleeve to a generally circular configuration while conforming and guiding the impregnated roving through the separator;
- a slitting knife located on the exterior of the separator tube to slit the sleeve as the sleeve progressively advances over the separator tube;
- sleeve drawing means being located out of alignment with the continuation of the path of advancement of the material, thereby to direct the slit sleeve away from the impregnated roving and along a separate path;
- the outlet end of the separator tube being arranged to direct the impregnted roving to a cutting station where a predetermined length of strip material may be severed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.