Manufacture of fiber reinforced articles
AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorsEdwin R. More, Harry A. Nutter, Jr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced article, a plurality of sheets of fibrous material (38 and 40) each having minute quantities of a thermoplastic adhesive (50) on a single surface thereof are laid up on a suitable form such that the adhesive of each sheet is disposed in contact with an adjacent preceding sheet or form. The sheets are tailored to the form and adhesively bonded to one another by activation of the adhesive with heat and pressure.
Claims9
A method for manufacturing a fiber reinforced article, said method comprising the steps of providing a subassembly form of the desired shape of said fiber reinforced article, enveloping said subassembly form with fibrous reinforcing material, impregnating said fibrous material with a curable adhesive and molding said impregnated fibrous material into an outer skin of said fiber reinforced article in conformance with the shape of said subassembly form, said method, prior to the molding of said fibrous material into said skin, being characterized by the steps of
- providing said fibrous material in a plurality of sheets, each being unimpregnated with any binder and having a minute quantity of thermoplastic adhesive deposited on a single surface thereof;
- and
- laying up said fibrous material sheets, one over another on said subassembly while bonding a first of said sheets to said subassembly form and each subsequent sheet to a preceding adjacent sheet by heat and pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.