Apparatus for producing compound material

An apparatus for producing a reinforcement compound material comprising:

• a first fixed platen horizontally supported by stand means erected on a floor, said first fixed platen having a vertical through hole at a center portion thereof;
• a second fixed platen horizontally supported by a plurality of columns securely interconnecting respective outer portions of said first and second fixed platens;
• a container platen horizontally disposed between said first and second fixed platens and having at a center portion thereof a U shaped through hole coaxial with the through hole of said first fixed platen and outer portions thereof slidably penetrated by said plurality of columns, said container platen being connected to said first fixed platen through driving means for lifting and retracting said container platen from and to said first fixed platen, respectively;
• a whisker container mounter in the U shaped through hole of said container platen, said whisker container being attachable to and detachable from the U shaped through hole through an opened side of said U shaped through hole;
• a clamping means having a clamping cylinder vertically secured to an upper central surface of said second fixed platen, a piston rod which vertically reciprocates within said clamping cylinder, slidably penetrates said second fixed platen and has a lower end fixed to an upper surface of said container platen, and an urging member fixed to a central portion of a lower surface of said container platen;
• a sleeve member fixed to the through hole of said first fixed platen;
• a first heater means attached to an outer surface of said sleeve member;
• a first heat insulating means disposed between an inner surface of said first fixed platen and an outer surface of said sleeve member including said first heater means;
• a second heater means attached to an outer surface of said whisker container;
• a second heat insulating means disposed between an inner surface of said container platen and an outer surface of said whisker container including said second heater means;
• a plunger means having a plunger tip at an upper end thereof slidably inserted into said sleeve member form below and moved upwardly and downwardly within said sleeve member by a plunger moving means;
• a first retaining chamber formed of an inner surface of said sleeve member and an upper surface of said plunger tip for receiving a molten matrix metal;
• a second retaining chamber formed in said whisker container to receive a reinforcement material selected from fibrous ceramics and spherical ceramics in the form of a porous body of low density;
• vaccum evacuating means for vacuum evacuating interiors of said first and second retaining chambers, said vacuum evacuating means including a first air passage formed to pass through said urging member from said second retaining chamber, and a second air passage formed to pass from said first retaining chamber through a gap between an inner peripheral surface of said sleeve member and an outer surface of said plunger;
• an upper surface of said sleeve member being engaged with the lower surface of said whisker container when said container platen is lowered by pressurizing said driving means, the upper surface of said whisker container being engaged with the lower surface of said urging member of said clamping means when said piston rod is lowered by pressurizing said clamping cylinder, such that said first and second retaining chambers communicate with each other to be sealed from an outer atmosphere, said molten metal being impregnated into said reinforcement matrix material by moving said plunger means upwardly to apply a pressure to said communicated first and second retaining chambers which are, meanwhile, vaccum evacuated by said vacuum evacuating means.