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US 4,735,828 AGranted
Reinforced fibre products and process of making
AssigneeImperial Chemical Industries PLC
InventorsFrederic N. Cogswell, Umakant Measuria
Life of this patent
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AssigneeImperial Chemical Industries PLC
InventorsFrederic N. Cogswell, Umakant Measuria
Estimating the term…
A process for impregnating a fibrous product, said fibrous product being a fabric woven from reinforcing fibres or a fabric of randomly disposed fibres, with a matrix polymer comprising causing partial impregnation of the fibrous structure by introducing the fibrous structure into a molten composition comprising the matrix polymer and a melt plasticizer for the matrix polymer and subsequently causing substantially complete wetting of the filaments of the fibrous structure by volatilizing the melt plasticizer from the partially impregnated structure at a temperature at which the polymer is molten, the melt plasticizer being thermally stable at the temperature of the melt and having volatility characteristics such that the plasticizer can be removed below the decomposition temperature of the melt but sufficiently involatile at the temperature of the melt to permit the viscosity of the melt to be reduced by comparison with the melt viscosity of the polymer at the same temperature. When a woven fabric is employed thermoformable composites can be obtained having short beam shear strength values at least 0.7 times the tensile strength of the plastics matrix material of the composite.
A process for producing a fibre reinforced plastics composite comprising a fibrous product in the form of a fabric woven from reinforcing fibres said fibrous product being embedded in a matrix polymer, comprising impregnating the fibrous product with a polymer which is to form the matrix polymer of the composite by introducing the fibrous structure into a molten composition which molten composition comprises said polymer and a melt plasticiser for said polymer so as to cause partial impregnation of the fibrous structure and subsequently causing substantially complete wetting of the filaments of the fibrous structure by volatilising the melt plasticiser from the partially impregnated structure by holding the partially impregnated structure at a temperature at which the polymer is molten and the plasticiser is volatile, the melt plasticiser being thermally stable at the temperature of the melt and having volatility characteristics such that the plasticiser can be removed below the decomposition temperature of the melt but sufficiently involatile at the temperature of the melt to permit the viscosity of the melt to be reduced by comparison with the melt viscosity of the polymer at the same temperature.
A process for producing a fibre reinforced plastics composite comprising a fibrous product in the form of a fabric of randomly disposed fibres said fibrous product being embedded in a matrix polymer, comprising impregnating the fibrous product with a polymer which is to form the matrix polymer of the composite by introducing the fibrous structure into a molten composition which molten composition comprises the matrix polymer and a melt plasticizer for said polymer so as to cause partial impregnation of the fibrous structure and subsequently causing substantially complete wetting of the filaments of the fibrous structure by volatilizing the melt plasticizer from the partially impregnated structure by holding the partially impregnated structure at a temperature at which the polymer is molten and the plasticiser is volatile, the melt plasticizer being thermally stable at the temperature of the melt and having volatility characteristics such that the plasticizer can be removed below the decomposition temperature of the melt but sufficiently involatile at the temperature of the melt to permit the viscosity of the melt to be reduced by comparison with the melt viscosity of the polymer at the same temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.