Method for making composite material
AssigneeAdvanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc.
InventorsJoe G. Brooks, Billy D. Goforth, Charles L. Goforth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for making a composite material including a discontinuous phase of cellulosic fiber encapsulated in and bonded to a continuous phase of a polymeric component containing a major portion of polyethylene by mixing the cellulosic fiber and polymeric component while raising the temperature of the mixture to the encapsulation point, maintaining the encapsulated material within the encapsulation range while reducing the particle size, and thereafter extruding the material while controlling its temperature within the encapsulation range and substantially aligning the fibers in the flow direction until the material contacts a heated die.
Claims20
A method for making an extruded dimensionally stable and water resistant composite material comprising a discontinuous phase of substantially aligned cellulosic fibers encapsulated in a polymeric continuous phase, said method comprising the steps of:
- a. Combining from about 40 to about 60 weight percent cellulosic fiber with from about 60 to about 40 weight percent of a polymeric component comprising a major portion of polyethylene;
- b. Mixing the cellulosic fiber and polymeric component while simultaneously heating a mixture thereby formed to increase the temperature of the mixture to an encapsulation point and monitoring the temperature of the mixture to determine when the temperature reaches the encapsulation point to form a mixture comprising a discontinuous phase of cellulosic fibers encapsulated in a polymeric continuous phase;
- c. Reducing the mixture to smaller particles and feeding such particles to an extruder while maintaining the temperature of the mixture and the particles produced therefrom within an encapsulation range of plus or minus about 20 degrees F. from the encapsulation point;
- d. Extruding the particles into a homogeneous mass while controlling the temperature of the homogeneous mass within the encapsulation range;
- e. Forcing the homogeneous mass through an alignment plate to substantially align the fibers in a flow direction within the polymeric continuous phase;
- and
- f. Directing the homogeneous mass with fibers substantially aligned in the flow direction through a die to form a composite extrudate having a desired shape.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.