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AssigneeThe C. A. Lawton Company
InventorsDaniel T. Buckley, Siegfried W. Horn
Estimating the term…
A rigid three-dimensional preform is made by moving a plurality of webs of fibrous reinforcement material superposed and coplanar to a cutter, the webs being coated with an electromagnetic energy-curable binder and pressed together. Prior to cutting a blank in a two-dimensional development of the three-dimensional preform from the webs, the webs are tacked together at spaced local zones by locally curing the binder at those zones by locally applying the appropriate electromagnetic radiation (microwave, ultraviolet, electron) so that the webs travel as one to the cutter. After cutting of the blank, the blank is loaded into a mold to replicate the three-dimensional shape of the preform and the remainder of the binder is cured in the mold by the application of the appropriate electromagnetic radiation. An auxiliary member may be attached to the preform by applying an electromagnetic energy-curable binder to at least one location on the preform, moving the auxiliary member into a desired position and intimate contact with the binder-coated location and the binder cured at that location by the application of the appropriate electromagnetic radiation.
A method of making a rigid three-dimensional preform, comprising the steps of:
In a method of making a rigid three-dimensional preform in which layers of reinforcement material which include fibers are cut into shaped elements, provided with electromagnetic energy-curable binder, layered into a mat and pressed into a desired shape of the preform in a mold, and in which the pressed shaped layers are rigidized by applying electromagnetic energy thereto while in the mold to cure the binder and thereby rigidize the pressed shaped layers, the improvement therein comprising the steps of:
In a method of making a rigid three-dimensional preform in which layers of glass fiber reinforcement material which include fibers are cut into shaped elements, at least partially coated with electromagnetic energy-curable binder, layered into a mat and the mat pressed into a desired shape of the preform in a mold, and in which the pressed shaped mats are cured by applying electromagnetic radiation thereto while in the mold to rigidize the pressed shaped mat, the improvement therein comprising the steps of:
In a method of making a rigid three-dimensional preform in which layers of glass fiber reinforcement material which include fibers are cut into shaped elements, at least partially coated with electromagnetic energy-curable binder, layered into a mat and the mat pressed into a desired shape of the preform in a mold, and in which the press shaped mat is cured by applying electromagnetic energy thereto while in the mold to rigidize the pressed shaped mat, the improvement therein comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.