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US 5,401,154 AGranted
Apparatus for compounding a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and forming parts therefrom
AssigneeContinental Structural Plastics, Inc.
InventorMichael M. Sargent
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A twin screw extruder compounds a thermoplastic resin material with a randomly oriented fiber reinforcing material to produce a molten fiber reinforced thermoplastic extrusion from a die. The extrusion is cut into preforms which are immediately inserted into a compression mold for making parts. A unidirectionally oriented fiber reinforcing material can be added in the die. The fibers are monofilaments which are debundled and heated before entering either the extruder or the die.
Claims15
An apparatus for making a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and forming parts therefrom comprising:
- an extruder having a first material inlet, a second material inlet and an outlet for compounding a thermoplastic resin material supplied at said first material inlet with a reinforcing fiber material supplied at said second material inlet and discharging a molten fiber reinforced thermoplastic material at said outlet;
- a source of the thermoplastic resin material laving an outlet for feeding the thermoplastic resin material into said first material inlet;
- a source of the fiber reinforcing material having an outlet for feeding the fiber reinforcing material into said second material inlet;
- a die connected to said extruder outlet for shaping the molten fiber reinforced thermoplastic material into a continuous extrusion of heated fiber reinforced thermoplastic material containing the fiber reinforcing material randomly oriented and having a desired cross-sectional shape;
- a conveyor means having a first section position adjacent said die for drawing the extrusion from said die;
- a cutter means positioned adjacent said first section of said conveyor means for cutting the extrusion into a plurality of preforms;
- said conveyor means having a second section positioned adjacent said cutter means for moving the preforms away from said cutter means;
- a compression mold positioned adjacent said second section of said conveyor means for receiving the preforms and molding each of the preforms into a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material part;
- and
- a temperature control enclosure positioned between said extruder outlet and said compression mold and through which both said first and second sections of said conveyor means passes and in which said cutter is also enclosed, for maintaining the extrusion and the preforms at a molding temperature.
7 more elements
An apparatus for making a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material and forming parts therefrom comprising:
- an extruder having a first material inlet, a second material inlet and an outlet for compounding a thermoplastic resin material supplied at said first material inlet with a first fiber reinforcing material supplied at said second material inlet and discharging a molten random fiber reinforced thermoplastic material at said outlet;
- a source of the thermoplastic resin material having an outlet for feeding the thermoplastic resin material into said firs material inlet;
- a source of the first fiber reinforcing material having an outlet for feeding the first fiber reinforcing material into said second material inlet;
- a die connected to said extruder outlet for shaping the molten fiber reinforced thermoplastic material into a continuous extrusion of heated fiber reinforced thermoplastic material having a desired cross-sectional shape, said die having a third material inlet;
- a source of a second fiber reinforcing material ha ting an outlet for feeding the second fiber reinforcing material into said third material inlet, the second fiber reinforcing material combining with the molten fiber reinforced thermoplastic material whereby the extrusion contains the first fiber reinforcing material randomly oriented and the second fiber reinforcing material unidirectionally oriented;
- a conveyor means having a first section positioned adjacent said die for drawing the extrusion from said die;
- a cutter means positioned adjacent said first section of said conveyor means for cutting the extrusion into a plurality of preforms;
- a second section of said conveyor means positioned adjacent said cutter means for moving the preforms away from said cutter means;
- a compression mold positioned adjacent said second section of said conveyor means for receiving the preforms and molding each of the preforms into a fiber reinforced thermoplastic material part;
- and
- a temperature control enclosure positioned between said extruder outlet and said compression mold through which both said first and second sections of said conveyor means extends and in which said cutter means is also received, for maintaining the extrusion and the preforms at a molding temperature.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.