US 6,554,935 B1Granted

Structure forming method, apparatus and product

OwnerLeRoy Payneinventor

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Abstract

A method of forming a continuous tubular structure includes preselecting a liquid reactive resin forming material, a particulate solid additive material, a porous tubular blanket and an inflatable bladder member disposed within the blanket. The additive particles are mixed with the liquid resin forming material substantially continuously to form a substantially uniform mixture thereof. Substantially all of the additive particles are encapsulated with the resin forming material. The tubular blanket/bladder combination is advanced through the liquid resin/additive mixture, part of which migrates through the blanket substantially uniformly to form a continuous resin matrix therein. The mixture-treated blanket is advanced along a preselected path, while the bladder therein is inflated to form a tubular structure of a preselected cross section. The structure is placed into a preselected final configuration while it is flexible and has an adhesive outer surface. Apparatus for conducting the above method.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A method of forming a very high strength continuous tubular structure including the steps of preselecting a liquid reactive resin forming material, a particulate solid additive material, a porous tubular blanket and an inflatable bladder member disposed within said tubular blanket, mixing said additive particles with said liquid resin forming material substantially continuously to form a substantially uniform mixture thereof, encapsulating substantially all of said additive particles with said liquid resin forming material, advancing said tubular blanket/bladder combination through said liquid resin/additive mixture, migrating part of said mixture through said blanket substantially uniformly to form a continuous resin matrix within said blanket, advancing said mixture-treated blanket along a preselected path, inflating said bladder member within said treated blanket to form a bladder-lined tubular structure of a preselected cross section, placing said inflated tubular structure into a preselected final configuration while said structure is flexible and has an adhesive outer surface, forming a second resin/additive mixture with a high proportion of particulate solid additive material by tumbling said materials along a cylindrical path in a preselected orientation, reversing the direction of said tumbling as said materials advance along said cylindrical path, changing the orientation of said cylindrical path along preselected sections thereof, monitoring the orientation of said cylindrical path sections and adjusting the orientation to maintain said sections within preselected specifications, applying said second resin/additive mixture to said inflated tubular structure as it is being placed into a preselected final configuration to produce a continuous pipe structure with a high strength outer covering to withstand vehicular traffic.

Mobile continuous very high strength tubular structure forming apparatus including a supporting portion, a raw material supplying portion, a mixing portion, a matrix forming portion and a control portion;

said supporting portion including a plurality of spaced upstanding frame members of adjustable length, a plurality of generally horizontally disposed frame sections joining adjacent upper ends of said upstanding frame members, one pair of opposed frame sections being of adjustable length, support sections extending between said adjustable opposed pair of said frame sections, pivotable carriage means extending downwardly from lower ends of said upstanding frame members;
said raw material supplying portion including a plurality of reservoirs operatively connected with said supporting portion, said reservoirs being connected independently with said mixing portion through flexible conduit means;
said mixing portion extending from said supporting portion adjacent an upstanding frame member, said mixing portion including an elongated mixing chamber adjustably disposed adjacent said supporting portion;
said matrix forming portion including mixture distributing means extending adjustably downwardly from said mixing chamber and being disposed adjacent an outlet thereof, said matrix forming portion including a trough chamber with vertically disposed plate sections arranged in a downwardly converging relationship, elongated structure grasping means disposed adjacent said mixing chamber outlet and spaced therefrom, gas pressure means disposed adjacent said structure grasping means selectively engageable with a bladder member within a structure to inflate said structure into a preselected tubular configuration, said mixing portion including a second mixing chamber including a plurality of adjacent axially aligned rotatable mixing sections operatively connected with slip members, independent drive means rotating each of said mixing sections about a central axis, positioning means adjusting the orientation of each mixing section with respect to adjacent mixing sections, second mixture distributing means delivering a second mixture to said inflated tubular structure as it is being placed in a final configuration;
said control portion including programmable memory means, coordinating means, sensing means, actuating means, and circuitry transmitting signals from said sensing means to said coordinating means for comparison with said memory means and activation of said actuating means to form a high strength outer covering surrounding a continuous tubular structure to withstand vehicular traffic.

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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.