Hollow composite body and its manufacturing process
AssigneeSaint-Gobain Vetrotex France S.A.
InventorsJean-Paul Debalme, Gilles Rocher
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Abstract
A hollow composite body includes a thermoplastic internal layer as a liner, a thermoplastic interlayer with embedded reinforcing fibers, and a thermoplastic external layer. The hollow body is made by furnishing the liner as a preform; introducing the preform into a mold, an inflatable bladder having been inserted into the preform; heating the preform and inflating the bladder to apply pressure against the internal wall of the preform. A space between the external wall of the preform and the internal wall of the mold is tailored to the thickness of the external layer of the hollow body to be obtained, so as to allow migration of the thermoplastic of the interlayer, and possible of the liner, beyond the interlayer.
Claims11
A hollow composite body comprising:
- an internal layer formed from a thermoplastic, which internal layer forms a liner of said composite body;
- a composite interlayer formed from a thermoplastic in which reinforcing fibers are embedded;
- and
- an external layer formed from a thermoplastic,
- wherein the external layer is composed of the thermoplastic of at least the interlayer, which thermoplastic has migrated beyond the interlayer during manufacture of the hollow body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.