US 8,425,708 B2 · Continuous fabrication of parts using in-feed spools of fiber reinforced thermoplastic

Abstract

Thermoplastic composite laminate parts with tailored and varying thickness and/or curved sections are manufactured in a continuous process. Automated equipment or hand lay-up is used to collate parts or components into a multi-layer stack. Each stack contains all plies, including ply build-up areas, tacked in the proper location to maintain orientation and location. Some or all of the plies may be continuously fed from spools of single or multiply ply material. Ply consolidation tooling contains all necessary part features and is coordinated to the customized multiple ply stacks to form a single integrated thermoplastic composite laminate potentially having areas of differing thickness from the multiple ply stacks.

Claims7

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

feeding a first length of thermoplastic material from a first spool, wherein the first length of thermoplastic material comprises generally parallel fibers, and wherein feeding further comprises:
receiving the first length of thermoplastic material from the first spool;
dividing the first length of thermoplastic material into separate sections;
rotating the separate sections to change angles of the generally parallel fibers in the separate sections relative to a reference direction of fiber orientation, wherein rotated sections are formed;
and
joining the rotated sections together to form a second length of thermoplastic material;
and
winding the second length of thermoplastic material onto a second spool.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application

11/697,378Filed 6 Apr 2007 · continuation in part

Priority

2 Feb 2006

Published

US 2007/0175571 A12 Aug 2007

Granted

23 Apr 2013

Term ends

Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification26 codes

B29D 99/0007
Producing profiled members, e.g. beams: having a variable cross-section
B29C 70/525
Pultrusion, i.e. forming and compressing by continuously pulling through a die: component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
B29C 70/545
Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations , e.g. feeding or storage of prepregs or SMC after impregnation or during ageing:…
B29K 2101/12
Use of unspecified macromolecular compounds as moulding material: thermoplastic materials

Family

Application11/347,122Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 2 Feb 2006

US 2007/0175572 A1Pre-grant publication · published 2 Aug 2007

US 7,807,005 B2Parent of this continuation-in-part

US 2007/0175571 A1Published application

US 8,425,708 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Continuous fabrication of parts using in-feed spools of fiber reinforced thermoplastic

Life of this patent

Continuous fabrication of parts using in-feed spools of fiber reinforced thermoplastic

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims7