Pultrusion apparatus for continuous fabrication of fiber-reinforced plastic articles having a non-linear shape, methods of fabricating such articles and compositions used therein
US6679695B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jan 20, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 15, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T428/2913
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A pultrusion apparatus for manufacturing a fiber-reinforced plastic article having a non-linear shape includes a mold configured to receive a partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article and to form the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article into a spirally wound shape. A drive mechanism is coupled to the mold and configured to rotate the mold such that the fiber-reinforced plastic article is taken up on the mold. An energy source is operatively associated with the mold and positioned so that the partially cured fiber-reinforced plastic article is cured in a spirally wound shape as the article is taken up on the longitudinally extending mold. The pultrusion apparatus allows for continuously shaping a non-linear fiber-reinforced plastic article, obviating the need for any of the work to be done by hand, which may be labor intensive, not as highly reproducible, and potentially contaminating.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.