Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – With printing or coating of workpiece – Coating or impregnating workpiece before molding or shaping...
Patent
1996-07-15
1998-08-04
Thurlow, Jeffery R.
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
With printing or coating of workpiece
Coating or impregnating workpiece before molding or shaping...
156166, 156180, 264143, 26417113, B29B 906
Patent
active
057889082
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition wherein a web-like (sheet having a substantially fixed width and thickness) continuous fiber bundle is impregnated with a thermoplastic resin melt to form a composite material.
BACKGROUND ART
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 63-264326 discloses a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition. According to the method, fiber bundles are continuously passed through a cross-head die, while a thermoplastic resin melt is discharged into the die so as to impregnate the fiber bundles with the thermoplastic resin melt. This method features easy operation and control of the amount of impregnation with resin.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 63-132036 discloses a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition without using a cross-head die. According to the method, continuous reinforcing roving fibers are led into a thermoplastic resin melt to contact therewith. Rolls press the roving fibers accompanied by the resin melt to accelerate the permeation of the resin thereinto, after which, the roving fibers impregnated with the resin are drawn through a drawing apparatus to squeeze an excess resin therefrom, thereby obtaining a strand-like fiber-reinforced composite material. Specifically, a thermoplastic resin melt is fed into a die box through a resin melt feed nozzle, while a plurality of continuous reinforcing roving fibers are led from bobbins into the resin melt within the die box via guide rolls.
The method using a cross-head die disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (kokai) No. 63-264326 has the drawback that the impregnation with a resin tends to become insufficient. The use of a resin having a low viscosity (low molecular weight) so as to avoid the problem raises problem that only a composition having poorer physical properties is obtained. Also, this involves another problem that fibers passing through a bent portion of a passage in the cross-head die are damaged to the point of breaking due to friction with the metal of the die. This makes it quite difficult to improve various characteristics of a composition produced by adding an inorganic filling to the resin. Further, a related problem is that the die is difficult to clean, which is a practice essential for improving or maintaining quality characteristics of a composition produced.
The method using a die box in place of a cross-head die has the drawback that a resin tends to deteriorate and discolor due to a stagnant resin melt within the die box. Also, the die box is difficult to clean.
The present invention was accomplished in view of the above problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is drawn to a method for producing a long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin composition characterized by comprising the steps of: passing a continuous fiber bundle which has undergone fiber-loosening to have a web-like form through a coating die having a resin discharge outlet so as to coat at least one side of upper and lower sides of the web-like continuous fiber bundle with a thermoplastic resin melt discharged from the resin discharge outlet; and contacting the coated web-like continuous fiber bundle at its upper and lower sides with a plurality of upper and lower bars which are arranged such that positions of contact between the web-like continuous fiber bundle and the bars are generally in a horizontal plane (the case where the positions of contact are in a horizontal plane is included, and this is applied to the rest of the description of the invention), and that the longitudinal axis of each of the ba
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Polyplastics Co. Ltd.
Thurlow Jeffery R.
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