Apparatus for coating fibers

Details Apparatus for coating fibers Apparatus for coating fibers

1999-04-22

2001-04-24

Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)

Coating apparatus

Immersion or work-confined pool type

Running length work, longitudinally traveling

C118S427000, C118S428000, C118S429000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06221161

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for coating fibers with a thermoplastic material.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In order to increase the strength and durability of molded plastic parts, it has been previously known to introduce fibers into the plastic parts. These fibers may be of any conventional material, such as fiberglass.
Such fibers, however, increase the strength of the molded part only when the fibers are coated with a thermoplastic material. Conversely, unless the individual fibers are completely coated with the thermoplastic material, the fibers remain flexible and not only fail to strengthen the final molded part, but may actually introduce points of weakness in the final molded part.
There have been previously known devices for coating elongated fibers with a thermoplastic material and, after coating the fibers, chopping the coated fibers into relatively short lengths. The chopped coated fibers are then used as the raw material for a subsequent molding operation.
These previously known devices, however, have not proven entirely satisfactory in use. One disadvantage of these previously known devices is that it was difficult and time consuming to load the fibers into the apparatus, which adversely affected production of the coated fibers. Similarly, these previously known devices have been able to coat only a limited number of fibers thus adversely affecting the production efficiency of the coated fibers.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides an apparatus for coating fibers with a thermoplastic material which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known devices.
In brief, the device of the present invention comprises a housing defining a reservoir in which thermoplastic material is introduced. Heaters are contained within the housing in order to maintain the thermoplastic material in a molten state in the reservoir. The housing also includes an open top which is open to the reservoir.
A lid is selectively movable between an open and a closed position. In its open position, the lid is moved away from the open top of the reservoir thus exposing the reservoir. Conversely, in its closed position, the lid overlies and covers the open top of the housing and simultaneously forms a slot between the lid and housing at opposed ends of the housing.
An elongated wiper is secured to the lid and this wiper is dimensioned so that, when the lid is moved to its closed position, the wiper extends into the reservoir. This wiper, furthermore, is substantially parallel to the slots at the opposed ends of the housing.
An infeed guide bar is secured to the housing between the wiper and one of the opposed ends of the housing while, similarly, an outfeed guide bar is secured to the housing between the wiper and the other of the opposed ends of the housing. These guide bars are substantially parallel to the wiper.
Each guide bar, furthermore, includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced ridges. These ridges serve to separate different bundles of fibers from each other so that a plurality of fiber bundles can be processed simultaneously with each fiber bundle being separated from its adjacent fiber bundle.
In practice, with the lid removed, a plurality of fiber bundles are positioned across the opposed ends of the housing so that the fiber bundles extend across the guide bars and with each fiber bundle positioned in between two spaced ridges on the guide bars. The lid is then positioned over the top of the housing so that the fiber bundles extend out through the slots formed on the opposed ends of the housing. Simultaneously, however, the wiper secured to the lid submerses a midportion of the fiber bundles into the reservoir which, in turn, is filled with a thermoplastic material. Thus, as the fiber bundles are drawn from one end of the housing and to the other end of the housing, the fiber bundles submerge into and pass through the reservoir and thus into the thermoplastic material. The guide bars and wiper, furthermore, serve to spread the fibers in each fiber bundle across the guide bars while the wiper forces the thermoplastic material into the fibers and ensures each fiber in each bundle is coated with the thermoplastic material.
After the fiber bundles are drawn through the housing, the thermoplastic material cools and hardens and the resulting coated fibers are then chopped into lengths for subsequent use in a molding operation.


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