Assemblies and methods for forming fiber reinforced thermoplastic structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12043003-B2
Application number	US-202217577971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 18, 2022
Priority date	Jan 18, 2022
Publication date	Jul 23, 2024
Grant date	Jul 23, 2024

Abstract

A method for forming a fiber reinforced thermoplastic part may comprise the steps of locating a thermoplastic material over a mold tool, heating the thermoplastic material to a pliable forming temperature, conforming the thermoplastic material to a mold surface of the mold tool, and depositing a plurality of fiber strips over the thermoplastic material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for forming a fiber reinforced thermoplastic part, the method comprising:
locating a sealing member around a perimeter of a thermoplastic material;
locating the thermoplastic material over a mold tool, wherein the mold tool comprises a mold surface and wherein the mold surface comprises at least one planar surface and at least one curved surface;
prior to heating, forming an airtight seal between the thermoplastic material and the mold tool via the sealing member, the sealing member configured to couple the thermoplastic material to the perimeter of the least one planar surface and the at least one curved surface the mold tool such that the thermoplastic material is spaced apart from the mold surface of the mold tool;
heating the thermoplastic material to a pliable forming temperature;
conforming the thermoplastic material to the mold surface of the mold tool; and
depositing a plurality of fiber strips over the thermoplastic material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein conforming the thermoplastic material to the mold surface of the mold tool comprises:
evacuating air from between the thermoplastic material and the mold surface of the mold tool.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein heating the thermoplastic material to the pliable forming temperature comprises heating the thermoplastic material with the thermoplastic material spaced apart from the mold surface.

4. The method claim 2 , wherein depositing the plurality of fiber strips over the thermoplastic material includes:
depositing a first layer of fiber strips on the thermoplastic material; and
depositing a second layer of fiber strips on the first layer of fiber strips.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising applying heat and pressure to the first layer of fiber strips prior to depositing the second layer of fiber strips.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the pliable forming temperature is greater than or equal to a glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic material and less than a melting point of the thermoplastic material.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein locating the thermoplastic material over the mold tool comprises disposing an exterior surface of the thermoplastic material in a concave configuration, the exterior surface facing a plurality of heater units, and wherein heating the thermoplastic material to the pliable forming temperature comprises disposing each heater unit of the plurality of heater units in at least substantially equally-spaced relation to the exterior surface.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein evacuating air from between the thermoplastic material and the mold surface of the mold tool comprises powering on a vacuum fluidly coupled to a channel defined by the mold tool.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising releasing the thermoplastic material from the mold tool by turning off the vacuum.

10. A method for forming a fiber reinforced thermoplastic part, the method comprising:
locating a thermoplastic material over a mold tool such that the thermoplastic material is spaced apart from a mold surface of the mold tool, wherein the mold surface comprises at least one planar surface and at least one curved surface;
prior to heating, forming an airtight seal between the thermoplastic material and a plurality of attachment frames located around and surrounding a perimeter of the mold surface of the mold tool, wherein the plurality of attachment frames comprise at least one planar attachment frame and at least one curved attachment frame such that the plurality of attachment frames conforms to the mold surface of the mold tool, wherein forming the airtight seal between the thermoplastic material and the plurality of attachment frames includes the use of a sealing member between the thermoplastic material and the plurality of attachment frames, the sealing member configured to couple the thermoplastic material to the plurality of attachment frames;
heating the thermoplastic material to a pliable forming temperature;
evacuating air from between the thermoplastic material and the mold surface; and
depositing a plurality of fiber strips over the thermoplastic material.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein forming the airtight seal between the thermoplastic material and the plurality of attachment frames comprises locating a top frame on an exterior surface of the thermoplastic material.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising consolidating a first fiber strip of the plurality of fiber strips with the thermoplastic material by heating the thermoplastic material and the first fiber strip to a temperature sufficient to melt both the thermoplastic material and a matrix material of the first fiber strip.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein heating the thermoplastic material to the pliable forming temperature comprises disposing a plurality of heater units over the thermoplastic material.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising releasing the thermoplastic material from the mold tool by turning off a vacuum fluidly coupled to a channel extending to the mold surface.

Assignees

• Rohr Inc

Inventors

• Huang Jonathan S
• Woods Jeffrey D
• Van Tooren Michael
• Bahramshahi Noushin

Classifications

• B29K2105/106

  longitudinally · CPC title

• B29K2101/12

  Thermoplastic materials · CPC title

• B29C70/543

  Fixing the position or configuration of fibrous reinforcements before or during moulding (for non-woven fabrics D04H3/08) · CPC title

• B29C70/20

  oriented in a single direction, e.g. roofing or other parallel fibres {(B29C70/083, B29C70/226 take precedence)} · CPC title

• B29C51/425

  using movable heating devices · CPC title