System for producing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017008239-A1
Application number	US-201514794634-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 8, 2015
Priority date	Nov 22, 2013
Publication date	Jan 12, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to one embodiment, a system for manufacturing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg includes a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat and a drying mechanism that removes residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat. The system also includes a resin application mechanism that applies a reactive resin to the fabric or mat and a press mechanism that presses the coated fabric or mat to ensure that the resin fully saturates the fabric or mat. The system further includes a curing oven through which the coated fabric or mat is moved to polymerize the resin and thereby form a thermoplastic polymer so that upon exiting the oven, the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer. During at least a portion of the process, humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is maintained at substantially zero.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for manufacturing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg in a continuous process, the system comprising:
a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat from a starting point to an ending point, the fabric or mat being subjected to a plurality of processes between the starting point and the ending point and the fabric or mat being in substantially constant movement between the starting point and ending point; a fabric or mat drying mechanism that is configured to remove residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat as the fabric or mat is moved past the drying mechanism; a resin application mechanism that is configured to apply a monomer or oligomer to the fabric or mat as the fabric or mat is moved past the resin application mechanism, the monomer or oligomer being in contact with a catalyst and an activator upon application of the monomer or oligomer onto the fabric or mat, the catalyst and activator facilitating in polymerizing the monomer or oligomer to form a thermoplastic polymer; a press mechanism that is configured to press the monomer or oligomer through the fabric or mat as the fabric or mat is moved past or through the press mechanism such that the monomer or oligomer fully saturates the fabric or mat; and a curing oven having a temperature of greater than 120 degrees Celsius, the curing oven being configured to effect polymerization of the monomer or oligomer to form the thermoplastic polymer as the fabric or mat is moved through the curing oven such that the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer; wherein the system is configured to maintain a temperature of the monomer or oligomer to between 70 and 120 degrees Celsius prior to passing the coated fabric or mat through the curing oven; and wherein the system is further configured to maintain an environment in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat to a humidity of substantially zero prior to subjecting the coated fabric or mat to the curing oven.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a mixing mechanism that is configured to mix the monomer or oligomer with the catalyst and the activator prior to application of the monomer or oligomer to the fabric or mat.

3 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising a first holding tank and a second holding tank that is separate from the first holding tank, wherein the first holding tank comprises a first mixture that includes the monomer or oligomer and the catalyst and wherein the second holding tank comprises a second mixture that includes the monomer or oligomer and the activator.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the first mixture and the second mixture are mixed in a mixing head.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a single holding tank that comprises a mixture of the monomer or oligomer and either the catalyst or the activator, wherein the activator or catalyst that is not included within the single holding tank is pre-applied to the fibers of the fabric or mat.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the system further comprises a gas application mechanism that is configured to blow a moisture-free gas onto one or more surfaces of the moving fabric or mat in order to maintain the environment in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat to substantially zero humidity.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the gas application mechanism blows nitrogen gas onto one or more surfaces of the moving fabric or mat.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a winding mechanism that is configured to wind the fully impregnated fabric or mat into a roll product after the fully impregnated fabric or mat exits the curing oven.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the press mechanism is a double belt compression press that sandwiches the coated fabric or mat between two belts.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the monomer or oligomer comprises caprolactam.

11 . A system for manufacturing a prepreg comprising:
a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat along the system; a drying mechanism that removes residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat; a resin application mechanism that applies a resin to the fabric or mat; a press mechanism that presses the fabric or mat subsequent to application of the resin to ensure that the resin fully saturates the fabric or mat; and a curing oven through which the coated fabric or mat is moved to polymerize the resin and thereby form a thermoplastic polymer so that upon exiting the curing oven, the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer; wherein a humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is maintained at substantially zero during at least a portion of the processing of the fabric or mat.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a mixing mechanism that mixes the resin with a catalyst and an activator prior to application of the resin to the fabric or mat.

13 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising a first holding tank and a second holding tank that is separate from the first holding tank, the first holding tank comprising a mixture of the resin and the catalyst and the second holding tank comprising a mixture of the resin and the activator.

14 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a gas application mechanism that applies a moisture-free gas onto one or more surfaces of the coated fabric or mat to maintain the humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat to substantially zero.

15 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising a winding mechanism that winds the fully impregnated fabric or mat into a roll product after the fully impregnated fabric or mat exits the curing oven.

16 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the resin comprises caprolactam.

17 . A method of forming a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg product comprising:
moving a fabric or mat from a starting point to an ending point, wherein the fabric or mat is subjected to a plurality of processes and wherein the fabric or mat is in substantially constant movement between the starting point and ending point; drying the fabric or mat to remove residual moisture from one or more surfaces of the fabric or mat; mixing a monomer or oligomer with a catalyst and an activator to form a reactive resin mixture, the catalyst and activator facilitating in polymerizing the monomer or oligomer to form a thermoplastic polymer; applying the reactive resin mixture to the fabric or mat, the reactive resin mixture having a viscosity of 10 centipoises or less; passing the reactive resin mixture coated fabric or mat through a calendar or press to press the reactive resin mixture entirely through the fabric or mat such that the reactive resin mixture fully saturates the fabric or mat; and passing the reactive resin mixture coated fabric or mat through a curing oven to polymerize the reactive resin mixture and thereby form the thermoplastic polymer; wherein an environment in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is controlled to maintain a humidity in the air to substantially zero prior to passing the coated fabric or mat through the curing oven.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein a portion of the monomer or oligomer is mixed with the catalyst in a first tank and a portion of the monomer or oligomer is mixed with the activator in a second tank that is separate from the first tank, and wherein mixing the monomer or oligomer with the catalyst and the activator comprises mixing the materials from the first tank and the second tank in a static mixer.

Assignees

• Johns Manville

Inventors

• Zhang Mingfu
• Gleich Klaus Friedrich
• Yohannes Asheber
• Block Michael John
• Asrar Jawed
• Bristol Derek Cooper
• Sandoval Christopher P

Classifications

• B29K2033/12

  Polymers of methacrylic acid esters, e.g. PMMA, i.e. polymethylmethacrylate · CPC title

• Y10T442/2992

  Coated or impregnated glass fiber fabric · CPC title

• B05C9/14

  the auxiliary operation involving heating {or cooling} · CPC title

• B29K2105/256

  Sheets, plates, blanks or films · CPC title

• B29B11/12

  Compression moulding · CPC title