Impregnation Section of Die and Method for Impregnating Fiber Rovings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019352829-A1
Application number	US-201916511027-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 15, 2019
Priority date	Apr 12, 2011
Publication date	Nov 21, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

An impregnation section and a method for impregnating fiber rovings with a polymer resin are disclosed. The impregnation section includes an impregnation zone and a gate passage. The impregnation zone is configured to impregnate the plurality of rovings with the resin. The gate passage is in fluid communication with the impregnation zone for flowing the resin therethrough such that the resin impinges on a surface of each of the plurality of rovings facing the gate passage and substantially uniformly coats the plurality of rovings. The method includes impinging a polymer resin onto a surface of a plurality of fiber rovings, and substantially uniformly coating the plurality of rovings with the resin. The method further includes traversing the plurality of coated rovings through an impregnation zone. Each of the plurality of rovings is under a tension of from about 5 Newtons to about 300 Newtons within the impregnation zone.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . An impregnation section of a die for impregnating a plurality of fiber rovings with a polymer resin, the impregnation section comprising:
an impregnation zone configured to impregnate the plurality of rovings with the resin; and a gate passage in fluid communication with the impregnation zone for flowing the resin therethrough such that the resin impinges on a surface of each of the plurality of rovings facing the gate passage and substantially uniformly coats the plurality of rovings, wherein the impregnation section further comprises a first plate defining a first inner surface and a second plate spaced apart from the first plate and defining a second opposing inner surface, wherein the impregnation zone is defined between the first plate and the second plate, and wherein the impregnation zone comprises a plurality of contact surfaces defined on only one of the first inner surface or the second inner surface.

22 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the gate passage extends vertically to the impregnation zone.

23 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein at least a portion of the gate passage has a decreasing cross-sectional profile in a flow direction of the resin.

24 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the impregnation zone comprises between 2 and 50 contact surfaces.

25 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein each of the plurality of contact surfaces comprises a curvilinear contact surface.

26 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein each of the plurality of contact surfaces is configured such that the plurality of rovings traverse the contact surface at an angle in the range between 1 degree and 30 degrees.

27 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the impregnation zone has a waveform cross-sectional profile.

28 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the impregnation zone comprises a plurality of pins.

29 . The impregnation section of claim 28 , wherein each of the plurality of pins is static.

30 . The impregnation section of claim 28 , wherein each of the plurality of pins is rotationally driven.

31 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , further comprising a land zone downstream of the impregnation zone in a run direction of the plurality of rovings.

32 . The impregnation section of claim 31 , wherein at least a portion of the land zone has an increasing cross-sectional profile in the run direction.

33 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , further comprising a faceplate adjoining the impregnation zone, the faceplate configured to meter excess resin within the plurality of rovings.

34 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the resin is a thermoplastic resin.

35 . The impregnation section of claim 21 , wherein the resin is a thermoset resin.

36 . A method for impregnating a plurality of fiber rovings with a polymer resin, the method comprising:
impinging a polymer resin onto a surface of a plurality of fiber rovings; substantially uniformly coating the plurality of rovings with the resin; and traversing the plurality of coated rovings through an impregnation zone of an impregnation section of a die to impregnate the plurality of coated rovings with the resin, wherein each of the plurality of rovings is under a tension of from about 5 Newtons to about 300 Newtons within the impregnation zone, wherein the impregnation section comprises a first plate defining a first inner surface and a second plate spaced apart from the first plate and defining a second opposing inner surface, the impregnation zone being defined between the first plate and the second plate, and wherein the impregnation zone comprises a plurality of contact surfaces defined on only one of the first inner surface or the second inner surface.

37 . The method of claim 36 , further comprising flowing the resin through a gate passage, and wherein at least a portion of the gate passage has a decreasing cross-sectional profile in a flow direction of the resin.

38 . The method of claim 36 , wherein the plurality of rovings traverse from the impregnation zone through a land zone, the land zone positioned downstream of

Assignees

• Ticona Llc

Inventors

• Tibor Timothy L
• Regan Timothy A
• Johnson Aaron H
• Eastep David W

Classifications

• B29C70/523 Primary

  and impregnating the reinforcement in the die · CPC title

• B29C70/526

  Pultrusion dies, e.g. dies with moving or rotating parts (B29C70/523 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B29B15/122

  with a matrix in liquid form, e.g. as melt, solution or latex · CPC title

• D06B3/04 Primary

  of yarns, threads or filaments · CPC title

• B05D1/265

  Extrusion coatings · CPC title