Method of manufacture of formed article
First Claim
1. Method of manufacturing molded articles comprising the steps of forming a nonwoven, air laid batt from structural fibers by pneumatically conveying the fibers in an air stream randomly depositing said fibers on a condenser to form a nonwoven gas permeable, compressible batt having a substantial portion of its fibers interlocking randomly in each of the three spatial dimensions, adding a thermoplastic binder material to the fibers molding the batt by forcing a gas through the batt to thereby mold the batt without substantial compression of the batt, and heating the batt during molding to a temperature to at least partially melt the binder material to form the batt into a shape-retaining article.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A molded article, for example, a filter or a preform used in the manufacture of fiber-reinforced composites, is manufactured from an air laid batt from a single fiber type or a mixture of fibers. The batt is either resinated with a thermoplastic material or includes a thermoplastic binder fiber. The batt is formed into the desired shape of the molded article in a through-air mold and heated sufficiently to set the thermoplastic material, so that the resulting article retains the desired shape. If the article is to be used as a fluid filter, it can be used either as it is removed from the mold if a filter of uniform density is desired, of the article can be further processed in a compression mold to densify portions of the article to thereby form, for example, a fluid impervious portion used as a gasket. If the article is to be used as a preform for a structural composite, it is then to be transferred to a resin injection mold.
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Citations
8 Claims
- 1. Method of manufacturing molded articles comprising the steps of forming a nonwoven, air laid batt from structural fibers by pneumatically conveying the fibers in an air stream randomly depositing said fibers on a condenser to form a nonwoven gas permeable, compressible batt having a substantial portion of its fibers interlocking randomly in each of the three spatial dimensions, adding a thermoplastic binder material to the fibers molding the batt by forcing a gas through the batt to thereby mold the batt without substantial compression of the batt, and heating the batt during molding to a temperature to at least partially melt the binder material to form the batt into a shape-retaining article.
Specification