Apparatus for wet manufacturing fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet

• US 5,888,352 A
• Filed: 08/19/1996
• Issued: 03/30/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kawasaki Steel Corporation (JFE Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Kawasaki Steel Corporation (JFE Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Shiota, Isamu, Takehara, Tsuguo, Uchida, Yuichi, Hanatani, Seiji, Yoshikawa, Fumiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): DAVIS, ROBERT B
• Application Number:
  US08/697,054
• Time in Patent Office: 953 Days
• Field of Search: 162/338, 162/343, 162/336
• US Class Current: 162/336
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 70/50 for producing articles of indefinite length, e.g. prepregs, sheet moulding compounds [SMC] or cross moulding compounds [XMC]
• CPC Class Codes: D21F 1/02 Head boxes of Fourdrinier machines
• CPC Class Codes: D21H 13/40 vitreous, e.g. mineral wool, glass fibres
• CPC Class Codes: D21H 17/35 Polyalkenes, e.g. polystyrene

Abstract

The present invention provides an apparatus for wet manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet, having a manifold capable of uniformly distributing the solid concentrations without being affected by inertia force caused by the difference in shape between solids. The invention further provides an apparatus for wet manufacturing a fiber reinforced resin sheet having a buffer inlet or reservoir headbox capable of permitting inhibition of variations of the unit weight distribution under the effect of the dynamic pressure of the raw material dispersing liquid and the resultant fluctuations.

Claims

1. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container comprising container means for containing a dispersing liquid comprising a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold including a shell having a substantially central axis wherein said shell is substantially symmetrically shaped around said axis;

(c) a dispersing liquid inlet and a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets symmetrically positioned about said shell axis,

whereby dispersing liquid introduced into said manifold through said inlet is substantially spirally and/or vertically circulated within said shell prior to exiting through said outlets; and

(d) a distributor connected to said manifold to receive dispersing liquid from said outlets to substantially uniformly distribute said dispersing liquid to make a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said distributor has a plurality of dispersing liquid inlets provided with buffer surfaces where said dispersing liquid is caused to forcibly impact.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said distributor comprises a reservoir headbox having a structure capable of dispensing said dispersing liquid to at least a prescribed depth on a moving endless mesh belt.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said shell is substantially cylindrically shaped.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said manifold has a ratio of height to diameter of about 0.3 to 3.0.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outlets have substantially equal diameters and are located at substantially an equal height on said shell.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said inlet is positioned to introduce said dispersing liquid in a direction tangential to said shell.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said inlet is positioned to introduce said dispersing liquid along the central axis.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said manifold further comprises a stirrer rotating about the central axis.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outlets are arranged at equal intervals on substantially one concentric circle around the center axis.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said outlets exit vertically upward from said manifold.

12. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold having a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets; and

(c) a distributor connected to said manifold with a plurality of pipes, said distributor comprising a buffer inlet adapted to cause said dispersing liquid to forcibly impact a buffer surface interposed in a flow path of said dispersing liquid, and wherein the interior of said buffer inlet is divided into a plurality of receiving sections, each section receiving said dispersing liquid and flows of the dispersing liquid joining after each section and prior to delivering said dispersing liquid to a headbox.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said buffer inlet has an outlet opening having the same width as a suction filtration region of said headbox.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said buffer inlet further comprises a plate extending into said flow path and forming an adjustable opening to form a slot-shaped opening having the same width as the suction filtration region of said headbox.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said buffer inlet is provided with a plurality of said plates extending into said flow path at intervals to provide a plurality of slot-shaped openings spaced apart from one another along the flow direction of said dispersing liquid.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein said buffer surface extends at a right angle to said flow path.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein outermost ones of said receiving sections have a cross-sectional area that is smaller than that of other sections.

18. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to the dispersion supply container; and

(c) a distributor connected to said manifold, said distributor comprising a reservoir headbox capable of dispensing and maintaining said dispersing liquid at a predetermined depth on a moving endless mesh belt.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said predetermined depth is a depth at which rolling caused by the dispersing liquid flowing into the headbox does not reach above said mesh belt.

20. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold having a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets; and

(c) a distributor connected to said manifold with a plurality of pipes, said distributor being divided into a holding section, a buffer inlet, and a dispensing section by a substantially vertically oriented divider, said holding section being divided by partitions into a plurality of receiving sections connected to said manifold, said buffer inlet adapted to cause said dispersing liquid to forcibly impact a buffer surface interposed in a flow path of said dispersing liquid in said receiving sections, and said dispensing section capable of dispensing and maintaining, said dispersing liquid at a predetermined depth on a moving endless mesh belt, whereby dispersing liquid enters lower portions of said receiving sections, travels upwardly to an upper portion of said divider, mixes together and flows beyond said divider and into said dispensing section.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising a plate providing a slot-shaped opening which is positioned at an upper portion of said holding section to adjust flow of dispersing liquid into said dispensing section.

22. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold having a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets; and

(c) a distributor connected to said manifold with a plurality of pipes, said distributor comprising a buffer inlet adapted to cause said dispersing liquid to forcibly impact a surface interposed in a flow path of said dispersing liquid, and further comprising at least one weir positioned in said flow path after said buffer inlet, prior to delivering said dispersing liquid to a headbox.

23. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold including a shell having a substantially central axis wherein said shell is substantially symmetrically shaped around said axis;

(c) a dispersing liquid inlet and a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets symmetrically positioned about said shell axis;

wherein dispersing liquid introduced into said manifold through said inlet is substantially spirally and/or vertically circulated within said shell prior to exiting through said outlets; and

(d) a distributor connected to said manifold with a plurality of pipes, said distributor comprising a buffer inlet adapted to cause said dispersing liquid to forcibly impact a buffer surface interposed in a flow path of said dispersing liquid, and wherein the interior of said buffer inlet is divided into a plurality of receiving sections, each section receiving said dispersing liquid and flows of the dispersing liquid joining after each section and prior to delivering said dispersing liquid to a headbox.

24. An apparatus for manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet comprising:

(a) a dispersion supply container containing a dispersing liquid containing a reinforcing fiber and a resin;

(b) a manifold connected to said dispersion supply container, said manifold including a shell having a substantially central axis wherein said shell is substantially symmetrically shaped around said axis;

(c) a dispersing liquid inlet and a plurality of dispersing liquid outlets symmetrically positioned about said shell axis,

whereby dispersing liquid introduced into said manifold through said inlet is substantially spirally and/or vertically circulated within said shell prior to exiting through said outlets; and

(d) a distributor connected to said manifold with a plurality of pipes, said distributor being divided into a holding section, a buffer inlet, and a dispensing section by a substantially vertically oriented divider, said holding section being divided by partitions into a plurality of receiving sections connected to said manifold, said buffer inlet adapted to cause said dispersing liquid to forcibly impact a buffer surface interposed in a flow path of said dispersing liquid in said receiving sections, and said dispensing section capable of dispensing and maintaining said dispersing liquid at a predetermined depth on a moving endless mesh belt, whereby dispersing liquid enters lower portions of said receiving sections, travels upwardly to an upper portion of said divider, mixes together and flows beyond said divider and into said dispensing section.