Process for forming continuous fiber reinforced material embedded in thermosetting resin

Claim 1

A process for rapid production of fiber reinforced cured thermosetting resin material, comprising the steps of impregnating a continuously supplied reinforcing fiber material with an uncured thermosetting resin, shaping said impregnated fiber material into a predetermined cross-sectional configuration by passing said fiber material straight through a series of shaping dies which have openings arranged to gradually become smaller in cross-section, leading said shaped impregnated fiber material into a central passage of an extrusion die, said central passage having a cross-sectional shape which is substantially the same as that of the shaping die closest to the extrusion die, extruding through said extrusion die a thin molten layer of molten thermoplastic resin around and spaced from said shaped impregnated fiber material immediately after the fiber material comes out of said extrusion die and converging said thin layer of molten thermoplastic resin radially toward and in the direction of advancement of said shaped impregnated fiber material while producing a negative pressure between the inside of said extruded thermoplastic resin and said shaped impregnated fiber material for firmly covering said shaped impregnated fiber material with said molten thermoplastic resin, immediately leading said thus covered fiber material into a cooled water tank at a speed of about 1 m/sec. to solidify said thermoplastic resin and thereby to cover said shaped impregnated fiber material, cutting said covered fiber material into predetermined lengths of more than 10 m, and thereafter passing a plurality of cut pieces of said fiber material simultaneously and in spaced parallel relation through a heated water tank to cure said thermosetting resin, whereby the covered fiber material can be produced at a relatively high speed and the thus rapidly produced covered material can be cured at a slower speed.