Method of making a foam structural laminate

Claim 2

A process for producing a structural laminate comprising the steps of: I. contacting a thin, substantially incompressible yet expansible mat of glass fibers with a foam-forming mixture, II. positioning a facing sheet on at least one face of the mat, and III. passing the facing sheet, the mat and the foam-forming mixture through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat, the mat of glass fibers being further characterized by A. the glass fibers being arranged in layers, and B. the glass fibers within each layer being greater than one foot in length.

Claim 3

The process of claim 1 comprising the steps of: I. contacting the thin, substantially incompressible yet expansible mat of glass fibers with the foam-forming mixture, II. positioning a facing sheet on each face of the mat, and III. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through the means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat.

Claim 4

The process of claim 1 wherein the means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of the glass mat comprises the nip of two rotating rolls.

Claim 5

The process of claim 3 wherein the mat of glass fibers has an initial thickness less than 1 and 1/2 times the separation of the facing sheets at the nip of the two rotating rolls.

Claim 6

The process of claim 2 wherein the glass fibers in each layer are at an angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer.

Claim 7

The process of claim 5 comprising the steps of: I. contacting a thin, substantially incompressible yet expansible mat of glass fibers with a foam-forming mixture, II. positioning a facing sheet on each face of the mat, and III. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat, the mat of glass fibers being further characterized by A. the glass fibers being arranged in layers, B. the glass fibers within each layer being greater than one foot in length, and C. the glass fibers in each layer being at an acute angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer, and IV. permitting the mat of glass fibers to expand under substantially the sole influence of the expansion of the foam-forming mixture.

Claim 8

The process of claim 6 wherein the layers of fibers in the mat maintain their same order but are distributed throughout the resultant structural laminate.

Claim 9

The process of claim 6 wherein the layers of fibers in the mat are evenly distributed throughout the structural laminate in planes substantially parallel to the planes of the facing sheets.

Claim 10

The process of claim 6 wherein the foam-forming mixture cures under the influence of heat added by the controlled introduction of hot air.

Claim 11

The process of claim 5 wherein the mat of glass fibers has a low loft such that pressure applied to the faces of the mat will not substantially reduce the thickness of the mat.

Claim 12

The process of claim 5 wherein the glass fibers of the mat are arranged in layers which are parallel to the faces of the mat.

Claim 13

The process of claim 5 wherein the glass fibers in each layer of the mat are at an angle of less than 60° to the glass fibers in each of the next adjacent layers.

Claim 14

The process of claim 5 wherein the glass fibers are attached to one another by an amount of fiber binder sufficient to make the mat of glass fibers dimensionally stable but insufficient to fill the interstices between the glass fibers.

Claim 15

The process of claim 5 wherein the glass fibers within each layer are substantially parallel to each other.

Claim 16

A process for producing a structural laminate comprising the steps of: I. contacting a mat of glass fibers with a foam-forming mixture, II. positioning a facing sheet comprising a metal on each face of the mat, III. passing the facing sheets having the mat of glass fibers and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat, wherein: A. the velocity of the mat is equal to the velocity of the facing sheets, B. the glass fibers of the mat are arranged in layers, C. the glass fibers within each layer are greater than one foot in length, D. the glass fibers in each layer are at an angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer, and E. the foam-forming mixture completely fills the interstices between the fibers of the mat, and IV. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween from the metering means into an expansion zone wherein the foam-forming mixture expands under the influence of heat generated in an exothermic reaction between the components of the foam-forming mixture, and the layers of fibers in the mat separate under the influence of the expansion of the foam-forming mixture.

Claim 17

A process for producing a structural laminate comprising the steps of: I. contacting a mat of glass fibers with a foam-forming mixture, II. positioning a facing sheet comprising a metal on each face of the mat, III. passing the facing sheets having the mat of glass fibers and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat, wherein: A. the velocity of the mat is equal to the velocity of the facing sheets, B. the glass fibers of the mat are arranged in layers, C. the glass fibers within each layer are greater than one foot in length, D. the glass fibers in each layer are at an angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer, and E. the foam-forming mixture completely fills the interstices between the fibers of the mat, and IV. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween from the metering means into an expansion zone wherein the foam-forming mixture expands under the influence of heat generated in an exothermic reaction between the components of the foam-forming mixture, and the layers of fibers in the mat separate under the influence of the expansion of the foam-forming mixture.

Claim 18

The process of claim 15 wherein the thickness of the mat prior to passing through the metering means is less than 0.1 inches.

Claim 19

The process of claim 16 wherein the thickness of the mat prior to passing through the metering means is between 0.010 and 0.050 inches.

Claim 20

The process of claim 15 wherein the glass fibers have an average length that exceeds five feet.

Claim 21

The process of claim 15 wherein the glass fibers in each layer of the mat are at an acute angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer.

Claim 22

The process of claim 15 wherein the glass fibers in each layer of the mat are at an angle of less than 60° to the glass fibers in each of the next adjacent layers.

Claim 23

The process of claim 15 wherein the glass fibers are attached to one another by an amount of fiber binder sufficient to make the mat of glass fibers dimensionally stable but insufficient to fill the interstices between the glass fibers and insufficient to resist the separation of the glass fibers under the influence of the expanding foam-forming mixture.

Claim 24

The process of claim 15 wherein the mat of glass fibers is included in the amount of 1-24 grams per board-foot of the resulting structural laminate.

Claim 25

The process of claim 15 wherein the glass fibers within each layer are substantially parallel to each other.

Claim 26

A process for producing a structural laminate comprising the steps of: I. providing a thin, substantially incompressible yet expansible mat of glass fibers wherein: A. the glass fibers are arranged in layers, B. the glass fibers within each layer are greater than one foot in length, C. the glass fibers are lightly bonded to each other at their intersections by means of interfiber bonds, and D. the mat of glass fibers has an indefinite running length, II. stretching the mat of glass fibers by an amount sufficient to rupture some of the interfiber bonds, and then III. contacting the mat with a foam-forming mixture, IV. positioning a facing sheet on each face of the mat, and V. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat.

Claim 27

A process for producing a structural laminate comprising the steps of: I. providing a thin, substantially incompressible yet expansible mat of glass fibers wherein: A. the glass fibers are arranged in layers, B. the glass fibers within each layer are greater than one foot in length, C. the glass fibers are lightly bonded to each other at their intersections by means of interfiber bonds, and D. the mat of glass fibers has an indefinite running length, II. stretching the mat of glass fibers by an amount sufficient to rupture some of the interfiber bonds, and then III. contacting the mat with a foam-forming mixture, IV. positioning a facing sheet on each face of the mat, and V. passing the facing sheets having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween through means for metering the amount of foam-forming mixture and causing it to fully penetrate between the fibers of said glass mat.

Claim 28

The process of claim 24 wherein the stretching of the mat of glass fibers is in a direction parallel to the running length of the glass mat and results in an elongation of 1 to 10% based on the length of the mat prior to stretching.

Claim 29

The process of claim 24 wherein the stretching is accomplished by passing the mat through two pairs of rotating rolls wherein: A. the axes of the rolls are perpendicular to the running length of the mat, B. the nip of each pair of rolls engages the mat, and C. the peripheral speed of the second pair of rolls is greater than the peripheral speed of the first pair of rolls.

Claim 30

The process of claim 24 wherein the glass fibers within each layer are substantially parallel to each other.

Claim 31

The process of claim 24 wherein the glass fibers in each layer are at an angle to the glass fibers in each next adjacent layer.

Claim 32

The process of claim 24 wherein the layers of fibers in the mat separate under the influence of the expansion of the foam-forming mixture.

Claim 33

The process of claim 24 wherein the foam-forming mixture cures under the influence of heat added by the controlled introduction of hot air.

Claim 34

The process of claims 2, 6, 15, or 24 wherein the foam-forming mixture contains a foamable polymer selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, polyisocyanurate, phenolic, rubber, polyvinyl chloride, urea-aldehyde, melamine-aldehyde, polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, cellulose acetate, epoxy, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer and silicone.

Claim 35

The process of claims 2, 6, 15, or 24 wherein the foam-forming mixture contains a foamable phenolic polymer.