Plastic transfer molding techniques for the production of fiber reinforced plastic structures

Claim 1

In apparatus useful for the formation of fiber reinforced plastic structures wherein is included a fluid impervious outer sheet, a resin inlet in said fluid impervious outer sheet, a mold surface upon which can be supported a lay up of one or more layers of a fiberous material, and over which can be placed said fluid impervious outer sheet and its edges marginally sealed upon said mold surface to form a chamber, and a vacuum outlet for drawing a vacuum upon said chamber, the improved combination which further includes a resin distribution medium for location between said fabric lay up and said fluid impervious outer sheet constituted of spaced-apart lines running crisscross one with another, and an open array of separated raised segments on the surface of said the distribution medium which act as vertical pillars to prop apart the upper surface of said fabric layup and the lower face of said impervious outer sheet, to simultaneously maintain a network of connecting upwardly faced vertical openings and connecting lateral passageways through which resin introduced via the resin inlet into the resin distribution medium can flow freely from the point of resin introduction to the marginal edges of the resin distribution medium and thence downwardly over the entire area thereunder through the fabric lay up when vacuum is applied upon said chamber and said impervious outer sheet is collapsed upon the mold surface the resin inlet being contiguous with a pervious conduit disposed to function as a resin distribution means extending across said resin distribution medium.