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

Claim 1

In apparatus wherein is included a 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, a resin inlet for introducing resin into said chamber for contact with said lay up of fibrous material, a vacuum outlet for drawing a vacuum upon said chamber, the improved combination which further includes a pair of primary resin distribution media, one located upon the mold surface beneath the lower face of said lay up and the other atop the lay up between said lay up and said fluid impervious outer sheet; a primary distribution medium being constituted of spaced-apart lines running crisscross one with another, and an open array of separated raised segments on the surface of said structure which act as vertical pillars to prop apart the lower face of said lay up and the mold surface, and the upper face of said lay up and the impervious outer sheet, to simultaneously maintain a network of connecting upwardly faced vertical openings and connecting lateral passageways through which resin can flow freely through the first said primary resin distribution medium from the point of resin introduction to the marginal edges of said first resin distribution medium over the entire area adjacent thereto and through the lay up and thence from the downstream face of the lay up through the second said primary distribution medium when vacuum is applied upon said chamber and said impervious outer sheet is collapsed upon the mold surface.