Patent US5198281A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5198281A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Non-woven flexible multiply towpreg fabric
Assignee: Georgia Tech Research Corp
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Filing: 1992-03-09
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Granted: 1993-03-30
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Expires: 2012-03-09
Abstract
Abstract A non-woven towpreg fabric and a method of production therefor. The non-woven towpreg fabric is fabricated from a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies which comprise reinforcing filaments substantially wetout by a matrix forming material, which then are bonded together to form the fabric. The method of production for the non-woven towpreg fabric involves spreading the reinforcing filaments, coating the reinforcing filaments with the matrix forming material in a manner causing interfacial adhesion, forming the towpreg plies by heating the matrix forming material until the matrix forming material liquefies and coats the reinforcing filaments, cooling the towpreg plies in a manner while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated until the matrix forming material solidifies, overlapping a plurality of the towpreg plies, and bonding the towpreg plies together. Multidimensional fabrics, preforms and composite articles also can be formed by this invention.
Inventors
- 👤 John D. Muzzy
- 👤 Jonathan S. Colton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 19:17
CPC Classifications
D; D01; D01F; D01F11/00; D01F11/10; D01F11/16; B; B29; B29B; B29B15/00; B29B15/08; B29B15/10; B29B15/12; B29C; B29C70/00; B29C70/04; B29C70/06; B29C70/10; B29C70/16; B29C70/20; B29C70/28; B29C70/40; B29C70/50; B29C70/504; C; C04; C04B; C04B41/00; C04B41/45; C04B41/4584; D01F11/14; D06; D06M; D06M23/00; D06M23/08; B29K; B29K2105/00; B29K2105/0058; B29K2105/0067; B29K2105/0088; B29K2105/25; B29K2105/251; B29K2105/26; B63; B63B; B63B15/00; B63B15/0083; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/24; Y10T428/24033; Y10T428/24058; Y10T428/24132; Y10T428/24802; Y10T428/24826; Y10T442/00; Y10T442/60; Y10T442/659; Y10T442/666; Y10T442/667; Y10T442/671; Y10T442/69
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 36
Claim 1
Independent Claim
63 words
A non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpregs comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wet-out by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said towpregs are arranged in overlapping layers comprising at least one towpreg and are bonded together resulting in said non-woven towpreg fabric.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
63 words
A non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpregs comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wet-out by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said towpregs are arranged in overlapping layers comprising at least one towpreg and are bonded together resulting in said non-woven towpreg fabric.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said layers of towpregs are overlapped in a unidirectional configuration.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed n claim 1, wherein said layers of towpregs are overlapped in a multidirectional configuration.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using hot melt bonding.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 4, wherein said towpregs are hot melt bonded at selected points along the towpreg plies.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using stitching.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
18 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using needle punching.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
23 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using pressure melting of the matrix forming material.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using binder filament interleaving.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
19 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 1, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using binder yarn interleaving.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
67 words
A multidimensional preform fabricated from a non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, said towpregs comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wetout by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said towpregs are arranged in overlapping layers comprising at least one towpreg and are bonded together in a desired configuration to form said preform.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
67 words
A multidimensional preform fabricated from a non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, said towpregs comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wetout by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said towpregs are arranged in overlapping layers comprising at least one towpreg and are bonded together in a desired configuration to form said preform.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
20 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 11, wherein said towpregs have an average thickness less than 75 microns.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
23 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 11, wherein said towpregs have an average thickness of between about 10 to 50 microns.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
23 words
The non-woven towpreg fabric as claimed in claim 12, wherein said towpregs have an average thickness of between about 15 to 30 microns.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
80 words
A composite article fabricated from a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wetout by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said plurality of towpregs are arranged in a desired configuration and bonded together resulting in a contoured preform having the general configuration of said composite article, and said preform is further acted upon to form said composite article.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
80 words
A composite article fabricated from a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, said reinforcing filaments being substantially wetout by said matrix forming material while said towpregs remain substantially unconsolidated, wherein said plurality of towpregs are arranged in a desired configuration and bonded together resulting in a contoured preform having the general configuration of said composite article, and said preform is further acted upon to form said composite article.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
166 words
A method for the production of a non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, comprising the steps of: (a) spreading said reinforcing filaments to expose individually substantially all of said reinforcing filaments; (b) coating said reinforcing filaments with said matrix forming material in a manner causing interfacial adhesion of said matrix forming material to said reinforcing filaments; (c) forming said towpreg plies by heating said matrix forming material contacting said reinforcing filaments until said matrix forming material liquefies and coats said reinforcing filaments; (d) cooling said towpreg plies in a manner such that substantial cohesion between neighboring towpreg plies is prevented until said matrix forming material solidifies so as to form said flexible, multiply towpregs; (e) overlapping layers comprising at least one of said towpregs in a manner such that a multilayer configuration of towpregs is formed; and (f) bonding said overlapped towpregs together to form said non-woven towpreg fabric.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
166 words
A method for the production of a non-woven towpreg fabric comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material, comprising the steps of: (a) spreading said reinforcing filaments to expose individually substantially all of said reinforcing filaments; (b) coating said reinforcing filaments with said matrix forming material in a manner causing interfacial adhesion of said matrix forming material to said reinforcing filaments; (c) forming said towpreg plies by heating said matrix forming material contacting said reinforcing filaments until said matrix forming material liquefies and coats said reinforcing filaments; (d) cooling said towpreg plies in a manner such that substantial cohesion between neighboring towpreg plies is prevented until said matrix forming material solidifies so as to form said flexible, multiply towpregs; (e) overlapping layers comprising at least one of said towpregs in a manner such that a multilayer configuration of towpregs is formed; and (f) bonding said overlapped towpregs together to form said non-woven towpreg fabric.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said layers of towpregs are overlapped in a unidirectional configuration in step (e).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said layers of towpregs are overlapped in a multidirectional configuration in step (e).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using hot melt bonding in step (f).
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using stitching in step (f).
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using needle punching.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using binder filament interleaving.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said towpregs are bonded together using binder yarn interleaving.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
12 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said spreading is lateral.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein steps (e) and (f) are repeated a plurality of times.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein step (c) is accomplished by pultrusion.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
173 words
A method for the production of a multidimensional preform comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material comprising the steps of: (a) spreading said reinforcing filaments to expose individually substantially all of said reinforcing filaments; (b) coating said reinforcing filaments with said matrix forming material in a manner causing interfacial adhesion of said matrix forming material to said reinforcing filaments; (c) forming said towpreg plies by heating said matrix forming material contacting said reinforcing filaments until said matrix forming material liquefies and coats said reinforcing filaments; (d) cooling said towpreg plies in a manner such that substantial cohesion between neighboring towpreg plies is prevented until said matrix forming material solidifies so as to form said flexible, multiply towpregs; (e) overlapping layers comprising at least one of said towpregs in a manner such that a multilayer configuration of towpregs is formed; (f) arranging said towpregs into a desired preform configuration; and (g) bonding said towpregs together so as to form said preform.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
173 words
A method for the production of a multidimensional preform comprising a plurality of flexible, multiply towpregs, comprising towpreg plies, said towpreg plies comprising reinforcing filaments and matrix forming material comprising the steps of: (a) spreading said reinforcing filaments to expose individually substantially all of said reinforcing filaments; (b) coating said reinforcing filaments with said matrix forming material in a manner causing interfacial adhesion of said matrix forming material to said reinforcing filaments; (c) forming said towpreg plies by heating said matrix forming material contacting said reinforcing filaments until said matrix forming material liquefies and coats said reinforcing filaments; (d) cooling said towpreg plies in a manner such that substantial cohesion between neighboring towpreg plies is prevented until said matrix forming material solidifies so as to form said flexible, multiply towpregs; (e) overlapping layers comprising at least one of said towpregs in a manner such that a multilayer configuration of towpregs is formed; (f) arranging said towpregs into a desired preform configuration; and (g) bonding said towpregs together so as to form said preform.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein steps (e), (f) and (g) are carried out in any order.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein any or all of steps (e), (f) and (g) are carried out simultaneously.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as claimed in claim 26, wherein steps (e), (f) and (g) are repeated a plurality of times.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method as claimed in claim 27, wherein step (c) is accomplished by pultrusion.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1996-03-29 | 1996-09-28 | 1997-03-30 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2000-03-29 | 2000-09-28 | 2001-03-30 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2004-03-29 | 2004-09-28 | 2005-03-30 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |