Claims
- 1. A method of building and consolidating a shaped composite structure from fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin strands comprising: advancing said strands toward a heating die having an entrance and an exit; converging said strands under tension in a braiding pattern at the entrance to said die to form a braided shaped composite structure; heating said strands by means of said heating die as the strands are converged under tension in said braiding pattern to a temperature which will cause the thermoplastic resin to soften and flow prior to forming said braided shaped composite structure; advancing said braided shaped structure through said die while continuing to heat said braided structure within said die to cause continuing softening and flow as the structure advances through said die, said temperature being below the degradation temperature of the resin; applying pressure to said braided shaped structure within said die to consolidate it, and cooling said structure after it leaves the heating die.
- 2. The method of claim 1, including the additional step of applying pressure to said structure while cooling it to preserve the shape of said structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/320,552 filed Mar. 8, 1989 now abandoned which in turn is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/151,582 filed Feb. 2, 1988 and now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (20)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
57-71107 |
Jan 1980 |
JPX |
2113140A |
Aug 1983 |
GBX |
2204888A |
Nov 1988 |
GBX |
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
151582 |
Feb 1988 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
320552 |
Mar 1989 |
|