Claims
- 1. A method of making a reinforced component, comprising:
depositing a polymer into an extrusion deposition unit; depositing a fiber into said extrusion deposition unit; varying said fiber deposited into said extrusion depostion unit; and depositing an extrudate onto a mold core or cavity; said extrudate having varying fiber reinforcement.
- 2. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein said depositing said extrudate is done using an extrusion deposit compression molding process.
- 3. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein varying said fiber comprises varying the percent by weight of said fiber.
- 4. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein varying said fiber comprises varying the length of said fiber.
- 5. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein varying said fiber comprises varying the type of fiber.
- 6. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein depositing said extrudate comprises depositing an extrudate log or other shape that is subsequently transferred onto a mold core or cavity.
- 7. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein depositing said extrudate comprises depositing said extrudate in layers onto said mold core or cavity.
- 8. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein depositing said extrudate comprises depositing said extrudate with multiple passes.
- 9. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein depositing said fiber in said extrusion deposition unit comprises multiple feed elements.
- 10. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, further comprising varying reinforcement in said reinforced component comprising altering the amount of fiber fed into a plastication/injection unit and concurrently altering the amount of polymer fed into said plastication/injection unit, said amount of fiber been fed by a plurality of feeders been independently actuated.
- 11. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein varying the length of said fiber comprises actuating various feeder elements at various times to deposit various strands of fiber into said extrusion deposition unit.
- 12. The method of making a reinforced component as in claim 1, wherein varying fiber comprises actuating various said feeder elements at various times to deposit various fibers into said extrusion deposition unit.
- 13. A method of making a reinforce component, comprising:
depositing a thermoplastic material into an extrusion deposition unit; depositing a fiber reinforcing material into said extrusion deposition unit; varying the percentage by weight of said fiber reinforcing material deposited into said extrusion deposition unit; and depositing an extrudate log onto a conveyor mechanism, said extrudate log having varying fiber reinforcement along its length.
- 14. A method of making a reinforced component comprising:
a means for depositing a polymer into an extrusion deposition unit; a means for depositing a fiber into said extrusion deposition unit; a means for varying said fiber deposited into said extrusion deposition unit; and a means for depositing an extrudate into a mold cavity, said extrudate having varying fiber reinforcement.
- 15. A method of making a reinforced component comprising:
a means for depositing a polymer into an extrusion deposition unit; a means for depositing a fiber into said extrusion deposition unit; a means for varying said fiber deposited into said extrusion deposition unit; and a means for depositing an extrudate log onto a conveyor; said extrudate log having varying fiber reinforcement.
- 16. The method as in claim 1, wherein said reinforced component is a cross car structural beam.
- 17. The method as in claim 7, wherein said extrudate is deposited into said mold core so as to vary the orientation of said fiber in each successive layer.
- 18. The method as in claim 13, further comprising:
determining areas of said reinforced component requiring fiber reinforcement.
- 19. The method as in claim 18, wherein said areas of said reinforced component requiring fiber reinforcement are determined through stress modeling techniques.
- 20. The method as in claim 19, further comprising:
varying the amount of said fiber reinforcement material in said extrudate log, said fiber reinforcement material being varied in accordance a computer algorithm.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/268,198 filed on Mar. 11, 1999, and Ser. No. 09/695,652 filed Oct. 24, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.