Process for reducing mould cycle time.

0001The invention relates to a process for reducing cycle time in the moulding of fibre-reinforced thermoset articles.

0002Various moulding methods are discussed in chapters 4 and 5 of the book entitled, <u style="single">Handbook of Reinforced Plastics</u>, Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., copyright 1964, published by the Reinhold Publishing Corporation, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-15205. Whenever contact moulding, bag moulding, or similar procedures are being used to fabricate articles of manufacture formed from fibre-reinforced resins, single die moulds will typically be required.

0003To economically produce these articles using any type of mould, the rate of article production must be maximized to allow the quick recovery of the capital costs associated with the purchase of the mould. The mould cycle time must be minimized.

0004In the case of an article that incorporates fibres or filaments within the thermoset composition, it is desirable to quickly wet these materials. In the case of an article that comprises a preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement it is desirable to have the thermosetting resin composition flood all internal voids and interstices within the fibre-mass quickly such that the curing time of the resin may be kept to a minimum.

0005A process therefore needs to be developed that permits rapid flow of the resin into the mould and which permits rapid wetting of these fibres.

0006The present invention provides a process for moulding a thermoset article of manufacture including the steps of: - providing a mould having a surface, said mould surface having at least one opening defined downwardly therein, - locating heat-recoverable member means within said opening, said member means previously having been deformed from an expanded first configuration to a second configuration, said member means, when subjected to a suitable temperature of recovery, being capable of recovering to or towards its expanded first configuration, the second configuration thereby defining an opening to permit flowing of thermosetting resin composition through said opening into the mould, - inserting a preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement in the mould, - closing the mould, - flowing thermosetting resin composition into the mould, - heating said heat recoverable member means to expand said heat recoverable member means to obtain said first configuration, and to form a surface which is flush with said mould surface, - retaining said thermosetting composition in said mould for a sufficient period to dimensionally stabilize the article of manufacture, - opening the mould, and removing said article from said mould.

0007These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, wherein reference is made to Figures 1 and 2. <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none"><li>Fig. 1 is a schematic representation in a side view in partial cross section showing the deformable member means positioned within an opening defined downwardly within the mould section.</li><li>Fig. 2 is a schematic representation in a side view and partial cross section of the same member now defining an opening for flow of a thermosetting resin composition into the preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement.</li></ul>

0008In Figs. 1 and 2, 11 and 12 represent the upper and lower parts of a mould, respectively, and 13 represents a preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement.

0009The mould can be seen to comprise a surface 14 having at least one opening 15 defined downwardly therein. Surface 14 of the mould preferably coincides with the lower surface of the preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement. Opening 15 can be embodied in the form of a longitudinal groove or channel which in the figures is shown in cross-section. More than one opening can be present in the lower mould surface. The mould is referred to in a generic sense wherein it is understood to include structures associated with vacuum bag moulding, pressure bag moulding, autoclave moulding, vacuum in­jection moulding, cable clave moulding or the like.

0010Deformable member means 16, located within the opening 15, comprise in the first configuration a tube exactly fitting in the groove or channel, thus forming an upper surface which is flush with the surface of the mould.

0011Deformable member means 16 are connected via means not shown with means for supplying heat to member means 16.

0012Fig. 2 shows the member means 16 in the second configuration. An opening 17 is provided, through which thermosetting resin composition can be supplied to the internal mould volume to fill the free volume of the preshaped member of fibre-reinforcement. Heating of member 16 causes expansion of its upper surface 18 to a position which is flush with mould surface 14. Thus, opening 17 is closed and no more thermosetting resin can be supplied to the interior of the mould.

0013Suitable thermosetting resins are selected from polyester resins, phenolic resins, vinyl ester resins, epoxy resins, poly­urethane resins, polyisocyanurate resins, urethane resins, and polyamide resins.

0014The preshaped fibre-reinforcement can comprise fibreglass cloth, tape, woven roving, or any other collection of fibres, cloth, or material used to reinforce the resin. Preshaping to closely fit the internal volume of the mould can be carried out by any known method, compressing being preferred. The flow of the thermosetting resin beneath certain portions of the filament member accelerates supply of resin to the filament member thereby allowing shortening the moulding cycle time.

0015The moulding may comprise at least one thermosetting resin injection port typically located centrally within the lower surface area of the mould. To allow the rapid supply of the resin over a relative large portion of the lower mould surface area the openings 15 preferably extend radially outward away from that port. It should be well recognized that many other flow patterns may be used to accomplish the same mechanical result. For example, the openings 15 may comprise a relatively large series of linear parallel flow channels, evenly spread over the lower surface area of the mould.

0016In this Specification the heat-recoverable member means are understood to mean a polymeric or metallic article which has been deformed from a first configuration to a second configuration and which solely upon being subjected to a suitable temperature tends to recover to or towards its first configuration.

0017Polymeric articles may be made capable of being rendered heat-recoverable by, for example, cross-linking with irradiation with beta or gamma rays or by chemical means or by a combination thereof. Examples of heat-recoverable materials may be found in US-A-2,027,962 and GB-A-1,529,351.

0018Especially useful materials include, for example, the olefin polymers of which are preferred high density polyethylene, polybutene-1, poly-4-methyl pentene and fluorinated polyolefins for example, ethylene-trifluorochloro ethylene copolymers and vinylidene fluoride polymers, especially pvf₂ and blends thereof of which there are preferred the fluorinated olefin blends as described and claimed in GB-A-1,120,131, and polyesters, for example, polyethylene terephthalate, polytetramethylene terephthalate for example that treated as described and claimed in DE-A-2,448,414, or GB-A-1,486,207, polyamides, polyphenylene oxide and -sulphide, blends of polyethylene oxide with styrene silicon-carbonate block copolymers, polyaryl sulphones, polyether sulphones, polycarbonates especially those derived from bisphenyl-A polyamides, especially those described and claimed in GB-A-1,287,932 epoxy resins and blends of one or more of the above-mentioned polymeric materials either with each or with other polymeric materials.

0019To these materials there may be added any of the conventional additives, for example, antioxidants, flame retardants, reinforcing fillers, cross-linking agents, pigments, fungicides and the like. As reinforcing fillers there may be especially mentioned glass fibres.

0020Of the metals capable of being rendered heat-recoverable there may be mentioned, as described in GB-A-2,090,076 "Memory metals" sometimes also called "Memory Alloys" which are metallic materials that exhibit changes in strength and configurational characteristics on passing through a transition temperature, in most cases the transition temperature between the martensitic and austenitic states, and can be used to make heat-recoverable articles by deforming an article made from them whilst the metal is in its martensitic, low temperature state. The article will retain its deformed configuration until it is warmed above the transition temperature to the austenitic state when it will return or attempt to return towards its original configuration. It will be understood that the heat-recoverable article is capable of returning towards its original configuration without the further application of outside force. The deformation used to place the material in the heat unstable configuration is commonly referred to as thermally recoverable plastic deformation and can also, in certain cases, be imparted by introducing strains into the article above the transition temperature, whereupon the article assumes the deformed configuration on cooling through the transition temperature. It should be understood that the transition temperature may be a temperature range and that, as hysteresis usually occurs, the precise temperature at which transition occurs may depend on whether the temperature is rising or falling. Furthermore, the transition temperature is a function of other parameters, including the stress applied to the material, the temperatures rising with increasing stress.

0021Amongst such memory metals there may especially be mentioned various alloys of titanium and nickel which are described, for example, in US-A-3,174,851; 3,351,463; 3,753,700; 3,759,552, GB-A-1,327,441 and 1,327,442 and NASA Publication SP 110, "55-Nitinol-The Alloy with a Memory, etc." (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 1972). The property of heat recoverability has not, however, been solely confined to such titanium-nickel alloys. Thus, for example, various beta-brass alloys have been demonstrated to exhibit this property in, e.g. N. Nakanishi et al, Scripta Metallurgica 5 433-440 (Pergamon Press 1971), US-A-3,783,037; 4,019,925; 4,144,104; 4,146,392; 4,166,739 and 4,035,007, and such materials may be doped to lower their transition temperature to cryogenic regimes by known techniques. Similarly, 304 stainless steels have been shown to enjoy such characteristics E. Enami et al, id, at pp. 663-68.