Owens-corning Fiberglas Corporation

Ronald E Kissell

Leonard D Rood

Ulysses T Gambill

Apparatus for curing fibrous mineral insulation material comprises an oven, upper and lower conveyor belts for carrying the insulation through the oven, support means for supporting the belts, a supply plenum for directing curing gases through the belts and the insulation material, an exhaust plenum for receiving the curing gases, and a baffle positioned within the oven to define a curing gas flow path from the supply plenum through the belts and the insulation material to the exhaust plenum, the flow path being spaced apart from the support means to prevent contact between the curing gases and the support means.

Apparatus for curing fibrous mineral insulation material

A method and apparatus for curing fibrous mineral material of the type in which the material containing heat-curable binder is passed through a curing station having a curing element adapted to apply heat and pressure is provided in which a convex portion at the upstream end of the curing element is adapted to apply greater pressure to the fibrous mineral material than does the remainder portion of the curing element.

Method and apparatus for curing fibrous mineral material

Method of continuously molding articles from a fibrous material containing a hardenable bonding material wherein a quantity of fibrous material is supplied to a forming member that engages the surface of the fibrous material and shapes the material into the desired cross-sectional shape. The exterior surface of the shaped fibrous material is then heated so that the bonding material on the exterior surface of the fibrous material cures to form a hard, tough skin on the exterior surface of the fibrous material. Then, additional heat is supplied to the fibrous material to cure the remaining uncured bonding material on the fibrous material so the fibrous material will be held in the desired shape by the cured bonding material.

Method and apparatus for molding articles from fibrous material

Urethane plastic foam reinforced with glass fibers is provided, the glass fibers being combined with the plastic foam material prior to foaming. The foaming of the plastic material is physically controlled and restrained to achieve particular desired physical characteristics of the final product. By restricting the extent of foaming, and by using particular layers of fibers, high fiber concentration and more dense skin areas can be obtained in the foam; the fibers can also be initially distributed in a manner to increase their concentration near the surfaces of the foam body. Apparatus is provided for producing reinforced foam in a continuous manner and a method is also provided for combining the fiber reinforcement and the foamable plastic material in a manner such that the plastic material is disposed between two layers of the fiber reinforcement to assure proper distribution of the fibers in the foam. In a preferred form, the fibers are initially disposed in the foamable material in a manner to lie generally perpendicular to the primary direction of growth or rise of the foamable material so that the fibers are also generally perpendicular to the resulting elongate cells. The fibers also preferably are of particular lengths and diameters and present in optimum concentrations to achieve maximum reinforcement and strength in the final product.

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Alexandria, OH, United States of America

Ronald E Kissell