Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho

Shinji Hashizume

Toshihiro Asai

Kimio Inoue

Tsugushi Fukui

Katsumi Ogawa

Shinichi Fukumizu

Toshio Ohara

Tatuya Tanaka

A continuous FRTP prepreg manufacturing apparatus comprises an extruder, a crosshead having a main body internally provided with a resin chamber for containing a molten thermoplastic resin extruded therein by the extruder and joined to the discharge end of the extruder, a cooling unit disposed outside and near the exit of the main body of the crosshead, and a winding unit for taking up a prepreg. A fiber bundle inlet unit and a fiber bundle outlet nozzle unit are provided respectively at one end and at the other end of the main body of the crosshead. Guide rollers and impregnating rollers are arranged within the main body of the crosshead so that a tension is applied to the fiber bundle during impregnation or so that the fiber bundle is expanded during impregnation and is condensed after impregnation. The resin-impregnated fiber bundle is heated to a temperature higher than the melting point of the thermoplastic resin at the fiber bundle outlet nozzle unit, and then the resin-impregnated fiber bundle is cooled to a temperature below the melting point of the thermoplastic resin immediately after being delivered from the fiber bundle outlet nozzle unit to form a continuous FRTP prepreg.

Method of manufacturing continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic

A continuous mixer of the duplex type which has within a chamber a pair of mixing shafts each with a feed portion, a mixing portion and a discharge portion is disclosed. The mixer includes a weir member provided on the bottom wall of the chamber at a position opposing the discharge portions of the respective mixing shafts, to prevent short-passes of unmelted material.

Duplex type continuous mixer

A continuous mixing machine for mixing a material fed at one end and discharging the mixed material through a discharge orifice at another end in a continuous sequence which includes a plurality of rotors each provided with mixing blade members, a mixing chamber encircling the plurality of rotors and a throttle member defining a part of the mixing chamber at a position facing the blade members and adapted to be moved toward and away from the rotors so as to vary the space within the mixing chamber. In a modified machine, the mixing chamber is provided with a vent hole at a position intermediate the throttle member and discharge orifice.

Continuous mixing machine

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Shinji Hashizume