The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 14, 2026
Filed:
Jan. 04, 2024
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Kentaro Oda, Tokyo, JP;
Yasushi Watanabe, Tokyo, JP;
Tadao Samejima, Tokyo, JP;
Yukihiro Mizutori, Tokyo, JP;
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A method of manufacturing a sheet molding compound (SMC) according to an aspect of the present invention comprises: (i) drawing out a carrier film from a roll to travel on a conveyance path such that the surface of the carrier film is horizontal; (ii) cutting a continuous carbon fiber bundle into short carbon fiber bundles with a chopper disposed above the conveyance path; (iii) allowing the short carbon fiber bundles to fall onto the carrier film traveling on the conveyance path while dispersing them using a dispersing roll disposed below the chopper to deposit a carbon fiber mat on the carrier film; (iv) impregnating the carbon fiber mat with a thermosetting resin composition to obtain a resin-impregnated carbon fiber mat; and v) concurrently with the deposition of the carbon fiber mat, removing fiber dust generated from the short carbon fiber bundles due to contact with the dispersing roll using a dust collector.