Patent ID: 7208219
Filing Date: 2007-04-24
Classification: B29C,B29K,B29L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A molded thermoplastic article comprising a fibrous material embedded in a thermoplastic resin matrix, the article prepared by a low shear process comprising the steps of: a) melt compounding a mixture of a thermoplastic resin, the fibrous material, and any optional additives using a low shear single screw, wherein the lengths of the fibers of the fibrous material before molding are about 0.5–3 inches long, and the fibrous material comprises 5–55% of the total weight of the compounded mixture; b) extruding the mixture through a sheet extrusion die using low shear extrusion; c) depositing the extruded mixture into a first half of a horizontally-movable matched mold in approximately the general shape of the article; and d) compression molding the deposited mixture with the second half of the matched mold such that pressures in the range of 100–1,000 psi and substantially little movement of the molten mixture are required to complete consolidation and molding of the thermoplastic article, wherein: the lengths of the fibers of the fibrous material in the molded article are greater than about 60% of their pre-molded lengths; less than about 20% of the fibers of the fibrous material in the molded thermoplastic article are oriented in the same direction; and the mechanical properties of the molded article in the x-, y-, and z-planes are within 20% of each other.