Patent ID: 7488437
Filing Date: 2009-02-10
Classification: B29C,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for manufacturing a plurality of SMC components comprising: cutting a reference blank having a reference blank shape, a reference blank size, and a reference blank surface-area content; obtaining a reference blank weight; determining either a proper surface-area content or an excess surface-area content of a single prepreg web used to produce a plurality of non-reference blanks using said reference blank surface area content, said reference blank weight, and a predetermined non-reference blank weight; removing a waste piece having said excess surface area from said single prepreg web; cutting said reference blank and said plurality of non-reference blanks from said single prepreg web, wherein the blanks are directly adjacent to one another in the prepreg web prior to cutting; stacking said reference blank and said plurality of non-reference blanks to form a multilayer prepreg stack; placing said multilayer prepreg stack into a heated mold of a molding press; flow molding the prepreg stack by at least partially closing the mold to form a SMC component; thermally curing said SMC component in said mold, wherein said mold is closed during curing; forming at least one additional SMC component from at least one additional multilayer prepreg stack, each said at least one additional multilayer prepreg stack including an additional reference blank having said reference blank shape and said reference blank surface-area content; and weighing each additional reference blank separately after cutting; wherein the excess surface-area content is mathematically determined in accordance with a relationship between the excess surface-area content, the reference blank surface-area content, the reference blank weight, and the predetermined non-reference blank weight; and wherein the non-reference blanks are cut from a portion of the prepreg web directly adjacent to the reference blank.