Patent ID: 7186361

Claim:
A method for continuously molding a fiber reinforced plastic member with a curvature, the method comprising: a step of feeding release films curved in advance to correspond to the curvature of the molded member; a step of feeding plural sheets of semi-cured prepreg material formed by impregnating carbon fiber or glass fiber with thermosetting resin; a step of laminating and preforming a laminated body of prepreg sheets along a core having a cross sectional shape corresponding to that of the member being formed and having a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the member being formed; a step of hot-pressing the laminated and curved release films and the laminated body of prepreg sheets into a predetermined shape to form a laminated body; and a step of post-curing the laminated body exiting the hot-pressing step by heating the same; wherein said plural sheets of semi-cured prepreg material are fed such as to be sandwiched between said release films; and the hot-pressing step is performed while pullers disposed before and after the hot-pressing step grip the laminated body and introduce the same into the hot press wherein the hot-pressing is performed while preventing tension from being placed on the fiber in the prepreg sheets.