Patent ID: 7413623

Claim:
A process for the impregnation of fiber reinforcement for use in filament winding, comprising: a) supplying at least one continuous fiber reinforcing material; b) passing said fiber reinforcing material around a tensioning/alignment device and over a first cylindrical impregnation roller; c) passing said fiber reinforcing material through a liquid resin contained in a resin reservoir located between dams bearing against said first cylindrical impregnation roller and a second cylindrical impregnation roller, at least one of said first or second impregnation rollers having an elastomeric surface, said first and second cylindrical rollers parallel to and abutting each other forming a closed nip defining a bottom of said resin reservoir, which substantially prevents resin in said resin reservoir from flowing through said closed nip, the reservoir being defined by the topmost surfaces of the rollers and the dams; d) passing said fiber reinforcement, wet with resin from said resin reservoir, through said closed nip; and e) filament winding a resin impregnated fiber reinforcing material obtained in step d).