Patent ID: 8110132

Claim:
A process for manufacturing an elongated panel, comprising: providing a curable composition comprising a polymer system, a volume of microspheres, and a volume of fiber reinforcement material; depositing the curable composition on a first conveyor belt, wherein the curable composition is spread laterally across the first conveyor belt by a plurality of dispensing devices disposed laterally above the first conveyor belt; conditioning the curable composition by breaking up agglomerates in the composition into smaller agglomerations; depositing the curable composition to a second conveyor belt; leveling the curable composition on the second conveyor belt using a leveling apparatus that evenly distributes the curable composition across the second conveyor belt; compressing the curable composition in a compression apparatus; partially curing the curable composition while the composition is compressed in the compression apparatus to form the elongated panel; and conveying the elongated panel in a partially cured state from the compression apparatus to a subsequent station for further processing.