Patent ID: 8852475

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a reinforced thermoplastic structure, comprising: providing a plurality of reinforcing filaments; wetting the reinforcing filaments with a first thermoplastic resin comprising a liquid plastisol resin at a first temperature, said first temperature corresponding to a substantially liquid state of said liquid plastisol resin; adjusting the residence time of the filaments within the liquid plastisol resin; adjusting a level of the filaments within the liquid plastisol resin by moving one or more filament alignment structures up or down along a vertical line within the liquid plastisol resin in response to changes in a level of the liquid plastisol resin; introducing the reinforcing filaments with the liquid plastisol resin into a first portion of a die and cooling the reinforcing filaments with the liquid plastisol resin in the first portion of the die such that the liquid plastisol resin does not gel within the first portion of the die; introducing a second thermoplastic resin into a second portion of the die; contacting the second thermoplastic resin with the reinforcing filaments and the liquid plastisol resin within the second portion of said die; and cooling the first and second thermoplastic polymer resins to a second temperature to form a partially solidified reinforced thermoplastic structure having a predetermined outer shape; wherein the second temperature is a value below the solidification temperature of at least one of the liquid plastisol resin and the second thermoplastic resin.