Patent ID: 7807005

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a thermoplastic composite laminate having tailored and varying thickness in a continuous process, the method comprising steps of: making at least one non-uniform thickness multiple ply stack comprising a plurality of stacked plies of a thermoplastic material; tacking each of said non-uniform thickness multiple ply stacks to form at least one non-uniform thickness tacked stack; providing a pre-forming zone of a consolidation device with a pair of u-shaped channels and a pair of side-tooling members, each of said pair of u-shaped channels having a central portion coupled between a pair of outer portions, a gap being defined between said central portions of said u-shaped channels; introducing a pair of said at least one non-uniform thickness tacked stacks within said gap between a pair of u-shaped channels; heating said pre-forming zone to a first temperature sufficient to deform said pair of non-uniform tacked stacks but below the free-flowing temperature of a matrix resin component of said plurality of plies of said pair of non-uniform tacked stacks; bending each end of one of said pair of non-uniform thickness tacked stacks over a respective outer portion of one of said pair of u-shaped channels; bending each end of another of said pair of non-uniform thickness tacked stacks over a respective outer portion of another of said pair of u-shaped channels; forming a first material; introducing one of said first material between one of said pair of side-tooling members and one of said pair of outer portions of said u-shaped channels, said one of said first material substantially abutting said one end of said pair of non-uniform thickness tacked stacks; and introducing a second one of said first material between another of said pair of side-tooling members and another of said pair of outer portions of said u-shaped channels, said second one of said first material substantially abutting said another end of said pair of non-uniform thickness tacked stacks; forming a preformed part within said pre-forming zone from said one non-uniform thickness tacked stack and said first material; and consolidating said preformed part into a single integrated thermoplastic pressed part within said consolidating zone; said pair of non-uniform thickness tacked stacks, said first one of said first material, and said second one of said first material being coupled together to form a preformed part within said pre-forming zone.