A method for forming a thermoplastic panel comprisestacking together a plurality of plies of material comprising thermoplastic resin (302) and fiber (301) to form a skin (310), the plurality of plies of material are tacked together over a substantially planar surface (305);clamping an edge (312) of the skin (310) to a mandrel (320);heating, via a heating element, the skin (310) to a forming temperature;moving a thermoforming apparatus (330) with respect to the mandrel (320);rolling at least one roller of the thermoforming apparatus (330) along the skin (310) in a direction away from the clamped edge (312) of the skin (310) in response to the thermoforming apparatus (330) moving with respect to the mandrel (320), wherein the at least one roller is optionally compressed against the skin (310) via a spring member; andin response to the at least one roller of the thermoforming apparatus (330) rolling along the skin (310), compressing the skin (310) between the at least one roller and the mandrel (320), consolidating the plurality of plies of material, and bending the skin (310) to conform to a shape of the mandrel (320); andcooling the skin (310) after consolidating and conforming the skin (310) to the mandrel (320) to a temperature below a recrystallization temperature of the thermoplastic resin (302).
METHOD FOR FORMING A THERMOPLASTIC PANEL
VERFAHREN ZUM FORMEN VON EINER THERMOPLASTISCHEN PLATTE
PROCÉDÉ DE FORMAGE D'UN PANNEAU THERMOPLASTIQUE
2023-06-28
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B29C Formen oder Verbinden von Kunststoffen , SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS / B29D PRODUCING PARTICULAR ARTICLES FROM PLASTICS OR FROM SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE , Herstellen besonderer Gegenstände aus Kunststoff oder aus Stoffen in plastischem Zustand / B64D Ausrüstung für Flugzeuge , EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT / B64F GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT , Boden- oder Flugzeugträgerdeckeinrichtungen besonders ausgebildet für die Verwendung in Verbindung mit Luftfahrzeugen |
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