Abstract: A method for milling grooves in a work-piece includes using a manipulator to control impingement angles of abrasive fluidjets traversed across the work-piece. Another method employs multiple fluidjets simultaneously with a plurality of impingement angles. An apparatus is also provided to allow for the simultaneous use of multiple abrasive fluidjets with a plurality of impingement angles.

Abstract: A method for milling grooves in a work-piece includes using a manipulator to control impingement angles of abrasive fluidjets traversed across the work-piece. Another method employs multiple fluidjets simultaneously with a plurality of impingement angles. An apparatus is also provided to allow for the simultaneous use of multiple abrasive fluidjets with a plurality of impingement angles.

Abstract: The manufacture of a plastic material, particularly provided with fibers, is frequently carried out in an extruder (10). Various problems have arisen in this connection. For example, problems arise in working long or endless reinforcement fibers, for example rovings (27), into the plastic. On the one hand, the fibers are so badly broken up that they have only very small lengths. On the other hand, it has proved difficult to impregnate the fibers sufficiently. According to the invention, in order to feed in fibers, the plastic is moved in batches past a pre-plastifying worm (11). This is achieved by a secondary worm (18) located next to the pre-plastifying worm (11).

Abstract: The method and apparatus for making a preform which is a rigid shaped item formed of glass fibers rigidly joined to each other where adjacent fibers touch. The interstices between the fibers are unfilled for the use of matrix resin to subsequently form a molded article. The preform is formed by shaping fibers into the preform shape, applying a binder to the fibers so that they are coated at the locations where they touch. The binder is sensitive or responds to the application of electromagnetic energy. In completing the preform after the application of the binder, the preform is subjected to electromagnetic energy so that the binder hardens to form a rigid preform. In one species form, the electromagnetic energy is applied in the form of microwave energy. The application of electromagnetic energy causes a reaction in the binder without requiring heating of the glass fibers so that the preforms can be rigidified rapidly and efficiently.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring torque imposed on a drive shaft and horsepower transmitted to a drive shaft are provided. The apparatus includes four strain gauges mounted onto the drive shaft. The strain gauges are connected to a transmitter which is accommodated within a rotating collar mounted onto the drive shaft. The changes in resistances of the strain gauges are then transmitted by the transmitter to a receiver. Strain level is then calculated from the measurement of the changes in resistivity and torque may be calculated from the strain level calculation. A means for measuring rpm or rotational velocity is provided which, in combination with the torque calculation, results in a means for calculating the power transmitted to the drive shaft.

Abstract: A three-dimensional complex preform is made formed of various types of reinforcement fiberglass fibers with a binder at the interstices which rigidize the preform to the shape and form approximating the molded article, which can be handled and stored until a final mold is made filling the interstices with plastic and curing the plastic. Complex preforms require either specific reinforcements in the form of increased sections, specific reinforcement, or require modification or enlargement in size or increase in complexity by the attachment of one or more additional preforms. To modify an existing preform and obtain a desired shape and form, reinforcement members or additional preforms are attached by energetic stitching. Energetic stitching includes the application of an electromagnetic energy curable binder and the application of electromagnetic radiation to cure the binder.

Abstract: A directed fiber, directed energy process provides both a method and an apparatus for making structural preforms. Fibrous reinforcement material is chopped into short lengths of fiber and propelled toward a perforate mold part. During propulsion and/or after deposition on the perforate mold part the fibers are sprayed with an electromagnetic radiation-curable binder. The binder-carrying fibers are held on the perforate mold part by a flow of air in that the perforate mold part is rotatably mounted in a plenum which provides an air flow therethrough. Rotation of the perforate mold part and scanning action of the fiber and binder propelling mechanisms effects even and complete coverage of the perforate mold part. After a mat of the chopped fibers has been applied to the perforate mold part, a conforming second mold part closes the mold and presses the fibers to replicate the shape of the three-dimensional rigid preform.

Abstract: Glass fiber mats are made for subsequent use in preforming for an RTM or SRIM molding process, for example, such that the binder applied to the mat has two distinct curing stages. In the first stage, a partial cure is provided by visible light upon a free radical generation in response to a photoinitiator mixed in the binder in an exact ratio to give a predictable increase in viscosity to that of a semi-solid so that the fibers are sufficiently bound for subsequent handling, but not sufficient to complete a cure, while leaving a second stage ready for a final cure which is achieved by the use of a cationic-type second photoinitiator which is sensitive to ultraviolet light. During the second curing stage, the mat is formed into a three-dimensional shape of a desired end product and cured with ultraviolet radiation while still in the mold, to obtain a rigid three-dimensional preform structure.

Abstract: A rigid three-dimensional preform is made by moving a plurality of webs of fibrous reinforcement material superposed and coplanar to a cutter, the webs being coated with an electromagnetic energy-curable binder and pressed together. Prior to cutting a blank in a two-dimensional development of the three-dimensional preform from the webs, the webs are tacked together at spaced local zones by locally curing the binder at those zones by locally applying the appropriate electromagnetic radiation (microwave, ultraviolet, electron) so that the webs travel as one to the cutter. After cutting of the blank, the blank is loaded into a mold to replicate the three-dimensional shape of the preform and the remainder of the binder is cured in the mold by the application of the appropriate electromagnetic radiation.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for linear and nonlinear control of a hydraulic press is provided with a feedback loop allowing the operation of a variable displacement pump to be selectively controlled with respect to either hydraulic pressure moving a piston in a cylinder, or the velocity of the piston. During controlled movement of the piston, a directional valve blocks a pump compensator so that the pump operates as a fixed displacement pump to provide fast response to feedback signals. Simultaneously, the directional valve connects a proportional pressure controller to a relief valve. During a period when the piston is maintained in fixed position, the directional valve is switched so that the proportional pressure controller now controls the pump compensator and the relief valve is blocked, so that energy consumption is substantially reduced.