A pultrusion machine manufactures continuous lengths of fiber-reinforced plastic with a constant cross-section by pulling reinforcing fibers, wetted with resin, through a heated shaping die, the reverse of extrusion, which pushes material through a die instead. Early patents for pultrusion-type processes were filed by J. H. Watson in 1944 and M. J. Meek in 1950, and a 1952 patent by Rodger B. White led to the first commercially pultruded products, made by the Glastic Company of Cleveland, Ohio. German engineer Ernst Kuhne independently developed a similar epoxy-resin-based process in Germany in 1954, while American inventor W. Brandt Goldsworthy, who worked with unsaturated polyester resins, patented his own version in 1959 and is widely regarded as the inventor of pultrusion; his patent helped promote the technology across the industry. The technique has continued to develop since, including a 2008 modification by the German company Thomas GmbH plus Co, called Radius-Pultrusion, which allowed curved profiles to be manufactured for the first time.
Facts
SignificanceEnables continuous manufacture of constant cross-section fiber-reinforced plastic profiles used across aerospace, construction, sports and automotive industries. 1 FAQs
Was pultrusion invented by one person?
Goldsworthy is credited with the modern process but earlier patents exist.
Not entirely. Pultrex, a maker of pultrusion machinery, names the Californian W. Brandt Goldsworthy as the inventor of the modern pultrusion process, with a patent filed in 1959. It adds that patents for similar processes were being filed as early as 1944, first by J. H. Watson and later in 1950 by M. J. Meek. Pultrex also says its founder David Shaw-Stewart worked with Goldsworthy in California on the Glastruder pultrusion machines, which paved the way for the commercial pultrusion lines used today.
Sources
1. Pultrusion - Wikipedia
Body, first paragraph
The patent issued to W. B. Goldsworthy in 1959 helped initiate the promotion and knowledge spread within the industry.
Body, Process section
Products manufactured under this technology are widely used in the following industries
In Group: Plastics and Composites Moulding, Lead sentence
Pultrusion is a continuous process for manufacture of fibre-reinforced plastics with constant cross-section.
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