| abstract |
A shaped article of fiber reinforced material is made by forming a foamed aqueous dispersion having single discrete fibers, and unconsolidated particulate thermoplastic or thermosetting material, laying down and draining the dispersion to form a web, transferring the web to an oven and heating it to form a self-sustaining permeable sheet, transferring the sheet to a through-air heating oven, passing heated air through the sheet to cause substantially uniform and homogeneous heating of the thermoplastic component, transferring the heated sheet to a compression mold, and subjecting the sheet to compression molding to form a shaped fiber reinforced plastic article. |