Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for treatment of a fibre mat having laterally extending material extending between side edges of the fibre mat and which material has in a first lateral direction a greater stiffness than in a second lateral direction, be ing parallel with said side edges of the fibre mat which method comprises the steps of:

- providing a fibre mat,

- advancing the fibre mat through a resin applicator in a transport direction for apply- ing resin onto the fibre mat,

- partly impregnating the fibre mat in a resin applicator with resin stripes being spaced in the second lateral direction of the fibre mat,

- curing the resin to form spaced stripes of cured resin. Further the present invention relates to an apparatus for treatment of a fibre mat hav ing laterally extending material extending between side edges of the fibre mat and which material has in a first lateral direction a greater stiffness than in a second lateral direction, being perpendicular to said first lateral direction and being parallel with said side edges of the fibre mat, which apparatus comprises:

- a fibre mat supply roller having the fibre matt rolled up, which roller has an axis of rotation being parallel with said first direction,

- advancing means for advancing the fibre mat through said resin applicator in a transport direction,

- a resin applicator with resin application nozzles for applying resin on a first surface of the fibre mat to form resin stripes being spaced in the second lateral direction of the fibre mat and

- a curing oven for curing the resin to form spaced stripes of cured resin.

Background of the Invention

It is well known to use fibre mats comprising glass fibres, carbon fibres, aramid fibres, organic fibres and combinations thereof when moulding composite parts. Such fibre mats are typically used for forming a laminate which is impregnated with a resin and cured into a hardened state, thus forming a composite article. Such article can be a blade for a wind turbine. Composite laminates usually comprise several layers of fibre mats. Normally, it is troublesome to handle multiple layers in a mould, since wrinkles can have a detri mental effect on the finished product.

The structural characteristics of a fibre-reinforced laminate are usually governed by the amount, type and orientation of the reinforcement fibres. Typically, the stiffness and strength of fibres can only be taken into account to the extent that loading occurs in the longitudinal fibre direction. Therefore, a traditionally designed laminate as sumes that the fibres of the finished laminate will be oriented in the same direction as the direction of the fibres when placed in the mould. However, in some cases wrinkles in the fibre layers may occur as a result of the treatment process. In such cases the wrinkled fibres no longer have the desired orientation, and severe overload of the lam inate may be the result. Wrinkles may occur for a number of reasons.

Wrinkles in fibre-reinforced laminates are typically prevented by a combination of arrangements. A method for avoiding wrinkles in the fibre layers consists of including layers of wrinkle-preventing material between the fibre layers. Wrinkle-preventing material is treated in such a way that it is stiff er than normal fibre material. When po sitioned between layers of, for example, fibreglass mats, the fibres in the mats are largely prevented from wrinkling, because the mats are kept flat by the wrinkle- preventing material.

Such wrinkle-preventing material is used in order to be able to lay up the fibre mats in a mould without the risk of one or more layers becoming wrinkled. It is common to apply a resin along some of the fibres, especially in mats with unidi- rectionally-aligned fibres. Such mats are known under the term unidirectional mats or UD mats. Currently, the overall procedure comprises applying the resin to bundles of fibres spaced a few centimetres (e.g., 5 cm) apart from each other, then curing the resin in an industrial oven and finally rolling the resulting mat for storage until the latter is to be used for moulding. The length of the fibre mats may be very long. It is common to provide the mats in rolls containing mats having a length of several hundreds of me ters.

In particular, the curing process has many disadvantages as the mat either needs to be fed in its entirety into a rather long oven or needs to be gradually fed into a shorter oven. While the first solution requires much space and implies a high deployment cost due to the required oven, the second solution leads to a very time-consuming process.

GB 2433466 A discloses a method of treating a fibre mat wherein a layer of a fibrous material is at least partly impregnated by a continuous layer of thermoset resin using a conventional laminating technique. The partly bonded layers are then placed on a moulding tool with the resinous layer facing the moulding surface, a vacuum bag is placed over the layers and vacuum tubes are positioned along the layers. Air is then evacuated from the layers and the resin is set to cure under a certain temperature and pressure, thereby forming a moulded element with a high quality surface finish.

Hence, there is a need in the technical field of composite moulding of overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art solutions.

Object of the Invention

The object of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art solutions and to provide a method and an apparatus to speed up the treatment process for a fibre mat and to reduce the space required for the treatment and to provide a fibre mat which is suited for use in treatment of a fibre-reinforced laminate.

Description of the Invention

The aforementioned object of the invention is achieved by a method as described by way of introduction and in the preamble of claim 1; said method further comprises the steps of: - applying the resin stripes on a first surface of the fibre mat,

- applying the resin stripes having an orientation according to said first lateral direc tion,

- providing said resin stripes with an extension not reaching said side edges, thereby leaving an edge area along said side edges free of resin stripes,

- applying a sheet of foil onto a surface of the fibre mat or said resin-treated fibre mat for generating a foil-coated fibre mat, which sheet of foil has substantially the same two-dimensional size of said first surface of the fibre mat,

- rolling said foil-coated fibre mat around roller having an axis of rotation parallel to said first lateral direction to form a fibre mat roll before the curing step, and

- curing the resin with the fibre mat in a rolled state.

The apparatus according to the invention will be as described by way of introduction and in the preamble of claim 8; said apparatus is further peculiar in

that said apparatus further comprises:

- a sheet of foil supply roller having a sheet of foil rolled up,

- a sheet of foil applicator for applying a sheet of foil onto a surface of the fibre mat or said resin-treated fibre mat for generating a foil-coated fibre mat, which sheet of foil has substantially the same two-dimensional size of said first surface of the fibre mat, - a product roller for rolling up said foil-coated fibre mat, and

- a curing oven into which the product roller may be transferred after having rolled up the fibre mat,

that said resin applicator is arranged to form stripes having an orientation according to said first lateral direction, and

that the resin applicator is arranged for applying resin over a part of the width of the fibre sheet, thereby leaving an edge area along said side edges free of resin.

Said first lateral direction may have an orientation under an angle between +/- 85° in relation to the direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

The invention has the advantage that there is no need to employ a long oven into which the entire unrolled resin-treated fibre mat is feed continuously or to gradually feed the unrolled mat into a shorter oven. The rolled resin-treated fibre mat may from the resin applicator be directly fed into a small oven only used for maintaining the temperature in the roll of the resin-treated fibre mat while being rolled up. This obviously reduces the cost and the space required for the oven. And the time needed to complete the curing process may be optimized as more curing ovens may be provided for one resin applicator. The fibre mat roll is fed into the curing oven, which is separated from the resin applicator. Also, such curing oven will be a small oven which only needs to accommodate the fibre mat roll.

In particular, the sheet of foil prevents that the resin-treated fibres glue together when the mat is rolled before curing. The foil does not stick to the resin-treated fibres, it does not melt in the oven and it can be easily removed before placing the mats in a mould for applying the final resin.

Said fibres may comprise any glass fibre mat or any other fabrics.

Said resin may be polyester, vinyl ester, epoxy, phenol, polyurethane or other suitable types of resin, and may be applied to spaced-apart bundles of fibres (e.g., in case of unidirectionally-aligned fibres). Resin may be a form of glue, which is fixed to, and thereby provides rigidity to, the respective fibers.

According to the invention said resin applicator comprises more movable nozzles for dispensing said resin. For example, in case of a unidirectional fibre mat, the nozzles may be aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of the unidi rectionally-aligned fibres. Moreover, the nozzles may be movable in a direction sub stantially parallel to the direction of the unidirectionally-aligned fibres. An advantage herewith is that a plurality of nozzles simultaneously dispenses resin on a plurality of fibres, which makes the step of applying the resin fast.

According to an embodiment said first and second lateral direction are perpendicular to each other. In general, the fibre mat will be provided in form of web-shaped material having a long length compared to the width of the web. In this situation, the side edges of the fibre mat will be the side edges of the web. Here, the second lateral direction will be parallel to the longitudinal direction of the web, which will also be the transport direc- tion of the fibre mat. Said first lateral direction can be perpendicular to said second lateral direction or be arranged under an angle different from 90°.

Embodiments where the nozzles are aligned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of the unidirectionally-aligned fibres and/or the nozzles are movable in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of the unidirectionally-aligned fibres are also encompassed by the invention.

Herein,“substantially parallel” and“substantially perpendicular” are defined by an gles in the range ± 5° relative to a true“parallel and a true“perpendicular” orienta- tion.

In context of the present invention, a laterally extending material is a material with a lateral dimension which is considerably larger than the thickness of the material. Moreover, the laterally extended layer and/or the laterally extended material may comprise different portions with a greater stiffness in a first lateral direction than in a second lateral direction, wherein the first lateral directions of the different portions may be orientated differently relative to each other.

In general, the supply of fibre mat is provided as a web in a rolled or folded configura- tion. In such case, said method further comprises rolling out or unfolding said fibre mat before applying said resin and/or said sheet of foil. Preferably, this method step comprises progressively rolling out or unfolding said fibre mat and applying said resin and/or said sheet of foil to an unrolled or unfolded portion of said fibre mat. An ad vantage connected herewith is that there is no need to wait until the whole mat is rolled out or unfolded before performing the next steps, thus speeding up the overall process. The apparatus may comprise a vision system. The vision system may be arranged for a movement in relation to the support table. When operating the apparatus according to the invention, the vision system will be in a fixed position.

The vision system is used to determine whether a correct application of resin stripes is established on the fibre mat.

The vision system will be connected with a control unit in which signals from the vi sion system are handled, and which makes it possible to give alarm and/or to adjust the mutual positions of the resin application nozzles and the fibre mat.

The sheet of foil may be removed after the curing, before the fibre mat with the resin stripes in cured form is rolled on a delivery roller on which the fibre mat may be de livered to a costumer.

In an embodiment of the invention, said method is peculiar in that said fibre mat is a unidirectional fibre mat, wherein said method further comprises the steps of:

- applying said resin on a plurality of unidirectionally-aligned fibres on said unidirec tional fibre mat for generating a resin-treated unidirectional fibre mat, and

- rolling said foil-coated unidirectional fibre mat around an axis parallel to said unidi rectionally-aligned fibres.

According to the present invention, the unidirectionally aligned fibres will normally be orientated in the first lateral direction being perpendicular to the transport direction of the fibre mat.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said method is peculiar in that said method further comprises the step of:

- choosing said surface on which the sheet of foil is applied to be the surface which is opposite to the first surface on which said resin is applied.

Said sheet of foil may also be applied on the same surface on which said resin is ap plied or on both faces of said fibre mat or said resin-treated fibre mat. The step of applying said sheet of foil may be performed before, after or while apply ing said resin.

The advantage of applying said sheet of foil on the opposite surface to that on which said resin is applied and before or while applying said resin is that no resin soaks through the fibre mat and deposits on a working surface. If the latter is polluted by resin, the fibre mat may be dragged through it and the fibres may get impregnated. Hence, after heating up the mat in the oven, the mat may not only be stiff in the de sired areas, but also elsewhere. This may create problems during the lying-up of the fibre mats in a mould.

In an embodiment of the invention, said sheet of foil is a plastic foil. Preferably, said plastic is polyethylene or other suitable types of plastic. However, a Medium Density (MD) foil, a High Density (HD) foil, a Teflon foil and other suitable types of foil, which can easily be separated from the mat/resin and which the resin cannot penetrate, may be used. Note that an HD foil is a strong foil, which is not flexible. An MD foil is basically a combination of a Low Density (LD) foil and an HD foil, thus being both strong and flexible. This embodiment has the following advantages: (a) it enables the sheet not to stick to the resin-treated fibres; (b) it enables the sheet not to melt in the oven; and (c) it enables the sheet to be easily removed before placing the fibre mat in a mould for applying the final resin.

Herein, a“surface” is defined as the surface delimited by the length and the width of the fibre mat. Moreover,“substantially the same two-dimensional size” is defined as the sheet of foil having the same or up to 5% bigger dimensions in terms of length and width with respect to a surface of the fibre mat. Smaller dimensions will lead different fibre layers to stick to each other during curing. At the same time, much bigger di mensions will make it hard to roll up the fibre mat on the product roller. Said sheet of foil applicator for applying a sheet of foil onto a surface of the fibre mat is a roller. This roller collects and joins together said fibre mat or said resin-treated fibre mat and said sheet of foil. An advantage of this embodiment is that it enables the sheet of foil to securely adhere to the mat. In a further embodiment of the invention, said method is peculiar in that said method further comprises the steps of:

- forwarding said fibre mat and said sheet of foil stepwise forward and

- applying the resin between the forwarding steps while the fibre mat and the sheet of foil are not forwarded.

Technically, it is possible to forward the fibre mat and the sheet of foil continuously. However, it is technically a more simple construction to establish a stepwise forward ing of the fibre mat and the foil and then applying resin when the fibre mat and the sheet of foil are not moving between forwarding steps.

With this method, a carriage will establish a transversal movement of the resin appli cation nozzles in the first lateral direction. This first lateral direction will normally be perpendicular to the transport direction, which corresponds to the second lateral direc- tion. As explained earlier, this first lateral direction may also vary from 90° in relation to said second lateral direction.

When having effected one transversal movement of the nozzles forming the resin stripes, a further forwarding step is effected, and then application of stripes in the op- posite direction is effected.

The fibre mat and the sheet of foil will be provided in form of a web having a long length compared to the width and preferably being provided in form of a roll. In such situation, fibres may be provided in the transversal direction perpendicular to the length of the web and the application of resin stripes will be provided such that the stripes cover a number of the reinforcement fibres in the transversal direction.

It is possible that the fibres are provided under an angle compared to the perpendicular orientation in relation to the length of the web. In such situation, it is possible that the transversal movement of the nozzle used for application of resin stripes is provided with a movement under an angle different from perpendicular to the length of the web.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said method is peculiar in that said method further comprises the steps of: - covering said edge area along said side edges during the step of applying resin,

- applying the resin with application nozzles which are continuously supplied with resin and

- providing said application nozzles in a position outside the side edges of the fibre mat during the forwarding steps.

When the resin is cured, the outermost side edges would be stiff if cured resin extends to the outermost side edges. This has some drawbacks and accordingly, it is preferred that the fibres in the outermost side edges are soft and pliable.

Accordingly, it is beneficial to cover the edge area and apply resin only in the central area of the fibre mat.

It is advantageous that the application of resin is effected continuously, seeing that it is the most technical simple way to apply resin. Therefore, it is preferred to have a continuously supply of resin to the application nozzles and having the nozzle in a parked position outside the side edges of the fibre mat during a forwarding step.

Preferably, the continuously supplied resin outside the fibre mat is collected and recir culated in order to obviate waste of resin.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said method is peculiar in that said method further comprises the steps of:

- said rolling step is effected in an oven for keeping the temperature in the roll at a predetermined temperature even in the innermost layers of the fibre mat roll when treatment fibre mats having a substantial length,

- removing the fibre mat roll from the oven,

- transferring the heated fibre mat roll to a curing oven and

- curing the resin in said curing oven.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said apparatus is peculiar in that said appa ratus comprises an oven in which a predetermined temperature may be maintained and in which said product roller is provided. The rolling step is effected in such oven. Seeing that the fibre mat is provided with a long length, the preparation method with the application of resin stripes could last for long time, even for several hours.

Accordingly, it is advantageous that the rolling step is effected in an oven to maintain a desired temperature in the fibre mat roll.

Hereby it is possible to remove the fibre mat roll from the oven in which the tempera ture is kept at a desired level and transfer this fibre mat roll to the curing oven where the resin is cured.

This embodiment allows an efficient use of curing ovens and thereby efficient energy consumption is possible.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said apparatus is peculiar in that said resin application nozzles are arranged on a common support beam extending in said transport direction, and that said support beam is arranged for movement perpendicu lar to said transport direction across the width of the fibre mat.

The most efficient way to apply resin is with a number of side-by-side arranged noz zles. When the nozzles are arranged on the common support beam, a number of resin stripes are provided simultaneously, which extend across the width of the fibre mat.

The movement of the application nozzles is, as already explained, to be perpendicular to the transport direction in most situations.

The nozzles may be arranged moveable on the support beam. Hereby they can be ar ranged with different mutual distance between the nozzles arranged on one support beam. Therefore, the stripes may be provided, which does not need to have same mu tual distance for all stripes.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said apparatus is peculiar in that said resin application nozzles being arranged on a common support beam extending under an angle in relation to said transport direction, which angle is between 0° and 90°, that said support beam is arranged for movement perpendicular to the extension of the transport beam across the width of the fibre mat thereby providing resin stripes having such angle in relation to said transport direction.

As already explained, it is possible to have reinforcement fibres arranged in the fibre mat with an orientation under different angles.

Typically, the angle could be 30°, 45°, 60° relating to the longitudinal direction of a web-shaped fibre mat. In such situation, it is advantageous to arrange an apparatus for applying the resin stripes according to the orientation of the reinforcement fibres in the fibre mat.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said apparatus is peculiar in that said resin applicator is arranged for stepwise forwarding of said fibre mat and said sheet of foil and that said support beam is arranged for movement between the forwarding steps while the fibre mat and the sheet of foil are not forwarded.

It is already explained in connection with the method that a stepwise forwarding of the fibre mat is technically efficient instead of having a continuously forwarding of the fibre mat.

It is a technically simple solution to arrange the support beam for a movement perpen dicular or under an angle compared to the transport direction between the forwarding steps while the fibre mat and the sheet of foil are not moving forward.

As already mentioned, it is alternatively possible to have a coordinated movement where the support beam is arranged for the perpendicular movement while simultane ously being moved synchronously with the forwarding of the web in the transport di rection.

In a further embodiment of the invention, said apparatus is peculiar in that said resin application nozzles are connected with a resin supply pump which continuously sup ply the resin supply nozzles with resin, that the resin applicator comprises covering means covering said edge area along said side edges during the step of applying resin, thereby making it possible that the application nozzles are in a position outside the side edges of the fibre mat during the forwarding steps.

The covering means, e.g. in form of cover plates or cover screens which covers the edge area extending close to each of the side edges, makes it possible to have a tech nically simple supply system for the resin.

The resin can continuously be fed through the system with a supply pump, and when the nozzles are in a parked position outside the side edges of the web, the resin which is pumped continuously through the nozzle will be collected and recirculated to a sup ply container from which the resin is supplied to the supply pump.

In an embodiment of the invention, said apparatus further comprises one or more resin collecting trays. Preferably, one or more of said resin collecting trays are arranged at the side of the fibre mat (e.g., one tray at each side of the mat at each nozzle). An ad vantage of this embodiment is that it prevents drops of resin from landing on the working surface or on the fibre mat.

Hereafter, the invention will be described in connection with drawings illustrating non-limiting examples of a method and an apparatus for preparing a fibre mat for moulding.

Description of the Drawing

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic view of an apparatus according to the invention for treatment of a fibre mat,

Fig. 2 is a partial view illustrating an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention,

Fig. 3 is a partial view corresponding to Fig. lillustrating a further embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention, and

Fig. 4 a partial view of a fibre mat treated according to a method and in an appa ratus according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Fig. 1 illustrates an apparatus 1 for treatment a fibre mat 2. The fibre mat 2 is illustrated in Figs. 2-4. The fibre mat 2 is provided as a web having a lateral direction which means the plane of the web. The fibre mat has side edges 3, 4 of the fibre mat. The fibre mat has in a first lateral direction 5 a greater stiffness than in a second lateral direction 6. The second lateral direction 6 is perpendicular to the first lateral direction and being parallel with the side edges 3, 4 of the fibre mat 2.

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a roller 7 being provided with a roll 8 of untreated fibre mat material. The roller rotates in operational direction 9 and has an axis of rotation 10 being parallel with said first direction and which axis of rotation is also perpendicular to the transport direction 11 of the fibre mat.

The apparatus comprises a further roller 12 being provided with a roll 13 of a sheet of foil 14. The roller 12 rotates in operational direction 9 like the first roller 7.

Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a sheet of foil applicator 15 in operational direc tion 9 corresponding to the operation directions for the two supply rollers 7, 12. A foil-coated fibre mat 16 is hereby provided, which is led to a resin applicator 18. The foil applicator 15, in the form of a roller, applies the sheet of foil 14 onto a sur face of the untreated fibre mat in order to generate a foil-coated fibre mat 16, which is applied to a support table 17 of the resin applicator 18.

The support table 17 constitutes a part of the resin applicator 18, which furthermore comprises a number of resin application nozzles 19 provided on a common support beam 20 for transport in a direction transversal, preferably perpendicular to the transport direction 11 in order to form resin stripes 21 on the foil coated fibre mat 16 on a surface opposite to the surface on which the foil 14 is applied. Furthermore, the apparatus comprises a product roller 22 for rolling up the foil-coated and resin-treated fibre mat 2 in a roll 23. Roller 22 has operational direction 24, illus trated in Fig. 1. The roller 22 and the roll 23 are provided inside an oven 25 in order to keep a predetermined temperature while rolling up the foil-coated and resin-treated fibre mat 2. The apparatus or a plant comprising the apparatus furthermore comprises a curing oven 26. The curing oven is separated from the other apparatus parts as the roller 22 with a full roller 23 will be transferred to the curing oven from the oven 25. Accord ingly, the curing is not effected online with the resin application.

The support table 17 is provided with a sloped feeding out portion 27. A correspond ing feeding in portion can be provided at the other side of the support table 17.

The untreated, coated fibre mat may be treated in different ways and may have differ- ent orientation of reinforcement fibres. It is possible to sew bundles of reinforcement fibres together.

The apparatus furthermore comprises a vision system 34. The vision system 34 may be arranged for a movement in vertical direction and a horizontal direction parallel to a transport direction 11. The vision system may possibly also be movable in a direc tion perpendicular to the transport direction 11.

Hereby it is possible to adjust the position of the vision system 34 in relation to the support table. When operating the apparatus according to the invention, the vision system will be in a fixed position.

The vision system 34 is used to determine whether a correct application of resin stripes is established on the fibre mat. The vision system will be connected with a control unit (not illustrated) in which sig nals from the vision system are handled, and which makes it possible to give alarm and/or to adjust the mutual positions of the resin application nozzles and the fibre mat.

In Fig. 2, the support beam 20 for the resin application nozzles 19 are arranged for a movement according to the double arrow 28 which is perpendicular to the transport direction 11 of the fibre mat 2. Accordingly, resin stripes 21 (see Fig. 1) will be ap plied with an orientation which is perpendicular to the transport direction 11. This embodiment is used when the reinforcement fibres are arranged perpendicular to the transport direction of the fibre mat 2 and where the resin stripes are intended to cover the reinforcement fibres.

Furthermore, Fig. 2 illustrates cover plates 29 being a part of the resin applicator 18 and arranged for covering side edge areas 30 of the fibre mat 2 during the step where the resin is applied.

Accordingly, the side edge areas 30 along each side edge 3, 4 are left without resin applied. Hereby soft and pliable fibres are arranged in the side edge areas 30 even after the curing of the resin.

Fig. 3 illustrates a further embodiment in which the support beam 20 for the resin ap plication nozzles 19 is arranged under an angle 31 in relation to said transport direc tion 11. The angle can be any angle between 0° and 90°, preferably between 5° and 85°. The support beam 20 is arranged for movement in a direction 32 being perpen dicular to the extension of the support beam 20 across the width of the fibre mat 2. Hereby resin stripes 21 are provided, which have a direction under an angle in relation to the transport direction 11 and which direction corresponds to the direction 31 of the movement of the support beam 20.

Fig. 4 illustrates a fibre mat 2 in which more resin stripes 21 are illustrated having different angles. In practice, only stripes having one of the orientations are provided.

In Fig. 4 a number of longitudinal fibres 33 are illustrated extending in the transport direction 11. The longitudinal fibres 33 are used for binding together the reinforcing fibres arranged in a transversal direction corresponding to the illustrated orientation of the resin stripes 21.

The orientations illustrated in Fig. 4 are only illustrative and any other orientation in cluding an orientation perpendicular to the transport direction 11 is possible.

It is possible in one fibre mat to have more directions for the resin stripes 21. This is effected only by having more than one support beam 20 with nozzles 19 arranged in the resin applicator 18. Hereby such support beams may be arranged for a movement under different angles.

Reference numbers:

1. apparatus

2. fibre mat being foil-coated and resin-treated

3. side edge

4. side edge

5. first lateral direction

6. second lateral direction

7. first supply roller

8. roll of untreated fibre mat

9. operational direction

10. axis of rotation

11. transport direction

12. further supply roller

13. roll

14. foil

15. foil applicator

16. fibre mat

17. support table

18. resin applicator

19. resin application nozzles

20. support beam

21. resin stripes

22. product roller

23. roll

24. operational direction

25. oven

26. curing oven

27. sloped feeding-out portion

28. double arrow

29. cover plates

30. side edge areas