PURPOSE: To obtain a nonwoven fabric high in reinforcing effect, capable of producing molded forms with good surface smoothness, thus useful as a reinforcing material for fiber-reinforced composites, esp. printed wiring boards.
CONSTITUTION: Short glass fibers 5-30mm in length are homogeneously dispersed in a dispersion 12 in a relevant tank 11 and fed to a papermaking machine 13 where a papermaking net 14 as a water-filterable base material is traveling continuously on a water filtration board 16. On the other hands, plural continuous glass fibers 32 sufficiently opened in advance are set, via a guide roller 33, on a fixed member 34 of the papermaking net 14, and on driving the papermaking machine 13, moved together with the papermaking net 14 in such a state as to be arranged planarly on the net 14, thereby forming a fibrous mat 15 having such a structure that 20-90 (pref. 60-85)wt.% of the continuous glass fibers 32 are packed in the short glass fibers. An excess of water is then removed from the mat 15 by using a suction device 17 and the resultant mat 15 is imparted with a binder 19 in a binder tank 20 using a spaying device 21 and then dried to bond the intersections of the short fibers and the continuous fibers 32, thus obtaining the objective nonwoven fabric for unidirectional reinforcement.
KASAI ARATA
WAKITA EIJI
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