A heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant inorganic composite body prepared by impregnating a heat-resistant inorganic compound body with at least one member selected from organosilicon compounds, metal alcoholates and organosilicon compound-metal alcoholate copolymers and then heat treating the thus impregnated body; and a process for preparing said heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant inorganic composite body.

An apparatus for producing an electrostatic image developer carrier from a material, comprising; a chamber for providing an enclosed space in which the material is processed, a stirrer for stirring the material in a horizontal direction in the chamber, and at least one of: a heater for heating up the chamber to a predetermined temperature, and a cooler for cooling down the chamber to a predetermined temperature.

An impregnating carbonizing process and apparatus which permit reduction in cost of consumable goods and can operate at a reduced cost and a heating and vacuum impregnating operation which requires a very long period of time can be performed on the outside of an expensive high pressure vessel to accomplish rapid carbonization and baking. The process comprises of inserting a porous shaped body of carbon and a block of impregnant into a specimen case, discharging gas from within the specimen case, heating the impregnant into a molten condition under a reduced pressure, inserting the specimen case into a high pressure vessel, admitting high pressure gas into the high pressure vessel and also into the specimen case so as to penetrate the impregnant into the shaped body of carbon, heating the shaped body to a high temperature, and discharging the high pressure gas to lower the pressure within the specimen case at a controlled rate in response to a pressure within the high pressure vessel to carbonize the impregnant. The apparatus is constructed to suitably carry out the process.

An impregnating carbonizing process and apparatus which permit reduction in cost of consumable goods and can operate at a reduced cost and a heating and vacuum impregnating operation which requires a very long period of time can be performed on the outside of an expensive high pressure vessel to accomplish rapid carbonization and baking. The process comprises of inserting a porous shaped body of carbon and a block of impregnant into a specimen case, discharging gas from within the specimen case, heating the impregnant into a molten condition under a reduced pressure to dip the shaped body of carbon in the molten liquid of the impregnant, inserting the speciment case into a high pressure vessel, admitting high pressure gas into the high pressure vessel and also into the specimen case so as to penetrate the impregnant into the shaped body of carbon, heating the shaped body to a high temperature, and discharging the high pressure gas to lower the pressure within the specimen case at a controlled rate in response to a pressure within the high pressure vessel to carbonize the impregnant. The apparatus is constructed to suitably carry out the process.

A preform resin immersion process (PRIP) for impregnating resin into a preform for the fabrication of composite structures. The resin contains a heatactivated catalyst and a thixotropic agent which maintain the viscosity of the resin at selected low level during the resin immersion process. The dry preform is placed in an impregnation vessel, and the resin is held in a resin storage vessel, with both vessels initially held at vacuum of about 5.0 mm Hg torr to draw off any air or volatiles. Pressure is introduced into the resin storage vessel, causing the resin to flow through a line into the impregnation vessel which is still held at vacuum conditions. When enough resin is in the impregnation vessel to completely immerse the preform, the flow of resin to this tank is stopped. Once the resin has completely permeated the preform, the resin is drawn back into the resin storage vessel, and the saturated preform is raised up from the impregnation vessel so that the excess resin drips off into collection means. By carefully controlling the thixotropic nature and the viscosity of the resin along with the employment of a latent, heat-activated catalyst, the precisely correct amount of resin remains in the preform after the drip collection step is finished. The saturated preform is then conveyed to a conventional tool for final curing at high temperature and pressure.