Head for application of carbon-fibre strips and application method

The present invention relates to the manufacture of parts by sticking carbon fiber strips, in particular to the manufacture of parts for the aviation industry, and devices having unique features in the context of sticking heads with multiple strips. We propose a sticking method for sticking the strip to the surface to be formed.

In the construction of aviation structures, the seams between the components are the most durable parts, so that as large a part as possible tends to be used to reduce the number of seams.

However, as the size of the part increases, its complexity increases, and there is a need for a machine that can meet the quality applicable to the complex conditions of large parts.

For example, the complexity of the surface of a part is provided by a curved region, which is formed by stacking strips of carbon fiber as is done in the manufacture of aviation parts, but the resulting radius of curvature is The problem arises because it depends on the width of the carbon fiber strip used in the application. The wider the strip to be pasted, the larger the radius of curvature that results from pasting, that is, a larger radius is needed to prevent wrinkling of the strip used.

In previously known heads for laminating strips, called tape laminating equipment, the heads attach single strips with different width dimensions (ie, 300, 150 or 75 mm), but always on the same strip. paste.

The highest productivity is achieved with strips with a width of 300 mm, while strips with a width of 75 mm can draw curves with smaller radii.

The width of the strips to be applied affects the productivity of the process of forming parts by laminating carbon fiber strips, and the smaller the width of the strips to be applied, the more passes must be performed, which is necessary. The time is long and the productivity is reduced.

In addition, the carbon fibers of the sticking strips used to perform the required function are impregnated with resin, and the duration of the strip out of the manufacturing autoclave is approximately 10 days. The strip must be used during the period, otherwise it must be discarded. Therefore, sticking productivity is important in order to minimize the loss due to aging of the material and to achieve rapid use of the strip.

Apart from these tape laminating devices that laminate from the same carbon fiber strip, another device called a fiber laminating device that uses fine carbon fibers by thin wires wound on a plurality of reels is known.

<p> INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, a head for attaching a strip of carbon fiber is proposed, and this head can advantageously solve a problem related to the formation of a large and complicated part by attaching the strip on the strip. Features are brought.</p><p> According to this device, the head is a type of tape laminating device, i.e., a type that uses a strip of carbon fiber wound on a paper support rather than a large number of carbon fibers wound on a fiber laminating device spool. However, according to the apparatus of the present invention, the heads are at least two strips, preferably four carbons, each 75 mm wide, as compared to conventional methods that use 300, 150 or 75 mm strips of the same head. When using fiber strips and the head sticks four strips at the same time, it can reach the standard 300mm width dimension, provide the highest productivity and draw a very small radius without wrinkling the strips. it can. In contrast, when the area is curved, you can always keep a total stripping width of 300 mm and use two 150 mm strips depending on the radius of the curve, or parts with a very large radius of curvature. A single 300 mm strip can also be used if is substantially flat.</p><p> In fact, according to the present invention, a sticking head is used in which at least two reels, preferably four reels, of carbon fiber strips are arranged, the reels being formed by the configuration of independent continuous portions. It is attached to the main roller. These parts are coupled with their respective rotary actuated transmissions controlled by computer programming. When a strip of carbon fiber is applied onto the surface to be formed, a strip with conventional protective paper is provided, which is separated and collected on a separate take-up spool on each reel and wound around the spool. ..</p><p> The sticking strip is fed from the feed reel to the sticking area through a guide that keeps the strip apart. The sticking area is provided with multiple heels with independent portions that push each strip, and each strip may or may not be stuck to the surface formed by pressure-based means of sticking the strips. ..</p><p> Thus, heads with strips of various widths are obtained, and the same or different strips are pasted to form a strip stick with a stick width comparable to the width of a very wide band. The head can be attached to the curved surface of the formed surface as well as to allow continuous or uninterrupted attachment of each strip by controlling the transmission of the rotational motion of the carbon fiber strips to the reels according to the requirements of the surface to be formed. The feed rates of different strips can be individually varied to adapt the attachment. As a result, it is possible to correct the sticking stroke distance that becomes larger in the outer portion having a larger curvature than the inner portion, and the tension of the strip used over the entire width of the sticking is maintained without deformation.</p><p> Therefore, more or fewer carbon fiber strips can be used, depending on the curvature required for attachment. In addition, the sticking width can be covered with a set of strips that are used simultaneously as well as a very wide strip, for example, two 150mm wide strips, or four 75mm wide strips used for a 300mm sticking width. The dimensions or number of reels are unlimited and can be adapted in each case according to the surface produced and the optimum productivity.</p><p> The carbon fiber strip reel assembly is included in the axial arrangement configuration by means of automatically controlled longitudinal drive screws, which drive screws correspond to each guide for feeding the strip. Place the reel on the main roller. The rotary fixing device fixes each reel to the corresponding part of the main roller by a radial pressure plate arranged in the corresponding part of the main roller, which is pneumatically operated, and the above-mentioned part of the main roller is diametrically oriented. By expanding to, the reel is fixed.</p><p> For the supply of each carbon fiber strip from the corresponding reel, a separate sensor is placed, which controls the operation of the rotation transmission to the reel, thereby adjusting the sticking speed of each strip from time to time and on the strip. Proper sticking tension is maintained. Further, the sensor is provided with a oscillating arrangement capable of compensating for changes in reel inertia according to the amount of strip consumed.</p><p> The reels holding the strips can be replaced individually, and each time the contained strips are used up, the empty reels are replaced. Or replace everything when one of the reels is empty. This reduces the number of replacements and stops required, but causes waste of material left on reels that are not completely used up.</p><p> An alternative to better utilizing the strip for sticking with a minimum number of replacements of the reel holding the strip is to combine the strip with a program that continuously uses the sticking head to form various parts. Consisting of utilizing a software program that manages the supply, the software calculates the stroke distance that must be performed in the various uses of pasting the strips, and the increased consumption of strips in the use of certain pastes, Perform these uses in such a way as to offset the increased consumption of other strips in other uses. This allows all reels holding the sticking strips to be used up at the same time and replaced at the same time without wasting material.</p><p> According to the present invention<u style="single">block</u>A laterally oriented ultrasonic cutting unit is mounted on a shaft parallel to the axis of the main roller to which the carbon fiber strip feed reel is mounted. Thereby,<u style="single">block</u>By rotating 90 ° with respect to the carbon fiber strip attachment position, the cutting unit described above becomes the working position for cutting the rest of the attached strip.</p><p> Therefore, the strips are attached and the rest of them are cut with the same head, which greatly reduces the total work time for attaching the carbon fiber strips. Furthermore, the operational positioning of the cutting unit is one of the axes that assemble the head itself.<u style="single">block</u>Assembling the necessary means is simpler and cheaper because it is done by rotating.</p><p> Therefore, the heads and methods proposed herein provide highly advantageous functional features for forming parts by attaching strips of carbon fiber, and the device to date for the same function. It has uniqueness and favorable characteristics for the means that have been used.</p>

<figref num="1">It is a perspective view of the head to which the strip of the carbon fiber by this invention is attached.</figref><figref num="2">It is an exploded view of the part corresponding to the outline of a head.</figref><figref num="3">It is a perspective view of the head of FIG. 2 in which a part is arranged at an assembly position.</figref><figref num="4">It is a perspective view of the stage of assembling the ultrasonic cutting unit (15).</figref><figref num="5">It is the figure which assembled the ultrasonic cutting unit (15) of FIG.</figref><figref num="6">It is a perspective view of the stage of assembling the main roller (5).</figref><figref num="7">It is the figure which assembled the main roller (5) of FIG.</figref><figref num="8">It is a partial decomposition perspective view of the main roller (5) for assembling the carbon fiber reel (1) of the head of this invention.</figref><figref num="9">FIG. 5 is a perspective view having a longitudinal cross section of the main roller (5) without a drive motor unit.</figref><figref num="9A">It is a partially enlarged view of the previous figure.</figref><figref num="10">FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an assembly of a main roller (5) assembling a reel (1) with a sensor (14) that regulates the supply of carbon fiber strips.</figref><figref num="11">It is an enlarged perspective view of the sensor (14) which adjusts the supply of a strip.</figref><figref num="12">It is a perspective view of the heel (10) which presses a strip of carbon fiber against the sticking surface.</figref><figref num="13">It is a perspective view of the reel (8) for winding a protective paper from a strip of carbon fiber.</figref><figref num="14">It is a perspective view of the head of this invention in the operating position of a cutting unit (15).</figref><figref num="14A">It is a perspective view which shows the operating means which operates a cutting unit (15).</figref>

The object of the present invention relates to a head to which a carbon fiber strip is attached to form a component for the aviation industry or the like, and an improvement is brought about in the head and the attaching method used for the above-mentioned function.

This head has traditionally been placed on the rotary motion support (2) with respect to the assembly joint (3) on the vertical axis III, but the block (2.1) or the actual head is on the support (2) described above. Incorporated into the "small gear-crown gear" rotary assembly (4) on horizontal axis I (see Figures 1, 2 and 3).

According to the present invention, at least two carbon fiber strip supply reels (1) for supplying the carbon fiber strips to be attached are arranged in the head.

According to a non-limiting actual embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, the head has four reels (1), each reel having a width dimension of 75 mm, as shown in FIG. The strip is rolled. Therefore, if the head attaches four carbon fiber strips at the same time, it can be attached to a width of 300 mm, which maximizes productivity. On the other hand, using only one reel (1) with a width of 75 mm, it is possible to draw a very small radius without creating wrinkles. Therefore, one, two, three or four reels (1) are used depending on the curvature of the radius to be drawn. If the head is used to cover a less complex surface, for example, two 150 mm reels (1) covering a size 300 mm wide can also be used, or a large radius for a nearly flat part. It is also possible to use a single 300 mm wide reel (1) that can produce a curvature of.

The reel (1) is attached to the main roller (5) formed by assembling the individual continuous rings (5.1) attached to the shaft (16) (see Figure 9), the logical vertical axis II of which is , Is perpendicular to the horizontal axis I.

As shown in FIGS. 6, 8 and 9, the ring (5.1) is connected by a respective rotary actuated transmission (6) to a corresponding individual motor (7) controlled by a computer program.

The said portion (5.1) of the main roller (5) is separated from each other by ball bearings (23) arranged laterally opposite to each other in the continuous portion (5.1), and each independent rotation of the continuous portion (5.1). Is possible (see Figures 9 and 9A).

The rotation of each part (5.1), as shown in FIG. 9A, activates a small gear (24) meshed with a crown gear (25) inside the corresponding part (5.1), each independent motor (7). As described in Japanese Patent No. P200200524 of the same applicant as the present invention, this assembly ensures a separate controlled rotational operation of each part (5.1).

This allows the reels (1) to rotate at different speeds so that, for example, when the curved portion is reached, for example, the reel (1) corresponding to the strip outside the curved portion Not all reels are wound at the same speed when coming out of the curve, such as "turning" more than the adjacent reel.

The carbon fiber strips designed for sticking are provided with an accompanying conventional protective paper that prevents the strips from sticking when wound on a reel (1) so that the strips stick to the surface to be formed. When attached, the protective paper is collected in a take-up spool (8) placed for that purpose within the same head (see Figure 11).

The carbon fiber strips are fed from the feed reel (1) mounted on the main rollers (5) by the guides (9) (see Figure 1), and the guides (9) press against each strip as shown in Figure 12. Keep the strips apart until the multiple heels (10) formed by the separate pressurizing portions (10.1) for are reached the sticking area where the strips are placed, so that each strip is a strip sticking means by pressure. Can or cannot be attached to the surface to be formed.

In other words, when a strip of carbon fiber is attached to the surface to be formed, the strip is attached to the surface to be formed by first pressing it against the surface by the corresponding portion (10.1) of the heel (10). The strips that are not pressed by each part (10.1) of the heel (10) pass through without being stuck to the surface to be formed. Therefore, any type of surface can be formed by selecting the operation by motion control programming of the head and attaching the forming strip only to the part that must be covered with the attachment material.

The carbon fiber strip feed reels (1) are assembled by axial placement means with longitudinal drive screws, along with optical sensors placed in guides (9) for feeding the strips, thereby each. It is possible to perform automatic adjustments to align the strip feed reels (1) in response to the guides (9).

Further, each part (5.1) constituting the main roller (5) is provided with a plate (11) whose outer surface (see FIGS. 8 to 9A) can be moved in the radial direction by a pneumatic system, and means of the plate. Creates a radial extension of the portion (5.1) to secure the reel (1). The operation of the strips supplied for attachment is then manipulated by the rotational transmission supplied to the portion (5.1) by the corresponding motor (7).

The radial movement of the radial extension plate (11) of the portion (5.1) is performed as follows (see Figure 9A).

When the pressure in the air chamber between the fixed piston (26) and the axially movable jacket (27) increases, the jacket (27) is moved in the axial direction of the corresponding portion (5.1), resulting in The angular contact four-point bearing (28) between the jacket (27) and portion (5.1) described above and the rotatably integrated slanted ring (29) causes longitudinal movement of the jacket (27). To prevent the jacket (27) from rotating at the same time as transmitting to the sloped ring (29), whereas the sloped ring (29) rotates with a portion (5.1) attached by a pin or stud (30). ..

On the slope of the sloping ring (29), a part (31) with radialally arranged balls at the ends is supported, so that the end of the part (31) becomes the sloping ring (29). Of the slanted ring (29) caused by the pneumatic movement of the jacket (27) as it slides on the slope and the component (31) is pressed against the plate (11) arranged in contact with it. The longitudinal movement causes the part (31) to move in the radial direction.

The outer surface of the portion (5.1) is provided with an axial groove, which completely secures the reel (1) on the portion (5.1) and prevents relative rotational sliding of the reel (1). Optimal control is ensured.

In addition, a take-up spool (8) for winding the protective paper on the carbon fiber strips is mounted on the shaft (12) as shown in FIG. 11 and locked by a wedge (13) method actuated by a pneumatic system. ..

With respect to the carbon fiber strips coming out of the corresponding feed reels (1) attached to the main roller (5), the carbon fiber strips individually pass through the arranged sensors (14) shown in FIG. The outlet speed of the strips is controlled by the sensor (14) and the actuation of rotation transmission to the reel (1) by the corresponding motor (7) is always to match the supply of each strip to the speed at which the required strips are applied. Adjusted according to its speed, it prevents tension and pulling that causes insufficient sticking.

Further, the aforementioned sensor (14) is arranged in a swinging arrangement, thereby being able to compensate for changes in the inertia of the reel (1) when the corresponding strip on the reel (1) is consumed. Yes, this ensures that the tension of the strip during the feeding process is constant and the sticking is uniform.

There are two sticking methods for sticking carbon fiber strips by the apparatus of the present invention, which have a total width equivalent to the width of the strip that allows the sticking surface to be covered with the minimum number of passes by the above-mentioned head. These strips can be used, and by controlling the rate at which each strip is fed, strips that follow the required straight and curved paths can be applied. In a straight sticking area, all strips are fed at the same rate, but in a curved stick, the strips that stick to the outer part of the curve are fed faster than the strips that stick to the inner part of the curve. To. As a result, the entire width of the application becomes uniform in the application without extending the strip in the outer portion and without wrinkling in the inner portion. As shown, at a given time, only strips of one reel (1) need to be pasted and strips of the remaining reels need not be pasted, or all possible logical modifications are possible. It is considered that four independent reels (1) can be used, or more reels (1) are provided if necessary, according to the actual embodiments shown in the document.

In such a state, in the pasting process, the reels (1) are individually replaced when the reels (1) are emptied, and the remaining reels of the reels (1) are each reel in the process. It will continue to be used until it is empty, and those reels will be replaced individually as well. In this method, the carbon fiber strips are fully utilized, but the process must be stopped many times to replace each reel (1) when the reels are empty.

Similarly, it can be a sticking method that replaces the supply reels (1) of all carbon fiber strips when one of the reels is empty, thereby making all reels (1) their respective. The replacement stops reduce the number of stops required as the feed process is restarted from the fully filled state of the reels. However, in this method, when the reel (1) is replaced without being emptied, all the rest of the unused reel (1) is discarded, resulting in material loss.

According to a special option in the present invention, with respect to the supply of carbon fiber strips, a management software program combined with a program for continuous application to form the same or different parts is applied, resulting in The software calculates the stroke distances for pasting strips that must be performed in different uses and determines the order in which they are executed. Thereby, the increased consumption of some sticking strips in one use is offset by the increased consumption of other strips in another use, thereby all reels (1) holding the sticking strips. It becomes empty at the same time. In this method, all reels (1) are replaced at the same stop of replacement and there is no wasteful disposal, so the carbon fiber material of the strip is fully utilized.

According to another feature of the present invention, on the head,<u style="single">Block (2.1)</u>An ultrasonic cutting unit (15) arranged on an axis IIa parallel to the axis II of the main roller (5) directed to the side of the is incorporated (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 6).

In this configuration, as shown in FIG. 14, the cutting unit (15) is rotated 90 ° with respect to the carbon fiber strip attachment position of the block (2.1) in contact with the assembly (4) on the horizontal axis I. ) Is the working position to cut the rest of the carbon fiber strip used in the formation of the sticking surface.

This allows the same head to attach the strip to simply rotate the head block (2.1) around axis I by 90 ° between the attachment position shown in FIG. 1 and the cutting shown in FIG. Cuts the rest of the strip, thus reducing the time required for the process of manufacturing the part into which the carbon fiber strip is formed.

As shown in FIG. 14A, the cutting unit (15) is actuated by a servomotor (18) via a small gear (19) and a crown gear (20) so that the carbon fiber material can be cut. It has a rotation (CU) of blades (17) by servo-controlled actuation means.

The blade (17) is axially vibrated by an ultrasonic frequency with an amplitude of a few tenths of a millimeter, which allows the remaining adhered uncured material to be cut from the carbon fiber strips. The frequency of the blade (17) is generated by a resonator (21) attached to the support (2) of the head and transmitted to the collector (22), which causes the blade (17) to rotate (CU). The blade (17) can be vibrated even when it is rotated.

1 Supply reel 4 Small gear and crown gear 5 Main roller 5.1 Main roller part 6 Rotational operation transmission 7 Motor 8 Spool 9 Guide 10 Heel 11 Plate 12 Shaft 13 Wedge 14 Sensor 15 Ultrasonic cutting unit