AU2016202470B2

AU2016202470B2 - Carbon fibre washer

Info

Publication number: AU2016202470B2
Application number: AU2016202470A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Yi-Ching Cheng; Chun-Han Lai; Wen-You Lai; Po-Chun Lin; Po-Chen Sung; Chang-Mou Wu
Original assignee: LinkWin Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: LinkWin Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-04-19
Filing date: 2016-04-19
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Anticipated expiration: 2036-04-19
Also published as: AU2016202470A1

Abstract

A carbon fibre washer is provided and includes a carbon fibre fabric made of a plurality of fibre bundles being woven, in which each of the plurality of fibre bundles is made of discontinuous fibres; the advantage of the carbon fibre washer of the present invention includes high temperature and fatigue resisting, and weather proofing. The structure of the carbon fibre washer is stable due to the use of discontinuous fibres; breakages of discontinuous fibres do not affect other unbroken discontinuous fibres, so that the structure of the carbon fibre washer would not be loosened or delaminated and the service life can be prolonged accordingly. Fig. 1

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a carbon fibre washer, and more particularly to a 5 carbon fibre washer having discontinuous carbon fibres.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Washers and gaskets are essential to mechanical structures. For instance, metal washers or flat washers are often utilized for fastening screws in order to prevent loosening, 0 spring washers are often utilized to press against objects to prevent leakages, and transmission or winding gaskets are usually implemented in rotating mechanisms. Taking conventional winding gaskets used in fishing reels as an example, conventional winding gaskets bear with abrasions from physical frictions during high-speed rotations, and some are even applied to auxiliary braking mechanisms, and so abrasion resisting, self-lubricating, and high temperature 5 resisting performances of the gaskets are highly required. Metal based and composite materials are the two major types of materials being used in fishing reels or other similar mechanisms. Metal-based materials have lots of benefits such as outstanding thermal conductivities, however, thermal expansion of metals causes problems; Composite materials like winding gaskets contain laminated fibre fabrics formed of continuous fibres, see Fig. 8, and that 0 breakages of the continuous fibres would cause delamination thereby loosening the entire structure and reducing the service life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0003] In light of the above problems and disadvantages, a carbon fibre washer is provided. 25 The carbon fibre washer includes woven discontinuous fibres, so that while the carbon fibre washer is worn and a part of carbon fibres are abraded or torn, others will not be affected. As a result, the entire structure will not be loosened or delaminated, so as to prolong the service life of the carbon fibre washer.

[0004] Accordingly, the invention provides a carbon fibre washer which includes a carbon 30 fibre fabric made of a plurality of woven fibre bundles, wherein each of the fibre bundles is formed of a plurality of discontinuous fibres.

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 [0005] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a bonding material is in between two or more of the carbon fibre fabrics, the bonding material partially infiltrates or impregnates the spaces between the discontinuous fibres of the carbon fibre fabrics; the outer surface of the carbon fibre washer includes at least a portion not infiltrated with the bonding 5 material.

[0006] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the carbonization ratio of the carbon fibre fabric ranges from 10% to 95%.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the impregnation ratio of the bonding material being infiltrated into the carbon fibre fabrics ranges from 40% to 80%.

[0008] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bonding material is thermal-plastic or thermal-setting resin, and the discontinuous fibre is formed by carbonizing acrylic fibre.

[0009] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the thermal-plastic resin is polyester or polysulfone resin, and the thermal-setting resin is epoxy or phenolic resin.

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a stacking structure can be formed by two of the carbon fibre fabrics with a supporting material, and the two carbon fibres are located at the outer side of the stacking structure.

[0011] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the carbon fibre washer further includes a supporting material disposed between two of the bonding materials, each of the bonding materials is disposed between one of the carbon fibre fabrics and the supporting material, and the outmost layers of the carbon fibre washer are the two of the carbon fibre fabrics.

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the supporting material is carbon fibre fabric, thin fibre fabric, basalt fibre fabric, or glass fibre fabric or the combination thereof.

[0013] Accordingly, the carbon fibre washer of the present invention has numerous advantages as listed below:

[0014] 1. The carbon fibre washer of the present invention is not just high-temperature resisting, fatigue resisting, and weather proofing, but self-lubricating and abrasion resisting due to the short, discontinuous fibre of the outer most carbon fibre fabrics of the carbon fibre washer.

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 [0015] 2. The carbon fibre washer includes woven discontinuous fibres, so that while the carbon fibre washer is worn and a part of carbon fibres are abrade or tom, other carbon fibres will not be affected. As a result, the entire structure will not be loosened or delaminated, so as to prolong the service life of the carbon fibre washer.

[0016] 3. The carbon fibre washer of the present invention can be widely applied to various fields according to its carbonization ratios, such as implementing highly carbonized carbon fibre washer into automobile transmissions as gaskets, fishing reels, or other machines or apparatuses having highly rotating gears, and implementing mid-carbonized carbon fibre washer into machines having gears operating in lower rotating speed, such as food-grade processing machines, rather than using lubricating oils which may remain in the foods during the process. Low carbonized carbon fibre washers require lower manufacturing costs. Besides, low carbonized carbon fibre washers can not just be working with low speed gears, but be used as screw washers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0017] The stmcture and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

[0018] Fig. 1 is an SEM image of the carbon fibre washer;

[0019] Fig.2 is another SEM image of the carbon fibre washer;

[0020] Fig. 3 is an SEM image of the cross-section of the carbon fibre washer;

[0021] Fig. 4 is another SEM image of the cross-section of the carbon fibre washer;

[0022] Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Fig. 6 shows a TGA result of samples of the present invention being tested under 400°C;

[0024] Fig. 7 shows a TGA result of samples of the present invention being tested under 500°C;and [0025] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional woven carbon fibre washer with continuous carbon fibres.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [0026] The structure and technical features of the present invention will now be described in considerable detail with reference to some embodiments and the accompanying drawings thereof, so that the present invention can be easily understood.

[0027] A carbon fibre washer is provided according to the present invention and includes a carbon fibre fabric 11 made of a plurality of fibre bundles 111 being woven, and each of the plurality of fibre bundles is made of a plurality of discontinuous fibres 1111. Preferably, the fibre bundles 111 are woven in both latitude and longitude directions as shown in the SEM images of Fig. 1 to Fig. 4.

[0028] A method for producing a carbon fibre fabric 11 is further provided and includes the following steps:

[0029] (1) Providing a plurality of non-carbonized discontinuous fibres and twisting, bundling the discontinuous fibres into lines, in which the discontinuous fibres can be acrylic fibres.

[0030] (2) Interlacing and weaving the bundled non-carbonized discontinuous fibres by different methods to form a non-carbonized fibre fabric having various kinds of weaving patterns; the weaving method mentioned above is not limited to any specific way. Nonetheless, shuttleless weaving, such as plain weaving, is preferable; when the carbon fibre washer is formed by shuttleless weaving, the transmission of transverse shear stress generated during operation can be cut-off, thereby preventing damages.

[0031] (3) Carbonizing the non-carbonized fibre fabric by applying a temperature ranging from 400°C~3500°C for forming the carbon fibre fabric 11, where, preferably, the carbonization ratio of the carbon fibre fabric can be ranged from 10% to 95%.

[0032] Referring to Fig. 3 to Fig. 4, the carbon fibre fabrics 11 of the first preferred 25 embodiment of the present invention made by the aforementioned method are then superimposed to each other side by side to form a laminated structure. The carbon fibre fabrics are bonded by a bonding material 20. The bonding material 20 can be thermal-plastic resin such as polyester and polysulfone resin, or thermal-setting resin such as epoxy and phenolic resin. A hot-pressing machine is applicable to bond the carbon fibre fabrics 11 with the bonding material 20 by applying a pressure of 45-250 kg/cm and a temperature not more than 350°C. Further, the carbon fibre fabrics 11 are bonded with the bonding material 20 having a

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 predetermined thickness by laminating with hot-pressing, so that the bonding material 20 can be melted and infiltrated into the discontinuous fibres of the carbon fibre fabric 11, as shown in Fig. 3 to Fig. 4. The bonding material 20 may partially infiltrate or impregnate the spaces between the discontinuous fibres 1111, and the outer surface of the carbon fibre washer 10 5 includes at least a portion not infiltrated with the bonding material 20. After hardening of the bonding material 20 by, for instance, thermal-setting, each two carbon fibre fabrics 11 are bonded and combined to each other, thereby providing strong structural rigidity and preventing delaminating. The predetermined thickness mentioned above depends on the thickness of the carbon fibre fabric 11, the volume percentage, and the impregnation ratio to be reached. For 0 instance, if the impregnation ratio impregnated with the bonding material 20 to be reached is 40%~80%, the predetermined thickness of the bonding material 20 can be ranged from 40vt% to 80vt% of the carbon fibre fabric 11. The bonding material 20 can be partially infiltrated into the carbon fibre fabrics 11 by coating, spraying or film stacking. Hence, the carbon fibre washer of the present embodiment provides self-lubricating and abrasion resisting due to the 5 short, discontinuous fibres of the carbon fibre fabric 11 located at the outermost layer of the carbon fibre washer.

[0033] In light of mass-producing the carbon fibre washer of the present invention, the materials of the carbon fibre washer including the carbon fibre fabrics 11 and the bonding material 20 can be prepared as rolls, such that a roll-to-roll process can be performed to produce carbon fibre washers having laminated structures. The material of the bonding material 20 can be selected according to the surface property of the bonding object. High pressure and high temperature are applied during the bonding process, thereby strengthening the structure of the laminated carbon fibre washer. The laminated structure having the carbon fibre fabrics 11 and the bonding materials 20 will be formed in rolls, and then further cutting processes such as stamping and cropping can be applied to cut out the carbon fibre washers 10. [0034] The second preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in Fig. 5 is that other than combining each two carbon fibre fabrics 11 with the bonding material 20. The carbon fibre washer may further includes a supporting material disposed between two of the bonding materials, each of the bonding materials is disposed between one of the carbon fibre fabrics and the supporting material, and the outmost layers of the carbon fibre washer are the two of the carbon fibre fabrics. The carbon fibre washer 10 includes materials combined in a

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 side-to-side order of carbon fibre fabric 11, bonding material 20, supporting material 30, bonding material 20, and carbon fibre fabric 11. Because the thickness of one single carbon fibre fabric 11 is thin and is utilized for lubricating against other mechanical components during operation, the supporting material 30 can be applied for thickening to strengthen the carbon fibre washer 10. The supporting material 30 can be carbon fibre fabric, thin fibre fabric, basalt fibre fabric, or glass fibre fabric. A sandwich structure of the carbon fibre washer 10 of the present invention is formed while the carbon fibre washer 10 contains three or more laminas, in which the carbon fibre fabrics 11 are located to be the outer most layers of the carbon fibre washer 10, and the other supporting materials 30 (which might contain one single lamina or laminas) are included at the inner side of the carbon fibre washer 10.

[0035] The followings are results showing benefits of the present invention, such as abrasion resisting, self-lubricating and thermal conducting. Referring to Table 1 and Table 2 below, illustrating physical properties of samples produced from the method for producing the carbon fibre washer of the present invention.

[0036] Table 1

Sample code	Carbonization temperature (°C)	Thickness (mm)	Basis weight (g/m²)	Warp density (/inch)
CF-1001-T	-1085	0.6	260	46
CF-1003-T	-1075	0.48	150	50
CF-1001-Z	1080-1090	0.55	300	46
CF-1003-Z	1070-1090	0.48	170	50

[0037] Table 2

Sample code	Latitude density (/inch)	Number of Laminas	Thermal conductivity (W/cm-°C)
CF-1001-T	28	5	4.98
CF-1003-T	28	3	4.54
CF-1001-Z	28	5	4.64
CF-1003-Z	28	3	4.47

[0038] The thermal conductivities of the samples are around 5 (W/cm-°C), proving that the heats generated from physical frictions and abrasions during operation can be rapidly conducted and dissipated, thereby preventing damages caused by high temperatures of either the operating machine or the fibres.Please refer to Fig. 6 to Fig. 7, which show TGA (TGA Q500) results of the samples listed in Table 1 and Table 2 being tested under 400 °C and 500 °C respectively. The weight percent losses of the samples under 400 °C are less than 3%, and the weight percent losses of the samples under 500 °C are less than 18%, which means that the

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 quality of the samples are stable under high temperatures; the structure and the fibres are not easily damaged.

[0039] Referring to Table 3 below, the dynamic and static friction coefficients, abrasions, and the heat distortion temperatures of the samples are tested under the ASTM DI894, ASTM

D3884, and ASTM D648 standard test methods. According to the testing results showing the static and dynamic friction coefficients of the samples, the carbon fibre structure woven with discontinuous fibres of the present invention indeed provides self-lubricating effects. Additionally, the carbon fibre washer 10 formed with discontinuous fibres is high temperature and abrasion resisting according to the test results below.

[0040] Table 3

Sample code	Static friction coefficient	Dynamic friction coefficient	Abrasion (g)	Heat distortion temperature (°C)
CF-1001-T	0.41	0.41	0.3318	157.0
CF-1003-T	0.27	0.27	0.0468	161.1
CF-1001-Z	0.27	0.27	0.1521	172.6
CF-1003-Z	0.41	0.41	0.2568	157.8

[0041] According to the test results above, the structure woven from discontinuous carbon fibres of the present invention is not only self-lubricating, abrasion and high temperature resisting, but with outstanding structural stability; while a part of the carbon fibres are broken, those broken carbon fibres will not affect the stability of the entire woven fibre structure, so that the structure will not be easily loosened or delaminated, so as to prolong the service life of the carbon fibre washer of the present invention.

[0042] Referring to Table 4 below showing abundance of elements under different carbonization ratios of sample code CF-1001-Z of the present invention carbonized with different carbonization temperatures. Carbon fibre washers carbonized under lower temperatures have more functional groups to be more easily bonding with bonding materials like resins, so that the structure will not be easily delaminated.

[0043] Table 4

Sample code	Carbonization temperature °C	Carbonization ratio	Nitrogen abundance N%	Carbon abundance C%	Hydrogen abundance H%
CF-1001-Z	1080-1090	85	6.604	84.505	1.056
CF-1001-Z	850	70	12.808	69.986	1.768

2016202470 19 Apr 2016 [0044] The carbon fibre washer of the present invention can be widely applied to various fields according to its carbonization ratios. For instance, highly carbonized carbon fibre washers ( carbonization ratio ranged between60% ~90% ) can be implemented into automobile transmissions as gaskets, fishing reels, or other machines or apparatuses having highly rotating gears. Additionally, mid-carbonized carbon fibre washer ( carbonization ratio ranged between 30%~60% )can be implemented into machines having gears operating in lower rotating speed, such as food-grade processing machines, rather than using lubricating oils which may remain in the foods during the process. Low carbonized carbon fibre washers (carbonization ratio ranged between 10%~30% ) can not just be working with low speed gears, but be used as screw washers.

[0045] The term “comprise” and variants of that term such as “comprises” or “comprising” are used herein to denote the inclusion of a stated integer or integers but not to exclude any other integer or any other integers, unless in the context or usage an exclusive interpretation of the term is required.

[0046] Reference to background art or other prior art in this specification is not an admission that such background art or other prior art is common general knowledge in Australia or elsewhere.

Claims

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1. A carbon fibre washer, comprising a carbon fibre fabric made of a plurality of woven fibre bundles, wherein each fibre bundle is formed of a plurality of discontinuous fibres;

a bonding material disposed between two or more of the carbon fiber fabrics, partially infiltrating or impregnating the spaces between the discontinuous fibers; and an outer surface of the carbon fiber washer includes at least a portion not infiltrated with the bonding material to provide self-lubricating and abrasion resisting effects.
2. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carbonization ratio of the carbon fibre fabric ranges from 10% to 95%.
3. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the impregnation ratio of the bonding material being infiltrated into the carbon fibre fabrics ranges from 40% to 80%.
4. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the bonding material is thermal-plastic or thermal-setting resin, and the discontinuous fibre is formed by carbonizing acrylic fibre.
5. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in claim 4, wherein the thermal-plastic resin is polyester or polysulfone resin, and the thermal-setting resin is epoxy or phenolic resin.
6. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a stacking structure is formed by two of the carbon fibre fabrics with a supporting material, and the two carbon fibres are located at the outer side of the stacking structure.
7. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carbon fibre washer further includes a supporting material disposed between two of the bonding materials, each of the bonding materials is disposed between one of the carbon fibre fabrics and the supporting material, and the outmost layers of the carbon fibre washer are the two of the carbon fibre fabrics.

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8. The carbon fibre washer as claimed in claim 6, wherein the supporting material is carbon fibre fabric, thin fibre fabric, basalt fibre fabric, or glass fibre fabric or a combination thereof.

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Fig. 1

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Fig. 2

3/8

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Fig. 3

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Fig. 4

5/8

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Fig. 5

6/8

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400 τ;

Fig. 6

7/8

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500°C

Fig. 7

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Fig. 8