DE102015106517B4 - fiber laying head - Google Patents

Abstract

Fiber laying head (1) for laying fiber material to produce a fiber fabric for the production of a fiber composite component, with- a fiber supply unit (4) for supplying fiber material (2) to the fiber laying head 1 and- a fiber laying unit (5) for laying the fiber laying head (1) provided by the fiber supply unit (4) and conveyed from the fiber supply unit (4) to the fiber laying unit (5) fiber material (2) is formed on a tool (3) for producing the fiber structure, - wherein in the conveyor chain of the fiber material (2 ) a fiber guide unit (7) is provided between the fiber supply unit (4) and the fiber laying unit (5), through which the fiber material (2) is fed to the fiber laying unit (5) at a feed position (Pm),- the fiber guide unit (7) for changing the feed position (Pm) of the fiber material (2) on the fiber laying unit (5) transversely to the conveying direction (R1, R2) of the fiber material (2), and a control unit (8) is provided which is connected to the fiber guide unit (7 ) is connected in terms of signals and set up to control the fiber guide unit (7) to change the feed position (Pm), characterized in that a first sensor (10) is provided, which is used to detect an actual guide position of the fiber material (2) transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material (2), wherein the control unit (8) is set up to activate the fiber guide unit (7) to set the feed position (Pm) on the fiber laying unit (5) as a function of the detected actual guide position and a predetermined target guide position , and/or- a second sensor (9) is provided, which is designed to detect fiber material that has already been deposited with respect to the fiber laying unit (5), the control unit (8) for controlling the fiber guiding unit (7) for setting the feeding position (Pm) is set up on the fiber laying unit (5) in relation to the fiber laying unit (5) as a function of the detected, already deposited fiber material.

Description

The invention relates to a fiber laying head for laying fiber material to produce a fiber fabric for the production of a fiber composite component.

Due to the particularly advantageous property of having a particularly high strength and rigidity in at least one load-bearing direction with a relatively low weight, fiber composite components made from a fiber composite material are now almost indispensable in the industrial environment. The advantages resulting from these particularly advantageous properties, such as lower fuel consumption over the entire service life of means of transport or reduced wear, lead to increasing use in safety-critical and structure-bearing areas of application. However, it is precisely in these areas that a high and, above all, industrially reproducible component quality is of particular importance.

A disadvantage of fiber composite materials is that the manufacturing process can usually only be automated with a great deal of effort, so that even today many manufacturing steps have to be carried out by hand for complex component structures. Efforts are therefore being made to automate the manufacturing process, in particular the laying of the fiber material on a mold, as far as possible. For example, a fiber laying device is known from which fiber material can be placed on a mold with the aid of fiber laying heads arranged on robots, with the robots being guided on a rail system running around the mold and thus being able to reach every point of the mold for laying fiber material .

Due to the flexibility of the overall system, particularly in the case of industrial robots, the placement process itself is subject to a certain degree of inaccuracy, which is outside the tolerances for some components, particularly in the safety-critical area. However, the semi-finished fiber products or the fiber material also have manufacturing tolerances, which under certain circumstances can lead to defects in the finished component, which then cause the correspondingly manufactured component to be rejected.

From the DE 41 30 269 A1 a device for producing laminated prepreg parts is known, in which a web-like fiber material, which is wound up on a fiber roll and fed to the device, is guided over a pressure roller, which then deposits the fiber material on a tool. So that the fiber material is always guided centrally over the pressure roller, it is proposed there that the fiber roll, which contains the fiber material to be deposited, is mounted so that it can be displaced axially relative to the pressure roller, so that the entire fiber roll with the wound fiber material can be aligned in the event of a path deviation.

However, such a device has its limits when the fiber material in the fiber store is not rolled up serially one on top of the other, but serially next to one another, whereby more fiber material can be wound up on the roll with smaller web widths of the fiber material. As a result, the entire fiber roll with the stored fiber material would have to be axially displaced in such a way that the fiber store at least partially protrudes from the laying head in certain areas.

From the WO 2011/116191 A1 discloses, in the broadest sense, a fiber laying head that can be used to lay down fiber materials on a spindle or rotating tool. The width of the fiber material is changed dynamically with the help of changeable curves within the fiber laying head.

From the EP 0 241 251 A1 a winding system is known in which several filaments are fed to a laying head, which are then to be laid on a spindle. In this case, a cutting blade is provided in order to cut the width of the fiber materials during operation, the cutting blade being displaceable transversely to the conveying direction.

The GB 2492594A also discloses an apparatus for laying down fibrous material by feeding the fibrous material to a laying head. The fiber material is pressed onto the tool surface with the aid of a laying shoe. An adjustment unit is provided with which the width of the fiber material can be changed.

The DE 603 04 861 T2 finally discloses a device for applying a reinforcing strip to a rotating support surface, the strip comprising an assembly of parallel wires or cables sheathed in a rubber compound and arranged longitudinally. In this case, elements are provided for transversely displacing the strips in order to vary the position of the strips on the receiving surface

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fiber laying head with which process uncertainties in the automated laying of fiber material can be compensated for and at the same time fiber materials laid next to one another in series can be used.

The object is achieved with the fiber laying head according to claim 1 according to the invention.

Accordingly, a fiber laying head is proposed, which is provided for laying fiber material to produce a fiber fabric for the production of a fiber composite component. The fiber laying head has a fiber supply unit for supplying fiber material to the fiber laying head and a fiber laying unit, wherein the fiber laying unit is designed for laying the fiber material provided to the fiber laying head by the fiber supply unit and conveyed from the fiber supply unit to the fiber laying unit on a tool.

In advantageous configurations, the fiber supply unit is a fiber material store which is designed to store web-like fiber materials. This can be, for example, a roll of fiber material on which the web-shaped fiber materials are wound. The fiber material can be wound up serially next to one another on the fiber material roll. In an advantageous embodiment, the fiber laying unit can be a pressure roller or pressure roller, with which the fiber material fed to the pressure roller is pressed onto the tool and thus laid. Accordingly, the fiber materials are fed to the fiber laying unit in such a way that the fiber material runs between the fiber laying unit and the tool and is thus deposited on the tool by the fiber laying head.

It is provided that a fiber guide unit is provided in the conveyor chain of the fiber material between the fiber supply unit and the fiber laying unit, through which the fiber material is guided and fed to the fiber laying unit at a feed position. The fiber guide unit is designed to change the feed position of the fiber material on the fiber laying unit transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material, so that the feed position can be changed while the fiber material is being laid. The fiber feed unit is also connected in terms of signals to a control unit, which is designed to control the fiber feed unit accordingly in order to change the feed position on the fiber laying unit or set it to a predetermined or calculated value.

The fiber feed unit is arranged between the fiber supply unit and the fiber laying unit in order to be able to change the feeding position of the fiber laying unit. Advantageously, the fiber material is passed from the fiber supply unit through the fiber feed unit and then fed to the fiber laying unit. This has the advantage that the fiber material can be influenced accordingly shortly before it is fed to the fiber laying unit, in order to be able to change or adjust the feed position on the fiber laying unit, with the entire fiber material reservoir not having to be moved. This also makes it possible to use fiber materials that are wound up axially next to one another on a fiber material roll.

According to the invention, a sensor is provided which is designed to detect an actual guide position of the fiber material transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material, the control unit for controlling the fiber guide unit for adjusting the feed position on the fiber laying unit depending on the detected actual guide position and a predetermined target leadership position is established. By detecting the current actual guide position and comparing this actual guide position with an existing target guide position, the deviation of the fiber material from the specified target guide position can be determined and corrected and intervened in order to prevent the fiber material from no longer advancing is fed to the preferred feed position on the fiber laying unit, which leads to material deviations when the fiber material is laid down on the tool. Rather, by controlling the fiber guide unit, the fiber material can always be adjusted exactly to the specified target guide position, whereby the fiber material is always fed to the specified feed position on the fiber laying unit and is thus deposited with correspondingly high precision.

The guiding position can, for example, be a position transverse to the conveying direction of the fiber material, for example a corresponding position axially to a pressure roller. However, the actual guide position can also be detected at a different point by means of the sensor, in which case the corresponding guide position on the fiber laying unit can then be inferred from the constructive relationship.

According to the invention, a sensor is provided as an alternative or in addition, which is designed to detect fiber material that has already been laid in relation to the fiber laying unit, with the control unit for controlling the fiber guiding unit for adjusting the feed position on the fiber laying unit depending on the detected fiber material that has already been laid in relation to the fiber laying unit is set up. As a result, with the help of the fiber feed unit provided for setting the feed position, low-frequency web deviations from an adjacent material web can be compensated for, so that gaps within the fiber structure due to web deviations during the laying process are avoided. If the placement deviates from the target path and this is detected by the sensor, for example a laser light section sensor, a correction signal is generated by the control unit and sent to the actuator or the fiber guide unit, so that the feed position on the fiber laying unit is changed and the material guide shifted accordingly is used to compensate for deviation from the target path. The material is then already corrected or disturbance-compensated when it comes to the pressure roller, so that a uniform characteristic of properties is achieved in the entire composite component.

This has the advantage that the fiber laying head is able to change the feeding position of the fiber material on the fiber laying unit, so that process uncertainties when laying the fibers can be compensated for. For example, a material web deviation from a fiber web that has already been deposited or manufacturing tolerances of the fiber material can be compensated for.

Fiber materials within the meaning of the present invention can be any materials that are suitable for the production of a fiber composite component. For example, the fiber materials can be tows (usually ¼" or ½" wide) or tapes (at least 150 mm or 300 mm wide). However, rowings or other fiber strands are also conceivable.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the fiber guide unit has at least one actuator which is designed to move the fiber guide unit in a rotary and/or translatory manner transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material in order to change the feed position. Such an actuator can be a linear drive, for example, with which the fiber feed unit is displaced transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material. By moving the fiber guide unit transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material, the feeding position of the fiber material to the fiber laying unit can be changed transversely to the conveying direction, so that the advantageous effects are achieved.

If the fiber laying unit is a pressure roller, for example, it is particularly advantageous if the fiber guiding unit can be moved axially to the pressure roller or pressure roller by means of the actuator in order to be able to change or adjust the feed position on the pressure roller.

According to a further embodiment, the fiber guiding unit has at least one pair of opposing guiding elements between which the fiber material is guided. The fiber guide unit advantageously has several such pairs of guide elements, so that the fiber material can be guided securely between these pairs of guide elements and the feed position can be changed accordingly by moving the fiber guide unit. The guide elements are advantageously perpendicular to a fiber laying plane defined by the fiber laying unit, so that the feed position on the fiber laying unit can be changed, particularly in the case of continuous fiber materials in the form of webs, without damaging the fiber materials at the edge regions. Rather, the guide elements, which can be guide rollers, are perpendicular to the fiber laying plane and thus also perpendicular to an axis of a pressure roller, so that the material must first be rotated by 90 degrees before it can then be fed back to the fiber laying unit.

In other words, the flat fiber material is guided through the fiber guide unit perpendicularly to the actual fiber laying plane and then undergoes a torsion of 90 degrees around its own axis, so that the flat fiber material is then again in the fiber laying plane and can thus be placed on the tool accordingly. By rotating the fiber material by 90 degrees around its own axis, shifting the fiber feed unit transversely to the conveying direction does not exert any force on the edge areas of the fiber material in order to change the feed position on the fiber laying unit.

According to an advantageous embodiment, a sensor is provided which is designed to detect the width of the fiber material conveyed to the fiber laying unit, wherein the control unit is designed to activate the fiber guiding unit for adjusting the feed position on the fiber laying unit depending on the detected width of the fiber material. If the width of the fiber material deviates, the position of the material can be corrected with the aid of the present invention before the fiber material reaches the fiber laying unit and is pressed onto the mold. The current web then does not overlap the adjacent, previously laid web, since the tolerance of the fiber material in terms of width was taken into account during the laying process.

The width of the fiber material characterizes the extent of the fiber material transverse to the conveying direction.

According to an advantageous embodiment of this, the sensor for detecting the width of the fiber material or the sensor for detecting the actual guide position can be formed by a deflection roller arranged in front of the fiber laying unit and fiber feed unit, the deflection roller having a pressure-sensitive material which absorbs the mechanical contact pressure from the fiber material into an electrical signal, whereby the width of the fiber material and/or the actual guide position can be detected.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the sensors, i.e. the sensors for detecting the width, the sensors for detecting the actual guide position and/or the sensors for detecting fiber material that has already been laid down, can be a laser light section sensor with which the desired parameters can be detected with high precision.

Changing the feed position of the fiber material on the fiber laying unit means at least the aspect that the position on the fiber laying unit deviates transversely to the conveying direction at a first point in time from the position transversely to the conveying direction at a later second point in time. By changing the feed position on the fiber laying unit, concrete, predetermined or calculated feed positions on the fiber laying unit can be set or adjusted or even regulated.

• 1 schematische Darstellung einer Seitenansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Faserlegekopfes;
• 2 schematische Darstellung einer Draufsicht auf wesentliche Elemente des erfindungsgemäßen Faserlegekopfes.

The invention is explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures. Show it:

• 1 schematic representation of a side view of a fiber laying head according to the invention;
• 2 schematic representation of a top view of essential elements of the fiber laying head according to the invention.

1 shows a schematic side view of a fiber laying head 1, which is provided for laying fiber material 2 on a tool 3. For this purpose, the fiber laying head 1 has a material store 4 in the form of a roll, on which the fiber material 2 is made available to the fiber laying head 1 . The fiber material store 4 is thus a fiber supply unit according to the present invention. The fiber supply unit can also be a fiber feed, with which the fiber material is fed into the fiber laying head 1 from the outside (not shown).

The fiber laying head 1 also has a pressure roller 5 with which the fiber material 2 is pressed onto the tool 3 and deposited. For this purpose, the fiber material 2 is conveyed from the fiber material store 4 via at least one deflection roller 6 shown to the pressure roller 5 in such a way that the fiber material 2 is guided between the pressure roller 5 and the tool surface of the tool 3 . A conveyor chain in which the fiber material 2 is conveyed from the fiber material store 4 to the pressure roller 5 is thus defined between the fiber material store 4 and the pressure roller 5 .

In the conveyor chain of the fiber material, in the embodiment of 1 between the deflection roller 6 and the pressure roller 5, the fiber guide unit 7 is provided according to the invention, through which the fiber material 2 is guided to the pressure roller 5. The fiber guide unit 7 is designed in such a way that the feed position of the fiber material on the pressure roller 5 can be changed transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material (the plane out of the illustration), so that the position of the laid fiber material 2 on the tool changes while the fiber material 2 is being laid or can be actively controlled. For this purpose, the fiber laying unit is designed so that it can be moved axially to the pressure roller 5 by means of an actuator shown, whereby the feed position of the fiber material on the pressure roller 5 transverse to the conveying direction of the fiber material, ie axially in the embodiment of the 1 , can be changed.

The fiber guide unit 7 is connected in terms of signals to a control unit 8 in order to control the fiber guide unit 7 accordingly and thus be able to change the feed position of the fiber material on the pressure roller 5 .

According to the embodiment of 1 A first light section sensor 9 is provided, which is designed to detect webs of fiber material that have already been deposited on the tool 3 . The control unit 8 is designed to control the fiber guide unit 7 in such a way that by changing the feed position on the pressure roller 5, deviations from the desired path of the material webs that have already been deposited and detected can be compensated for.

Furthermore, a second light section sensor 10 is provided, which is designed both to detect the width of the fiber material 2 and to detect an actual guide position in front of the fiber guide unit 7 . Knowing the width of the fiber material or the actual guide position of the fiber material 2, the control unit 8 can then control the fiber guide unit 7 accordingly so that material tolerances of the fiber material 2 with regard to the width can be compensated for or a target guide position is adjusted.

However, it is also conceivable that the deflection roller 6 has a pressure-sensitive material, which converts the mechanical contact pressure into an electrical signal, for example an electrical voltage, so that the actual guide position and/or the width of the fiber material can be determined with the aid of the deflection roller 6 in the manner of a Sensor is detected.

2 shows a schematic top view of the fiber material store 4, the fiber guide unit 7 and the pressure roller 5 as well as the conveyor chain of the fiber material 2 in a top view. The fiber guide unit 7 has guide elements 11 in pairs, for example in the form of guide rollers. The fiber material 2 is guided through between a respective pair of guide element 11 . The fiber guide unit 7 is designed to be movable transversely to the conveying direction F _m of the fiber material 2 so that a feed position P _m on the pressure roller 5 can be changed or set. The fiber guide unit 7 moves coaxially to the pressure roller 5 so that the feed position P _m of the fiber material 2 on the pressure roller 5 can be adjusted axially.

The fiber guide unit 7 can be mounted displaceably in the illustrated directions R ₁ , R ₂ , for example by means of a linear actuator, possibly by means of a lever mechanism. Such an actuator can be a piezo actuator, for example.

Reference List

1

fiber laying head

2

fiber material

3

Tool

4

Fiber material store, fiber supply unit

5

pressure roller, fiber laying unit

6

pulleys

7

fiber guidance unit

8th

control unit

9

light section sensor

10

light section sensor

11

Guide elements F _m , conveying direction of the fiber material P _m , feed position of the fiber material R ₁ , R ₂ , direction of movement of the fiber guide unit

Claims (8)

Fiber laying head (1) for laying fiber material to produce a fiber fabric for the production of a fiber composite component, with - a fiber supply unit (4) for supplying fiber material (2) to the fiber laying head 1 and - a fiber laying unit (5) for laying the fiber laying head (1) provided by the fiber supply unit (4) and conveyed from the fiber supply unit (4) to the fiber laying unit (5) fiber material (2) is formed on a tool (3) for producing the fiber structure, - wherein in the conveyor chain of the fiber material (2 ) a fiber guide unit (7) is provided between the fiber supply unit (4) and the fiber laying unit (5), through which the fiber material (2) is fed to the fiber laying unit (5) at a feed position (P _m ), - the fiber guide unit (7) for changing the feed position (P _m ) of the fiber material (2) on the fiber laying unit (5) transversely to the conveying direction (R ₁ , R ₂ ) of the fiber material (2), and - a control unit (8) being provided which is connected to the fiber guide unit (7) by signals and set up to control the fiber guide unit (7) to change the feed position (P _m ), characterized in that - a first sensor (10) is provided which is used to detect an actual guide position of the fiber material ( 2) is formed transversely to the conveying direction of the fiber material (2), the control unit (8) for controlling the fiber guide unit (7) for setting the feed position (P _m ) on the fiber laying unit (5) depending on the detected actual guide position and a predetermined target guide position, and/or - a second sensor (9) is provided, which is designed to detect fiber material that has already been laid with respect to the fiber laying unit (5), the control unit (8) for controlling the fiber guide unit (7) for Adjusting the feed position (P _m ) is set up on the fiber laying unit (5) depending on the detected, already deposited fiber material with respect to the fiber laying unit (5). Fiber laying head (1) after claim 1 , characterized in that the fiber guide unit (7) has at least one actuator which is designed for rotating and/or translatory movement of the fiber guide unit (7) transversely to the conveying direction (F _m ) of the fiber material (2) in order to change the feed position (P _m ). . Fiber laying head (1) after claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the fiber guide unit (7) has at least one pair of opposite guide elements (11) through which the fiber material (2) is guided, the guide elements (11) being arranged perpendicularly to a fiber laying plane defined by the fiber laying unit (5). are net, so that the fiber material (2) is guided essentially perpendicularly to the fiber laying plane through the fiber guide unit (7). Fiber laying head (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a third sensor (10) is provided, which is designed to detect the width of the fiber material (2) conveyed to the fiber laying unit (5), the control unit (8) for Activating the fiber guide unit (7) for adjusting the feed position (P _m ) on the fiber laying unit (5) as a function of the detected width of the fiber material (2) is set up. Fiber laying head (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor (9, 10) is a light section sensor. Fiber laying head (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a deflection roller (6) with a pressure-sensitive material is provided as the first and/or third sensor (10), which converts the mechanical contact pressure through the fiber material (2) into an electrical signal converted to capture width and/or actual lead position. Fiber laying head (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fiber laying unit (5) is a pressure roller. Fiber laying device with a robot, a tool (3) and a fiber laying head (1) according to one of the preceding claims.

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