GB2551736A

GB2551736A - Composite panel manufacture

Info

Publication number: GB2551736A
Application number: GB1611205.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rees Gavin
Original assignee: EUROBOND LAMINATES Ltd
Current assignee: EUROBOND LAMINATES Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-28
Filing date: 2016-06-28
Publication date: 2018-01-03
Anticipated expiration: 2036-06-28
Also published as: GB2551736B; GB201611205D0

Abstract

A slicer 6 is provided for slicing a slab of core material into a plurality of lamellas. The slicer has a slicer bed 12 for supporting a slab of core material, the slicer bed has spaced elongate blade slots 13 and spaced rotary slicing blades 14, each extending through a respective blade slot in the slicer bed. The blades have a double bevel leading to a sharp tip and bearing strips are provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade. The bearing strips are spaced radially inwardly from the double bevel and a guide hearing assembly (20, 21 figure 2b) for limiting deflection of the blade. The guide bearing assembly has guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the blade. When a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Composite panel manufacture Abstract Title: Composite panel manufacture (57) A slicer 6 is provided for slicing a slab of core material into a plurality of lamellas. The sheer has a sheer bed 12 for supporting a slab of core material, the sheer bed has spaced elongate blade slots 13 and spaced rotary slicing blades 14, each extending through a respective blade slot in the sheer bed. The blades have a double bevel leading to a sharp tip and bearing strips are provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade. The bearing strips are spaced radially inwardly from the double bevel and a guide hearing assembly (20, 21 figure 2b) for limiting deflection of the blade. The guide bearing assembly has guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the blade. When a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings.

CAM FOLLOWER GUIDE ZONE 12

Mu ϊηγ^,

Fig. 2A

TOP CAM FOLLOWER GUIDES 18

SIDE CAM FOLLOWER GUIDES _

// / /

NEW BLADE, OVERALL DIAMETER 0530

At least one drawing originally filed was informal and the print reproduced here is taken from a later filed formal copy.

1/6

1406 17 cr

Ld

2/6

1406 17

NEW BLADE, OVERALL DIAMETER 0530

Fig. 2A

3/6

CAM FOLLOWER GUIDE ZONE

, TOP CAM FOLLOWER GUIDES 48

SIDE CAM FOLLOWER GUIDES

1406 17

REGROUND BLADE, OVERALL DIAMETER 0520

Fig. 2B

4/6

1406 17

19 19

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

5/6

NEW BLADE HOUSING BLOCK WORN BLADE

CM

6/6

1406 17

« (S3HONH6SO)00^-SL

<t

o co

CD

-1Composite panel manufacture

The present invention relates to apparatus and method for manufacturing composite panels for architectural and structural use.

Background

Self-supporting double-skin metal-faced insulating panels or 'composite sandwich panels' are used for external and internal architectural cladding purposes where high structural rigidity, fire performance, thermal and acoustic characteristics are desirable.

A sandwich or composite panel is typically formed of two relatively thin steel sheets bonded around a thicker core. The core is typically formed of a low density urethane insulation or, stone wool - an inorganic material made from molten rock into noncombustible, matted fibres that won't bum or melt, even at high temperatures.

It is desired to develop an enhanced manufacturing process to manufacture composite stonewool panel. A novel dissector cutting blade technology has been developed to be incorporated in a novel manufacturing process developed to create strips of stonewool from large slab material to create the panels that provide substantial enhancement to a technology used for cutting substantially softer materials such as foam or glass fibres.

There has been significant technological uncertainty as to whether a cutting solution could be developed to reliably and accurately cut stone wool into the required lamella dimensions/variations at a commercially viable rate and with acceptable material wastage levels.

The lamella needs to be cut to specification (as required for the specific panel) and orientated to provide higher structural integrity before being sandwiched in steel. There are significant technical hurdles relating to how a solution could be implemented into existing manufacturing line and process design, whilst maintaining a commercially viable throughput.

-2Prior art stone wool cutting solutions use toothed saws which create huge amounts of waste on each cut (approx. 4-5mm per cut depending on the thickness of saw blade specified); on a typical panel, the process would require anything from 8-24 cuts leading to a wastage of 32-96mm of material. A secondary detractor was that sawing creates dust which could contaminate both the working environment and product if not carefully managed. The solution realised by the present invention provides a significant benefit in reducing wastage and achieving realistic throughput.

An improved technique and apparatus has now been devised.

According to a first aspect the invention provides apparatus for use in manufacturing composite panels, the apparatus comprising a sheer for slicing a slab of core material into a plurality of lamellas, the sheer comprising:

a sheer bed for supporting a slab of core material; the sheer bed having a plurality of spaced elongate blade slots;

a plurality of spaced rotary slicing blades, each extending through a respective blade slot in the sheer bed; respective blades having a double bevel leading to a sharp tip and bearing strips provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade the bearing strips being positioned adjacent and radially inwardly from the double bevel;

a guide bearing assembly for limiting deflection of the blade; the guide bearing assembly having guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the blade; wherein when a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings.

According to an alternative aspect the invention provides a method of manufacturing a composite panel comprising upper and lower skins bonded to lamella strips of a core material, wherein the panels are manufactured using apparatus comprising a sheer comprising:

a plurality of spaced rotary slicing blades, each extending through a respective blade slot in the sheer bed; respective blades having a double bevel leading to a sharp tip

-3and bearing strips provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade the bearing strips being spaced radially inwardly from the double bevel;

a guide bearing assembly for limiting deflection of the blade; the guide bearing assembly having guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the blade; wherein when a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings; wherein the core material is fed as a slab into the sheer and sliced into at least four lamellas, before being fed to a panel bonding station, the panel bonding station being configured to bond upper and lower skins to the sliced lamellas.

Preferably the sliced Lamellas are turned through 90 degrees before being bonded to form the panel (this re-orientates the grain/fibre orientation of the lamellas to extend in a direction between the skins).

It is preferred that the blade comprises a primary double bevel close to the blade tip and a secondary bevel leading from the primary bevel to the bearing strip.

Beneficially the sheer comprises a plurality of guide bearing assemblies, one positioned above the sheer bed and one or more below the sheer bed. The guide bearing assemblies preferably comprise rotary bearings.

It is preferred that four or more blades (preferably between seven and eleven) are mounted in spaced side by side relationship.

The sheer may include a top plate which is positioned above the sheer bed, the top plate including a plurality of spaced elongate blade slots through which respective slicing blades extend. Bearing assemblies may be supported by the top plate and/or the sheer bed.

It is preferred that at least one guide bearing assembly is positioned above the top plate and one or more bearing assemblies are provided below the sheer bed one toward the in-feed side of the apparatus and one toward the out-feed side.

-4It is preferred that the apparatus comprises an in-feed conveyor for feeding the slabs into the sheer.

Beneficially the apparatus further comprises a panel bonding station, the panel bonding station being configured to bond upper and lower skins to the sliced lamellas.

Typically, during the operational life of the blade, the blade is reground such that the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings by a reducing amount. Following re-grinding of the blade, the blade is replaced when the bearing strip no longer extends to or past the guide bearings.

The invention will now be further described in a specific embodiment by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure lisa schematic view of a composite panel production line including apparatus according to the invention for performing the manufacturing method in accordance with the invention;

Figures 2A and 2B are schematic side views of the sheer with the sheer blade in the ‘as new’ and ‘final re-grind’ states, respectively;

Figure 4 is an end view of the sheer of figures 2A and 2B showing the seven blades arranged side by side;

Figure 5 is a detailed view of the blade passing through the slot in the sheer bed;

Figures 6A and 6B are schematic detail views of the sheer with the sheer blade in the ‘as new’ and ‘final re-grind’ states, respectively;

Figures 7A, 7B and 7C are isometric, side and detailed end views of the sheer blade.

-5Referring to the drawings and initially to figure 1, there is shown a production line 1 for producing composite panels in accordance with the invention.

De-coilers 2 hold pre coated steel coils that will form respectively the outer aesthetic skin of the panel and the inside or liner skin of the panel. The de-coiled steel skins pass to a roll forming station 3 where roll formers form the profile shapes for the outer and liner skins of the panel.

In a parallel limb of the line, the stonewool slabs are picked and passed from a slab store 4 to a slab conveyor 5 which feeds the slabs in turn to a sheer 6. The sheer will be described in greater detail later. Typically two sheers operate 6 in turn (one being present in the line whist the other is removed from the line for stripping down and re configuration or rebuilding). Belt conveyors are used to provide traction feeding slabs into the sheer 6 and to extract lamella strips out, with the belts adjustable in height for varying slab thickness.

The sheer 6 operates to slice the slabs into the required thickness for the product being developed. The sheer typically slices the slab into between six and eleven parallel lamella strips. The slabs are sliced across the grain of the slab and subsequently the sliced lamellas are turned through 90 degrees (at a carousel 7) such that the fibres are aligned in a direction between the outer and inner skins to enhance the compressive strength of the composite panel. Side transfer conveyors 8 receive the cut lamella strips and from the sheer and transfer them into the carousel through a set of high speed rollers.

Downstream of the carousel 7 the cut lamella strips are brought together before they are brought to an adhesive station 9 together with the outer and inner steel skins and adhesive is applied for bonding the panel together. At the adhesive station 9 a two-part polyurethane adhesive is applied to the inside face of the steel on the lower skin inside surface and the top of the stonewool lamella strips to enable bonding of the outer steel skin. The continuous composite panel material with the adhesive applied and outer and inner skins in contact is then fed to a heated press 10 where pressure is applied to the composite structure and also heat to cure the adhesive.

-6The continuous composite panel material is next fed to a sawing station 11 where the panels are cut to length by a computer controlled saw device. The lengths for cut are preprogrammed into the system. Subsequently the panels are removed from the line and packed for despatch.

In this explanation only the major stages of processing have been described. Other operations such as trimming and dust extraction are included in the actual manufacturing process.

As mentioned the sheer 6 has been specifically designed for processing high density slab material and particularly in such a way that it can be cut into a relatively high number of lamella strips (typically between six and eleven) with a minimum of waste and also to consistently avoid down time as a result of blade replacement due to wear.

The Sheer is designed to process stonewool slabs of varying width into lamella strips, also of varying cut size.

The sheer 6 comprises a sheer bed 12 for supporting a slab of the stonewool core material. The sheer bed 12 has a number of spaced elongate blade slots 13, each for allowing a respective one of a plurality of spaced rotary' slicing blades 14 to extend through a respective blade slot 13 in the sheer bed. Different cut sizes require re-arrangement of sheer blades 14 making use of removable spacers mounted on a rotary drive shaft (denoted by shaft rotational axis 16). The combination of spacers provides the variable cut size with minimal change time. Sets of slotted sheer beds 12, spacers, top plates and blade holders are provided to suit different arrangements.

In an exemplary embodiment the 'set up' of the sheer blades can be with 7 blades in use to cut a slab into 8 lamella strips each of 150mm width. This is shown in figure 4. The blades 14 are supported by a top plate 18 with a guide bearing arrangement 19, a slotted sheer bed 12 and two sets of guide bearing assemblies 20, 21 on entry and exit which sit below the slotted sheer bed 12. These guide bearing assemblies 19, 20, 21 help to guide and control the slicing blade, preventing excessive deflection and ensuring repeatability and

-7consistency in the dimension cut performance. The stonewool core slab is fed into the sheer between the sheer bed 12 and the top plate 18, the slab being supported on the bed 12. Importantly, when a blade is fitted, a bearing strip 25 provided on the blade extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings. This bearing strip is formed of the full disc thickness and importantly does not overlap the secondary double bevel of the blade. The rotary bearings 27 carried by the guide bearing assemblies 19, 20, 21, as can be seen in the figures (particularly figures 6A and 6B), do not necessarily contact the blade 14 in an undeflected condition but are spaced from the blade by a tolerance distance (,02mm in the exemplary embodiment shown) in order to ensure that blade deflection is kept within an acceptable tolerance threshold.

The shaft to which the blades are mounted is rotationally driven and positioned below the sheer bed 12. The sets of guide bearing assemblies comprise rotary bearings 27 mounted on opposed sides of the blade 14. The rotary bearings are provided in 2 sets of 2 spaced along the bearing strip of the blade. A dust collection receptacle 29 is placed below the blades.

The blades 14 of the sheer 6 are specifically designed for the purpose of cutting the high density stonewool core slabs in a high throughput production line. The respective blades have a continuous circumferential outer sharp tip 30 (see figures 7A to 7C) of a constant radius (i.e. not saw-tooth) and a secondary double bevel 31 leading to a primary double bevel 32 which leads to the sharp tip 30 . Reference to “double bevel” should be understood as meaning that the blade is bevelled on both opposed outer surfaces, rather than being present on one surface only as a single bevel.

Bearing strips 25 are provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade 14 the bearing strips 25 being positioned adjacent but radially inwardly from the secondary double bevel 31. In the blade embodiment shown in figure 7A to 7C the included angle of the primary double bevel 32 is 40 degrees and the secondary double bevel 31 extends radially inward by a distance of 15mm from the tip 30 (dimension x). The thickness of the main blade disc is 3mm (dimension t) the thickness at the step-8between the primary and secondary double bevel is 0.5mm (dimension w). This is the condition of the blade in the ‘as new’ condition as also shown in figure 6A.

The slicing blades themselves have been developed to improve cut performance and repeatability and to aid stability and minimise deflection. The use of a double bevel also aids longevity. As can be seen, when the blade is initially set up, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly from the bearings by a distance f (figure 6A).

Each blade starts at 530mm diameter. The aim, subject to damage, is to be able to regrind the primary bevel 32 three time before a full overhaul of primary 32 and secondary 31 bevel regrind. It is envisaged to do this three times during the life of the blade 14 (e.g. initial use plus up to 12 regrinds in the blade's life). There is a minimum blade diameter (in this case 520mm) before the blade becomes too small and the secondary bevel 3 lruns inside the rotary bearing 27 and becomes out of control. In the minimum condition the secondary bevel 31 has been reground such that the secondary bevel junction with the blade is at the point of the rotary bearing 27. In other words the bearing strip 25 of the blade does not extend radially outwardly from the bearings 27. This condition is shown in figure 6B.

Two independently operable sheers 6 are available in the production line in order to minimize change-over time between lamella cut sizes. When one sheer is in operation, the other will sit outside the line while sheer spacer change is performed. During that period, a set of cover plates automatically lift to fill the gap left by non-operational sheer 6.To provide more slab accumulation supply downstream, the space of non-operational sheer is then used to bank an extra slab ready to cut (in case of first sheer non-operational) or finished lamella cuts ready to send (in case of second sheer non-operational).

The slicing process produces high output with minimal waste during the cut. An extraction cover is placed above each sheer while the pull-out containers 29 are provided to catch waste dropped under the sheer blades.

-9The key to economic and technological success of the invention is the capability to use a slitting/slicing blade (sometimes referred to as a slitting/slicing knife) as opposed to a more traditional toothed saw blade. This reduces the amount of process waste created (and therefore increase the yield from the incoming raw material) and enables re grinding to reduce the cost of ongoing consumables (blades).

Claims

Claims:

1. Apparatus for use in manufacturing composite panels, the apparatus comprising a sheer for slicing a slab of core material into a plurality of lamellas, the sheer comprising:

a plurality of spaced rotary slicing blades, each extending through a respective blade slot in the sheer bed; respective blades having a double bevel leading to a sharp tip and bearing strips provided as flat parallel surfaces on opposed outer surfaces of the blade the bearing strips being spaced radially inwardly from the double bevel;

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the blade comprises a primary double bevel close to the blade tip and a secondary bevel leading from the primary bevel to the bearing strip.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the sheer comprises a plurality of guide bearing assemblies, one positioned above the sheer bed and one or more below the sheer bed.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein four or more blades (preferably seven) are mounted in spaced side by side relationship.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sheer includes a top plate positioned above the sheer bed, the top plate including a plurality of spaced elongate blade slots through which respective slicing blades extend.

-116. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein at least one guide bearing assembly is positioned above the top plate and two bearing assemblies are provided below the sheer bed one toward the in-feed side of the apparatus and one toward the out-feed side.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim which further comprises an in-feed conveyor for feeding the slabs into the sheer.

8. Apparatus according to any preceding claim further comprising a panel bonding station, the panel bonding station being configured to bond upper and lower skins to the sliced lamellas.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein during the operational life of the blade, the blade is reground such that the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings by a reducing amount.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein following re-grinding of the blade the blade is replaced when the bearing strip no longer extends to or past the guide bearings.

11. A method of manufacturing a composite panel comprising upper and lower skins bonded to lamella strips of a core material, wherein the panels are manufactured using apparatus comprising a sheer comprising:

a guide bearing assembly for limiting deflection of the blade; the guide bearing assembly having guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the

-12blade; wherein when a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings; wherein the core material is fed as a slab into the sheer and sliced into at least four lamellas, before being fed to a panel bonding station, the panel bonding station being configured to bond upper and lower skins to the sliced lamellas.

12. A method according to claim 10, wherein during the operational life of the blade, the blade is reground such that the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings by a reducing amount.

13. A method according to claim 11, wherein following re-grinding of the blade the blade is replaced when the bearing strip no longer extends to or past the guide bearings.

14. A method of manufacturing a composite panel comprising upper and lower skins bonded to lamella strips of a core material, wherein the panels are manufactured using apparatus comprising a sheer comprising:

a guide bearing assembly for limiting deflection of the blade; the guide bearing assembly having guide bearings positioned adjacent respective opposed bearing strips of the blade at defined positions in order to limit deflection of the blade; wherein when a blade is fitted, the bearing strip extends radially outwardly past the guide bearings; wherein the core material is fed as a slab into the sheer and sliced into at least four lamellas, and wherein the blade is removed and reground for re-use subject to the blade bearing strips being of sufficient integrity to be present adjacent the guide bearings, in use.

-1315. A composite panel manufactured using an apparatus or process according to any preceding claim.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1611205.4 Examiner: Mr Haydn Gupwell