JP2003053829A - Method and apparatus for molding sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for molding a sheet which can curtail molding tact, miniaturize a molding apparatus, reduce the cost of a molding mold, and decrease the consumption of air and the molding apparatus for the method. SOLUTION: The molding mold 12 in which a shape for molding the plastic sheet 1 in a prescribed part shape is formed, a heating block 19 which is arranged in the vicinity of the mold 12 and heats the mold 12 at a prescribed temperature, a plane-shaped compressed air chamber 33 which faces the mold 12 and has a supply/discharge route for air supplied via an external air pressure controller 13, and a cooling block 29 which is arranged in the vicinity of the chamber 33 and cools the chamber 33 at a prescribed temperature are provided. The mold 12 is heated by being contacted with the heating block 19 when it is opened, and simultaneously the chamber 33 is cooled by being contacted with the cooling block 29.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sheet forming method and a forming apparatus for forming a thin film sheet used for electronic parts such as a diaphragm of a small speaker into a predetermined part shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sheet molding method and a molding apparatus for manufacturing a diaphragm which is a component of a speaker in a conventional electronic component will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional sheet forming apparatus.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a material for the diaphragm, which has a thickness of several μm (for example, 5 to 10 μm), and is polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) / polyetherimide (PEI).
-A plastic sheet such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyamide imide (PAI).

Reference numeral 2 denotes a molding upper die which has a shape for making the plastic sheet 1 into a vibrating plate 6 having a predetermined shape, and is movable up and down, and 3 denotes a molding lower die corresponding to the molding upper die 2. 2, the lower molding die 3 has a heating mechanism 7,
8 is embedded and is attached and assembled to the main body base 9.

Reference numeral 4 is a temperature control mechanism, and 5 is a molding upper die 2.
In order to cool the molding die including the molding lower die 3, an air-cooling mechanism that can be drive-controlled from the outside of the molding die.

A molding operation in the sheet molding apparatus configured as described above will be described. First, the upper mold 2,
When the lower molding die 3 is opened, each is heated by the heating mechanisms 7 and 8, and when the molding die reaches a predetermined temperature, the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 are closed, and the set plastic sheet is inserted. 1 is sandwiched and heated under pressure to form a predetermined part shape provided on the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3.

Next, the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 are cooled by the air cooling mechanism 5, and when the respective upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 reach a predetermined temperature, the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 are cooled. 3 is opened, the plastic sheet 1 molded into a component shape is taken out, and the desired vibration plate 6 is formed.

As described above, the vibration plate 6 is molded by the sheet molding apparatus of the hot press using the molding dies in which the upper mold 2 and the lower mold 3 are provided with the shapes of parts.

[0009]

However, in the sheet forming apparatus, the diaphragm 6 of the desired speaker is used.
As for the shape, a complicated shape such as a tangential shape for satisfying the product characteristics is formed by the upper mold 2 and the lower mold 3
Since it has to be provided by engraving, the cost of the molding die is high, and adjustment and maintenance of the molding die are difficult.

Further, since the matching precision in the operation of the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 is required, the mechanical rigidity of the molding die and the molding device is required, and the molding device becomes large.

Further, since the hot pressing method is adopted, the upper molding die 2 and the lower molding die 3 must be heated or cooled at the same time, and the molding tact cannot be shortened.
As for productivity not improving and cooling method,
When air is used for the air cooling mechanism, there is a problem that the air consumption amount increases.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and shortens the molding tact, downsizes the molding apparatus,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet forming method and a forming apparatus therefor capable of reducing the molding die cost and the air consumption.

[0013]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a forming die having a shape for forming a sheet into a predetermined component shape, and the forming die disposed near the forming die. A heating mechanism for heating to a predetermined temperature, a planar-shaped compressed air chamber having a supply / exhaust path for air supplied through an external air pressure controller corresponding to the molding die, and arranged in the vicinity of this compressed air chamber. A sheet forming apparatus having a cooling mechanism for bringing the compressed air chamber to a predetermined temperature,
This makes it possible to handle complex component shapes with a small device,
It has the effect that the processing cost of the molding die can be reduced compared to general heat press molding equipment, and that the molding tact can be shortened by controlling the driving cycle of heating and cooling by feeding back the temperature of the molding die. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, output signals of thermocouples which are built in the molding die and the compressed air chamber and detect respective temperatures are input to the temperature controller. The sheet molding apparatus is configured to control the opening / closing operation of the molding die including the molding die and the compressed air chamber according to the output signal of the temperature controller, whereby the opening / closing operation can be performed at the optimum set temperature for molding. It has the effect of being able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the heating mechanism includes a slidable heating block capable of controlling temperature, and the heating block is applied to a molding die. It is a sheet forming apparatus configured to be brought into contact with each other to bring the forming die to a predetermined temperature.
It has an effect that a predetermined temperature can be set to various molding dies with a simple configuration.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the first aspect, the cooling mechanism includes a cooling block having a circulation groove for cooling water and capable of temperature control. A sheet forming apparatus configured to bring a slidable compressed air chamber into contact with the compressed air chamber to bring the compressed air chamber to a predetermined temperature.By this, the compressed air chamber can be set to a predetermined temperature with a simple structure, and further, air consumption can be reduced. It has the effect of reducing the amount.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is the sheet forming apparatus according to the invention according to claim 1, wherein a vacuum suction mechanism for sucking and adhering the sheet to the molding die is connected and attached. It has an effect that it is possible to surely mold even a small, complicated and precise predetermined component shape.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the sheet forming apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, in which the forming die and the compressed air chamber are installed in the main body frame via a heat insulating material. Can be accurately maintained, the molding tact can be short-circuited, and the mechanism can be downsized.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the forming die is a sheet forming apparatus having a shape for forming a diaphragm used for a speaker by forming. Thus, it is possible to form a tangential shape, which has the effect of reducing development lead time or cost.

The invention according to claim 8 of the present invention is the sheet molding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the material of the sheet is polyethylene naphthalate, polyether imide, polyethylene terephthalate, or polyamide imide. This has the effect of making it possible to obtain a molded part with optimum characteristics.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the mold opening operation of the sheet molding die, the compressed air chamber is moved to abut against the cooling block to cool it to a predetermined temperature, and at the same time, the heating block is slid. The mold is brought into contact with the mold to heat the mold to a predetermined temperature, and when the compressed air chamber and the mold reach a predetermined temperature after the mold opening operation, the heating block is slid to separate from the mold. At the same time, the compressed air chamber is slid to perform a mold clamping operation of sandwiching the sheet supplied between the molding die and the compressed air chamber, and in the mold clamping operation, air bleeding of the contact surface of the molding die with the sheet is performed. While supplying air to the compressed air chamber to apply pressure to the contact surface with the sheet, the space between the sheet and the mold is maintained. A sheet forming method in which the mold is opened when the mold reaches a predetermined temperature due to heat transfer due to a temperature difference between the mold and the compressed air chamber. It has an effect that a molded part can be provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the ninth aspect, the heating block is operated to heat the molding die except for the mold clamping operation, and the molding die is set to a predetermined temperature. This is a sheet forming method, which has the effect that even if the operating conditions of the forming apparatus change, the forming cycle time can be set to the same condition at the equipment start as during continuous operation.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the inventions described in claims 1 to 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments of the present invention and the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the essential parts of a sheet molding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (a) is a partial cross-sectional view of the essential parts of a molding die in the sheet molding apparatus.
FIG. 3B is a plan view of the sheet forming apparatus as seen from the side of the forming die, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a desired speaker diaphragm as an example of the forming processing, and FIG. 4 is a schematic manufacturing of the sheet forming processing. It is a process drawing.

The constituent members and mechanisms described in the above-mentioned prior art are designated by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a plastic sheet which is a material of a diaphragm which is a component of the speaker. Above the plastic sheet 1, a compressed air chamber 33 corresponding to a molding upper die in which a thermocouple 31 having an output connected to a temperature controller 32 is incorporated is arranged, and below the plastic sheet 1, the output is connected to the temperature controller 11. A molding die 12 corresponding to a lower molding die in which the thermocouple 10 is incorporated is arranged.

The configuration of the compressed air chamber 33 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lower surface has a flat planar shape, and when the molding die including the compressed air chamber 33 and the molding die 12 is clamped (closed), air of several atmospheric pressure is applied to the upper surface of the plastic sheet 1. Holes and grooves for applying pressure are provided, and one end thereof is connected by piping so that the air pressure can be controlled by the air pressure controller 13 outside the molding apparatus.

Further, the molding die 12 is provided with a desired shape of the diaphragm 6 shown in FIG. 3 by engraving or the like, and when the molding die is clamped, air is removed between the plastic sheet 1 and the molding die 12. Is provided with a vacuum groove and a small hole, one end of which is connected by piping to a vacuum generating mechanism 14 outside the main molding apparatus.

When the diaphragm 6 having the above-mentioned structure is intended for a small speaker having a diameter of about 15 mm or less, the outer diameter of the molding die 12 should be made smaller according to the shape of the component so as to suppress the heat capacity. Can be made into any shape.

A cooling water pipe 28, a cooling groove 29 (not shown) and a cooling block 29 containing a thermocouple 30 are provided above the compressed air chamber 33 and fixed to the main body frame 17. Reference numeral 33 is connected to the fixed frame 16 for the compressed air chamber through the four heat insulating bodies 18 for the compressed air chamber and the heat insulating material 15 so as to include the cooling block 29, and constitutes a cooling mechanism.

The fixed frame 16 for the compressed air chamber is provided with a slide mechanism 26 for holding and moving, a bearing portion 22, and a drive mechanism 27 for vertically driving the slide mechanism 26. Drive mechanism 27
When the compressed air chamber 33 is driven to move upward, the lower end of the cooling block 29 and the upper surface of the compressed air chamber 33 come into close contact with each other, and when the compressed air chamber 33 is moved downward, the compressed air chamber 33 cools. Block 29
The positional relationship is set to leave from.

Reference numeral 34 is a temperature controller which controls the cooling water pipe 28 by using the output of the thermocouple 30 as a control signal to cool the compressed air chamber 33 by the cooling block 29 and set it to a preset temperature. .

A heating block 19 having a heater 23 for heating and a thermocouple 24 built therein is disposed below the molding die 12, and the molding die 12 has a minimum bonding area and maintains a predetermined temperature. In order to connect to the fixed frame 16a for the mold through the four heat insulators 18a for the mold containing the heating block 19 and the heat insulating material 15a, the fixed frame 16a for the mold is attached to the main frame 17. And constitutes the heating mechanism.

A temperature controller 25 controls the heater 23 using the output of the thermocouple 24 as a control signal to heat the molding die 12 by the heating block 19 to a preset temperature.

A slide mechanism 20 for holding the heating block 19, a bearing 22, and a drive mechanism 21 for vertically driving the slide mechanism 20 are provided in the main body frame 1.
7, the driving mechanism 21 drives the heating block 19 to move the heating block 19 in an upward direction, and the tip of the heating block 19 and the lower surface of the molding die 12 come into close contact with each other. The positional relationship is such that the heating block 19 separates from the mold 12 when moved downward.

The compressed air chamber 33 is movable in the vertical direction by the structure described above, and the mold is clamped with the mold 12 at the lower position, and the mold is opened with the mold 12 at the upper position to cool the cooling block. Lower tip portion of 29 and compressed air chamber 33
Is set in such a positional relationship that the upper surface of the abuts.

The forming operation of the sheet forming apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, for example, FIG. 4A showing a constant stop state.
, The compressed air chamber 33 is slid upward and brought into contact with the lower surface of the cooling block 29 so that the compressed air chamber 33
At the same time, the heating block 19 is slid upward, and the upper end of the heating block 19 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the molding die 12 to bring the molding die 12 into the heating state.

That is, the step of heating the forming die 12 in the opening operation of the forming die is performed. At this time, the forming die 12 has a small structure, and the holding portion of the forming die 12 has a heat insulating material 15a. Since the mold fixing frame 16a is insulated by the mold heat insulator 18a, heat loss to the outside is small, the heating speed of the mold 12 is high, and the heating tact can be shortened.

Further, in order to improve heat conduction in the contact portion between the tip portion of the heating block 19 and the lower surface of the molding die 12,
A material having a high thermal conductivity such as aluminum, copper or an alloy thereof may be used.

In the above state, the plastic sheet 1 forming the vibrating plate 6 is conveyed (conveying mechanism is not shown), and is supplied to a predetermined position between the compressed air chamber 33 and the molding die 12 for setting.

Next, the compressed air chamber 33 and the molding die 12
The temperature of each is detected by the thermocouples 31 and 10 installed in each of them, and the predetermined temperatures, for example, the cooling block 29 and the compressed air chamber 33 are set to 10 to 30 ° C., and the heating block 19 is set to 240 to 400 ° C. , Mold 1
2 reaches a specified temperature depending on the material of the plastic sheet 1 used, for example, 180 ° C., the temperature controllers 32, 11
4B, the heating block 19 is slid downward to be separated from the molding die 12, and at the same time, the compressed air chamber 33 is slid downward to sandwich the plastic sheet 1 therebetween. Perform the tightening operation.

At this time, air is evacuated from the heated small holes of the molding die 12 by a vacuum mechanism (not shown), and the compressed air chamber 33 is passed through the air pressure controller 13.
Air from the plastic sheet 1 is applied to the upper surface of the plastic sheet 1 so that the plastic sheet 1 and the molding die 1
Pneumatic molding is performed with a vacuum between the two.

Further, by performing the mold clamping shown in FIG. 4 (b), the heated upper surface of the molding die 12 and the cooled lower surface of the compressed air chamber 33 come into contact with each other, and the molding die 12 is heated to the compressed air chamber 33. This is a mold cooling step in which the mold is moved, and the mold 12 has a predetermined temperature, for example, 150 to 17
When the pressure chamber 33 reaches 15+ (temperature rise due to abutment) at 0 ° C., the temperature controllers 32, 11 driven by the output signal of the predetermined temperature detected by the thermocouples 31, 10.
4C, the mold opening operation for the compressed air chamber 33 and the molding die 12 is performed as shown in FIG. 4C.

By utilizing the operation time (process) of the mold opening, a molded product of the plastic sheet 1, that is, the diaphragm 6
4 is performed, and after that operation is completed,
As shown in (a), an operation of feeding and supplying a new plastic sheet 1 is performed, and thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated to produce a diaphragm 6 or the like used for a small speaker.

[0047]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the sheet forming method and the forming apparatus of the present invention include the cooling block and the compressed air chamber held by the heat insulating material, and the heating block, and the heat insulating material. Further, the molding die is connected to vacuum suction and has a shape for forming the shape of the part, and a mechanism for controlling the set temperature and the driving of the molding die. It is possible to reduce the mold cost and cope with complicated and highly accurate component shapes.

Further, the heat capacity is reduced by the structure of the molding die,
Since the heat conductivity between the heating block and the molding die is good and cooling water is used, the heating / cooling cycle time and the air consumption can be shortened.

Further, there is an effect that the molding apparatus itself can be downsized, and a production system in which the post-molding process and the molding apparatus can be made in-line can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of the main configuration of a sheet forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (a) is a partial cross-sectional view of a main part of a molding die in the sheet molding apparatus, and FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential part of a diaphragm of a desired speaker as an example of the molding process.

[Figure 4] Outline of the sheet forming process Manufacturing process diagram

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of main components of a conventional sheet forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 plastic sheet 10 thermocouple 11 Temperature controller 12 Mold 13 Air pressure controller 14 Vacuum generation mechanism 15 Insulation 15a insulation 16 Fixed frame for pneumatic chamber 16a Fixed frame for mold 17 Body frame 18 Pressure chamber insulation 18a Mold insulation 19 heating block 20 slide mechanism 21 Drive mechanism 22 Bearing 23 heater 24 thermocouple 25 Temperature controller 26 Slide mechanism 27 Drive mechanism 28 Cooling water piping 29 Cooling block 30 thermocouple 31 thermocouple 32 Temperature controller 33 Pneumatic chamber 34 Temperature controller

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // B29K 67:00 B29K 67:00 71:00 71:00 77:00 77:00 B29L 31:38 B29L 31:38 (72) Inventor Hiroshi Wada 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. AA32 AA40 AC03 AH39 AR06 MA02 MA03 MK08 MK11 MK13 5D016 EC02 JA06

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A forming die having a shape for forming a sheet into a predetermined part shape, a heating mechanism which is disposed in the vicinity of the forming die and heats the forming die to a predetermined temperature, A planar-shaped compressed air chamber having a supply / exhaust path for air that is supplied via an external air pressure controller corresponding to the molding die, and is arranged in the vicinity of this compressed air chamber to cool the compressed air chamber to a predetermined temperature. A sheet forming apparatus equipped with a cooling mechanism. 2. Built into the mold and the pneumatic chamber,
An output signal of a thermocouple for detecting each temperature is input to a temperature controller, and the output signal of the temperature controller controls the opening / closing operation of a molding die including the molding die and the compressed air chamber. Item 2. The sheet forming apparatus according to item 1. 3. The heating mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the heating mechanism includes a slidable heating block capable of controlling temperature, and the heating block is brought into contact with a molding die to bring the molding die to a predetermined temperature. The sheet forming apparatus described. 4. A cooling mechanism includes a cooling block having a cooling water circulation groove and capable of temperature control, and a slidable compressed air chamber is brought into contact with the cooling block to bring the compressed air chamber to a predetermined temperature. The sheet forming apparatus according to claim 1, configured as described above. 5. The sheet forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a vacuum suction mechanism for suction-adhering the sheet to the forming die is connected and attached. 6. The sheet forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the forming die and the compressed air chamber are installed in the main body frame via a heat insulating material. 7. The sheet molding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the molding die has a shape for forming a diaphragm used for a speaker by molding. 8. The sheet forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the material of the sheet is polyethylene naphthalate, polyether imide, polyethylene terephthalate, or polyamide imide. 9. A mold for moving a compressed air chamber to abut a cooling block to cool it to a predetermined temperature in a mold opening operation of a sheet forming die, and at the same time, a heating block is slid to abut the forming die. Is heated to a predetermined temperature, and when the compressed air chamber and the molding die reach a predetermined temperature after the mold opening operation, the heating block is slid to be separated from the molding die, and at the same time, the compressed air chamber is slid. A mold clamping operation of sandwiching the sheet supplied between the molding die and the compressed air chamber is performed, and in the mold clamping operation, air is removed from the contact surface of the molding die with the sheet and air is supplied to the compressed air chamber. Then, while applying pressure to the contact surface with the sheet, a vacuum is created between the sheet and the molding die, and the molding die and the compressed air chamber. A sheet forming method in which the mold is opened when the forming mold reaches a predetermined temperature by heat transfer due to a temperature difference between 10. The sheet molding method according to claim 9, wherein the molding block is heated by operating a heating block except for the mold clamping operation, and the molding die is set to a predetermined temperature.