JP2006192572A - Prepreg manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a prepreg manufacturing method constituted so as to solve the conventional technical point at issue not only to facilitate the recycling of a sheet but also to prevent the occurrence of the impregnation irregularity of reinforcing fibers with a resin. <P>SOLUTION: A sheet having a resin composition supported thereon is superposed at least on one side of sheetlike reinforcing fibers so as to come into contact with the sheetlike reinforcing fibers and the superposed material is heated and pressed by impregnation rolls, which are provided in the transfer direction of the superposed material in a multistage state to transfer the resin composition to the sheetlike reinforcing fibers to impregnate the sheetlike reinforcing fibers with the resin composition to manufacture a prepreg. In this prepreg manufacturing method, the superposed material is passed through the gap between the air sump preventing roll or plate, which is provided on the upper surface side of the superposed material between the impregnation rolls so that the distance from the superposed material becomes 1-6 mm and the air sump preventing plate which is provided on the undersurface side of the superposed material between the impregnation rolls so that the distance from the superposed material becomes 1-6 mm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a prepreg manufacturing apparatus that facilitates reuse of a sheet constituting a resin-carrying sheet and completely prevents unevenness of resin impregnation in reinforcing fibers.

  Conventionally, a prepreg is formed by superimposing a resin-supported sheet coated with a B-stage (semi-cured) resin on both sides of reinforcing fibers arranged in parallel and in a sheet form, and the obtained superposed body is overlaid. In the transfer direction of the laminated body, it was heated and pressed through two rolls to transfer and impregnate the resin to the reinforcing fibers.

  However, in such a conventional manufacturing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2, when the overlapped body is treated with the preceding impregnation rolls a and a ′, the air entrained in the reinforcing fibers and the resin-carrying sheet is A large air pocket d is formed between the sheets b and b ′ constituting the carrier sheet and the prepreg c and between the subsequent impregnating rolls e and e ′. When the air pocket d is formed, the sheets b and b 'become wrinkles at the portion, and there is a defect that the sheet b or b' to be peeled off later cannot be reused. Further, in the air reservoir d, there is a problem in that the resin is not sufficiently transferred to the reinforcing fiber, resulting in uneven resin impregnation.

In order to solve this problem, Patent Document 1 provides an air pool prevention roll and an air pool prevention plate between a plurality of impregnating roll pairs, and the air that causes the air pool is entrained in the reinforcing fibers and the resin-carrying sheet. Has been proposed to be distributed between the prepreg and the sheet.
JP 60-171107 A

  However, the installation of the air retention prevention roll and the air retention prevention plate has made it possible to reuse the sheet and at the same time achieve the effect of preventing the resin impregnation unevenness, but as shown in FIGS. In addition, there is still a small amount of air accumulation between the air retention prevention rolls, between the air retention prevention roll and the impregnation roll, and between the air retention prevention plate and the impregnation roll, and the problem has not been completely solved. It was. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, facilitate the reuse of the sheet, and prevent the occurrence of uneven resin impregnation in the reinforcing fibers.

  The present invention that achieves the above object is to stack a sheet carrying a resin composition on at least one surface of a sheet-like reinforcing fiber so that the resin composition comes into contact with the sheet-like reinforcing fiber, and to transfer the laminated body In the manufacturing method of a prepreg in which the superposed body is heated and pressed to transfer and impregnate the resin composition to the reinforcing fibers with the multi-stage impregnation rolls, the superposition is performed on the upper surface side of the superposed body between the impregnating rolls The distance between the overlap body on the lower surface side of the overlap body between the air accumulation prevention roll or the air accumulation prevention plate provided so that the distance to the body is 1 to 6 mm and the impregnation roll is 1 to 6 mm. A method for producing a prepreg, in which an overlapped body is passed between an air retention preventing plate provided on the prepreg.

  According to the present invention, between the impregnation rolls provided in multiple stages, an air retention prevention roll or an air retention prevention plate is provided on the upper surface side of the overlapped body, an air retention prevention plate is disposed on the lower surface side, and the distance from the overlapped body is increased. Since each sheet is provided so as to have a thickness of 1 to 6 mm, the sheets in the overlapped body are guided by an air retention prevention plate or the like on the upper and lower surfaces between the impregnating rolls and receive an excessive force exceeding the rigidity of the sheets. Since it is guided to the impregnation roll without any problems, the disadvantages of the prior art can be solved.

  That is, the air in the large air reservoir formed by the preceding impregnation roll is dispersed to form a small air reservoir, so that it can be present on average between the sheet forming the resin-carrying sheet and the prepreg. After the detachment of the sheet, the small air pockets formed by the small air pockets formed by the air that has entered between the prepreg and the sheet that forms the resin-carrying sheet as in the method described in Patent Document 1 It can be reused.

  Further, since there is no air retention, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of uneven resin impregnation in the reinforcing fibers.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings. In FIG. 1 a, reinforcing fibers 1 in the form of strands are supplied from a package 2 through a guide roll 5 in parallel with each other and in a sheet form.

  On the other hand, the lower surface resin-carrying sheet 3 is supplied from the roll 4, and the resin surface side of the lower resin-carrying sheet 3 is first overlapped with the lower surface of the sheet-like reinforcing fiber via the guide roll 5.

  Next, the upper resin-carrying sheet 7 is supplied from the roll 6 through the guide rolls 5 and 5 in the same manner, and the resin surface side of the upper resin-carrying sheet 7 is overlaid on the upper surface side of the sheet-like reinforcing fiber. 8 is formed. However, in the present invention, one of the two resin-carrying sheets 3 and 7 may be a sheet that does not carry a resin.

  Here, the reinforcing fibers 1 used in the present invention are carbon fibers, glass fibers, organic high elastic fibers such as polyaramid fibers, high strength and high elastic fibers such as silicon carbide fibers, alumina fibers, and boron fibers. Used in the form of strands. However, in the present invention, it is also possible to use a sheet processed in advance into a sheet form such as a mat or a woven fabric.

  Such a reinforcing fiber may be a single type, for example, two or more types of fibers such as carbon fiber and glass fiber, and carbon fiber and organic high-elasticity fiber are alternately changed in the width direction. May be used regularly or irregularly.

  Further, the upper and lower resin-carrying sheets 7 and 3 are made of a sheet of clay or starch on one or both sides of kraft paper, roll paper, glassine paper, etc. having a thickness of about 0.05 to 0.2 mm. , Polyethylene, polyvinyl alcohol, etc. are provided with a coating layer of a sealing agent, and a silicone-based or non-silicone-based release agent, preferably polydimethylsiloxane and polydimethylhydrodienesiloxane is condensed on each coated layer. A release agent composed of reactive type or addition reactive type silicone is applied.

  The resin carried on the resin carrying sheet is a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, a phenol resin, or a polyimide resin. These resins are in a B-stage (semi-cured state).

  The amount of the resin supported is adjusted so that the resin content of the finally obtained prepreg is 20 to 70% by mass, preferably 30 to 50% by mass. The resin is preferably carried on the sheet by coating.

  The above-mentioned sheet is a release paper that is commonly used for so-called prepreg production. In the prepreg, air is uniformly distributed between the sheet and the prepreg during the production of the prepreg (described later), and an array of reinforcing fibers. Prevents turbulence and protects the prepreg from moisture absorption.

  In the present invention, the laminated body is then supplied to an impregnation roll, heated and pressurized to transfer and impregnate the resin to the reinforcing fibers.

  Here, the impregnating rolls are provided in multiple stages in the transfer direction of the overlapped body 8, for example, two stages 9, 9, 10 and 10 as shown in more detail in FIG. Are provided with air retention preventing rolls 11, 12 and 13 on the upper surface side of the laminated body 8.

  The number of the air retaining rolls can be arbitrarily selected, but the air retaining roll 13 located closest to the subsequent impregnating rolls 10, 10 is preferably at the nip point 15 of the impregnating rolls 10, 10. Provide as close as possible.

  The air retention prevention roll may be usually smaller than the impregnation roll. In the present invention, it is also possible to install the same as the air retention preventing plate 14 described later, instead of the air retention preventing roll.

  The impregnating roll is for spreading the reinforcing fibers in the form of strands and impregnating with the resin, and at least one of a pair of two rolls constituting each impregnating roll is 80 to 180 ° C., preferably 90 to 150. Heated to ℃. The applied pressure is several kilograms per cent as linear pressure.

  Further, in the present invention, the air retention preventing rolls 11, 12, 13 are provided on the lower surface side of the overlapped body 8, and the air retention preventing plate 14 is located at a position corresponding to the rolls. The laminated body 8 that is provided so as to be 1 to 6 mm and is heated and pressurized by the impregnation rolls 9 and 9 is guided by the air retention prevention plate 14 and the air retention prevention rolls 11, 12, and 13, Due to the rigidity of the sheet, the air between the sheet and the prepreg is made uniform.

  The distance between the impregnation roll and the air retention prevention plate or the air retention prevention roll is preferably shorter, and from this point, it is preferable to use an air retention prevention plate in both the upper and lower sides.

  In the present invention, the impregnation rolls may be provided in three or four stages, and an air retention preventing roll and an air retention prevention plate may be provided between the respective impregnation rolls as described above.

  In the obtained unidirectional prepreg 15, the sheet 21 constituting the upper resin carrying sheet 7 is peeled off as the roll 16 through the guide roll 5, and then, if necessary, from the scrim cloth supply roll 17 to the guide roll. The scrim cloth 18 supplied via 5 is bonded to the stripping surface, heated and pressurized by the scrim cloth bonding rolls 19 and 19, and then wound up as a roll 20.

The scrim cloth 18 is made by plain weaving or satin weaving of the upper reinforcing fiber. When the scrim cloth 18 is made of carbon fiber or organic high elasticity fiber, the thickness is 0.02 to 0.15 mm, preferably 0.00. In the case of being made of glass fiber, the thickness is 0.01 to 0.1 mm, preferably 0.02 to 0.05 mm, and the basis weight is 10 to 90 g / m ^2. 80 g / ^{m 2,} preferably 20 to 50 g / ^{m 2.}

  The scrim cloth can give the unidirectional prepreg strength in the width direction and prevent the arrangement of the reinforcing fibers from being disturbed.

  The scrim cloth laminating rolls 19 and 19 are heated to a temperature of 50 to 130 ° C., preferably 70 to 120 ° C., and the applied pressure is about several kg / cm as a linear pressure.

The obtained unidirectional prepreg 15 has a thickness of 0.02 to 1 mm, preferably 0.03 to 0.5 mm, and contains 30 to 80% by mass, preferably 50 to 70% by mass of reinforcing fibers. .

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a prepreg manufacturing apparatus used in the prepreg manufacturing method of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part of a prepreg manufacturing apparatus used in the prepreg manufacturing method of the present invention [(A) and (B) are an air pool preventing roll and an air pool preventing plate, respectively, on the upper surface side of the laminated body. When used]. FIG. 3 is a partial side view showing a state of occurrence of air accumulation in a conventional prepreg manufacturing method. FIG. 4 is a partial side view showing the state of air stagnation in the prepreg manufacturing method using the apparatus described in Patent Document 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reinforcing fiber 2 Lower resin-carrying sheet 7 Upper resin-carrying sheet 8 Laminated body 9, 10 Impregnation rolls 11, 12, 13 Air retention prevention roll 14 Air accumulation prevention plate

Claims (1)

  On at least one surface of the sheet-like reinforcing fiber, a sheet carrying the resin composition is superposed so that the resin composition is in contact with the sheet-like reinforcing fiber, and an impregnation roll provided in multiple stages in the transport direction of the laminated body, In the method for producing a prepreg in which the overlapped body is heated and pressurized to transfer and impregnate the resin composition to the reinforcing fiber, the distance between the overlapped body on the upper surface side of the overlapped body between the impregnating rolls is 1 to 6 mm. An air retention preventing roll or an air retention preventing plate provided so as to be, and an air retention preventing plate provided on the lower surface side of the overlapping body between the impregnating rolls so that the distance between the overlapping body is 1 to 6 mm. A method for producing a prepreg, in which an overlapped body is passed between them.

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