JP2006218834A - Manufacturing mold of fiber arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mold having a simple structure which enables a manufacture of a fiber arrangement without bubbles mixed in. <P>SOLUTION: The mold is used for manufacturing the fiber array which keeps a fiber bundle trimmed in a longitudinal direction of fibers fixed with a resin. The mold is constituted by at least two mold part groups able to be assembled. In at least one mold part of the mold part groups, a groove which reaches a cavity of the mold is provided in the vicinity of the bottom of a joint surface with the other adjacent mold part. In the other mold part, a through hole reaching from a place relative to the groove to the outside of the mold is provided. Thus, the mold is provided with a space passing through from outside of the mold to the mold cavity by assembling the mold parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a mold used for manufacturing a fiber array, which has a form in which fiber bundles aligned in the longitudinal direction of fibers are filled with a resin or the like without gaps. A material in which a biological material is immobilized on each fiber in the fiber array can be sliced into a thin piece in a direction intersecting the fiber axis and used for inspection and detection of a specific biological material.

  For the production of a fiber array having a form in which the periphery of a fiber bundle aligned in the longitudinal direction of the fiber is filled with a resin or the like without gaps, a mold is provided around the fiber bundle aligned in one direction, A general method is to inject a resin having good fluidity and take it out of the mold after the resin is cured. As the mold, a mold having a structure that can be decomposed into two or more is used in order to facilitate the work of taking out the fiber array.

  When the resin is injected from the upper part of the mold, bubbles are mixed in the resin and easily remain inside the fiber array. In particular, the higher the density of the fiber bundle, the easier it is for air bubbles to enter the fiber bundle. Therefore, it is common to inject the resin before injection after depressurizing under reduced pressure and then expelling air upward from the bottom side of the mold.

In order to perform such injection, methods such as introducing an injection nozzle into the bottom of the mold from the upper opening of the mold and injecting it, or providing a through hole for injection on the bottom of the mold as in Patent Document 1 are used. It is done. Furthermore, when it is desired to suppress the mixing of bubbles as much as possible, a method such as rotating the mold injected with the resin as in Patent Document 2 and defoaming with the centrifugal force, or injecting in a reduced-pressure atmosphere as in Patent Document 3 can be used. Used.
: JP 2003-62436 A : JP 2002-286712 A : JP 04-27421

  However, when a through hole for resin injection is provided on the bottom or bottom side of the mold, the resin in the through hole portion is integrated in a bridge shape with the fiber array, making it difficult to take out the fiber array, A step of removing the resin in the through hole portion from the fiber array is also required. Further, the fiber array may be damaged during these operations. For this reason, in the above-mentioned known technique, in manufacturing the fiber array, the tip portion of the fiber array integrated with the through hole portion is cut in order to eliminate the difficulty.

  In addition, when the injection nozzle is introduced into the bottom of the mold from the upper opening of the mold, the tip of the nozzle may come into contact with the fiber array, which may reduce the alignment accuracy, and the fibers occupied in the fiber array When the volume ratio of the bundle is high, it is difficult to introduce the nozzle itself.

  Furthermore, when the resin is injected by defoaming by centrifugal force, it is necessary to rotate the mold together with the fiber bundle. When the resin is injected in a reduced pressure atmosphere, the fiber bundle and the mold together with the vacuum container In order to carry out the injection operation by remote operation, it is necessary to use a large-scale mechanical device.

   In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a mold having a simple structure that enables the production of a fiber array free from bubbles.

  The present inventor has intensively studied to solve the above problems. Then, in the manufacturing process of the fiber array, by providing a groove through which the resin passes in the vicinity of the bottom surface of the mold, the mold of the present invention can be easily removed after the resin is cured without bubbles being mixed into the resin. It came to be completed.

That is, the present invention is as follows.
(1) A mold for manufacturing a fiber array in which fiber bundles aligned in the longitudinal direction of a fiber are fixed with a resin, and the mold is composed of at least two groups of mold parts that can be assembled. At least one mold part of the part group is provided with a groove reaching the cavity of the mold near the bottom of the joint surface with another adjacent mold part, and the other mold part is opposed to the groove. The mold according to claim 1, further comprising: a through-hole that reaches the outside of the mold from a location, and a space that penetrates from the outside of the mold to the mold cavity by assembling these mold parts.

  (2) The mold according to (1), wherein the groove is a narrow path in its entirety or immediately before reaching the mold cavity.

  (3) The mold according to (1), wherein the mold is made of metal and the surface thereof is coated with a releasable material.

(4) Any one of (1) to (3), wherein a part of a mold part having a groove is integrated with a resin, and the mold part integrated with the resin is separable from other mold parts. 2. The mold according to item 1.

  By using the mold having a simple structure of the present invention, daily operations such as disassembly and washing in the production of a fiber array free from bubbles are simplified. Furthermore, when the mold material is a metal, the dimensional accuracy of the fiber array can be improved by covering the surface with a releasable material.

  Also, if a part of the mold component is integrated with the cured resin, the integrated mold component can be used as a fixing part to the processing machine when the cured resin is subjected to secondary processing such as slicing. Therefore, it becomes easy to mount the workpiece, and accurate machining is possible.

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a mold according to the present invention in the case of two parts.

  The mold of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes an L-shaped mold part 11a and a mold part 11b. When the mold part 11a and the mold part 11b are assembled, the parts are adjacent to each other, the region surrounded by p1-p2-p3-p4 of the mold part 11a, and p1′-p2′-p3′-p4 of the mold part 11b. The region surrounded by 'is joined and closely adhered, and the region surrounded by q1-q2-q3-q4 of the mold part 11a and the region surrounded by q1'-q2'-q3'-q4' of the mold part 11b The bonded area is bonded and adhered. As a result, a mold cavity (the mold cavity is also referred to as “inside the mold”) is formed with the region S surrounded by the mold parts as a bottom surface.

  A through hole 13 is provided near the bottom of the mold part 11a. The through hole 13 penetrates the mold part 11a and reaches from the outside to the joint surface p1-p2-p3-p4 with the mold part 11b. . A groove 12 is provided at a position opposite to the position of the through hole 13 provided in the mold part 11a on the joint surface p1′-p2′-p3′-p4 ′ of the mold part 11b with the mold part 11a. In FIG. 1, when the shape of the through hole 13 is circular and the left end of the groove 12 is semicircular, the positional relationship between the through hole 13 and the groove 12 is such that the center of the circular portion of the through hole 13 and the groove 12 It is preferable that the relationship between the center of the semicircle and the center line L exists.

  After assembling the mold, when the resin before curing is injected from the entrance of the through hole 13 in the direction of the arrow a1, the resin reaches the groove 12 through the through hole 13, and then the direction of the resin in the direction of the cavity (arrow a2). Change and enter the cavity along the groove. If the resin injection is continued, the resin can reach the top of the cavity.

  In addition to the mode in which the two parts shown in FIG. 1 are assembled, the mold has a mode in which four substantially flat plates are assembled. In this case, since the mold surface in contact with the resin is a flat surface, the mold can be easily processed and surface-treated with high processing accuracy, and can be easily disassembled and cleaned.

  The material of each component 11 constituting the mold is preferably a material having excellent dimensional accuracy at the time of manufacture and durability in repeated use. Examples thereof include steels such as stainless steel, non-ferrous metals such as aluminum alloys, and resins such as polyacetal.

  When each part 11 having these materials is coated with a releasable material, the work of disassembling the mold and taking out the fiber array becomes very simple. Examples of the releasable material include fluorine-based resins represented by Teflon (registered trademark). In recent technology, there is a method in which a fluorine-based resin is mixed with a metal such as nickel and plated, and a coating having extremely high durability is possible. A tape-shaped fluororesin in which an adhesive material is applied is commercially available, and the method of sticking the tape to each part constituting the mold is preferable because it is inexpensive and simple at the time of production.

  If the fiber array requires particularly high dimensional accuracy, a positioning mechanism such as a pin hole or an inlay may be provided in each component constituting the mold, and assembly may be performed by the guide. Preferably, care is taken during design so that a positioning mechanism is not required.

  When a fluororesin represented by Teflon (registered trademark), polypropylene, or the like is used as a mold composition, these components impart a material having excellent releasability. Therefore, the said substance is preferable at the point which does not need to coat | cover a release material on the surface of each component 11 which comprises a casting_mold | template. The fluororesin, polypropylene, and the like can be used within a range in which the dimensional accuracy at the time of production or the dimensional accuracy of the fiber array can be maintained.

  The surface quality of each part 11 constituting the mold should be a smooth surface by grinding or lapping in order to maintain airtightness when the resin or the like is injected with respect to the surface serving as a mating surface between the parts. preferable. When assembling the mold, it is possible to obtain higher airtightness by applying oils and fats such as silicone grease or using seal parts such as packing and O-rings.

  In FIG. 1, the groove 12 forms a flow path for the resin injected from the outside of the mold to be injected into the mold. As described above, in order to suppress the mixing of bubbles in the resin, it is preferable to inject the resin from the bottom side of the mold while expelling air bubbles upward. Therefore, the groove 12 is installed at the lower part of the mold part 11b. “Lower part” means the vicinity of the bottom of the mold part 11b.

  The cross-sectional shape of the groove 12 may be semicircular, rectangular or the like, but by disassembling the mold, it is possible to easily remove the resin remaining in the groove 12 manually without using tools or solvents. If there is, it will not be specifically limited. Then, all or a part of the grooves 12 can be narrowed so that the fiber array can be easily folded when the mold is disassembled and the fiber array is taken out. The dimension of the narrow path can be appropriately determined according to the viscosity of the resin used and the breaking strength after curing. The cross-sectional shape and cross-sectional area of the groove 12 may be changed continuously or discontinuously in the length direction. When the groove 12 is locally reduced to form a narrow path, the narrow path portion is disposed immediately before reaching the inside of the mold.

  The resin flows from the through hole 13 through the groove 12 into the mold. The inner diameter of the through-hole 13 is adapted to the outer diameter of the pipe to be connected, the tip of the syringe, etc., and is a diameter that can provide airtightness. Preferably, it is set to such an extent that it can be manually inserted and removed without using a tool or the like. The inner diameter of the pipe or syringe tip to be connected can be arbitrarily determined by the flow rate / flow velocity and viscosity of the resin. Further, by providing a screw hole instead of the through hole 13 and attaching a commercially available pipe joint or the like to the screw hole, it is possible to obtain higher airtightness.

  The resin used in the present invention is preferably a resin having a low viscosity and excellent fluidity so that the voids between the fibers of the fiber bundle can be filled without gaps before being cured in the cavity of the mold. For example, a urethane resin in which two liquids are mixed and reacted and cured can be used. Moreover, if the fiber to be used is not heat-sensitive, it may be a resin melted by heating. Examples of such a resin include paraffin. When selecting the resin, a material that does not deteriorate the fiber with a solvent or the like contained in the resin is selected in consideration of the material of the fiber to be used.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram in which fiber bundles aligned in the longitudinal direction of the fiber are arranged in a mold composed of two parts (a mold composed of parts having the same form as in FIG. 1).

  Examples of the method for aligning the fiber bundle 22 include a method of pulling both ends of the porous plates 23a and 23b through the fibers, a method of arranging the fibers on a plurality of groove bases, and laminating the groove bases. Is not particularly limited.

  In order to maintain the assembled state of the mold parts, it can be considered that the mold parts are fastened with screws, fastened with a snap lock, fixed with a machine such as a press machine, etc., but fastening with screws is simple and provides a strong fastening force. This is preferable.

  FIG. 3 is a view showing a mode of a mold when a part of a mold part is solidified and integrated with a cured resin. In FIG. 3, the mold part 31 b is a part having the through hole 13, and the mold part 33 is a part having a form in which the groove 12 is provided and the center part is recessed. The concave portion of the mold part 33 is a region where the fiber bundle 22 is arranged and resin is injected, and the inner wall surface of the concave portion in contact with the resin has a geometric shape that engages with the cured resin and exhibits an anchor effect. Is formed. The anchor effect means an effect of fixing the resin and the component 33 so that the resin and the component 33 are integrated and the resin is not detached from the component 33. The mold parts 32a and 32b are arranged on the mold part 33 at the time of assembling, and are joined and adhered to the mold part 31a and the mold part 31b.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the mold parts 31 a and 31 b and the mold part 33 are arranged on the perforated plate 23 b through which the fiber bundle 22 is passed, and the mold parts 32 a and 32 b are arranged on the mold part 33. To form a mold. Resin is injected from the through hole of the mold part 31 b and introduced into the cavity of the mold through the groove 12 formed in the mold part 33. As a result, when the resin is cured, the mold part 33 and the resin are integrated. After the resin is cured, the mold parts 31a and 31b and the mold parts 32a and 32b are separated from the resin.

  In the case of secondary processing of the cured resin (slicing processing of fiber bundles, etc.), this integrated mold part 33 can be fixed to a processing machine and used for positioning.

  The present invention will be specifically described by the following examples. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited by these examples.

  The mold is composed of 2 blocks of A2017 made of 60mm x 21mm x 80mm in height and 2 blocks of A2017 made of 26mm x 8mm x 80mm in height. 144 hollow polycarbonate fibers having a diameter of 0.29 mm, an inner diameter of 0.18 mm, and a length of 800 mm, and Coronate 4403, which is a two-component mixed polyurethane resin, and NIPPOLAN 4276 (both manufactured by Nippon Polyurethane Industry Co., Ltd.) 6: 4 A fiber array was manufactured as follows using a mixture of carbon black MA-100 (manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Co., Ltd.) and a mass ratio of 2.5%.

  One A2017 block 26mm long x 8mm wide x 80mm high is provided with a groove 4mm wide x 10mm long x 1mm deep at a location 2mm from the bottom of the mold. A through hole having an inner diameter of 6 mm was provided in one A2017 block having a width of 21 mm and a height of 80 mm. Each block was provided with a pin hole having an inner diameter of 4 mm for the purpose of alignment, and when the mold was assembled, the dimensions inside the mold were 8 mm long × 8 mm wide × 80 mm high. Nittofuron adhesive tape 903 (manufactured by Nitto Denko Co., Ltd.) is affixed to the inner surface of each block for the purpose of releasing the fiber array, and the tape applied to the through hole is cut with a general office cutter. It was. One end of a polyurethane tube UB0640 (manufactured by Nippon Pisco Co., Ltd.) cut to a length of 150 mm was inserted into the through hole.

  In addition, as a jig for aligning hollow fibers in one direction to form a fiber bundle, a length of 36 mm × width of 36 mm provided with 0.32 mm through holes of 12 × length × 144 = 144 at intervals of 0.42 mm. X Two SUS304 perforated plates with a thickness of 0.1 mm were used.

  First, two porous plates were stacked, and one hollow fiber was passed through all 144 through holes. Next, the gap between the two perforated plates is extended to 90 mm in the vertical direction while passing the hollow fibers, and after loosening by removing both ends of the hollow fibers lightly, a mold is assembled between the perforated plates. The block was fastened with M5 screws. Further, the perforated plate on the lower surface of the mold was fastened to the lower surface of the mold with M4 screws to complete the assembly of the mold.

  Next, the mixed resin was loaded into a Terumo syringe 30 mL (manufactured by Terumo Corporation), the syringe tip was connected to the end of the polyurethane tube, and the syringe was pushed to inject 5 cc of resin into the mold. After the injection, the resin was cured at room temperature of 22 ° C. for 48 hours, and further in a heating vessel at 50 ° C. for 48 hours.

  After curing, the mold was disassembled and the fiber array was taken out. Removal of the fiber array could be easily performed manually. The resin remaining in the groove could not be completely removed manually, but could be dissolved and removed by immersing the mold part in acetone for 16 hours. The outer dimensions of the obtained fiber array were 8 mm long × 8 mm wide × 72 mm high.

  The obtained fiber array was sliced to a thickness of 0.25 mm in a direction perpendicular to the fiber bundle to obtain 228 fiber array flakes. When the number of bubbles was visually inspected for the appearance of all 228 sheets, there was no single bubble generated in the fiber array portion, and only one bubble was generated in the surrounding resin portion.

Teflon (registered trademark) is coated on the entire surface of each block, which is the mold part used in Example 1, and the same hollow fiber and the same resin as in Example 1 are used to assemble the mold in the same manner as in Example 1. Completed.
Next, 5 cc of resin was injected into the mold in the same manner as in Example 1. After the injection, the resin was cured by the same method as in Example 1, the mold was disassembled, and the fiber array was taken out. The fiber array body can be easily taken out manually, and the resin remaining in the groove can be easily removed manually. The outer dimensions of the obtained fiber array were 8 mm long × 8 mm wide × 72 mm high. The obtained fiber array was sliced in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 228 fiber array flakes. When the number of bubbles was visually inspected for the appearance of all 228 sheets, one bubble was not generated in the fiber array portion, and only one bubble was generated in the surrounding resin portion.

  As mold parts, two A2017 blocks 60mm long x 21mm wide x 80mm high, and two A2017 blocks 26mm long x 8mm wide x 70mm high coated with Teflon (registered trademark) on the entire surface of each block. Each has a concave opening with a length of 60 mm x width 8 mm x height 10 mm and a height of 8 mm x width 7 mm, and there are many fine transverse grooves on the inner surface of the opening to exert the anchor effect with the cured resin. A block made of magnetic stainless steel SUS430, which is formed and has a flow path for allowing the resin to flow into the concave opening, and only the concave opening is not coated with Teflon (registered trademark), a total of five blocks What was comprised was used. And, using the same hollow fiber and the same resin as in Example 1, 144 fiber bundles are located in the concave opening of the block of length 60 mm × width 8 mm × height 10 mm, and the resin inflow portion provided in this block Was assembled in a positional relationship that coincided with a resin injection port provided in a block 60 mm long × 21 mm wide × 80 mm high.

  Next, the resin was poured into the mold and cured in the same manner as in Example 2, the mold was disassembled, and a fiber array whose bottom portion was integrated with a block made of SUS430 was taken out. The fiber array body can be easily taken out manually, and the resin remaining in the groove can be easily removed manually. The outer dimensions of the obtained fiber array were length 8 mm × width 8 mm × height 72 mm, and the integrated bottom metal block was length 60 mm × width 8 mm × height 10 mm.

  Then, when slicing the obtained fiber array to a thickness of 0.25 mm, a slicing device having an electromagnetic chuck in the workpiece holding part was used. First, by positioning the metal block of the fiber array integrated with the metal block in the electromagnetic chuck portion of the apparatus and turning on the electromagnetic chuck, the fiber array could be easily and accurately held firmly. In that state, sliced into a thickness of 0.25 mm in a direction perpendicular to the fiber bundle, and 208 fiber array flakes were obtained. After completion of slicing, the fiber array could be easily removed from the apparatus by turning off the electromagnetic chuck.

Comparative Example 1
A block having the same size as that of Example 1 was used as a mold part, and a through-hole directly connected to the fiber array inside the mold was provided in a part thereof. The entire surface of each block was coated with Teflon (registered trademark), and the assembly of the mold was completed in the same manner as in Example 1 using the same hollow fiber and the same resin as in Example 1.

  Next, 5 cc of resin was injected into the mold in the same manner as in Example 1. After the injection, the resin was cured by the same method as in Example 1, the mold was disassembled, and the fiber array was taken out.

  Removal of the fiber array becomes very difficult because the resin in the through hole is cured and integrated with the fiber array, and a SUS304 round bar with a diameter of 5 mm is applied from the outside of the through hole. The fiber array could be removed by tapping. Furthermore, the fiber array body of a desired shape was obtained by cutting the resin of the integrated through hole with a saw.

  The outer dimensions of the obtained fiber array were 8 mm long × 8 mm wide × 72 mm high. The obtained fiber array was sliced in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 114 fiber array flakes. When the number of bubbles was visually inspected for the appearance of all 114 sheets, no bubbles were generated in the fiber array portion, and one bubble was generated in the surrounding resin portion.

Comparative Example 2
A mold made of Teflon (registered trademark) having the same dimensions as in Example 1 and having no grooves and through holes is used as the mold part, and the same mold as that in Example 1 is used as the hollow fiber and the resin. Completed assembly.

  Next, the mixed resin was loaded into the same syringe as in Example 1, and the syringe was pushed to inject 5 cc of resin into the mold from the upper opening of the mold. After the injection, the resin was cured by the same method as in Example 1, the mold was disassembled, and the fiber array was taken out. Removal of the fiber array could be easily performed manually. The outer dimensions of the obtained fiber array were 7.8 mm long × 8 mm wide × 72 mm high. The obtained fiber array was sliced in the same manner as in Example 1 to obtain 114 fiber array flakes. When the number of bubbles was visually inspected for the appearance of all 114 sheets, 6 bubbles were generated in the fiber array portion, and 69 bubbles were generated in the surrounding resin portion.

It is an example of the casting_mold | template of this invention at the time of comprising by two parts. It is an example of the state which assembled the casting_mold | template of this invention at the time of comprising with two components around the fiber bundle arranged in one direction. It is a figure which shows the aspect of a casting_mold | template when solidifying and integrating a part of casting_mold | template part with hardening resin.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... Mold part 12 ... Groove 13 ... Through hole 21 ... Mold part 22 ... Fiber bundle 23a ... Perforated plate 23b ... ... Perforated plate 31a ... Mold part 31b ... Mold part 32a ... Mold part 32b ... Mold part 33 ... Integrated mold part

Claims (4)

  A mold for producing a fiber array in which fiber bundles aligned in the longitudinal direction of a fiber are fixed with a resin, and the mold is composed of at least two mold parts that can be assembled. At least one mold part is provided with a groove reaching the cavity of the mold in the vicinity of the bottom of the joint surface with another adjacent mold part. The mold according to claim 1, further comprising a space penetrating from the outside of the mold to the mold cavity by providing a through hole reaching the outside and assembling these mold parts.   2. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the groove is narrow as a whole or just before reaching the mold cavity.   2. The mold according to claim 1, wherein the mold is made of metal and the surface thereof is coated with a releasable material.   The mold part having a groove is partly integrated with a resin, and the mold part integrated with the resin is separable from other mold parts. Mold.

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