JP2011236926A - Apparatus and method for manufacturing of high pressure tank - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for manufacturing of a high pressure tank capable of improving a widening rate of a fiber bundle when fiber is wound around a liner.SOLUTION: The apparatus for manufacturing of the high pressure tank is provided for manufacturing the high pressure tank having a liner and a reinforcement layer composed by winding fiber around an outer surface of the liner, and has a vibration device for vibrating the liner when the fiber is wound around the outer surface of the liner.

Description

  The present invention relates to a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus and a high-pressure tank manufacturing method.

  Fuel cell vehicles and natural gas vehicles are equipped with a high-pressure tank for storing hydrogen gas, natural gas, or the like as fuel gas. As a high-pressure tank, a high-pressure tank reinforced by winding a carbon fiber reinforced plastic material (CFRP material) or the like having a very high strength per unit density around the outer surface of a resin or metal tank (liner: inner container) is known. . When manufacturing such a high-pressure tank, the resin is cured after being wound around the outer surface of a resin tank in a state in which a fiber bundle such as carbon fiber is impregnated with a resin solution such as an epoxy resin as in the filament winding method, for example. There is a method of forming a reinforcing layer (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  When manufacturing a high-pressure tank by the filament winding method, it is preferable from the viewpoint of the strength of the high-pressure tank that the fiber bundle of carbon fiber or the like is wound around the liner in a widened state (a widened state) as much as possible.

  If the fiber bundle is not widened, when the fiber is wound around the liner, voids or fiber breakage may occur between the fiber layers, which may cause a decrease in tank strength. In addition, for example, there is a method of widening the fiber bundle by pressing the fiber east with a widening roller or the like before winding the fiber around the liner, but the widening ratio (ratio of the width of the fiber bundle after widening to the width of the fiber bundle before widening) ) Is not sufficient (for example, about 120 to 140% widening ratio), and even if the width of the fiber bundle is widened before the fiber is wound around the liner, the influence of tension, guide rollers, etc. before the fiber is actually wound around the liner. If the width of the fiber bundle becomes narrow (for example, about 100 to 130% widening ratio), the widening effect is reduced. Furthermore, if the fiber tension is increased too much when the fiber bundle is widened by a widening roller or the like, the fiber may be damaged.

JP 2010-019315 A

  The present invention is a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus and a high-pressure tank manufacturing method capable of improving a fiber bundle widening rate when winding a fiber around a liner.

  The present invention relates to a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank having a liner and a reinforcing layer formed by winding fibers on the outer surface of the liner, and the liner is wound when the fibers are wound on the outer surface of the liner. It is a manufacturing apparatus of a high pressure tank which has a vibration means to vibrate.

  In the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus, it is preferable that the vibration means vibrate in the direction of the rotation axis of the liner.

  In the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus, the vibration means is preferably an ultrasonic vibration generator.

  The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a high-pressure tank having a liner and a reinforcing layer formed by winding fibers on the outer surface of the liner, wherein the liner is wound when the fibers are wound on the outer surface of the liner. It is a manufacturing method of the high-pressure tank which vibrates.

  Moreover, in the manufacturing method of the said high pressure tank, it is preferable to vibrate in the rotating shaft direction of the said liner.

  In the high pressure tank manufacturing method, the vibration is preferably ultrasonic vibration.

  In the present invention, the apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank and the manufacture of the high-pressure tank that can improve the fiber bundle widening ratio when the fiber is wound around the liner by vibrating the liner when the fiber is wound around the outer surface of the liner. A method can be provided.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of an example of the manufacturing apparatus of the high pressure tank which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows an example of a structure of the winding part of the fiber in the manufacturing apparatus of the high pressure tank which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the cross section of the axial direction of the high pressure tank in the manufacturing method of the high pressure tank in embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the state of the widening of the fiber bundle in embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. This embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  FIG. 1 shows an outline of an overall configuration of an example of a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Moreover, the outline of an example of a structure of the winding part of the fiber in the manufacturing apparatus of the high pressure tank which concerns on this embodiment is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a fiber winding device 10. The fiber winding device 10 has a rotation support portion 12 for supporting the liner 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation support unit 12 is provided with a vibration generator 14 as a vibration means for vibrating the liner 22, and can apply vibrations in a predetermined frequency and a predetermined direction to the liner 22. it can.

  The operation of the high-pressure tank manufacturing method and the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liner 22 is installed on the rotation support portion 12 of the fiber winding device 10. For example, the substantially cylindrical liner 22 is supported by the rotation support portion 12 as shown in FIG. 2 by a shaft 28 that passes through the axis of the liner 22 as shown in FIG. The liner 22 is rotated by the rotation support portion 12, and the fiber bundle 26 fed out from the bobbin 16 of FIG. 1 is wound around the outer surface of the liner 22. The fiber bundle 26 is impregnated with, for example, a thermosetting resin solution such as an epoxy resin on the upstream side of the fiber winding apparatus 10, and then the angle is adjusted by the fiber guide portion 18 as shown in FIG. 22 is wound around. At this time, the liner 22 itself is vibrated by the vibration generator 14 while winding the fiber bundle 26. Thus, the fiber bundle 26 is wound around the outer surface of the liner 22 in a predetermined thickness and in a predetermined direction.

  Here, widening the fiber bundle means, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the fibers 30 constituting the fiber bundle 26 are expanded to make the fiber bundle 26 substantially flat.

  For example, a gas supply pipe that communicates with a gas cylinder that supplies a gas such as air is connected to the rotation support unit 12, and a gas such as air is supplied into the liner 22 through the gas supply pipe and the rotation support unit 12. The fiber may be wound with the inside of 22 being in a pressurized state. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the liner 22 from being deformed by winding the fiber bundle 26.

  After the step of winding the fiber bundle 26, the high-pressure tank 20 is heat-treated in a heating furnace or the like. The high-pressure tank 20 is heated at about 130 ° C. for about 10 to 15 hours, for example. By this heating, the fiber bundle 26 impregnated with the thermosetting resin or the like is thermoset, and a reinforcing layer 24 as shown in FIG. 3 is formed. Thereafter, the high-pressure tank 20 is cooled. In this way, the high-pressure tank 20 in which the reinforcing layer 24 is formed on the outer surface of the liner 22 is manufactured.

  In this way, the fiber bundle 26 is wound around the liner 22 and at the same time, the vibration generator 14 applies vibration in the direction of the rotation axis of the liner 22 to vibrate the liner 22 itself, thereby improving the width expansion rate of the fiber bundle 26. be able to. By directly expanding the fiber bundle 26 while winding the fiber bundle 26 around the liner 22, the expansion ratio of the fiber east 26 can be improved. Therefore, the widening rate can be improved more than when the fiber bundle 26 is wound in the state of being widened by the widening means such as the widening roller on the upstream side of the fiber winding device 10.

  Further, when the fiber bundle 26 to be wound is impregnated with a resin, it tends to be difficult to widen due to the viscosity of the resin or the like, but by applying vibration to the liner 22, the fiber bundle 26 becomes easier to widen. In addition, since the tension of the fiber bundle 26 does not need to be increased more than necessary in order to widen the liner 22 by applying vibration, damage such as fiber breakage can be prevented.

  As described above, when the fiber bundle 26 is wound around the liner 22 by the filament winding method, the expansion rate of the fiber bundle 26 is improved, so that the generation of voids between the fiber layers, fiber breakage, and the like is suppressed, and the resulting high-pressure tank A high-pressure tank with improved strength and fatigue strength, and good quality and stable quality can be produced. Further, since the fiber bundle 26 can be widened while being wound, productivity does not decrease.

  The high-pressure tank 20 includes a liner (inner container) 22 and a reinforcing layer (outer layer) 24. Further, the high-pressure tank 20 may include a gas filling / releasing port.

  The liner 22 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape or the like, for example, for accommodating a medium such as high-pressure hydrogen gas therein, and is a layer in direct contact with a gas such as hydrogen gas. The shape, size, and thickness of the liner 22 can be arbitrarily selected according to the purpose of use, specifications, and the like. The liner 22 has a thickness in the range of 2 mm to 4 mm, for example.

  The liner 22 includes a resin material, a metal, and the like. Examples of the resin material constituting the liner 22 include a thermoplastic resin and a thermosetting resin. Examples of the thermoplastic resin include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, ABS resin, polystyrene, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyimide, and fluorine resin. Examples of the thermosetting resin include epoxy resin and polyurethane. Examples of the metal constituting the liner include metals such as aluminum alloys. The thickness of the liner and the type of material constituting the liner can be appropriately selected according to the strength, hermeticity, moldability, and the like required for the liner 22. Of these, polyamide resins such as nylon are preferable from the viewpoint of strength and gas permeability resistance.

  The liner 22 composed of a resin material is molded by, for example, injection molding of the resin. For example, a resin such as a polyamide resin is poured into a mold, two substantially semi-cylindrical bodies are formed, and these are welded by a laser or the like to form a resin liner 22. By this injection molding, the liner 22 having a substantially uniform thickness is formed.

  The reinforcing layer 24 is a layer that is provided so as to cover the outer side of the liner 22 and reinforces the liner 22, and includes, for example, a fiber and a matrix resin. Examples of the fibers constituting the reinforcing layer 24 include glass fibers, carbon fibers, aramid fibers, and metal fibers.

  Moreover, as a matrix resin which comprises the reinforcement layer 24, a thermoplastic resin, a thermosetting resin, etc. are mentioned. Examples of the thermoplastic resin include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, ABS resin, polystyrene, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyimide, and fluorine resin. Examples of the thermosetting resin include epoxy resin and polyurethane. Among these, an epoxy resin is preferable from the viewpoint of strength and adhesiveness.

  The reinforcing layer 24 can be formed by, for example, winding the fiber bundle of fibers around the outer surface of the liner 22 in a state where the matrix resin solution is impregnated, and then curing the resin.

  The thickness of the reinforcing layer 24 can be adjusted by the number of layers of the fiber bundle 26 to be wound, and is, for example, in the range of 20 mm to 40 mm.

  The fiber bundle 26 is, for example, a bundle of about 10,000 to 40,000 fibers.

  The vibration generator 14 may be built in the rotation support unit 12 or installed outside the rotation support unit 12.

  Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the vibration given to the liner 22, For example, what is necessary is just to give vibrations, such as a frequency, an ultrasonic region, a sound wave region. Ultrasonic vibration is preferable in that fine vibration can be suppressed and applied to the liner 22.

  The direction of vibration applied to the liner 22 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the rotation axis direction of the liner 22 when the fiber is wound or the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the liner 22. The vibration direction is preferably in the direction of the rotation axis of the liner 22 in that the width expansion rate is further improved. Usually, the winding direction of the fiber bundle 26 is a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the liner 22 or an oblique direction. In any case, the direction of vibration applied to the liner 22 may be the rotation axis direction of the liner 22. Of course, you may change the direction of the vibration given to the liner 22 according to the winding direction of a fiber.

  The widening rate of the fiber bundle 26 is defined as a ratio (%) of the width of the fiber bundle after widening to the width of the fiber bundle before widening, but the liner 22 is vibrated by the manufacturing apparatus and the manufacturing method according to this embodiment. By giving, for example, the widening ratio can be improved to 120% or more, 150% or more, or 200% or more.

  In the manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, before the fiber bundle 26 is wound around the liner 22, widening means such as a widening roller is provided, and the fiber bundle 26 is pressed against the widening roller or the like to widen to some extent in advance. Also good.

  The high-pressure tank 20 according to the present embodiment is, for example, a high-pressure tank that is mounted on a moving body and stores high-pressure gas therein. The high pressure tank 20 may be a stationary high pressure tank.

  Here, examples of the moving body include two-wheeled vehicles, automobiles having four or more wheels such as buses and passenger cars, trains, ships, airplanes, robots, and the like, and particularly fuel cell vehicles. Examples of the high pressure gas include hydrogen gas and compressed natural gas.

  The fiber bundle obtained by the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus and the high-pressure tank manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is used as a reinforcing material for various materials as a fiber reinforced plastic material (FRP material) that has been impregnated with a resin solution and cured. be able to. For example, in the case of carbon fiber, a carbon fiber reinforced plastic material (CFRP material) in which a fiber bundle of carbon fiber is impregnated with a resin solution such as an epoxy resin is used as a reinforcing material for a high-pressure tank, an automobile shaft, an aircraft fuselage, parts, etc. Can be used as

  Hereinafter, although an example and a comparative example are given and the present invention is explained more concretely in detail, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Example 1
The carbon fiber bundle was widened using a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus as shown in FIG. An ultrasonic vibration generator was used as the vibration generator. While rotating the resin liner and applying ultrasonic vibration in the direction of the rotation axis of the resin liner by an ultrasonic vibration generator, a fiber bundle of carbon fibers (about 24,000 fibers bundled with epoxy resin) is resinized. Wound around the liner. When the expansion ratio of the carbon fiber was measured, it was 150%.

(Comparative Example 1)
A fiber bundle of carbon fibers was wound around a resin liner in the same manner as in Example 1 except that no ultrasonic vibration was applied when the carbon fibers were wound. When the carbon fiber widening ratio was measured, it was 110%, which was lower than Example 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High pressure tank manufacturing apparatus, 10 Fiber winding apparatus, 12 Rotation support part, 14 Vibration generator, 16 Bobbin, 18 Fiber guide part, 20 High pressure tank, 22 Liner (inner container), 24 Reinforcement layer (outer layer), 26 Fiber Bundle, 28 shafts, 30 fibers.

Claims (6)

An apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank for manufacturing a high-pressure tank having a liner and a reinforcing layer formed by winding fibers around the outer surface of the liner,
An apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank, comprising: a vibrating means for vibrating the liner when a fiber is wound around the outer surface of the liner. The high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1,
The high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus, wherein the vibration means vibrates in the direction of the rotation axis of the liner. An apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank according to claim 1 or 2,
The apparatus for producing a high-pressure tank, wherein the vibration means is an ultrasonic vibration generator. A method of manufacturing a high-pressure tank, which manufactures a high-pressure tank having a liner and a reinforcing layer formed by winding fibers around the outer surface of the liner,
A method of manufacturing a high-pressure tank, wherein the liner is vibrated when a fiber is wound around an outer surface of the liner. It is a manufacturing method of the high-pressure tank according to claim 4,
A method of manufacturing a high-pressure tank, wherein the liner is vibrated in the direction of the rotation axis. It is a manufacturing method of the high-pressure tank according to claim 4 or 5,
The method for manufacturing a high-pressure tank, wherein the vibration is ultrasonic vibration.

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