JP2011240666A - Device and method for manufacturing prepreg - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for manufacturing a prepreg, which can increase the amount of a resin impregnated into fiber bundles and the amount of widening of fiber bundles.SOLUTION: There is provided the device for manufacturing the prepreg, which manufactures the prepreg by impregnating the fiber bundles with a matrix resin. The device includes: a resin application unit for applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundles; a pair of pressure rollers for pressurizing the fiber bundles; and a reciprocating mechanism for reciprocating at least one of the pair of pressure rollers in the orthogonal direction to a rotating shaft of the pressure roller.

Description

  The present invention relates to a prepreg manufacturing apparatus and a prepreg manufacturing method, and more particularly to a prepreg manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure tank and a prepreg manufacturing method for manufacturing a high-pressure tank.

  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 fiber layer is wound around the outer surface of a resin tank in a state where a fiber bundle such as carbon fiber is impregnated with a matrix resin such as an uncured epoxy resin as in the filament winding method. There is a method in which after the formation, the matrix resin is cured to form a reinforcing layer. In this filament winding method, for the purpose of speeding up and simplifying the process, a prepreg usually impregnated with a matrix resin such as an uncured epoxy resin in a fiber bundle such as carbon fiber and wound around a bobbin or the like is used.

  In manufacturing a prepreg, when impregnating a fiber resin with a matrix resin, a method of immersing the fiber bundle in an immersion tank storing a resin solution or impregnating the resin from above the fiber bundle, and then applying a pressure roller, etc. The matrix resin is spread over the entire fiber bundle by the method of pressurizing with, but by simply immersing the fiber bundle or applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundle and pressing it with a pressure roller etc., the matrix resin is brought into the fiber bundle. Since it is difficult to penetrate, the resin impregnation amount may be low.

  In the case of producing a molded body such as a high-pressure tank by the filament winding method, it is preferable in terms of strength and the like that the fiber bundle is wound around a liner or the like in a state where the fiber bundle is widened as much as possible. However, there is a case where the amount of widening of the fiber bundle is small and not sufficient only by immersing the fiber bundle or applying a matrix resin to the fiber bundle and pressing it with a pressure roller or the like.

  A molded article such as a high-pressure tank manufactured by the filament winding method using a prepreg having a low resin impregnation amount and a small fiber bundle widening amount may cause deterioration in performance such as strength.

  Patent Document 1 describes that a continuous reinforcing fiber tow is impregnated with a thermoplastic resin in order to produce a wide thermoplastic unidirectional prepreg sheet with good resin impregnation, less voids, and no fiber disturbance. At the same time, a method for producing a thermoplastic unidirectional prepreg sheet in which a plurality of tape-shaped tow prepregs are aligned and arranged in the width direction and then pressed under heating to form a sheet is described.

  Patent Document 2 discloses that ten or more carbon fiber bundles arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined angle on a plurality of roller groups in order to perform carbon fiber bundle opening easily and at high speed without fuzz. In a device that passes and opens while being bent, 2 to 10 roller groups each including a vibration-free rotating roller and a vibration-free rotating roller that vibrate in the axial direction of the roller are arranged, and vibration is generated. The diameter of the free rotating roller is 20 to 50 mm, the vibration-free rotating roller diameter is 50 to 120 mm, and the distance between the respective rollers where the carbon fiber bundle is not in contact with the roller is set to 10 to 100 mm. An opening device for a carbon fiber bundle is described.

  However, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2, there are cases where the resin impregnation amount is low and the fiber bundle widening amount is not sufficient.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-024830 JP-A-10-292238

  The present invention is a prepreg manufacturing apparatus and a prepreg manufacturing method capable of improving the amount of resin impregnation into a fiber bundle and the amount of widening of the fiber bundle.

  The present invention relates to a prepreg manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a prepreg by impregnating a fiber bundle with a matrix resin, a resin application means for applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundle, and a pair of additives for pressurizing the fiber bundle. An apparatus for manufacturing a prepreg having a pressure roller and a reciprocating mechanism that reciprocally drives at least one of the pair of pressure rollers in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure roller.

  In the prepreg manufacturing apparatus, it is preferable that at least one of the pair of pressure rollers has a heating mechanism.

  The present invention also relates to a method for producing a prepreg in which a fiber bundle is impregnated with a matrix resin to produce a prepreg, an application step of applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundle, and after applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundle And a pressing step of pressing the fiber bundle while reciprocating at least one of the pair of pressure rollers in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure roller at least before application.

  In the prepreg manufacturing method, it is preferable that at least one of the pair of pressure rollers is heated in the pressure step.

  In the present invention, after applying the matrix resin to the fiber bundle and at least before application, by pressing the fiber bundle while reciprocating at least one of the pair of pressure rollers in the rotation axis direction of the pressure roller, A prepreg manufacturing apparatus and a prepreg manufacturing method capable of improving the amount of resin impregnation into a fiber bundle and the amount of widening of the fiber bundle are provided.

It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of an example of the manufacturing apparatus of the prepreg for high pressure tank manufacture which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic which shows an example of a structure of the pressure roller in the manufacturing apparatus of the prepreg for high pressure tank manufacture which concerns on 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. It is the schematic which shows the whole structure of the other example of the manufacturing apparatus of the prepreg for high pressure tank manufacture which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 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 the cross section of the axial direction of the high pressure tank 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 prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows an outline of an example of the configuration of the pressure roller in the prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the prepreg manufacturing apparatus 1 takes out a fiber bundle 20, a delivery roller 10 for delivering the fiber bundle 20, a pair of pressure rollers 12 for pressurizing and widening the fiber bundle 20, and the fiber bundle 20. A take-up roller 14, a take-up roller 16 for taking up the fiber bundle 20, and a resin application device 18 as a resin application means for applying a matrix resin to the fiber bundle 20.

  In the prepreg manufacturing apparatus 1, a delivery roller 10, a pressure roller 12, a take-up roller 14, and a take-up roller 16 are arranged from the upstream part to the downstream part of the apparatus. A resin coating device 18 is installed between the feed roller 10 and the pressure roller 12.

  The operation of the prepreg manufacturing method and the prepreg manufacturing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the fiber bundle 20 is fed from the feed roller 10, and the matrix resin is applied to the fiber bundle 20 by the resin coating device 18 (application process). As shown in FIG. 2, the fiber bundle 20 to which the matrix resin has been applied is sandwiched between a pair of pressure rollers 12a and 12b facing each other, and pressure is applied, and the pressure rollers 12a and 12b are applied by a reciprocating mechanism (not shown). At least one of them is widened by a reciprocating drive in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b (pressure process). The widened fiber bundle 20 is taken up by the take-up roller 16 after being cooled as necessary via the take-up roller 14 of FIG. Thus, a prepreg in which the fiber bundle 20 is impregnated with the matrix resin is formed.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional schematic diagram showing the state of widening of the fiber bundle 20 by the pressure rollers 12a and 12b. The fiber bundle 20 is sandwiched between a pair of pressure rollers 12a and 12b facing each other, and pressure is applied. At least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is reciprocated in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b. As a result, the fibers 22 constituting the fiber bundle 20 are expanded and become substantially flat. At this time, the matrix resin (not shown in FIG. 3) easily penetrates into the fiber bundle 20 due to the pressure of the pressure roller 12 and the reciprocating drive, and the matrix resin applied to the fiber bundle 20 is in the fiber bundle 20. As a result, the amount of resin impregnation is improved and the amount of widening of the fiber bundle 20 is also improved. Further, the uniformity of the resin impregnation amount is improved, and variations in the resin impregnation amount are suppressed.

  The improvement of the widening amount of the fiber bundle 20 is represented by, for example, a widening ratio defined as a ratio (%) of the width of the fiber bundle after widening to the width of the fiber bundle before widening. In the present embodiment, for example, the widening rate can be improved to about 150% to 200%, compared with the widening rate of about 100% to 110% when the pressure roller 12 is not driven to reciprocate.

  The material of the pressure roller 12 is not particularly limited as long as it can be widened without damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible, and examples thereof include resins and metals. Resin is usually used from the viewpoint of not damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible.

  The pressure applied to the fiber bundle 20 by the pressure roller 12 is not particularly limited as long as the pressure can be widened without damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible. The higher the pressure, the more the fibers are unbundled and the amount of widening is improved, but the fibers tend to be damaged.

  The pressure roller 12 may be driven to reciprocate at least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b. For example, the pressure roller 12b positioned below the fiber bundle 20 may be driven reciprocally without the pressure roller 12a positioned above the fiber bundle 20 being reciprocated, or positioned below the fiber bundle 20. Without pressing the pressure roller 12b back and forth, the pressure roller 12a positioned above the fiber bundle 20 may be driven back and forth, or the pressure roller 12a positioned above the fiber bundle 20 and the pressure roller 12a positioned below. Both of the pressure rollers 12b may be driven to reciprocate.

  The width of the reciprocating drive of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is not particularly limited as long as the width can be widened without damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible. The greater the width, the more the fibers are unbundled and the amount of widening is improved, but the fibers tend to be damaged.

  The speed of reciprocating drive of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is not particularly limited as long as the speed can be widened without damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible. A range of min may be used. As the speed increases, the fibers are unbundled and the amount of widening is improved, but the fibers tend to be damaged. The reciprocating speed of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b can be appropriately set according to the pressure applied to the fiber bundle 20 by the pressure rollers 12a and 12b.

  The reciprocating mechanism for reciprocating the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is not particularly limited as long as at least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is reciprocally driven.

  It should be noted that the width or rate of expansion of the fiber bundle 20 that has been expanded by the pressure roller 12 may be monitored by monitoring means, and the pressure of the pressure roller 12, the width of reciprocating drive, the speed, etc. may be feedback controlled. .

  The resin coating device 18 is not particularly limited as long as it can apply the matrix resin to the fiber bundle 20. For example, a dropping method in which the matrix resin is dropped on the fiber bundle 20, or a matrix on the fiber bundle 20 is used. A roller system in which resin is applied by a roller or the like, and an immersion system in which the fiber bundle 20 is immersed in an immersion tank containing a matrix resin can be used. In the case of the dipping method, a pressure roller may be installed in the dipping tank and may be pressed and reciprocated. In the application of the matrix resin, the resin itself may be applied, or the resin may be applied using a resin solution obtained by mixing and dissolving the resin in a solvent.

  In the present embodiment, at least one of the pair of pressure rollers 12a and 12b may have a heating mechanism. By heating at least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b by the heating mechanism, the matrix resin is more easily penetrated into the fiber bundle 20, and the resin impregnation effect and the fiber bundle widening effect are further improved. Can do.

  The temperature of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is not particularly limited as long as the temperature is such that the matrix resin is not deteriorated as much as possible without damaging the fiber bundle 20 as much as possible. For example, the curing temperature of the matrix resin The curing temperature of the matrix resin may be less than −50 ° C. to −80 ° C. As the temperature is lower than the curing temperature of the matrix resin, the matrix resin tends to penetrate more easily.

  The heating mechanism for heating the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is not particularly limited as long as at least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is heated. For example, a method using a heating element such as a heating wire, a method using a heat medium such as warm water, and the like can be given.

  FIG. 4 shows an outline of the overall configuration of another example of the prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In the prepreg manufacturing apparatus 3 of FIG. 4, a delivery roller 10, a pressure roller 12, a take-up roller 14, and a take-up roller 16 are arranged from the upstream part to the downstream part of the apparatus. In addition, a resin coating device 18 is installed between the pressure roller 12 and the take-up roller 14.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the fiber bundle 20 is fed from the feed roller 10 and is pressed between a pair of pressure rollers 12a and 12b facing each other, and the pressure rollers 12a and 12b are applied by a reciprocating mechanism (not shown). At least one of them is driven to reciprocate in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b, so that the fiber bundle 20 is widened (pressure process). Thereafter, a matrix resin is applied to the widened fiber bundle 20 by the resin application device 18 (application process). The fiber bundle 20 coated with the matrix resin is taken up by the take-up roller 16 after being cooled as necessary via the take-up roller 14. Thus, a prepreg in which the fiber bundle 20 is impregnated with the matrix resin is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the fiber bundle 20 is sandwiched between a pair of pressure rollers 12a and 12b facing each other, and pressure is applied, and at least one of the pressure rollers 12a and 12b is pressure rollers 12a and 12b. By reciprocating in the direction of the rotation axis, the fibers 22 constituting the fiber bundle 20 are expanded and become substantially flat. Thereafter, when the matrix resin is applied, the matrix resin easily penetrates into the fiber bundle 20, and the matrix resin applied to the fiber bundle 20 is impregnated in the entire fiber bundle 20, thereby improving the resin impregnation amount. And the amount of widening of the fiber bundle 20 is also improved. Further, the uniformity of the resin impregnation amount is improved, and variations in the resin impregnation amount are suppressed.

  In the prepreg manufacturing apparatus 3 of FIG. 4, a fiber bundle in which a pair of pressure rollers (second pressure rollers) is further installed between the resin application device 18 and the take-off roller 14 and the matrix resin is applied after widening. While applying pressure to 20, at least one of the pair of pressure rollers may be driven to reciprocate in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure roller to further pressurize and widen (second pressurization step). With this configuration, the resin impregnation amount can be further improved, and the amount of widening of the fiber bundle 20 can be further improved.

  When the prepreg obtained by the prepreg manufacturing apparatus and the prepreg manufacturing method according to the present embodiment as described above is used, the performance such as strength in a molded product such as a high-pressure tank manufactured by the filament winding method is improved, and the quality is improved. Stabilization can be achieved.

  The prepreg obtained by the prepreg manufacturing apparatus and the prepreg manufacturing method according to the present embodiment can be used as a reinforcing material for various materials, such as a fiber reinforced plastic material (FRP material) that is cured by impregnating with a resin solution. . 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

  Below, an example of the manufacturing method of the high pressure tank by a filament winding method is shown.

  FIG. 5 shows an outline of the overall configuration of an example of a high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus using the filament winding method.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus 5 includes a fiber winding device 24. The fiber winding device 24 has a rotation support portion 26 for supporting the liner 30. The high-pressure tank manufacturing apparatus 5 includes a prepreg 36 obtained by a prepreg manufacturing apparatus and a prepreg manufacturing method.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the liner 30 is installed on the rotation support portion 26 of the fiber winding device 24. For example, the substantially cylindrical liner 30 is supported on the rotation support portion 26 as shown in FIG. 5 by a shaft 34 passing through the axis of the liner 30 as shown in FIG. The liner 30 is rotated by the rotation support portion 26, and the fiber bundle 40 that is fed from the prepreg 36 and impregnated with the matrix resin is wound around the outer surface of the liner 30. Thus, the fiber bundle 40 is wound around the outer surface of the liner 30 in a predetermined thickness and in a predetermined direction to form a fiber layer (fiber layer forming step).

  Before winding the fiber bundle 40 around the liner 30, widening means such as a widening roller 38 may be provided as shown in FIG. 5, and the fiber bundle 40 may be pressed against the widening roller 38 or the like to further widen the fiber bundle 40.

  Instead of the prepreg 36, for example, the prepreg manufacturing apparatus may be connected to the upstream side of the fiber winding apparatus 24.

  After the winding process of the fiber bundle 40, the high-pressure tank 28 is heat-treated in a heating furnace or the like. The high-pressure tank 28 is heated at, for example, about 130 ° C. for about 10 to 15 hours. By this heating, the fiber bundle 40 impregnated with the thermosetting resin or the like is thermoset (curing step), and the reinforcing layer 32 as shown in FIG. 6 is formed. Thereafter, the high-pressure tank 28 is cooled. In this way, the high-pressure tank 28 in which the reinforcing layer 32 is formed on the outer surface of the liner 30 is manufactured.

  The high-pressure tank 28 includes a liner (inner container) 30 and a reinforcing layer (outer layer) 32. The high-pressure tank 28 may be provided with a gas filling / releasing port.

  The liner 30 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 30 can be arbitrarily selected according to the purpose of use, specifications, and the like. The liner 30 has a thickness in the range of 2 mm to 4 mm, for example.

  The liner 30 includes a resin material, a metal, and the like. Examples of the resin material constituting the liner 30 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 30. Of these, polyamide resins such as nylon are preferable from the viewpoint of strength and gas permeability resistance.

  The liner 30 made of a resin material is formed 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 the resin liner 30. By this injection molding, the liner 30 having a substantially uniform thickness is formed.

  The reinforcing layer 32 is a layer that is provided so as to cover the outer side of the liner 30 and reinforces the liner 30 and includes, for example, a fiber and a matrix resin. Examples of the fibers constituting the reinforcing layer 32 include glass fibers, carbon fibers, aramid fibers, and metal fibers.

  Moreover, as a matrix resin which comprises the reinforcement layer 32, 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 32 can be formed by, for example, winding the fiber bundle of fibers around the outer surface of the liner 30 in a state where the matrix resin solution is impregnated and then curing the resin.

  The thickness of the reinforcing layer 32 can be adjusted by the number of layers of the fiber bundle 40 to be wound, and is, for example, in the range of 20 mm to 40 mm. The number of layers of the fiber bundle 40 is, for example, about 30 to 60 layers.

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

  Usually, the winding direction of the fiber bundle 40 is a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis of the liner 30 or an oblique direction.

  The high-pressure tank 28 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 28 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.

  1,3 prepreg manufacturing apparatus, 5 high pressure tank manufacturing apparatus, 10 delivery roller, 12, 12a, 12b pressure roller, 14 take-up roller, 16 take-up roller, 18 resin coating apparatus, 20, 40 fiber bundle, 22 fibers, 24 Fiber winding device, 26 Rotation support part, 28 High pressure tank, 30 Liner (inner container), 32 Reinforcement layer (outer layer), 34 Shaft, 36 Pre-preg, 38 Widening roller.

Claims (4)

A prepreg manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a prepreg by impregnating a fiber bundle with a matrix resin,
A resin application means for applying a matrix resin to the fiber bundle;
A pair of pressure rollers for pressing the fiber bundle;
A reciprocating mechanism for reciprocatingly driving at least one of the pair of pressure rollers in the direction of the rotation axis of the pressure roller;
A prepreg manufacturing apparatus comprising: The prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1,
A prepreg manufacturing apparatus, wherein at least one of the pair of pressure rollers has a heating mechanism. A prepreg manufacturing method for manufacturing a prepreg by impregnating a fiber bundle with a matrix resin,
An application step of applying a matrix resin to the fiber bundle;
A pressure step of pressing the fiber bundle while reciprocating at least one of a pair of pressure rollers in the rotation direction of the pressure roller, at least one of before and after application of the matrix resin to the fiber bundle;
The manufacturing method of the prepreg characterized by including. It is a manufacturing method of the prepreg of Claim 3, Comprising:
In the pressurizing step, at least one of the pair of pressurizing rollers is heated.

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