JP2018171717A - Fuel tank manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a fuel tank manufacturing apparatus capable of making the thickness of the resin on the tank container surface uniform and thereby improving curing quality of the tank container.SOLUTION: A fuel tank manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a rotating portion 21 for rotating a tank container 10 wound with fibers impregnated with resin about the central axis thereof; and a nozzle for blowing hot air onto the surface of the tank container 10. The nozzle includes a nozzle 222 for blowing hot air onto the surface of a body portion 11 of the tank container 10 and a nozzle 252 for blowing hot air onto the surface of a dome portion 12 from a tangential direction of the dome portion 12. The nozzle 222 is disposed at a position displaced to the left relative to the vertical direction to the central axis L of the tank container 10 as viewed from the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10. The rotating portion 21 is configured to rotate the tank container 10 in the reverse direction of a direction in which the hot air is blown from the nozzle 222. The blowing direction of the hot air from the nozzle 252 is the same as the rotation direction of the tank container 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a fuel tank manufacturing apparatus.

  Fuel tanks such as hydrogen tanks mounted on fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen vehicles are required to have sufficient strength to withstand high pressure and to be lightweight. As a method of manufacturing such a fuel tank, while rotating a cylindrical liner, a carbon container impregnated with a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin is repeatedly wound around the surface of the liner to produce a tank container, and then a heat vessel is heated. A method of thermally curing a curable resin (that is, a filament winding method) is known.

  As a manufacturing apparatus suitable for the above-described manufacturing method, for example, as described in Patent Document 1 below, a rotating unit that rotates the tank container around the central axis of the tank container, a thermosetting furnace that heats the entire tank container, What has a bubble removal part which removes the bubble which arises on the surface of a tank container by local heating is mentioned. According to the fuel tank manufacturing apparatus configured as described above, the bubbles are removed by ejecting hot air in the bubble removing unit, thereby preventing the bubbles from affecting the tank size and the design.

JP 2010-264718 A

  However, in the fuel tank manufacturing apparatus described above, when the thermosetting is performed using a thermosetting furnace, the resin impregnated in the carbon fiber oozes out to the surface of the tank container due to a temporary decrease in viscosity. come. If the exuded resin flows in various directions or accumulates in a predetermined location, the resin thickness on the surface of the tank container becomes non-uniform, which may reduce the curing quality of the tank container.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a technical problem, and is a fuel tank manufacturing apparatus capable of making the resin thickness on the surface of the tank container uniform and improving the curing quality of the tank container. The purpose is to provide.

  A fuel tank manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a tank container having a cylindrical body part and dome parts provided at both ends of the body part, and having a surface impregnated with a fiber impregnated with resin, A fuel tank manufacturing apparatus comprising: a rotating part that rotates about a central axis; and a nozzle that injects gas to the surface of the tank container, wherein the nozzle is a first nozzle that injects gas to the surface of the body part; A second nozzle for injecting gas from the tangential direction of the dome portion to the surface of the dome portion, and when viewed from the central axis direction of the tank container, the first nozzle is a central axis of the tank container. The rotating unit is configured to rotate the tank container in a direction opposite to the gas injection direction from the first nozzle, and the gas from the second nozzle. injection Direction is characterized in that is the same as the rotation direction of the tank container.

  In the fuel tank manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the first nozzle for injecting gas onto the surface of the body portion is located at a position shifted from the vertical direction of the central axis of the tank container when viewed from the central axis direction of the tank container. Since it is arranged, the gas injected from the first nozzle can flow in one direction along the outer periphery of the body part, and thereby the flow direction of the resin can be made unidirectional on the surface of the body part. it can. Further, the second nozzle that injects gas onto the surface of the dome portion injects gas from the tangential direction of the dome portion, and the gas injection direction from the second nozzle is the same as the rotation direction of the tank container. The resin accumulated on the surface of the part can be scraped off. As a result, the thickness of the resin on the surface of the tank container can be made uniform, and the curing quality of the tank container can be improved.

  According to the present invention, the thickness of the resin on the surface of the tank container can be made uniform, and the curing quality of the tank container can be improved.

It is a perspective view which shows the fuel tank manufacturing apparatus which concerns on embodiment. It is a front schematic diagram which shows the internal structure of a thermosetting furnace. It is a perspective view which shows the positional relationship of a hot air spraying part, a resin scraping part, and a tank container. It is a side view which shows the positional relationship of a hot air spraying part, a resin scraping part, and a tank container.

  Embodiments of a fuel tank manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a fuel tank manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment. The fuel tank manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is an apparatus used for manufacturing a fuel tank by heating a tank container 10 having a fiber reinforced resin layer containing a thermosetting resin and thermosetting the fiber reinforced resin layer. is there. This fuel tank manufacturing apparatus 1 is supported and fixed to a gantry 6, a thermosetting furnace 2 for heating a tank container 10, and a hot air generator 3 for generating hot air installed outside the thermosetting furnace 2. An intake duct 4 for supplying hot air generated by the hot air generator 3 to the thermosetting furnace 2 and an exhaust duct 5 for returning exhaust gas from the thermosetting furnace 2 to the hot air generator 3 are provided.

  2 is a schematic front view showing the internal structure of the thermosetting furnace, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the hot air spraying section, the resin scraping section, and the tank container, and FIG. 4 is the hot air spraying section, the resin scraping section. It is a side view which shows the positional relationship of a taking part and a tank container. In FIG. 2, in order to make the internal structure easier to understand, the furnace wall 24 on the front side (that is, in front) is omitted.

  Here, first, the structure of the tank container 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the tank container 10 is a hollow container having a cylindrical body portion 11 having a substantially uniform radius, and convex-curved dome portions 12 provided at both ends of the body portion 11. . The shaft support shafts 13 are detachably attached to both end portions in the central axis L direction of the tank container 10 (left and right end portions in FIG. 2). The tank container 10 is rotated about its central axis L by the rotational drive of the rotary motor 211 while being rotatably supported by a bearing member 210 of the rotating unit 21 described later via the shaft 13.

  Although not shown, the tank container 10 includes a liner having a storage space for storing fuel therein, and a fiber reinforced resin layer that is in close contact with the outer wall of the liner. The liner is formed of a light metal material such as a resin material or aluminum. On the other hand, the fiber reinforced resin layer is a reinforcing layer that covers the outer surface of the liner, and is impregnated with a reinforcing fiber such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) wound around the outer surface of the liner and the reinforcing fiber. And a thermosetting resin such as epoxy.

  The thermosetting furnace 2 is provided with a space for accommodating the tank container 10 therein, and has a substantially box shape as a whole. The thermosetting furnace 2 is formed, for example, by attaching a furnace wall 24 having heat resistance and heat retention to the four circumferences of a metal frame. Through holes 23 that penetrate the furnace wall 24 are provided in the furnace walls 24 on both the left and right sides of the thermosetting furnace 2. And the front-end | tip part of the shaft support shaft 13 attached to the right-and-left both ends of the tank container 10 is each inserted through the through-hole 23, and is inserted and fixed to the bearing member 210 of the rotation part 21.

  A rotating part 21 for rotating the tank container 10 around its central axis is disposed outside the thermosetting furnace 2. The rotating unit 21 is fixed to the outside of the furnace wall 24 of the thermosetting furnace 2 and supports a pair of bearing members 210 that support the above-described shaft support shaft 13 and a rotary motor disposed on one side of the pair of bearing members 210. 211. By disposing the rotating unit 21 outside the thermosetting furnace 2 in this way, the internal space of the thermosetting furnace 2 can be reduced, so that the entire thermosetting furnace 2 can be made compact. Moreover, since the heat absorbed by the rotating part is eliminated as compared with the case where the rotating part is arranged inside the thermosetting furnace, an energy saving effect is also achieved.

  A heat intake / exhaust box 26 is attached to the ceiling of the thermosetting furnace 2. Although not shown in the drawing, an intake passage that communicates the intake duct 4 and a hot air spraying portion 22 to be described later and an exhaust passage that communicates between the exhaust duct 5 and the inside of the thermosetting furnace 2 are provided inside the heat intake and exhaust box 26, respectively. It has been.

  Below the hot air intake / exhaust box 26, a hot air blowing unit 22 that blows hot air on the surface of the body portion 11 of the tank container 10 is suspended. The hot air blowing unit 22 is provided in a flat box-like hot air rectifying chamber 220 extending along the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, and is provided above the hot air rectifying chamber 220. Are connected to each other, and an integrated nozzle (first nozzle) 222 that is provided below the hot air rectifying chamber 220 and injects hot air onto the surface of the body portion 11.

  The two connecting pipes 221 are arranged at equal intervals along the longitudinal direction of the hot air rectifying chamber 220 (that is, the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10). On the other hand, the integral nozzle 222 has a slit shape and extends along the longitudinal direction of the hot air rectifying chamber 220. The nozzle 222 is arranged along the shape of the body part 11 so as to correspond to the body part 11 of the tank container 10, and injects hot air onto the surface of the body part 11. By using the integral nozzle 222 in this way, the surface of the body portion 11 can be heated without unevenness. Here, the nozzle 222 is movable in the vertical direction (that is, the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10), the horizontal direction (that is, the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10), and the front-rear direction with respect to the tank container 10. It is preferable to be configured, and it is more preferable that the injection angle is further changeable. In this way, it is possible to flexibly cope with the shape change of the body portion 11 of the tank container 10. The number of connection pipes 221 is not limited to the above description and illustration, and may be increased or decreased as necessary. The nozzles 222 may be a plurality of separate nozzles arranged in a straight line at regular intervals.

  In the present embodiment, when viewed from the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, the nozzle 222 is disposed at a position shifted from the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle 222 is disposed at a position shifted to the left with respect to the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10. In other words, the nozzle 222 is eccentric to the left side from the center of the tank container 10. Here, the nozzle 222 is disposed at a position shifted to the left side by the same distance as the radius of the trunk portion 11 with respect to the vertical direction of the central axis L so as to inject hot air from the tangential direction of the trunk portion 11 of the tank container 10. May be.

  In the present embodiment, the rotating unit 21 is set to rotate the tank container 10 in the direction opposite to the direction in which hot air is ejected from the nozzle 222. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, since the nozzle 222 is disposed at a position shifted to the left with respect to the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, the hot air injected from the nozzle 222 10 flows counterclockwise along the surface of 10 (see arrow F1). In contrast, the tank container 10 is rotated clockwise (see the white arrow F2) by the rotating unit 21.

  Further, below the heat intake / exhaust box 26, a pair of left and right for scraping off the surface of the thermosetting resin by blowing hot air on the surface of the dome portion 12 respectively corresponding to the left and right dome portions 12 of the tank container 10. A resin scraping portion 25 is suspended. The resin scraping unit 25 includes a connection pipe 251 connected to the intake passage of the heat intake / exhaust box 26, a hot air rectification chamber 250 for rectifying hot air supplied via the connection pipe 251, and a hot air rectification chamber 250. It has a nozzle (second nozzle) 252 that jets the rectified hot air toward the dome portion 12.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the resin scraping portion 25 has a central axis L of the tank container 10 so that the hot air injection direction (see arrow F <b> 3) from the nozzle 252 is the same as the rotation direction of the tank container 10. It is arranged at a position shifted to the right side with respect to the vertical direction. In other words, the resin scraping portion 25 is disposed on the opposite side of the hot air blowing portion 22 with respect to the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10.

  The nozzle 252 of the resin scraping part 25 is provided so that gas can be injected from the tangential direction of the dome part 12 onto the surface of the dome part 12. Here, the nozzle 252 is preferably configured to be movable in the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, and the front-rear direction with respect to the tank container 10, and more preferably configured to be capable of changing the injection angle. In this way, the shape change of the dome portion 12 of the tank container 10 can be flexibly dealt with.

  In each resin scraping part 25, it is preferable that the nozzles 252 be integrated or plural. In the present embodiment, the nozzle 252 is formed in a straight line. When viewed from the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, the nozzle 252 is directed to the direction of the central axis L so as to inject hot air from the tangential direction of the dome portion 12 to the surface of the dome portion 12. It is arranged in a direction rotated 45 degrees. When viewed from the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, the nozzle 252 may be curved (that is, curved) along the convex curved surface shape of the dome portion 12. For example, it becomes easier to adapt to the shape of the dome portion 12, and hot air can be sprayed on the surface of the dome portion 12 over a wide range from the tangential direction of the dome portion 12.

  In the fuel tank manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above configuration, the nozzle 222 for injecting hot air onto the surface of the body portion 11 of the tank container 10 is the central axis of the tank container 10 when viewed from the central axis L direction of the tank container 10. Since it is disposed at a position shifted to the left side with respect to the vertical direction of L, the hot air jetted from the nozzle 222 can flow in one direction counterclockwise along the outer periphery of the body portion 11. Accordingly, the flow direction of the thermosetting resin can be unidirectional on the surface of the body portion 11. Further, the nozzle 252 for injecting hot air onto the surface of the dome portion 12 injects hot air from the tangential direction of the dome portion 12 and the injection direction of the hot air from the nozzle 252 is the same as the rotation direction of the tank container 10. The thermosetting resin accumulated on the surface of the dome portion 12 can be scraped off, and the accumulation of the thermosetting resin can be reduced. As a result, the thickness of the thermosetting resin on the surface of the tank container 10 can be made uniform, and the curing quality of the tank container 10 can be improved.

  Further, since the rotating unit 21 is set so as to rotate the tank container 10 in the direction opposite to the direction in which the hot air is jetted from the nozzle 222, the hot body jetted from the nozzle 222 is diffused around the trunk portion 11, Thermal efficiency can be improved by lengthening the contact time between the part 11 and hot air. As a result, the heat curing time can be shortened.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various designs can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention described in the claims. It can be changed. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the rotating unit 21 for rotating the tank container 10 is disposed outside the thermosetting furnace 2 has been described. However, the rotating unit 21 is replaced with the thermosetting furnace 2 as necessary. You may arrange | position inside.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when viewed from the direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, the nozzle 222 is shifted to the left with respect to the vertical direction of the central axis L of the tank container 10, and the nozzle 252 is shifted to the right. Although an example in which each is arranged at a position has been described, both arrangement positions may be interchanged. At this time, since the hot air jetted from the nozzle 222 flows clockwise along the outer periphery of the tank container 10, the rotating unit 21 is set to rotate the tank container 10 counterclockwise.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fuel tank manufacturing apparatus 2 Thermosetting furnace 3 Hot air generator 4 Intake duct 5 Exhaust duct 10 Tank container 11 Body part 12 Dome part 13 Shaft support shaft 21 Rotating part 22 Hot air spraying part 23 Through-hole 24 Furnace wall 25 Resin scraping part 26 Heat intake / exhaust box 210 Bearing member 211 Rotating motor 220, 250 Hot air rectifying chamber 221, 251 Connecting pipe 222 Nozzle (first nozzle)
252 nozzle (second nozzle)
L Center axis

Claims (1)

A rotating part that rotates a tank container having a cylindrical body part and dome parts provided at both ends of the body part and wound with a resin-impregnated fiber around the central axis of the tank container; A fuel tank manufacturing apparatus comprising a nozzle for injecting gas onto the surface of the tank container,
The nozzle has a first nozzle that injects gas to the surface of the body portion, and a second nozzle that injects gas to the surface of the dome portion from a tangential direction of the dome portion,
When viewed from the central axis direction of the tank container, the first nozzle is disposed at a position shifted from the vertical direction of the central axis of the tank container,
The rotating unit is configured to rotate the tank container in a direction opposite to a gas injection direction from the first nozzle;
The fuel tank manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a gas injection direction from the second nozzle is the same as a rotation direction of the tank container.

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