JP2023096315A - Tank manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique for controlling the length of a tank in a longitudinal direction without using a shaft which is arranged inside a liner.SOLUTION: A tank manufacturing device may comprise: a support portion for supporting opposite longitudinal ends of a liner; a measurement unit for measuring a longitudinal load of the liner; and an adjustment unit for adjusting the longitudinal load of the liner by adjusting an inner pressure of the liner and a tensile strength of fibers.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

This specification discloses a tank manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a tank having a liner and fibers wrapped around the liner.

For example, a fuel cell vehicle uses a tank including a hollow liner and a fiber-reinforced resin layer covering the liner. The length of the tank changes depending on the internal pressure of the liner and the tension of the fiber wound around the liner. In US Pat. No. 5,400,000, the length of the tank is adjusted by placing the shaft in the liner.

JP 2017-194143 A

With the above technology, it is difficult to handle a long shaft aligned with the longitudinal direction of the tank.

Techniques are provided herein to control the longitudinal length of a tank without a shaft located within the liner.

Disclosed herein is a tank manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a tank having a liner and fibers wrapped around the liner. The tank manufacturing apparatus includes a support section that supports both ends of the liner in the longitudinal direction, a measuring section that measures the load in the longitudinal direction of the liner, and an internal pressure of the liner and tension of the fibers to adjust the liner. and an adjuster that adjusts the load in the longitudinal direction of the.

According to the above configuration, by adjusting the load in the longitudinal direction of the liner, it is possible to suppress the change in the length of the tank in the longitudinal direction according to the balance between the internal pressure of the liner and the tension of the fibers. .

Longitudinal sectional view of the tank. A schematic diagram of the configuration of the tank manufacturing apparatus. 4 is a flowchart of processing for adjusting the internal pressure of the liner and the tension of the carbon fibers;

(Example)
As shown in FIG. 1, a tank 100 of this embodiment is mounted on a fuel cell vehicle and stores hydrogen. The tank 100 comprises a liner 102, a carbon fiber layer 104 and a fitting 106. The liner 102 is a resin container having gas barrier properties against hydrogen gas. Liner 102 has a hollow cylindrical shape. A fitting 106 is attached to each of the longitudinal ends of the liner 102 . The fitting 106 is made of metal. A communication port that communicates the inside and the outside of the liner 102 is arranged in the central portion of one of the mouth fittings 106 .

A carbon fiber layer 104 is disposed on the outside of the liner 102 . The carbon fiber layer 104 is formed by winding resin-impregnated carbon fibers around the outer peripheral surface of the liner 102 by, for example, a filament winding method, and curing the resin impregnated in the wound carbon fibers. Epoxy resin, for example, is used as the resin of the carbon fiber layer 104 .

(tank manufacturing equipment)
As shown in FIG. 2 , the tank manufacturing apparatus 10 for winding carbon fiber around the liner 102 includes a main body 12 , a support 14 , an air supply section 16 , a feed section 18 and a control section 20 . The support 14 , the air supply section 16 , the feed section 18 and the control section 20 are attached to the main body 12 .

The support 14 is fixed to the mouthpiece 106 and supports the liner 102 rotatably with respect to the main body 12 about the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 (that is, the axial direction of the liner 102). The support 14 has a holding portion 22 and a load cell 24 . The holding portion 22 is installed on the main body 12 . The holding portion 22 supports the liner 102 with respect to the main body 12 by holding the spigot 106 . A load cell 24 is attached to the holding portion 22 . The load cell 24 measures the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 . The load cell 24 is, for example, a diaphragm-type load cell.

The air supply unit 16 has a pump that supplies air to the inside of the liner 102 through the communication port of the mouth fitting 106 . The feeding unit 18 feeds the resin-impregnated carbon fibers to the liner 102 rotated by the support 14 while moving in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 , thereby winding the carbon fibers around the liner 102 .

The control unit 20 includes a memory. The control unit 20 is communicably connected to each of the support 14, the air supply unit 16, and the feed unit 18. As shown in FIG. In the control unit 20, the CPU winds the carbon fiber around the liner 102 by controlling the support 14, the air supply unit 16, and the feed unit 18 according to a program stored in memory in advance. The controller 20 drives the support 14 to rotate the liner 102 . The control unit 20 drives the feed unit 18 to supply carbon fibers to the liner 102 . The control unit 20 arranges multiple layers of carbon fibers on the outside of the liner 102 by moving the feed unit 18 along the longitudinal direction X. As shown in FIG. The multiple layers of carbon fiber comprise helical windings and hoop windings. The control unit 20 adjusts the internal pressure of the liner 102 and the tension of the carbon fibers by controlling the air supply unit 16 and the feed unit 18 while winding the carbon fibers.

(Adjustment of liner internal pressure and carbon fiber tension)
When the carbon fiber is wound around the liner 102 , first, the liner 102 is attached to the support 14 and the air supply section 16 is attached to the spigot 106 . As shown in FIG. 3, in the adjustment process, first, in S12, the controller 20 adjusts the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 to 0 kN. Specifically, the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 in the state where the liner 102 whose internal pressure has been adjusted to the initial pressure is attached to the support 14 is set to "0 kN".

Next, in S<b>14 , the control unit 20 winds a predetermined layer of carbon fibers around the liner 102 by controlling the support 14 and the feed unit 18 . The control unit 20 winds the carbon fibers on each layer of the predetermined layers by a winding method designated by the user in advance to the control unit 20, either helical winding or hoop winding. The predetermined layer is one or more layers, and is preset in the control unit 20 by the user. Next, in S16, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the winding of the carbon fibers has been completed. Specifically, the control unit 20 determines that the winding is completed when the number of layers (hereinafter referred to as “N layers”) necessary for manufacturing the tank 100 is wound with the carbon fibers, and the number of layers is less than N. If only the carbon fiber is wound, it is determined that the winding is not completed.

If it is determined that the winding is not completed (NO in S16), in S18, the control unit 20 determines whether or not it is time to supply air to the liner 102 and adjust the internal pressure. Specifically, the controller 20 is preset to supply air until the internal pressure of the liner 102 reaches a predetermined pressure according to the number of layers of the wound carbon fibers. When the number of layers of the wound carbon fibers reaches the preset number of layers, the control unit 20 determines that it is time to adjust the internal pressure (YES in S18), and If the set number of layers has not been reached, it is determined that it is not the time to adjust the internal pressure (NO in S18). For example, the controller 20 is preset to adjust the internal pressure every two layers.

If YES in S18, in S20, the control unit 20 causes the air supply unit 16 to supply air into the liner 102 until the internal pressure of the liner 102 reaches a predetermined pressure. On the other hand, if NO in S18, S20 is skipped. Next, in S22, the controller 20 determines whether or not the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is 0 kN. Specifically, the controller 20 determines whether the measured value of the load cell 24 is 0 kN. When the measured value of the load cell 24 is 0 kN, it is determined that the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is 0 kN (YES in S22). If the measured value of the load cell 24 is not 0, it is determined that the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is not 0 kN (NO in S22).

If NO in S22, in S24, the controller 20 adjusts at least one of the internal pressure of the liner 102 and the tension of the carbon fibers so that the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is 0 kN. For example, when the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is applied toward the center of the liner 102 , the control unit 20 causes the air supply unit 16 to supply air to the liner 102 in order to increase the internal pressure of the liner 102 . supply. As a result, the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is relaxed and adjusted to 0 kN. Instead of adjusting the internal pressure of the liner 102 or at the same time, the control unit 20 causes the feed unit 18 to loosen the tension of the carbon fibers. In this case, the tension of the helically wound carbon fibers is relaxed, and the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is alleviated. When the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is applied toward the outside of the liner 102, the controller 20 removes the air inside the liner 102 to reduce the internal pressure. As a result, the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is relaxed and adjusted to 0 kN. Instead of adjusting the internal pressure of the liner 102, or at the same time, the control unit 20 causes the feed unit 18 to increase the tension of the carbon fibers. In this case, the tension of the helically wound carbon fibers increases, and the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is relieved.

When the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is adjusted to 0 kN, the process returns to S14. If YES in S22, skip the process of S24 and return to the process of S14.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S16 that N layers of carbon fibers are wound (YES in S16), in S26, as in S22, the controller 20 controls the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 to be 0 kN. determine whether there is If it is determined that the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is not 0 kN (NO in S26), in S28, the control unit 20 adjusts the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 to 0 kN in the same manner as in S24. At least one of the internal pressure of the liner 102 and the tension of the carbon fibers is adjusted. On the other hand, if the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is 0 kN (YES in S26), the adjustment process is terminated. This winds the carbon fiber around the liner 102 .

After the carbon fiber winding is completed, the carbon fiber wrapped liner 102 is removed from the support 14 and placed in a heat treatment apparatus for heat treatment. When removed from the support 14, the load in the longitudinal direction X of the liner 102 is adjusted to 0 kN. As a result, it is possible to prevent the length of the liner 102 removed from the support 14 in the longitudinal direction X from changing due to the winding of the carbon fiber. Moreover, in order to suppress the change in the length of the liner 102, it is not necessary to use a separate member such as arranging a shaft in the liner 102. FIG.

Although specific examples of the present invention have been described in detail above, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and changes of the specific examples illustrated above. In addition, the technical elements described in this specification or in the drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the techniques exemplified in this specification or drawings can simultaneously achieve a plurality of purposes, and achieving one of them has technical utility in itself.

10: Tank manufacturing device 12: Main body 14: Supporting device 16: Air supply unit 18: Feed unit 20: Control unit 22: Holding unit 24: Load cell 100: Tank 102: Liner 104: Carbon fiber layer 106: Mouth fitting

Claims (1)

A tank manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a tank having a liner and fibers wrapped around the liner,
a support portion that supports both ends of the liner in the longitudinal direction;
a measuring unit that measures the load in the longitudinal direction of the liner;
an adjustment unit that adjusts the load in the longitudinal direction of the liner by adjusting the internal pressure of the liner and the tension of the fibers.

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