JP5738610B2 - Composite and production method thereof - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a composite sheet and the thermoplastic resin molded article comprising a thermoplastic resin containing reinforcing fibers are fused together and manufacturing how.

  Plastic injection-molded products are used as automobile interior members and exterior members. Specifically, a composite material obtained by impregnating a resin into a sheet material containing reinforcing fibers and injection-molding the resin into the sheet material is used as the interior member or the exterior member. When the resin is a thermosetting resin, it is necessary to apply heat, resulting in an increase in cost and a low degree of freedom in shape, which is not suitable for mass production. On the other hand, when a thermoplastic resin is used as the resin, it is finally cooled and taken out from the mold, which is suitable for mass production. As a technique for producing a composite material using such a thermoplastic resin, for example, there is a technique shown in Patent Document 1 below.

  In Patent Document 1, a thermoplastic resin is applied to a fiber in a mold including a gate for injecting a molten resin, a plurality of molding spaces for molding a molded body, and a resin flow passage that connects the gate and each molding space. A mold placement step of placing the impregnated base material, an injection step of injecting the molten resin from the gate, the molten resin passing through the resin flow path, and filling the molten resin into the molding spaces; A secondary molding step of molding the molded body by cooling and solidifying the molten resin, and in the injection molding step, the molten resin is branched from one of the gates and fed into the molding spaces. The manufacturing method of the fiber base material characterized by this is disclosed. Then, by providing a primary molding step for thermoforming the base material between the mold placement step and the injection step, the unnecessary portion of the outer periphery of the preboard is sheared by a mold, and the base material is formed into a predetermined shape. Yes.

JP 2010-274636 A

  However, in the background art described in Patent Document 1 described above, the mold is heated in the primary molding step so that the molten resin does not solidify in the course of being transported into the molding space in the injection step. However, since the shape of the substrate is made by hot press molding, there is a disadvantage that there is a shape restriction and the shape following ability such as corners is poor. In addition, since the fibers of the base material are exposed on the surface, there is a disadvantage that a surface treatment (smoothing treatment, coating pretreatment, etc.) is required after formation of the composite.

The present invention has focused on the above points, lightweight and excellent in strength and durability, and that appearance and touch feeling to provide a satisfactory composite material and its manufacturing how, and an object.

In the method for producing a composite according to the present invention , a cavity is formed on a parting surface of a mold composed of a fixed mold and a movable mold, a heating / cooling mechanism provided in the movable mold, and a fixed mold side. A step of thermoforming a sheet material containing a reinforcing fiber and made of a thermoplastic resin by using a composite manufacturing apparatus provided with an injection mechanism for injecting a thermoplastic resin into the cavity. 1, the sheet material is temporarily shaped by the step 1, was inserted into a mold, and step 2 that stuck to the cavity surface of the movable mold side, thereby clamping the mold, to the mold The inserted sheet material is heated and cooled by a heating and cooling mechanism provided on the movable mold side , and the sheet material is made to follow the shape of the mold, and a thermoplastic resin is added to all or part of the sheet material. The injection molding before The sheet material and the thermoplastic resin molded article characterized in that it comprises a step 4 to form a complex that is fused together.

One of the main forms is characterized in that the step 4 is performed simultaneously with the step 3. Another aspect is characterized in that the temporary shaping in the step 1 is performed by vacuum forming or pressure forming.

The composite of the present invention is formed by any one of the production methods described above . The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

  According to the present invention, a sheet material made of a thermoplastic resin containing reinforcing fibers is temporarily formed by thermoforming and then attached to the surface of the mold, and the sheet material is heated and cooled to follow the mold shape. Then, after the heating and cooling, or simultaneously with the heating and cooling, a thermoplastic resin is injection-molded on the whole or a part of the main surface of the sheet material. For this reason, there is an effect that a composite of a sheet material and a resin molded body that is lightweight, excellent in strength and durability, and excellent in appearance and feel can be obtained.

1 (A) to 1 (F) are views showing an example of the production process of Example 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1 (G) is a side view showing the composite of this example. It is a figure which shows the composite product by the said Example 1, (A) is an image which shows a part of product, (B) is an image which expands and shows the edge part of the product of said (A), (C) is It is the image which expanded a part of surface of said (A) by 175 times. It is a diagram showing a composite product according to a comparative example, (A) is an image showing a part of the product, (B) is an image showing an enlarged edge portion of the product of (A), (C) is the ( It is the image which expanded a part of surface of A) by 175 times. It is a cross-sectional image of the corner | angular part of the composite product by the said Example 1, and the composite product by a comparative example. It is a figure which shows the other Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated in detail based on an Example.

  First, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present invention relates to a composite used for an interior member or exterior member of an automobile, a casing of a mobile phone, a casing of a liquid crystal television, or the like, and a thermoplastic resin sheet material containing a reinforcing fiber, and a thermoplastic resin The present invention relates to a composite body obtained by integrally fusing the injection molded body. 1 (A) to (F) show an example of the manufacturing process of the composite according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 1 (G) shows a side view of the composite manufactured by the manufacturing process. Yes. As shown in FIG. 1 (G), the composite 10 of this example has a configuration in which an injection molded portion 50 of a thermoplastic resin is integrally fused to the main surface 20B side of the sheet material 20, The injection molding portion 50 includes a flat portion 52 that is fused to the sheet material main surface 20B, and protruding mounting legs 54A and 54B that are attached to other components. As the sheet material 20, a thermoplastic resin sheet containing reinforcing fibers is used. As the reinforcing fiber, for example, one type or two or more types of fibers selected from carbon fiber, glass fiber, aramid fiber, alumina fiber, metal fiber, plant fiber, and the like are used, and the sheet material 20 and the injection molding unit 50 are used. As the thermoplastic resin that constitutes, for example, thermoplastic resins such as ABS, PC, PP, PA, PBT, or alloy materials thereof are used. From the viewpoint of dimensional stability, it is preferable that the thermoplastic resin constituting the injection-molded part 50 also contains the same reinforcing fibers as the sheet material 20.

  Next, an example of the manufacturing process of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 1 (A), a thermoplastic resin sheet material 20 containing reinforcing fibers is prepared, and as shown in FIG. 1 (B), the sheet material 20 is temporarily shaped by thermoforming. The thermoforming is performed by, for example, vacuum forming or pressure forming. Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the temporarily shaped sheet material 20 is inserted into the cavity 36 of the mold 30 and attached to the cavity surface. As shown in FIGS. 1C to 1E, the mold 30 includes a fixed mold 32 and a movable mold 34, and the cavity 36 is formed on a parting surface thereof. In the illustrated example, in addition to the space for storing the sheet material 20, the cavity 36 includes a molding space 38 </ b> A corresponding to the flat surface portion 52 of the injection molding portion 50, and mounting leg portions for the injection molding portion 50. Molding spaces 38B and 38C corresponding to 54A and 54B are provided.

  Further, the cavity 36 is connected to a gate 40 that is an inflow passage of a molten resin supplied from an injection device through a nozzle (none of which is shown). In the illustrated example, the gate 40 has a direct gate structure that penetrates the fixed mold 32 and is directly connected to the cavity 36. The movable mold 34 is provided with a plurality of heating / cooling means 42 around the cavity 36. The heating / cooling means 42 is for heating and cooling the main surface 20A of the sheet material 20 inserted into the cavity 36, and includes, for example, a heat medium flow path, a heating medium flowing through the flow path, and Although it is constituted by a cooling medium or the like, other known heating and cooling mechanisms may be used.

  By simply performing injection molding after inserting the temporarily shaped sheet material 20 into the cavity 36 of the mold 30 having the above configuration, the corner portions 36A and 36B and the edge portion 36C of the sheet material 20 and the cavity 36 are used. , 36D cannot be eliminated, and the appearance of the finished product is deteriorated. Further, as shown in the background art described above, in the method in which the sheet material 20 and the mold 30 are heated to perform hot press molding and injection molding, since the sheet material 20 extends locally, the hot press molding causes wrinkles and tears. There are shape restrictions due to problems, and shape followability such as corners is poor. Further, when the sheet material 20 is released from the mold 30 after the injection molding, it is easy to cause a mold release failure such as deformation, so that it is difficult to cope with a complicated shape. Distortion due to mold release stress remains in the fused portion, resulting in a decrease in fusion strength. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the molten resin is injection-molded in a state where the temporarily shaped sheet material 20 is attached to the cavity surface, the sheet material 20 is heated and cooled by the heating / cooling means 42 to obtain a figure. 1 (D) and (E), the sheet material 20 is made to follow the mold shape.

  In the heat-cooling molding, for example, the mold 30 is heated to a temperature not lower than the deflection temperature of the sheet material 20 and not higher than the thermal decomposition temperature, and the mold is clamped (FIG. 1 (D)). After the molten thermoplastic resin 60 is injected from an injection device (not shown) through the gate 40 (FIG. 1 (E)), it is cooled to a temperature that is lower than the weighted deflection temperature and can promote cooling and solidification. To do. And as shown in FIG.1 (F), the sheet | seat material 20 which consists of a thermoplastic resin containing a reinforced fiber, and the composite_body | complex 10 which the injection molding part 50 made from a thermoplastic resin fuse | melted integrally are demolded, A portion corresponding to the gate 40 is cut out. By performing such heat-cooling molding, the provisionally shaped sheet material 20 is insert-molded, or compared with the case where the sheet material 20 and the mold 30 are heated to perform hot press molding and injection molding. By inserting the shaped sheet material 20 and heating the mold, local extension is prevented and the shape followability is improved. The surface of the sheet material 20 is modified. In addition, by forcibly cooling when releasing from the mold 30, the composite 10 of the sheet material 20 and the injection molded part 50 with good appearance and touch feeling can be obtained, and the molding cycle time can be shortened. be able to. Furthermore, the composite 10 can be used as a finished surface as it is without subjecting the main surface 20 </ b> A side of the sheet material 20 to a separate surface treatment (smoothing treatment or coating pretreatment). Further, in this embodiment, the injection molding part 50 is provided on the other main surface 20B side of the sheet material 20, and the part of the injection molding part 50 is used as a structure for attaching to other parts or the like.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the composite manufactured by the present Example and the composite manufactured by the background art mentioned above are compared. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a composite product according to the present example, in which (A) is an image showing a part of the product surface including the mirror surface part 70 and the matte surface part 72, and (B) is the product of (A). (C) is a magnified view of a part of the surface of (A) (region P surrounded by the dotted line of the mirror surface portion 70 in (A)). This is an enlarged image. The mirror surface means a surface obtained by transferring from the mirror surface of the mold surface, and here, in order to make the difference in surface state from the comparative example easier to understand, an enlarged image of the mirror surface portion However, it goes without saying that embossing is also possible. On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a view showing a composite product of a comparative example according to the background art, in which (A) is an image showing a part of the surface portion 80 of the product, and (B) is an opening of the product of (A). 82 is an enlarged view of the edge portion 84, and (C) is an image obtained by enlarging a part of the surface of (A) (region Q surrounded by the dotted line in (B)) by 175 times. As is clear from the comparison between FIGS. 2 (A) to 2 (C) and FIGS. 3 (A) to 3 (C), according to the present embodiment, the shape of the edge portion of the product is arranged and the smoothness of the surface is obtained. It can be seen that it is expensive. Further, FIG. 4 shows images for comparing the followability of the corner portions of the products according to the present example and the comparative example to the mold shape. 4A is a cross-sectional image of the product of this example, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional image of the product of the comparative example. As shown in FIG. 4 (A), the composite product manufactured in this example has a radius of curvature of the corner 22 of the sheet material 20 of 0.14 mm, whereas the comparative example shown in FIG. 4 (B). Then, the radius of curvature of the corner portion 22 is 0.50 mm, and it can be confirmed that the followability of the sheet material 20 to the mold shape is improved by manufacturing according to the method of this embodiment.

  As described above, according to Example 1, the sheet material 20 containing the reinforcing fiber and made of the thermoplastic resin is temporarily formed by thermoforming, and then inserted into the cavity 36 of the mold 30. When injecting the thermoplastic resin 60 onto the main surface 20B, it is lightweight and excellent in strength and durability performance by heating and cooling to follow the shape of the mold. In addition, there is an effect that a composite with good touch feeling can be obtained. Further, the fusion strength between the sheet material 20 and the injection molded part 50 can be improved.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the Example mentioned above, A various change can be added in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. For example, the following are also included.
(1) The shapes and structures of the cavity 36 and the gate 40 shown in the above embodiment are merely examples, and may be changed as appropriate.
(2) The heating / cooling means 42 shown in the above embodiment is also an example, and other known various heating / cooling means may be used as long as the same effects can be obtained.
(3) In the above-described embodiment, the sheet material 20 is inserted into the cavity 36 and the thermoplastic resin 60 is injected into the main surface 20B of the sheet material 20, and at the same time, the composite 10 is obtained by heating and cooling. This is also an example. After the sheet material 20 is inserted into the cavity 36, only the sheet material 20 is first heated and cooled, and then the thermoplastic resin 60 is injection-molded on the main surface 20B. The same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
(4) The composite of the present invention may be produced using a two-color molding machine. For example, after the step shown in FIG. 1C of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, a die for pressing the sheet material 20 is attached to the fixed die 32A for primary injection, and the press At the same time, the sheet material 20 is heated and cooled. Then, the mold 30 is opened, the movable mold 34 side is rotated 180 degrees, and the process returns to the step shown in FIG. 1D, and injection molding is performed. Subsequent steps are the same as those in the first embodiment. Thus, the present invention can be easily implemented by using an existing two-color molding machine.

(5) In the above embodiment, the injection molding part 50 is provided on a part of the sheet material main surface 20B. However, the formation range and shape of the injection molding part 50 are also examples, and may be changed as necessary. It's okay.
(6) The sheet material 20 may have a multilayer structure. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5 (B), two sheets 90A and 90B are used as the sheet material 20 in which the fibers are stacked so that the directions of the fibers are substantially orthogonal. In a sheet containing fibers (for example, carbon fibers), since the fibers are unidirectional during sheet production (for example, extrusion molding), a difference in strength occurs depending on the arrangement direction of the fibers. However, as shown in FIG. By laminating so that the directions are orthogonal, the ease of cracking of the sheet material in the vertical and horizontal directions can be improved. Further, as in the example shown in FIG. 5C, between the sheets 90A and 90B (or either of the front and back sides), a sheet 90C in which the direction of the fibers is deviated by 45 degrees from the sheets 90A and 90B. , 90D may be used as the sheet material 20 in which the directions of the sheet 90C and the sheet 90D are orthogonal to each other and deviated by 45 degrees with respect to the direction of the fibers of the sheets 90A, 90B. In this way, compared with the example shown in FIG. 5B, the strength is further increased, and the ease of cracking in all directions can be greatly improved.
(7) The composite produced according to the present invention can obtain a good appearance and feel without performing post-treatment such as painting, but can be painted on the product surface (the surface of the sheet material 20) as necessary. It does not prevent the surface treatment such as.
(8) In the above embodiment, examples of application of the composite 10 of this embodiment include automobile interior parts, exterior parts, mobile phone casings, liquid crystal television casings, and the like. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and the present invention can be applied to all uses of composites in which a thermoplastic sheet containing reinforcing fibers and an injection molded product of a thermoplastic resin are integrated.

  According to the present invention, a sheet material containing a reinforcing fiber and made of a thermoplastic resin is temporarily formed by thermoforming and then attached to the surface of the mold, and the sheet material is heated and cooled to follow the mold shape. Then, after the heating and cooling, or simultaneously with the heating and cooling, a thermoplastic resin is injection-molded on the whole or a part of the main surface of the sheet material. For this reason, since it is lightweight, excellent in strength and durability, and having a good appearance and feel, it can be applied to composites used for interior materials, exterior materials, housings and the like of various articles.

10: Composite 20: Sheet material 20A, 20B: Main surface 22: Corner 30: Mold 32, 32A: Fixed mold 34: Movable mold 36: Cavity 36A, 36B: Corner 36C, 36D: Edges 38A-38C : Molding space 40: Gate 42: Heating / cooling means 44: Clearance 50: Injection molding part 52: Plane part 54A, 54B: Mounting leg part 60, 60A: Thermoplastic resin 70: Mirror surface part 72: Matte surface part 74: Opening Portion 76: Edge portion 80: Surface portion 82: Opening portion 84: Edge portions 90A to 90D: Sheet

Claims (4)

A cavity is formed on a parting surface of a mold composed of a fixed mold and a movable mold, and a heating / cooling mechanism provided on the movable mold, and a thermoplastic resin provided on the fixed mold side is disposed on the cavity. Using a complex manufacturing apparatus equipped with an injection mechanism for injecting
Step 1 for thermoforming a sheet material containing a reinforcing fiber and made of a thermoplastic resin,
The sheet material is temporarily shaped by the step 1, was inserted into a mold, and step 2 that stuck to the cavity surface of the movable mold side,
While clamping the mold, the sheet material which is inserted into the mold, and molding heating and cooling by the heating and cooling mechanism provided on the movable mold side, step 3 to follow the sheet material into the mold shape ,
Step 4 of injection molding a thermoplastic resin to all or a part of the sheet material to form a composite in which the sheet material and the thermoplastic resin molded body are integrally fused;
The manufacturing method of the composite_body | complex characterized by including.   The method for producing a composite according to claim 1, wherein the step 4 is performed simultaneously with the step 3. The method for producing a composite according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temporary shaping in step 1 is performed by vacuum forming or pressure forming.   A composite formed by the production method according to claim 1.