JPH0559637A - Yan feed head for producing three-dimensional woven fabric - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent feed yarn from damaging by rotatably installing a guide pipe of a yarn feed head for feeding and arranging yarn while moving relatively to pins arranged at a prescribed pitch in a supporting cylindrical part and simultaneously forming the tip of the guide pipe into a circular arc shape. CONSTITUTION:The three-dimensional woven fabric is formed as follows. In the process, in which yarn 7 is arranged while moving a yarn feed head 1 relatively to many yarn arranging pins 5 arranged at a prescribed pitch on a substrate 6, a yarn guide pipe 4 having its tip (4a) formed into a circular arc shape is rotatably attached through bearings 3 to a supporting cylindrical part 2 of the above-mentioned yarn feed head 1. The yarn 7, passed through a yarn feed part and taken out along the inner surface of the yarn guide pipe 4 is not strongly brought into pressure contact with the tip surface of the yarn guide pipe 4. Thereby, the damage to the yarn due to frictional resistance in taking out can be avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a yarn supplying head for producing a three-dimensional fabric for arranging yarns in a folded manner between pins arranged at a predetermined pitch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of warp yarns stretched in a plurality of rows and a plurality of lines, and a first weft yarn (vertical yarn) and a second weft yarn which are woven between the columns and the rows of the warp group so as to be orthogonal to the warp yarns.
A composite material in which a three-dimensional woven fabric composed of various types of threads is used as a skeleton and a resin or an inorganic material is used as a matrix is expected to have a wide range of uses as a structural material for rockets, aircrafts, automobiles, ships and buildings, and various manufacturing methods are also available. Proposed.

When a three-dimensional woven fabric is composed of yarns (fibers) having only X, Y and Z orthogonal three axes, a composite material made by using this three-dimensional woven fabric as a skeletal material has a tensile load in each axial direction. However, since there are no fibers in the diagonal direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the woven fabric, the deformation amount with respect to the force in the diagonal direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the three-dimensional woven fabric becomes large. Therefore, the resistance to the compressive load tends to be weaker than that to the tensile load. In order to eliminate this drawback, in addition to the yarns extending in the three triaxial directions of X, Y, and Z, there is also a five-axis three-dimensional fabric having bias yarns obliquely arranged in the opposite directions to the X and Y directions. Proposed.

As a method of manufacturing a five-axis three-dimensional woven fabric containing bias yarns, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-292162 discloses a method in which a large number of pins are arranged on a substrate at a predetermined pitch and the yarns are arranged in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the substrate. A yarn layer formed by arranging the yarns in a folded shape, a yarn layer formed by arranging the yarns in a folded manner in parallel with the width direction of the substrate, and arranging the yarns in an oblique direction with respect to the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the substrate. A method has been proposed in which a predetermined number of layers of the yarn layers formed in this manner are laminated, and then the pins are replaced with vertical yarns to bond the respective yarn layers.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-47464, a large number of rods are vertically erected in a grid pattern on a frame base at a predetermined pitch, and freely move in the X and Y2 directions above the frame base. A shuttle is provided, and the shuttle is provided while feeding out the linear object (thread) from the tip of the linear object guide tube in a state where the tip of the linear object guide tube provided in the shuttle is arranged below the tip of the rod. To move the linear objects between the bars to form a layer of the linear objects. Each time one layer of the linear objects is formed, the shuttle is placed at the retracted position to pitch the bars. Repeat the operation of lowering the perforated plate with a large number of holes formed along the rod along the bar, moving the layer of linear objects to the frame base side and compressing the formed linear object layers, 3D woven fabric is manufactured by replacing the bar material with another linear object after the layers of Method is disclosed that.

[0006]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention JP-A-59-4746
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4, since the linear objects are arranged without tension, the linear objects are less likely to be damaged by the frictional resistance between the distal end of the linear object guide tube and the linear objects. .. However, there is a problem that the linear object cannot be stretched by applying a constant tension, the array length of the linear object (thread) varies, and the strength of the composite material becomes insufficient. .. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to arrange the threads (linear objects) with tension applied. However, in that case, since the yarn guide tube moves in a state perpendicular to the yarn arrangement surface, the yarn bends at a substantially right angle at the tip of the yarn guide tube and is pressed against the tip of the yarn guide tube. Be withdrawn. When manufacturing a high-density three-dimensional woven fabric, the pitch of the rods (pins) is reduced, and the diameter of the thread guide tube is correspondingly reduced and the wall thickness is also reduced. There is a problem in that the frictional resistance when pulled out from the yarn increases and the yarn is easily damaged. Also, JP-A-1-292162
The publication discloses a method for producing a five-axis three-dimensional woven fabric, but does not disclose a device for arranging the threads between pins erected at a predetermined pitch on a substrate. ..

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to damage a yarn drawn from a yarn guide tube between a large number of pins arranged at a predetermined pitch of several mm or less. It is an object of the present invention to provide a yarn supply head for producing a three-dimensional woven fabric, which allows the yarns to be arranged without any need.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the present invention, a thread guide tube for supplying and guiding a thread while moving relative to pins arranged at a predetermined pitch is provided in a supporting cylinder portion. The thread guide tube was rotatably attached and the tip of the thread guide tube was formed in an arc shape.

[0009]

By the yarn supplying head moving along the row of pins arranged at a predetermined pitch, the yarn drawn from the tip of the yarn guiding tube is arranged in a folded manner between the pins arranged at a predetermined pitch. .. Since the tip of the thread guide tube is formed in an arc shape, even if the thread is pulled out from the thread guide tube under tension, the thread is not pressed against the tip of the thread guide tube with a large force. It is not damaged by frictional resistance with the guide tube. In addition, since the thread guide tube is rotatably attached to the support tubular portion, the thread guide tube is freely rotated when a force is applied to the tip of the thread guide tube in a direction different from the direction in which the tip extends. Even if the supply head moves along the row of pins without considering the orientation of the yarn guide tube, the orientation of the yarn guide tube is automatically changed and the yarns are arranged smoothly.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment embodying the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the yarn supply head 1 is composed of a support cylinder portion 2 and a yarn guide tube 4 rotatably attached to the tip end thereof via a bearing 3. The yarn guide tube 4 extends coaxially with the support tube portion 2, and the tip 4a thereof is curved and formed in an arc shape having a radius of curvature equal to or larger than the diameter of the yarn guide tube 4. The support cylinder 2 is X,
It is attached to a robot arm or the like that can be moved freely in the Y and Z directions.

Next, a large number of yarn layers formed by arranging the yarns in a folded shape are stacked between the yarn arranging pins arranged at a predetermined pitch, and the yarn arranging pins are replaced with vertical yarns for connecting the respective yarn layers. The operation of the yarn supplying head 1 in manufacturing the original fabric will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of thread arranging pins 5 for regulating the arrangement of threads are detachably erected at a predetermined pitch of a few mm or less at the corners of a base plate 6 at the tip 4a of the thread guide tube 4. The end of the thread 7 is pulled out and fixed. From this state, the tip portion 4a of the yarn guide tube 4 is arranged at a position close to the upper surface of the substrate 6, and the yarn feeding head 1 is moved in a state in which the support tube portion 2 is held perpendicular to the substrate 6. Then, the yarn 7 supplied from the yarn supplying unit via a tension adjusting device (none of which is shown) is fed out from the distal end portion 4a of the yarn guiding tube 4 with a predetermined tension applied.

When the yarns 7 are arranged in a folded shape in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 6, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the yarn supply head 1 and the yarn guide tube 4 are arranged in rows of yarn arrangement pins 5. Along the one side, the substrate 6 is linearly moved between the yarn arrangement pins 5 from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction. When the yarn supplying head 1 reaches a position corresponding to the yarn arranging pin 5 erected on the other end of the substrate 6, the center of the support cylinder portion 2 becomes the yarn arranging position as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D. Moved around pin 5. Then, the yarn guide tube 4 is automatically inverted with the movement of the support tube portion 2 in a state where the tip portion 4a is engaged with the yarn arrangement pin 5. That is, even if the yarn supply head 1 is moved without considering the orientation of the tip 4a of the yarn guide tube 4, the tip 4a will still move the yarn 7
The yarn feeding head 1 is automatically rotated in a direction in which the yarn is smoothly fed, and the movement control of the yarn feeding head 1 is facilitated. Similarly, when the yarns 7 are arranged in the widthwise direction of the substrate 6, the yarn supplying head 1 is moved in the widthwise direction of the substrate 6 in the same manner.

On the other hand, when the yarns 7 are arranged at a predetermined angle (45 ° in this embodiment) with respect to the longitudinal direction of the substrate 6, if the pitch of the yarn arrangement pins 5 is small, the yarn guide tube 4
Cannot be moved linearly along the arrangement direction of the threads 7. Because, the width W of the path along which the yarn guide tube 4 moves
Is only about 0.7 times the pitch of the thread arrangement pins 5. Therefore, when the pitch of the thread arrangement pin 5 is small,
As shown in, the yarn feeding head 1 is moved in a zigzag shape as shown by a chain line. As the yarn feeding head 1 moves in a zigzag manner, the tip portion 4a of the yarn guiding tube 4 is moved to the yarn arranging pin 5
The yarns 7 which are turned in the state of being engaged with and are drawn out from the front end portion 4a are arranged in a state of extending straight in an oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the substrate 6. The thread guide tube 4 is the support cylinder portion 2.
When it is not possible to rotate with respect to the
However, since the yarn guide tube 4 is not smoothly changed in direction due to the interference with the yarn guide tube 4, the yarn guide tube 4 can be changed in direction smoothly because the yarn guide tube 4 is rotatable with respect to the support tubular portion 2.

Further, conventionally, since the yarn guide tube has been formed straight, the yarn is pulled out at a right angle to the yarn guide tube,
There is a possibility that the yarn may be pulled out in a state of being strongly pressed against the tip surface of the yarn guide tube and damaged due to the frictional resistance. However, in the yarn feeding head 1 of the present invention, the tip portion 4 of the yarn guiding tube 4 is
Since a is curved in an arc shape, the yarn 7 is pulled out along the inner surface of the yarn guide tube 4, so that even if it is pulled out in a state where tension is applied, it is strong against the tip surface of the yarn guide tube 4. There is no pressure contact, and the yarn 7 is not damaged by the frictional resistance during pulling out.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the substrate 6 is not a flat surface and is formed in a substantially L shape as shown in FIG. 5, or an L-shaped substrate. It may be applied to the yarn supplying head 1 used when arranging the yarns 7 in a three-dimensional shape such as the shape obtained by adding the plane P shown in FIG. When arranging the threads on the L-shaped substrate 6, the thread supply head 1 is attached to the tip of an arm of a robot that can rotate about the X axis in addition to the three axes of X, Y, and Z. When the threads are arranged on the substrate 6 which is used and is composed of three surfaces which are perpendicular to each other, the thread supply head 1
Is used by being attached to the tip of an arm of a robot that is rotatable about the X and Z axes in addition to the X, Y, and Z axes.

[0017]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, between a large number of yarn arranging pins arranged at a pitch of several mm or less,
The yarns can be arranged without damaging the yarns drawn from the yarn guide tube. Further, the posture of the yarn guide tube can be maintained in an optimum state for guiding the yarn by the action of the yarn tension and the yarn arranging pin without providing a special drive device for rotating the yarn guide pipe.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a yarn supply head.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a yarn arrangement state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a procedure of arranging threads in a longitudinal direction of a substrate.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a procedure of arranging threads in a diagonal direction of a substrate.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing a relationship between a substrate and a yarn supply head of a modified example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Yarn supply head, 2 ... Support cylinder part, 3 ... Bearing, 4
... Thread guide tube, 4a ... Tip part, 5 ... Thread array pin, 6 ... Substrate, 7 ... Thread.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thread guide tube for supplying and guiding a thread while being relatively moved with respect to pins arranged at a predetermined pitch, is rotatably attached to a support cylinder portion, and the tip of the thread guide tube is formed in an arc shape. Supply head for manufacturing three-dimensional woven fabric.