JPH09151972A - Method for forming friction material, and friction material forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a defect of a body when a performed product is transferred from a preforming die to a thermoforming die, and also simplify and miniaturize the structure of a friction material forming device. SOLUTION: As a thermoforming die 4, a split die having a core 14 having a body housing part for housing a preformed product in thermoforming formed vertically penetrating through it, the core 14 being movable to a formed product transfer position, is used. A preforming die 2 finishing a preforming is transferred to the formed product transfer position as the preformed product is still housed therein, and laid into the state where the empty core 14 is put on the other end side of the preforming die 2, the preformed product within the preforming die 2 is pushed into the core 14 in the state where the core 14 is put on the other end side of the preforming die 2 to transfer the preformed product to the thermoforming die 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process of manufacturing a friction material used as, for example, a pad for a disc brake of an automobile, and when the preform formed in the preforming process is transferred to a thermoforming process, the material is damaged. The present invention relates to a friction material molding method and a friction material molding device that have been newly developed in order to prevent the inconvenience.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, a disc brake pad for an automobile has a friction material base material in which various substantially powdery constituent components are homogeneously mixed in a predetermined size and shape by using a preforming die. The preforming step of compression molding, and the thermoforming process for the preformed product formed by the preforming step by using a thermoforming die at a predetermined pressure and temperature to form a main body of a predetermined size and shape. A molding step, a cooling step of cooling the molded article formed by the thermoforming step to a predetermined temperature, and a predetermined step such as a coating treatment, a chamfering treatment, or a surface polishing treatment for the molded article that has finished the cooling step. By going through the finishing process in which finishing processing is performed as necessary,
It has a desired size and shape.

Here, the constituent components of the friction material base material are a fiber base material made of metal fibers, inorganic fibers or organic fibers, a binder made of thermosetting resin powder, a friction modifier and a fixed lubricant. Various additive materials such as the above, and the mixing ratio of the constituent components is adjusted according to the physical performance required as the friction material.

By the way, conventionally, in order to transfer the preformed product from the preformed mold to the thermoforming mold, first, the preformed product is extracted from the preforming mold and a dedicated carrier (package) is used by a predetermined transfer mechanism. Then, the transfer table is moved to a predetermined position around the press machine for the thermoforming process, and another transfer mechanism is operated there to press the preform on the transfer table. The method of transferring to the above thermoforming mold was adopted.

[0005]

However, at the stage of the preform, since the constituent strengths of the friction material are weakly bonded to each other, as described above, the preform is transferred from the preform to the carrier, Alternatively, when the preform is transferred from the carrier to the thermoforming die, there is a problem that the defect of the fabric is apt to occur, and the defect of the fabric reduces the product yield.

Further, in addition to the dedicated carrier, a transfer mechanism for transferring the preformed product from the preforming mold to the carrier and a transfer mechanism for transferring the preformed product from the carrier to the thermoforming mold are further required. However, there is a problem that not only the flow of the preforms in the friction material manufacturing line becomes complicated, but also the structure of the apparatus becomes complicated and the size becomes large.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to prevent the loss of the dough that occurs when the preform is transferred from the preforming die to the thermoforming die, thereby improving the product yield. At the same time, it is an object of the present invention to provide a friction material forming method and a friction material forming apparatus which can simplify the flow of a preformed product in a production line to simplify the apparatus configuration and reduce the size thereof.

[0008]

The above object of the present invention is to perform a preforming step of compression-molding a friction material base material into a predetermined size and shape using a preforming die, and the preforming using a thermoforming die. Predetermined pressure on the preformed product formed by the process
A method of molding a friction material, comprising: a thermoforming step of subjecting the preform to a predetermined size and shape by thermoforming at a temperature, wherein the thermoforming mold is used as a thermoforming mold. The dough accommodating portion for accommodating and holding the preformed product is dividable into a middle mold formed through in the vertical direction, an upper mold stacked on the middle mold, and a lower mold stacked under the middle mold, and A split mold having a structure in which the middle mold can be moved to a molded product transfer position is used, and the preformed product in the mold is pushed into the preformed product by pushing an extruding member from one end side of the preformed mold as the preforming mold. The pre-molding die, which has a structure that can be taken out of the pre-molding machine, has been subjected to the predetermined pre-molding, is moved to the molding product transfer position while the pre-molding product is accommodated, and the other end of the pre-molding mold is moved. This is the pre-mold By pushing the extruding member into the preforming die from one end side of the preforming die with the middle die overlapping the other end side of the preforming die, the preform in the preforming die is extruded into the middle die, and then The method of molding a friction material is characterized in that the intermediate mold is returned to the standby thermoforming positions of the upper mold and the lower mold and a predetermined thermoforming process is performed.

Another object of the present invention is a friction material molding apparatus for carrying out a thermoforming process of a preformed product in the process of manufacturing the friction material, wherein the preformed product is processed during the thermoforming process. A thermoforming mold that can be divided into a middle mold in which a dough container for containing and holding is formed through in the vertical direction, an upper mold that is stacked on the middle mold, and a lower mold that is stacked below the middle mold, and the thermoforming mold. A thermopressing mechanism for holding a mold at a thermoforming position and performing a thermoforming process on a preformed product in the mold at a predetermined pressure and temperature; and a thermoforming position at which the upper mold and the lower mold stand by for the middle mold, A medium-size advancing / retreating mechanism that selectively moves the molded product transfer position away from the thermoforming position, and a spare structure that allows the preliminary molded product to be taken out to the other end side by pushing the pushing member from one end side. Preforming position for performing preforming And the molding product transfer position, and the preforming mold is positioned so that the middle mold overlaps with the other end of the preforming mold when moved to the molding product transferring position. And a preliminary mold advancing / retreating mechanism for positioning the molded product in the middle mold moved to the molding product transfer position, or pushing the molded product into one side of the middle mold, or the other end side of the preforming mold at the molding product transfer position. Fixing the molded product pushing mechanism that pushes the preformed product in the preforming mold into the middle mold with the empty middle mold overlapping, and the molded product that is extruded from the middle mold moved to the molded product transfer position. And a carrying-out mechanism for holding and moving to a predetermined processing position.

According to the above configuration of the present invention, the preformed product is directly transferred from the preforming mold to the middle mold of the thermoforming mold, so that it is possible to improve the product yield and reduce the manufacturing cost.

Further, in order to directly transfer the preformed product from the preformed mold to the middle mold of the thermoforming mold, a carrier for transferring the preformed product and a transfer mechanism for transferring the preformed product from the preformed mold to the carrier. Also, the transfer mechanism from the carrier to the thermoforming mold can be omitted, and the device configuration can be simplified and downsized.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a friction material molding apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a friction material molding device according to the present invention. The friction material molding apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used in a process of manufacturing a friction material used as a pad for a disc brake of an automobile, and more specifically, it uniformly mixes various powdery and granular constituent components. A preforming step of compression-molding the friction material base material into a predetermined size and shape using a preforming die 2 and a thermoforming die 4 for the preformed article formed by the preforming step When the friction material having a desired size and shape is formed by sequentially performing a thermoforming process of performing a thermoforming process at a predetermined pressure and temperature and performing a main forming into a predetermined size and shape, the thermoforming process is performed. It is a device to carry out.

Here, the constituent components of the friction material base material are a fiber base material made of metal fibers, inorganic fibers or organic fibers, a binder made of thermosetting resin powder, a friction modifier and a fixed lubricant. Various additive materials such as the above, and the mixing ratio of the constituent components is adjusted according to the physical performance required as the friction material.

As the preforming die 2, as shown in FIG. 2, a substantially bottomed box-shaped forming die main body 7 having a base material accommodating portion 6 opened upward and the base material accommodating portion 6 are provided. A push plate 8 slidably provided inside is provided, and an opening 9 for inserting a pushing member for slidingly operating the push plate 8 is provided at the bottom of the molding die body 7. A structure in which the preform 11 in the mold body 7 can be taken out above (the other end side) the mold by pushing up the push plate 8 with an appropriate pushing member inserted into the mold body 7 from 9 Is used. And the mold body 7 and the push plate 8 are
Although both are made of metal, the push plate 8 is made of an iron-based material that can be attracted by a magnet.

On the other hand, as the thermoforming die 4, as shown in FIG. 3, an intermediate die 14 in which a dough accommodating portion 13 for accommodating and holding the preform 11 is vertically formed, and the intermediate die 1
A split mold that can be divided into an upper mold 15 that is stacked on the upper mold 4 and a lower mold 16 that is stacked below the middle mold 14 is used. The middle mold 14, the upper mold 15, and the lower mold 16 are also made of metal.

Then, the friction material molding apparatus 1 holds the thermoforming die 4 and the thermoforming die 4 at the thermoforming position (the right side position shown by the solid line in FIG. 1) and holds the thermoforming die 4 inside the thermoforming die 4. A heat press mechanism 18 for performing a thermoforming process on a preformed product 11 at a predetermined pressure and temperature, and a middle mold 14 of the thermoforming mold 4 are connected to the upper mold 1.
5 and the lower mold 16 are selectively moved to any one of a thermoforming position in which the lower mold 16 stands by and a molded product transfer position (left side position indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1) horizontally separated from the thermoforming position. An advancing / retreating mechanism 20, a transfer robot 22 for transferring the preform 2 to the molded product transfer position, and for transferring the molded product extruded from the middle mold 14 to the next process at the molded product transfer position, The molded product pushing mechanism 24 is provided below the product transfer position and pushes the preformed product 11 from the preforming mold 2 conveyed to the molded product transfer position to the middle mold 14.

Here, the heat pressing mechanism 18 holds the upper mold plate 26 which holds the upper mold 15 at the thermoforming position, and holds the lower mold 16 at the thermoforming position and the facing direction of the upper mold 15 (see FIG. 1, the lower heating plate 27 is movably supported in the vertical direction, and the pressure cylinder 28 that moves the lower heating plate 27 forward and backward in the direction opposite to the upper mold 15. The upper heating plate 2
6 and the lower heating plate 27 have a built-in heating means, and heat the preform 11 in the middle mold 14 to a predetermined temperature via the upper mold 15 and the lower mold 16.

The middle die advancing / retreating mechanism 20 selectively moves the middle die 14 to either the thermoforming position or the molded product transfer position by the expansion / contraction operation of the linear motion cylinder 30 fixedly supported by the frame of the heat press mechanism 18. To move to.

The transfer robot 22 includes a pair of holding arms 3.
1, a preliminary mold gripping part 32 for gripping both sides of the preliminary mold 2 and a substrate 33 supporting the preliminary mold gripping part 32 in a horizontal direction in the figure, a preliminary mold advancing / retracting mechanism (cylinder).
34, a transfer base 35 that supports the substrate 33 movably in the horizontal direction and that also functions as a support bracket for the cylinder 34, and a molded product provided on the transfer base 35 and provided with a magnet portion 36. Finished product (molded product that has undergone thermoforming processing) extruded from the middle mold 14 at the transfer position 3
Finished product gripping portion 38 for adsorbing 7 and the transfer base 35
Is rotated around a vertical axis 39 to rotate and move the finished product 37 held by the finished product holding portion 38 and the preforming die 2 held by the preliminary die holding portion 32.
0, and a preform positioning plate 41 for accurately positioning the preform 2 by contacting the preform 2 when the preform 2 is moved to the molded product transfer position. ..

With the above-described structure, the transfer robot 22 operates the rotation moving means 40 and the preliminary die advancing / retreating mechanism 34 at a suitable time, and performs a preforming by a preforming press mechanism (not shown). The preform 2 is selectively moved to any one of the above-mentioned position and the molded product transfer position, and when the preform 2 is moved to the molded product transfer position, the middle mold 14 is placed on the other end side of the preform 2. Preform 2 is accurately positioned so that it overlaps. Further, the transfer robot 22 functions as a carry-out mechanism to fix and hold the finished product 37 extruded from the middle mold 14 that has moved to the molded product transfer position to the finished product gripper 38 and move it to a predetermined processing position.
The finished product holding portion 38 is also used as a carrying-in means for the backing metal 42 fixedly mounted on the back surface of the preform 11.

In the molded product pushing mechanism 24, the finished product 37 in the middle mold 14 which has been moved to the molded product transfer position by a pushing member 44 mounted on the rod end of the cylinder 43 is provided on one side of the middle mold 14 (see FIG. 1), or in the state where the empty medium mold 14 overlaps the other end side of the preforming mold 2 at the molded product transfer position, the preform 11 in the preforming mold 2 is placed in the middle mold 14. Extrude into. The push-out member 44 is composed of a magnet, and pushes out the preform 11 from the preform 2 to the middle mold 14, and then pushes the push plate 8 lifted up to the upper part of the mold body 7 again to the friction material base material. Also plays a role of pulling back to the bottom of the mold main body 7 for inserting.

In the friction material forming apparatus 1 described above, the preforming die 2 which has undergone the predetermined preforming is moved to the formed article transfer position while the preformed article 11 is accommodated by the transfer robot 22. By setting the empty medium mold 14 on the other end side of the preforming mold 2 in this state, and pushing the pushing member 44 into the preforming mold 2 from one end side of the preforming mold 2 in this state, The preform 11 in 2 is extruded into the middle mold 14. The preforming die 2 from which the preform 11 has been taken out is pushed by the pushing member 44 into the pushing plate 8
Is returned to the bottom side of the mold body 7 and then returned to the preforming position for repeated preforming preparations.

On the other hand, the backing metal 42 carried into the molded product transfer position by the finished product gripper 38 is placed on the preformed product 11 transferred to the middle mold 14. Then
When the middle mold 14 is returned to the standby thermoforming position of the upper mold 15 and the lower mold 16 and a predetermined thermoforming process is performed, the back metal 42 is fixed to the back surface of the preform 11 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The finished product 37 is formed. When the thermoforming process is completed, the middle mold 14 is moved to the molded product transfer position by the middle mold advancing / retreating mechanism 20 again, and the finished product 37 in the middle mold 14 is pushed out to the finished product gripping portion 38 side by the molded product pushing mechanism 24. Then, the finished product gripper 38 conveys the product to the next step.

In the thermoforming process by the friction material forming apparatus 1 as described above, the preform 11 is directly transferred from the preforming die 2 to the middle die 14 of the thermoforming die 4, so that the preform 11 is removed from the forming die causing the loss of the material. Withdrawal and assembling operations are minimized, and it is possible to prevent the loss of the dough that occurs when the preform 11 is transferred from the preform 2 to the thermoforming die 4 and improve the product yield.

Since the preform 11 is directly transferred from the preforming mold 2 to the middle mold 14 of the thermoforming mold 4, the preform 11 extracted from the preforming mold 2 is conveyed to the thermoforming mold 4. There is no need to equip a stand,
Along with this, a transfer mechanism for transferring the preform 11 from the preform 2 to the carrier and a transfer mechanism for transferring the preform 11 from the carrier to the thermoforming mold 4 are no longer required. As a result, in the conventional case Compared with the above, it becomes possible to simplify the flow of the preform 11 in the friction material manufacturing line, and to simplify the apparatus configuration and reduce the size.

[0026]

According to the friction material forming method and the friction material forming apparatus of the present invention, the preform is directly transferred from the preforming die to the middle die of the thermoforming die. Minimal removal and installation operations from the
It is possible to prevent the material from being damaged when the preformed product is transferred from the preforming die to the thermoforming die and improve the product yield. Can be. Further, since the preformed product is directly transferred from the preforming mold to the middle mold of the thermoforming mold, there is no need to equip a carrier for conveying the preformed product extracted from the preforming mold to the thermoforming mold. There is no need for a transfer mechanism that transfers the preforms from the preform to the carrier or a transfer mechanism that transfers the preforms from the carrier to the thermoforming mold. It has become possible to simplify the structure of the device and downsize it by simplifying the flow of the preformed product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a friction material molding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a preforming die used in the friction material forming apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a medium size mold.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a molded product.

FIG. 5 is a view taken in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Friction material forming apparatus 2 Preforming mold 4 Thermoforming mold 11 Preformed product 14 Medium size 15 Upper mold 16 Lower mold 18 Heat press mechanism 20 Medium size advancing / retreating mechanism 22 Transfer robot 24 Molded product pushing mechanism 28 Pressurizing cylinder 30 Linear motion cylinder 34 Preliminary mold advancing / retreating mechanism (cylinder) 37 Finished product (molded product) 38 Finished product gripping unit 40 Rotational moving means 43 Cylinder 44 Push member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A preforming step of compression-molding a friction material base material into a predetermined size and shape by using a preforming die, and a preforming step for a preformed product formed by the preforming step using a thermoforming die. A method of molding a friction material, comprising: a thermoforming step of subjecting the preformed article to a predetermined size and shape by thermoforming according to pressure and temperature, wherein the thermoforming process is performed by thermoforming. At this time, the dough accommodating portion for accommodating and holding the preformed product can be divided into a middle mold formed through in the up-down direction, an upper mold that is stacked on the middle mold, and a lower mold that is stacked below the middle mold, In addition to using a split mold having a configuration in which the middle mold can be moved to a molded product transfer position, as the pre-molding mold, a pre-molded product in the mold is pushed by pushing an extruding member from one end side of the pre-molding mold. A structure that can be taken out on the end side The pre-molding die that has been used and has undergone the prescribed pre-molding is moved to the molding product transfer position while the pre-molding product is being accommodated, and an empty medium mold is stacked on the other end side of the pre-molding mold. State, and by pushing the extruding member into the preforming die from one end side of the preforming die with the middle die overlapping the other end side of the preforming die, the preform in the preforming die is A method of molding a friction material, comprising extruding into the middle mold, and then returning the middle mold to a standby thermoforming position of the upper mold and the lower mold to perform a predetermined thermoforming treatment. 2. A friction material forming apparatus for performing a thermoforming process of a preformed product in the step of manufacturing the friction material, wherein a dough accommodating portion for accommodating and holding the preformed product during the thermoforming process is vertically arranged. A thermoforming die that can be divided into an intermediate die that is formed to penetrate through in the direction, an upper die that is overlaid on the intermediate die, and a lower die that is overlaid under the intermediate die; and this thermoforming die is held at a thermoforming position. Hot press mechanism for performing a thermoforming process on a preformed product in a vertical mold at a predetermined pressure and temperature, a thermoforming position where the upper mold and the lower mold stand by for the middle mold, and a molded product separated from the thermoforming position. Pre-forms a medium-sized mold reciprocating mechanism that selectively moves to one of the transfer positions and a pre-molding die with a structure that allows the pre-formed product to be taken out to the other end by pushing the pushing member from one end. Pre-molding position and the molded product transfer position And a preliminary mold advancing / retreating mechanism for positioning the preliminary mold so that the middle mold overlaps with the other end of the preliminary mold when the molded product is moved to any one of the positions. A state in which the molded product in the middle mold that has moved to the molded product transfer position is pushed out to one side of the middle mold, or the empty middle mold overlaps the other end side of the preforming mold at the molded product transfer position. With a molded product pushing mechanism that pushes a preformed product in the preforming mold into the middle mold, and a molded product extruded from the middle mold that has been moved to the molded product transfer position is fixedly held at a predetermined processing position. A friction material forming apparatus comprising a moving-out mechanism.