JPH09276774A - Device for impregnating fiber with viscous resin - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for impregnating a fiber with a viscous resin by which the fluff at the contact part of the fiber is removed and the clogging of a film thickness adjusting doctor blade is prevented. SOLUTION: This device consists of a tank 1 for a viscous resin impregnating a fiber, an impregnating roll 3 with the lower part dipped in a liq. resin 2 and rotated, a film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4 positioned above the liq. resin surface of the tank 1 and forming a resin film thereon in uniform thickness and a fiber guide 8 for bringing the fiber 9 in contact with the impregnating roll surface and impregnating the fiber 9 with the resin. A fluff removing doctor blade 5 is arranged between the film thickness adjusting blade 4 and the liq. resin 2 surface with the interval between it and the roll larger than that between the blade 4 and the roll and in the width smaller than the removed material such as fluff, and a resin retaining part is furnished between the edge of the blade 4 and that of the blade 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for adhering and impregnating a carbon fiber with a resin by contacting a roll surface on which a solvent-free liquid liquid thermosetting resin is adhered to the fiber, particularly carbon fiber. The present invention relates to a high-viscosity resin impregnating device for fibers, which has a mechanism for preventing the impregnation precision from being lowered due to defects or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, various methods have been disclosed for coating and impregnating a sheet-shaped material with a high-viscosity resin. However, regarding impregnation of resin into fibers, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-15
A method in which a release sheet such as 8013 is coated with a resin, and it is pressure-transferred with a roll or the like, or JP-A-05-28
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6043 discloses a method of squeezing a yarn after resin impregnation to make the yarn cross-section area constant. However, in the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-158013, there is a concern that the cost of the resin will be high because a step for attaching the resin to the release sheet is installed or a precoated sheet is purchased. Further, in the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-286043, the phenomenon of “rubbing with a yarn”, which is most disliked by carbon fibers or the like, occurs, which leads to a decrease in product quality and a reduction in yield. I can't.

[0003]

As a device for impregnating a fiber with a high-viscosity resin, a method of impregnating the resin by contacting the fiber with a roll surface on which a uniform film thickness of a solventless and liquid thermosetting resin is formed is known. It can be done at low cost. This device will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 7, the resin liquid 22 in the resin tank 21 for accumulating the high-viscosity resin with which the carbon fiber 20 is impregnated is stored.
The impregnating roll 23 is rotated while the lower part is immersed therein. Then, at a position above the resin liquid level in the resin tank 21,
A film thickness adjusting doctor blade 24 is provided on the impregnating roll 23 to form a resin film having a uniform thickness.

However, in the above apparatus, when the fiber itself has a defect such as a fluff ball or a half-cut of the fiber, these adhere to and remain on the impregnating roll 23, and are left in the gap between the doctor blade 24 and the impregnating roll 23. Clogging occurs and it becomes impossible to form a uniform film thickness on the surface of the impregnating roll 23. The resin is not impregnated even if the fiber is brought into contact with the portion where the coating film is not formed. As a result, the resin impregnation rate of the fibers remarkably fluctuates, which causes quality deterioration.

It is also possible to provide a doctor blade 25 for cleaning as shown in FIG. However, since the surface of the impregnating roll is not always covered with fluff, it is not always necessary to clean the surface of the impregnating roll 23. Further, the portion where the impregnating roll 23 and the carbon fiber are in contact with each other is linear and very narrow. Therefore, removing all the resin from the surface of the impregnating roll 23 with the cleaning doctor blade 25 and discarding it means that about 80% of the resin liquid 2 in the resin tank 1 is not used for impregnating the fibers, It will be discharged and discarded, resulting in higher resin costs.

Therefore, in the present invention, even if fluff or the like adheres to the surface of the impregnating roll, it is possible to effectively remove the fluff at the portion in contact with the fiber and prevent the doctor blade for adjusting the film thickness from being clogged. An object of the present invention is to provide a high-viscosity resin impregnating device for fibers.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a resin tank for accommodating a high-viscosity resin to be impregnated into fibers, and a resin liquid in the resin tank having a lower portion. An impregnating roll that is immersed and rotated, a doctor blade that is located above the resin liquid level in the resin tank and that forms a resin film with a uniform thickness on the rotating impregnating roll, and carbon on the impregnating roll surface. In a fiber high-viscosity resin impregnation device consisting of a fiber guide device that contacts fibers and impregnates carbon fibers with resin, the distance between the impregnating rolls and film thickness is adjusted between the doctor blade for film thickness adjustment and the resin liquid surface. A doctor blade for removing fluff, which is wider than the doctor blade for cleaning and smaller than the removal material such as fluff, and a resin retention portion provided between the doctor blade for adjusting the film thickness and the fluff removing doctor blade. It is a high viscosity resin impregnator to fiber characterized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of fluff removing doctor blades having a larger interval between the impregnating rolls are provided closer to the resin liquid surface, and a resin retention portion is provided above each fluff removing doctor blade. The high-viscosity resin impregnating device for fibers according to claim 1, characterized in that.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that a doctor blade for changing the position of the fluff is provided on the surface of the impregnating roll after the fiber of the high-viscosity resin impregnating device is brought into contact with the fiber. High-viscosity resin impregnation device.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, two doctor blades are used in a stacked manner, the upper side is for adjusting the film thickness, and the blade gap is adjusted to the target film thickness setting gap. The lower side is for fluff removal, and the blade gap is arranged at a length not less than the molding film thickness level. The fluff is prevented from being caught in the blade gap of the fluff removing doctor blade and being supplied to the film thickness adjusting doctor blade. At this time, the fluff is caught on the fluff removing doctor blade and the supply of the resin to the impregnating roll surface is stopped, but on this part of the impregnating roll surface, the resin is retained from the resin retention portion located above the fluff removing doctor blade. Supplied around
A uniform resin is formed on the surface of the impregnating roll that has passed through the film thickness adjusting doctor blade. In the resin retention portion, the interval between the fluffing doctor blade and the impregnating roll is wider than that of the film thickness adjusting doctor blade, so that the resin always retains.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing a fluff removing doctor blade which gradually narrows the interval between the pair of impregnating rolls, the fluff removing doctor blade is removed according to the size of the fluff, and the clog of the fluff removing doctor blade is removed. It acts to disperse.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned structure for providing the fluff removing doctor blade, the fluff position changing doctor blade may be provided at an appropriate position on the surface of the impregnating roll so as to adhere to the surface of the impregnating roll. By changing the position of the fluff, even if a large number of fluffs are caught by the fluff removing doctor blade, the fluff is caught at a position different from the position where the fibers are impregnated, so that stable continuous operation can be performed.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are views showing a main part of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used to make a fiber contain a high-viscosity resin, and it will be described particularly with an example of a high-viscosity resin impregnation apparatus for carbon fiber. In the resin tank 1, a high-viscosity resin for impregnating carbon fibers, for example, a thermosetting resin liquid 2 having a high viscosity of 100 to 100,000 cp.
Is stored. An impregnating roll 3 is rotatably provided in the resin liquid 2 in the resin tank 1 while immersing the lower part. Then, at a position above the resin liquid level in the resin tank 1,
A film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4 for forming a resin film 11 having a uniform thickness is provided on the impregnating roll 3. The resin impregnation rate is determined by changing the thickness of the coating film in the gap between the film thickness adjusting blade 4 and the impregnating roll 3.

Doctor blade 4 for adjusting film thickness and resin tank 1
The fluff removing doctor blade 5 is provided between the resin liquid surface and the resin liquid surface such that the interval between the impregnating rolls is larger than the film thickness adjusting doctor blade and smaller than the removed substance such as fluff. The interval between the pair of impregnating rolls is determined by the thickness of the fiber and the material to be removed such as fluff.
When resin is impregnated into ˜12,000 bundled carbon fibers, the interval between the film thickness adjusting doctor blade 3 and the impregnating roll is set to about 100 μm, and the interval between the fluffing doctor blade and the impregnating roll is set to 200 μm.

Between the blade edge of the film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4 and the upper surface of the blade edge of the fluff removing doctor blade 5, there is provided a space of a resin retaining portion 6 capable of retaining an appropriate amount of resin. The size of the resin stagnation portion 6 is not particularly limited as long as it has a volume capable of replenishing the resin at least in the portion missing by the fluff 7. However, when the fluff 7 to be removed is small and the gap between the fluff removing doctor blade 5 and the impregnating roll is small, the resin is applied to the removed portion of the fluff 7. Since it is necessary to reliably replenish the resin, it is necessary to make the resin retention portion 6 relatively large so that the resin can be stored little by little during operation without the fluff 7.

The doctor blades 4 and 5 are made of the same material as a normal doctor blade. Reference numeral 8 in the drawing denotes a carbon fiber guide device such as a guide roll for contacting the surface of the impregnating roll 3 with the carbon fiber 9 and impregnating the carbon fiber 9 with a resin.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and the impregnating roll 3 is rotated so that the resin adheres to the peripheral surfaces of the two doctor blades. The resin liquid 2 adheres to the peripheral surface of the impregnating roll 3 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and reaches the two doctor blades as the impregnating roll 3 rotates. Since the interval between the fluffing doctor blade 5 and the impregnating roll is formed wider than that of the film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4,
Since only a part of the resin liquid 2 that has passed the fluffing doctor blade 5 can pass through the film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4, the resin liquid that cannot pass is accumulated in the resin retaining portion 6.

When the portion where the fluff 7 is attached to the surface of the impregnation roll 3 reaches the fluff removing doctor blade 5, the fluff 7 is removed by the fluff removing doctor blade 5.
Since the gap between the pair of impregnating rolls is smaller than the width of the fluff, the fluff 7 is captured by the fluff removing doctor blade 5. At this time, the resin around the fluff 7 bypasses the fluff 7 as shown by the arrow in FIG.
Eliminate the resin-free part. Therefore, a resin film is uniformly formed on the surface of the impregnating roll 3 which has passed through the film thickness adjusting doctor blade 4.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which two fluff removing doctor blades 5 are provided. By providing a plurality of fluff removing doctor blades 5 in this manner, it is possible to disperse large fluff and small fluff on separate fluff removing doctor blades and hook them, thereby more efficiently removing fluff. It is possible to operate for a longer time. In addition, although the embodiment in which two fluff removing doctor blades 5 are provided is shown, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this and three or more fluff removing doctor blades 5 may be provided.

The position of the fluff attached to the impregnating roll 3 is often near the position 12 where the fiber and the impregnating roll contact each other, and the fluff hardly moves even when the impregnating roll 3 passes through the dipping layer. Therefore, even if the impregnating roll 3 rotates and reaches the position of the fluff removing doctor blade, the fluff adhesion position in the roll axial direction is almost the same as the vicinity of the contact position 12 between the fiber and the impregnating roll 3. For this reason, the fluff is concentrated and deposited on the fluff removing doctor blade at substantially constant positions in the three axial directions of the impregnating roll, and the fluff removing doctor blade may be locally and early blocked. In such a case, by locally changing the fluff adhesion position of the impregnating roll, it is possible to prevent the fluff removing doctor blade from being locally blocked.

FIG. 5 shows a mode for improving the above points. In this example, after the carbon fibers are brought into contact with the surface of the impregnating roll 3, a fluff position changing doctor blade 10 is formed on the peripheral surface of the impregnating roll 3 so as to be slightly inclined with respect to the roll axis. The distance between the blades and the impregnating rolls can be determined in consideration of the blocking state of the fluff removing doctor blade 5 as described later. Fluffs 7 present on the impregnating roll 3 that are larger than this spacing are
Get stuck on 0. At this time, since the fluff position changing doctor blade 10 is provided so as to be slightly inclined with respect to the axial direction of the impregnating roll, the caught fluff 7 moves on the blade to one end below the inclination as shown by the arrow in FIG. Then, return from one end of the blade to the resin tank. Fluff 7 returned to the resin tank
Moves gradually in the resin liquid and again moves upward by the impregnating roll to reach the fluffing doctor blade.
However, at this time, since the fluff is moving in the resin, the roll axial position of the fluff when reaching the fluff removing doctor blade again by the impregnation roll is different from the position where the roll comes into contact with the fiber. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the fluff from locally depositing and prematurely closing the gap.

If the distance between the pair of impregnating rolls of the blade 10 is widened, the position of fluff larger than this distance can be changed as described above. Further, the smaller fluff 7 reaches the fluff removing doctor blade 5 in the almost contact position and is removed there. Therefore, when the clogging due to the local accumulation of the fluff removing doctor blade 5 is significant, the interval between the fluff position changing doctor blades 10 may be reduced to reduce the size of the fluff to be changed in position. In this way, the interval between the impregnating rolls of the fluff position changing doctor blade 10 may be determined in consideration of the blocking state of the fluff removing doctor blade 5.

Since the present invention is particularly effective for removing small fluff, it is possible to remove large fluff and dust as shown in FIG.
The resin containing dust is completely removed from the surface of the impregnating roll 23 by the doctor blade 25 for cleaning as shown in FIG. And in this resin receiving tray, a lot of fluff with relatively large stitches,
It goes without saying that it is also possible to use a structure in which a net capable of removing only dust is provided on the bottom or the like, the resin is passed through the resin receiving tray, and the resin from which only large fluff or the like has been removed is returned to the resin tank.

[0024]

As described above, the present invention has a simple structure and can be manufactured at a low cost. In addition, the conventional impregnation of fibers due to clogging is eliminated, the quality is stable, and the operation is stopped due to clogging. Cleaning work can be reduced and productivity is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing an embodiment in which two fluffing doctor blades of the semi-invention are provided.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a resin impregnating device for fibers.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Resin Tank 2 Resin Liquid 3 Impregnation Roll 4 Doctor Blade for Film Thickness Adjustment 5 Doctor Blade for Fluff Removal 6 Resin Retaining Part 7 Fluff 8 Carbon Fiber Guide Device 9 Carbon Fiber 10 Doctor Blade for Changing Fluff Position 11 Resin Film 12 Fiber Contact Position 20 Fiber 21 Resin tank 22 Resin liquid 23 Impregnation roll 24 Doctor blade for film thickness adjustment 25 Doctor blade for cleaning 26 Resin receiving tray

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Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A resin tank for storing a high-viscosity resin to be impregnated into a fiber, an impregnating roll which is rotated by immersing a lower part in a resin liquid of the resin tank, and an impregnating roller which is located above the resin liquid surface of the resin tank and rotates. In a high-viscosity resin impregnation device for fibers, which comprises a doctor blade for adjusting the film thickness that forms a resin film with a uniform thickness on the roll, and a carbon fiber guide device that contacts the surface of the impregnation roll and impregnates the resin with the resin, Between the film thickness adjusting doctor blade and the resin liquid surface, the distance between the impregnating rolls is set to be larger than the film thickness adjusting doctor blade and smaller than the substance to be removed such as fluff, and the fluff removing doctor blade, and the film thickness adjusting An apparatus for impregnating high-viscosity resin into fibers, comprising: a resin retention portion provided between a doctor blade for hair removal and a doctor blade for fluff removal. 2. A plurality of fluff removing doctor blades having an interval between the impregnating rolls increasing toward the liquid surface of the resin are provided, and a resin retention portion is provided above each fluff removing doctor blade. The high-viscosity resin impregnating device for fibers according to 1. 3. A carbon fiber characterized in that a doctor blade for changing the position of fluff is provided on the surface of the impregnating roll after the fiber of the high-viscosity resin impregnating device is brought into contact with the fiber according to claim 1 or 2. High viscosity resin impregnation device.