KR101657749B1 - Apparatus for making continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material, which comprises a widening unit for widening a supplied fiber bundle; A coating portion forming an adhesive coating layer on the fiber bundle; A joining portion in which a thermoplastic film is disposed on at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the fiber bundle and joined to form a joined body; A folding unit for folding the joined body in the width direction to form a laminated body; And a hot-pressed portion for thermally fusing the laminate, and a composite material having excellent flexibility and excellent uniformity and impregnation property can be easily manufactured by folding and fusing a joined body of the unfolded continuous fiber bundle and the thermoplastic plastic film do.

Description

[0001] Apparatus for making continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite [0002]

The present invention relates to a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material producing apparatus, and more particularly, to a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material producing apparatus which forms a joined body of a fiber bundle and a thermoplastic plastic film spread in a plurality of lines, To a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material manufacturing apparatus capable of producing a composite material having an effect of impregnating thermoplastic plastic.

It should be noted that the contents described in this section merely provide background information on the present invention and do not constitute the prior art.

Generally, the composite material is composed of a reinforcement material and a base material. Glass fiber or carbon fiber is used as a reinforcement material, and the base material is classified into thermosetting plastic and thermoplastic plastic.

Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics as composites contain reinforcing materials such as glass fibers and carbon fibers in plastics with relatively low mechanical strength.

Such fiber-reinforced thermoplastics may include short fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (LFT), glass mat-reinforced thermoplastic (GMT), direct long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (D-LFT) And continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics. The term " continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic "

Here, the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin has an advantage of excellent mechanical properties and impact performance as compared with short-fiber or long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastics. Such continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics can be produced using a pultrusion method.

The pearl truing method is to impregnate a continuous bundle of continuous fibers with a continuous bundle of fibers by passing the bundle of continuous fibers through a liquid-phase (or molten) molten bath or a die, which is disadvantageous in that the efficiency of impregnation becomes low when productivity is considered. That is, in the case of a composite material using thermoplastics, since the viscosity is very high as compared with a thermosetting resin, the time required for sufficient impregnation based on the same impregnation length becomes long.

For this reason, a process for producing continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics using powdered plastic and fiber-like plastic has been proposed, which can secure excellent impregnation and productivity, but since the process of making plastic into powder and fiber is added, There is a problem in that it causes an increase in the number of users.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a thermoplastic resin composition which does not directly impregnate a thermoplastic plastic melted in an unfolded continuous fiber bundle, but forms a thermoplastic resin film to form a thermoplastic resin, There is provided a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material manufacturing apparatus capable of manufacturing a composite material having a maximum impregnation property.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a composite material in which various reinforcing materials (for example, glass fiber, carbon fiber, aramid fiber, ceramic fiber, metal fiber, polymer fiber, etc.) To provide a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material manufacturing apparatus capable of securing excellent productivity and producing differentiated products.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for producing continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material, comprising: a widening unit for widening a supplied fiber bundle; A coating part forming an adhesive coating layer on the fiber bundle; A joining portion in which a thermoplastic film is disposed on at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the fiber bundle and joined to form a joined body; A folding unit for folding the joined body in a width direction to form a laminated body; And a hot pressing part for thermally fusing the laminate, wherein the coating part comprises: a coating liquid tank for containing the adhesive; a passing roll at least partially immersed in the coating liquid tank, Wherein the folding roll includes at least one set of bending rolls and a supporting roll, wherein the bending roll is formed by bending a central portion convexly so that a sloped surface is formed at both ends from the center portion, Wherein the support rolls are arranged in correspondence with the inclined surfaces of the bending rolls, the folding parts are arranged next to the at least one set of bending rolls and the support rolls, and the junction body is folded back completely to form the stacked body The present invention is characterized in that it includes a folding roll.

The composite material according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the continuous fiber bundle and the thermoplastic film are joined by the above-mentioned continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material producing apparatus, and are folded in the width direction and thermally fused.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily produce a composite material having excellent flexibility, uniformity, and impregnation properties by folding and thermally fusing a joined body of an unfolded continuous fiber bundle and a thermoplastic plastic film.

In addition, according to the present invention, excellent productivity can be secured by a single device, and various reinforcing materials can be uniformly mixed in a thermoplastic plastic to produce a differentiated composite material.

1 is a side view schematically showing the construction of a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material producing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the widening unit and the coating unit shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.
3A to 3C are views for explaining an example of the folding unit shown in FIG.
4 is a side view schematically showing the construction of an apparatus for manufacturing continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the construction of an apparatus for producing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows an example of the widening unit and the coating unit shown in FIG. 1 in more detail 3A to 3C are views for explaining an example of the folding unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

As shown in these drawings, an apparatus 100 for manufacturing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes: a widening unit 110 for widening a supplied fiber bundle 10; A coating portion 116 forming an adhesive coating layer on the widened fiber bundle 10; A joining portion (120) for forming a joined body (30) by disposing and joining a thermoplastic film (20) on at least one side of an upper side or a lower side of a fiber bundle (10) which is widened and formed with a coating layer; A folding part 130 for folding the joined body 30 in the width direction to form a laminated body 40; And a hot-pressed portion (140) for thermally fusing the layered product (40).

The fiber bundle 10 is not particularly limited as long as it is used for continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastics, but it is preferable to select the fibers appropriately sized according to the thermoplastic plastics to be used for increasing the chemical bonding force. The diameter of the fiber is preferably as small as possible, but is preferably in the range of 5 to 20 占 퐉. The fiber bundle is composed of several to several hundred thousand fibers.

The fibers may be glass fibers, carbon fibers, aramid fibers, ceramic fibers, metal fibers, polymer fibers, etc., which are applicable as reinforcements.

Although not shown, a plurality of fibers are unwound while being wound on a plurality of fiber unwinding rolls and supplied to the widening portion 110 of the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material manufacturing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The widened portion 110 can spread the fiber bundle 10 thus unwound at a desired interval. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the widening unit 110 includes a plurality of suction tuyeres 111. In addition, at least two guide rolls 112 may be provided upstream or downstream of the suction tuyeres 110 or between them. The fiber bundle 10 delivered from the upstream guide roll 112 is conveyed via the downstream guide guide roll 112 through the suction tuyere 111. [

The fiber bundle 10 is strongly attracted by the attraction airflow 111 in the suction tuyere 111 and at the same time it is bent into an arched shape by colliding with the blowing hot air and the fiber bundle 10 10) is unfolded.

The suction airflow generated in the suction tuyere 111 is generated by the vacuum pump 113 and can be adjusted by the airflow adjusting valve 114 at a constant air speed. Hot air generated in the suction tuyere 111 is generated in the hot air 115 and is ejected toward the fiber bundle 10.

By using a plurality of suction tuyeres 111, the fiber bundle 10 can be uniformly or irregularly expanded. The number of suction tuyeres 111 to be used can be changed as needed. The width of the fiber bundle 10 stretched by the widening portion 110 is preferably 10 times or more wider than the width of one fiber and the width of the fiber bundle 10 can be extended to about 100 mm.

The guide roll 112 serves to prevent the fiber bundle 10 from coming off and to guide the fiber bundle 10 to the suction tuyere 111 or the coating portion 116. The guide roll 112 has a central portion May be flat or somewhat concave relative to both ends thereof.

The coating portion 116 includes a coating solution tank 117 and a passing roll 118 for coating the fiber bundle 10 with the coating solution so that the fiber bundle 10 is coated with the coating solution, And a dryer 119 for drying the coating liquid.

The coating liquid tank 117 contains a liquid adhesive made of a thermoplastic plastic of the same series having a melting point lower than that of a thermoplastic film described later as a coating liquid. It is preferable that the coating liquid tank 117 is provided with a heater (not shown) which can be heated at a lower portion thereof.

The coating liquid tank 117 rotatably supports a passing roll 118 in which at least a part of the coating liquid is immersed in order to immerse the fiber bundle 10 in the coating liquid.

The dryer 119 generates hot air, and rapidly dries the coating liquid on the surface of the fiber bundle 10 passing through it.

The fiber bundle 10 is discharged from the guide roll 112 and enters the coating solution tank 117 and is wound around the passing roll 118 to cover the coating solution and then goes out of the coating solution tank 117. The fiber bundle 10 that has passed through the coating liquid tank 117 passes through the dryer 119 to form a coating layer made of an adhesive on the surface of the widened fiber bundle 10. [

The thermoplastic film 20 may be located on the upper side or the lower side of the fiber bundle 10, but may be located on both the upper and lower sides.

The size of the thermoplastic film 20 is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the thermoplastic film 20 has a width of 20 to 100 mm and a thickness of 10 to 100 탆. The width of the thermoplastic film 20 is preferably coincident with the width of the expanded fiber bundle 10. On the other hand, when the thickness is less than 10 탆, the production process is not easy to perform and there is a problem of price rise. When the thickness exceeds 100 탆, it is difficult to fold and difficult to finely control the amount of impregnated thermoplastic. There is a problem that impregnation may be deteriorated.

The content of fibers and thermoplastic plastics in the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastics composites to be produced may be controlled by controlling the width and thickness of the fiber bundle according to the level of widening.

The thermoplastic film 20 is preferably selected from the group consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyamide (PA), polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

The fiber bundle 10 widened in the joint portion 120 and the thermoplastic film 20 are joined together to form a joined body 30. At this time, the joined body 30 may basically include one thermoplastic film and one fiber layer. In addition, the thermoplastic film may further include a thermoplastic film on the upper side or the lower side of the fiber layer, or may further include a fiber layer on the upper side or the lower side of the thermoplastic film It is possible.

The joint 120 may include at least one alignment roll 121 and a heater 122 as shown in FIG.

The central portion of the tumbling roll 121 contacting the thermoplastic film 20 or the fiber bundle 10 may be flat or slightly concave as compared to both ends of the tumbling roll 121, It is preferable to provide the formed stepped portion. By providing the step portion as in the latter, it is possible to prevent the thermoplastic film 20 and the fiber bundle 10 from being separated from each other and to help mutual settlement.

The joining portion 120 can be formed of two joining rolls 121, which are not shown, but are brought into contact with each other. In this case, the fitting roll 121 is flat, and at least one of the fitting rolls 121 can be rotationally driven by a motor (not shown).

Here, the configuration is not limited to only one fitting roll 121 or a pair of fitting rolls, and various mechanisms such as a mechanism combining a plurality of rolls, a mechanism combining a roll and a belt, or the like may be provided in the joining portion.

The heater 122 may generate hot air, such as the hot air 115 described above, or generate radiant heat such as a halogen lamp or an infrared lamp. The fiber bundle 10, which is widened and formed with a coating layer by the heater 122 at a temperature lower than the melting point of the thermoplastic film 20, preferably lower than the temperature at which heat shrinkage of the thermoplastic film 20 occurs, By heating the film 20 together, the coating layer on the surface of the fiber bundle 10 is melted, whereby the fiber bundle 10 and the thermoplastic film 20 are bonded together to form the joined body 30.

Optionally, a coating layer of adhesive may be located on at least one side of the thermoplastic film 20.

The joined body 30 delivered from the bonding portion 120 is folded by the folding portion 130 to obtain the laminated body 40. [ An example of the folding section 130 employed by the apparatus 100 for producing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C.

The folding unit 130 includes a folding roll 131 having a center portion bent convexly and having inclined surfaces formed at its both ends from the center portion, a support roll 132 disposed corresponding to the inclined surface of the folding roll 131, And a folding roll 133 for folding the folded body 30 gradually folded to form a folded laminated body 40 by folding the folded body 30 gradually.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, two sets of bending rolls 131 and support rolls 132 are used. Specifically, the bending roll 131 and the two support rolls 132 shown in FIG. The joined body 30 is folded and bent in a state where both ends thereof are formed at about 30 degrees in the horizontal plane and then the joined body 30 is bent by the bending roll 131 and the two supporting rolls 132 shown in FIG. And both ends are bent at about 60 degrees. The kneading roll 131 and the support roll 132 may be further knitted so that the joining body 30 is gradually folded and bent while making a narrow angle.

Further, by arranging a plurality of folding portions 130 in series, the joined body 30 can be folded several times in the width direction. 1, when the number of times of folding is an odd number, the joined body 30 is folded in the width direction so that the thickness direction of the laminated body 40 is rotated by 90 degrees in the thickness direction of the joined body 30 The thickness direction of the laminated body 40 becomes equal to the thickness direction of the joined body 30 when the number of times of folding is an even number of circuits.

It is necessary to return the thickness direction of the laminated body 40 to 90 DEG for the next step when the thickness direction of the laminated body 40 is the direction rotated by 90 DEG in the thickness direction of the joined body 30. [ An example of a mechanism for rotating the thickness direction of the laminate 40 by 90 degrees is the pivoting roll 134 as schematically shown in Fig.

The thickness direction of the laminated body 40 can be gradually rotated by using the pivoting roll 134 and the thickness direction of the laminated body 40 can be aligned with the thickness direction of the joined body 30. [ The number of revolving rolls 134 may be increased so that the laminated body 40 is gradually rotated while the angle of rotation of the laminated body 40 is reduced.

As the laminate 40 is formed, it passes through the hot-pressed portion 140 so that the laminate arrangement of the composite materials can be maintained.

The heat press portion 140 includes a pair of heating rolls 141. Thermal fusing with these heating rolls 141 can be performed at a temperature of 150 to 450 ° C. If the temperature is too low, the folded state of the bonded body, that is, the lamination of the laminated body 40 can not be maintained, If the temperature is too high, the thermoplastic may deteriorate or burn.

The thermoplastic resin is melted and impregnated into the fibers by making a laminate by folding the laminate and hot-pressing the laminate between the pair of heating rolls 141. Accordingly, Very excellent uniformity and impregnation properties can be exhibited.

In addition, bubbles remaining in the laminated body 40, in which the laminated body 30 of the fiber bundle 10 and the thermoplastic film 20 are folded, are easily folded by hot pressing through the hot-pressed portion 140 Can be completely removed.

In addition, at least the components after the hot-pressed portion 140 or the bonded portion 120 are disposed in a vacuum shield (not shown), so that when the pressing is performed in a vacuum atmosphere, such bubble removal is easier and the remaining bubble is further minimized .

The apparatus 100 for manufacturing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic plastic composite material according to the first embodiment of the present invention may optionally include a cooling section which naturally cools the produced composite material at room temperature, . In the case of performing the natural cooling such as the former, it is possible to wind the composite made on the winding roll 150 while performing the cooling.

4 is a side view schematically showing the construction of an apparatus for manufacturing continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In the second embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the remaining components are the same as those in the first embodiment except that the folding portion and the heat-pressing portion are arranged in a double-layer structure. In the following description of the apparatus 200 for manufacturing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, It will be omitted.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the laminated body 40 obtained through the folding part 130a and the hot pressed part 140a is folded again by the folding part 130b, (40) is bent substantially at the center to make the laminated body (40 ') having a reduced width. Then, the composite material can be obtained by thermally fusing the laminate 40 'by the hot-pressed portion 140b after the thickness direction is rotated by 90 ° by the pivoting roll 134.

The finally obtained composite material can be wound on the winding roll 150 while performing cooling.

Alternatively, for the laminate 40 obtained through the folding portion 130a and the hot-pressed portion 140a, a fiber bundle of the same material as or different from that of the fiber bundle 10 constituting the laminated body 40 10 ') are further bonded to form a joined body 30'. At this time, a widening portion for spreading the fiber bundle 10 ', a coating portion for forming a coating layer made of an adhesive on the fiber bundle, and a bonding portion for bonding the fiber bundle 10' And is positioned between the folding part 140a and the folding part 130b.

For example, if the first fiber bundle 10 is a carbon fiber and the second fiber bundle 10 'is a glass fiber, then a carbon fiber layer and a glass fiber layer are laminated between the thermoplastic films 20 in the finally obtained composite material A mixed fiber layer is present.

As described above, according to the apparatus for producing a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material according to the second embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily produce a composite material in which various reinforcement materials are uniformly mixed in the thermoplastic resin, thereby providing a differentiated composite material.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention but to limit the scope of the technical idea of the present invention by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

100, 200: Continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material manufacturing device
110: broadening portion 116: coating portion
120: joint part 130: folding part
140:

Claims (22)

A widening unit for widening the supplied fiber bundle;
A coating part forming an adhesive coating layer on the fiber bundle;
A joining portion in which a thermoplastic film is disposed on at least one of the upper side and the lower side of the fiber bundle and joined to form a joined body;
A folding unit for folding the joined body in a width direction to form a laminated body; And
A hot-pressed part for thermally fusing the laminate,
Lt; / RTI >
The coating unit may include a coating liquid tank for containing the adhesive, a passing roll at least partially immersed in the coating liquid tank and passing the fiber bundle downwardly, and a drier for drying the adhesive on the surface of the fiber bundle ,
Wherein the folding portion comprises at least one set of bending rolls and a support roll,
Wherein the bending roll has a central portion bent in a convex shape so that an inclined surface is formed from the central portion to both ends,
Wherein the support roll is disposed in correspondence with an inclined surface of the bending roll,
Wherein the folding section comprises a folding roll disposed next to the at least one set of folding rolls and the support roll and folding the folding body completely to form the stacked body. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the widening portion includes a plurality of suction tuyeres,
Wherein the suction throttle is connected to a vacuum pump to generate a suction air flow in the suction throttle. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the suction thunder is connected to a hot air blower to blow hot air from the hot air blower. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the widening section further comprises a guide roll. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the abutment comprises at least one custom roll and a heater. ≪ RTI ID = 0.0 > 11. < / RTI > The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the fitting roll has a stepped portion whose center portion is recessed in contrast to both end portions. The method according to claim 6,
The joining portion is adapted to abut on two fitting rolls,
Wherein at least one of said tail rolls is rotationally driven by a motor. The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the heater comprises at least one of a hot air fan, a halogen lamp, or an infrared lamp. delete The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a pivoting roll for rotating the thickness direction of the laminate. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the hot-pressed portion includes a pair of heating rolls. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the thermal fusion is performed at a temperature of 150 to 450 캜. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the thermal fusion is performed in a vacuum atmosphere. The method according to claim 1,
And a cooling unit for cooling the produced composite material naturally at room temperature or by separately injecting air to cool the composite material. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a winding roll capable of winding the manufactured composite material while naturally cooling the composite material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the thermoplastic film has a thickness of 10 to 100 占 퐉. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a folding portion for forming a laminated body in which the width of the thermally fused laminate body is reduced by the width thereof and a heat press bonding portion for thermally fusing the laminated body having the reduced width. 19. The method of claim 18,
Wherein a fiber bundle of the same material or different material as the fiber bundle constituting the laminate is further bonded to the laminate. delete delete delete

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