WO2010086955A1 - Conveyance member made of cfrp and robot hand employing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a conveyance member made of CFRP which includes a composite material layer (pitch based CFRP layer) of high elastic modulus pitch based carbon fiber reinforced plastic and a flexible resin layer having tensile elastic modulus lower than that of matrix resin composing the pitch based CFRP layer. Specifically disclosed is a conveyance member made of CFRP, in which the pitch based CFRP layer is composed of an unidirectional material comprising carbon fibers oriented in the longitudinal direction of the conveyance member with no break, and which has a structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between at least two pitch based CFRP layers.

Description

CFRP conveyance member and robot hand using the same

The present invention is a lightweight carbon fiber reinforced composite material (Carbon Fiber ReinforcedＣＦPlastic: hereinafter referred to as “CFRP”) which is used for a robot hand attached to an arm portion of an industrial robot. And a member manufactured from a pitch-based carbon material having excellent vibration damping rate characteristics. The present invention also relates to a robot hand using the conveying member as a workpiece support.

A member such as a robot hand of an industrial robot is attached to the tip of a robot arm, and supports, holds, and holds a workpiece through the operation of the robot arm. This industrial robot performs various processing by attaching a machine or welding device, but by attaching a transfer robot hand to the tip of the arm, in particular, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), It is suitably used for substrate transport used in the manufacturing process of precision products such as silicon wafers.

At present, LCDs and PDPs have been spurred by the increase in size, and the size of glass substrates used in LCDs has been increasing. Accordingly, it is necessary to increase the size of these transfer robot hands. Further, the size of the transfer robot hand for the large plasma display panel (PDP) is required to be larger than the transfer robot hand for the LCD.

As materials for conventional transfer robot hands, metals such as iron, stainless steel, and aluminum were used. However, as the mass of transported objects increased, higher elastic modulus, that is, materials that were not easily deformed were required. . Furthermore, the increase in the size of the robot hand has a problem in that the mass (self-weight) of the hand member itself increases, and the deflection of the self-weight increases. On the other hand, the above-described metal material has a limit to increase in rigidity and weight. As an alternative to such metal materials, fiber-reinforced composite materials (Fiber Reinforced Plastic: hereinafter abbreviated as “FRP”) have come to be used. In particular, a conveying member having a so-called solid cross section made of a solid CFRP material has become widespread.

However, in the present situation where the size is further increased, there is a problem that even a solid CFRP material that has been used so far makes the robot hand itself heavy and the deflection due to its own weight becomes large. In addition, if the robot hand becomes heavy, the load on the robot drive system also increases, which may affect the design and cost of the robot itself.

In such a situation, the weight of the conveying member can be reduced by reducing the thickness of the conveying member or by reducing the width of the work support surface. Since bending rigidity falls, the bending (load bending) at the time of supporting a workpiece will become large. In particular, in the case of a robot hand in which a long conveying member is attached in a cantilever manner as a work support part, since the bending at the tip part becomes large, a trouble of colliding with a work storage device (substrate cassette) occurs. was there. In addition, there is a problem that vibration and the like when the work is supported are likely to increase, and the vibration damping characteristics are deteriorated. As a result, there is a risk of hindering work supportability or transportability.

Conventionally, regarding the manufacture of a conveyance member using CFRP, as described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-343476), a plurality of prepreg sheets containing carbon fibers are stacked and heated for thermosetting. The plate-like skin layer made of CFRP and the core layer made of CFRP are molded separately, and the skin layer is laminated on the upper and lower surfaces using the core layer as a core material. There has been proposed a technique of manufacturing by bonding together with an adhesive.

In this case, as the skin layer, a plurality of prepreg sheets with different orientation directions of carbon fibers are laminated to improve bending rigidity, vibration damping characteristics, heat resistance, and the like. In addition, as the core layer, a honeycomb core material made of a metal such as aluminum or a fiber aggregate and a CFRP material are combined to reduce the weight and improve bending rigidity, vibration damping characteristics, heat resistance, and the like. ing.

However, this method is not enough to cope with further enlargement of the robot hand, and further improvement has been demanded.

Under such circumstances, there has been proposed a method for manufacturing a conveying member that further reduces the weight and secures the necessary bending rigidity, vibration damping characteristics, and the like accompanying the increase in size.

In Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-292592), a prepreg sheet is laminated on a predetermined surface of a core material, heated and cured, and then the core material is pulled out, thereby There have been proposed methods of forming a hollow conveyance member, or reducing the weight of a core material to be used and leaving the core material remaining. Further, in Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-292591), similarly, a hollow-structured conveying member is formed, so that a prepreg sheet is wound around a core material in a plurality of layers to simplify the manufacturing process. It has been proposed.

In the proposals in Patent Documents 2 and 3, the deflection due to the weight of the conveying member itself is greatly improved. However, when the weight of the workpiece to be supported by this member increases, vibrations when the workpiece gets on and off may become a problem. is there. In particular, a glass substrate for LCD is stored and transported one by one on a shelf called a substrate cassette so that the substrates do not come into contact with each other. When inserting, it is necessary to wait for the vibration to stop before inserting. As a result, the speed of the production line is reduced, and the productivity is hindered. In addition, the glass substrate itself tends to be thin while its outer shape is enlarged, and the substrate itself is easily bent and vibrated. Therefore, further improvement of the vibration damping characteristics is required for a conveyance member for conveying such a glass substrate.

As a result of further examination of the CFRP conveying member having a hollow structure disclosed in Patent Documents 2 and 3 previously, the present inventors changed the shape of the carbon fiber to be used to a highly elastic pitch-based carbon fiber. Thus, it has been found that vibration damping can be remarkably improved easily (Patent Document 4).

On the other hand, it has been known that an elastic member such as rubber has been used as a material for giving vibration damping properties (vibration suppression and vibration isolation).
JP 2000-343476 A JP 2002-292592 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-292591 WO2005 / 102618

Although pitch-based carbon fibers with high elastic modulus have excellent vibration damping properties, it is difficult to say that they can still cope with the recent large-sized workpiece transport, and further improvements can be made. It was sought after.

In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveying member that further improves vibration damping properties of pitch-based carbon fibers.

As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have reached the following invention.

That is, the present invention provides a high elastic modulus pitch-based carbon fiber reinforced resin composite material layer (hereinafter referred to as pitch-based CFRP layer) and a flexible resin layer having a lower tensile elastic modulus than the matrix resin constituting the pitch-based CFRP layer. It is related with the CFRP conveyance member to be included.

In particular, the pitch-based CFRP layer is preferably a unidirectional material in which carbon fibers are seamlessly oriented in the longitudinal direction of the conveying member. Further, a structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between pitch-based CFRP layers is preferable, and a heat-resistant rubber layer is preferable as the flexible resin layer.

The CFRP conveying member of the present invention has a prismatic pipe shape, and pitch CFRP layers are disposed at least on the upper and lower surfaces of the prismatic pipe, and the flexible resin layer is interposed between the pitch CFRP layers. It is preferable to have a structure.

The CFRP conveyance member is used in a cantilever state, and the rubber layer is preferably inserted in a range of 1/3 or more of the entire length continuously from the fixed end side.

The present invention is also a robot hand attached to the tip of an arm of an industrial robot, comprising a support part for supporting a workpiece, and a holder part for holding and fixing the support part to the arm tip. The present invention relates to a robot hand characterized in that the part is the CFRP transport member described above.

In particular, the present invention relates to a robot hand in which at least two CFRP conveyance members are held and fixed to a holder portion in a cantilever state.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a conveying member that is further excellent in vibration damping without impairing the characteristics of the high elastic modulus pitch-based CFRP material.

The schematic diagram (a), sectional drawing (b), and the partial enlarged view (c) of the member for conveyance which become one Embodiment of this invention are shown. It is a perspective conceptual diagram which shows an example of the robot hand using the member for conveyance in this invention. It is a figure explaining the evaluation method of a vibration damping characteristic. It is a graph which overlaps and shows the result of the vibration damping characteristic of Example 1 (member A for conveyance) and Comparative Example 1 (member D for conveyance). It is a graph which shows the time change of the distortion amount in each Example and a comparative example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance member 11 0/90 degree cross CFRP layer 12 90 degree PAN type CFRP layer 13 0 degree pitch type CFRP layer 14 90 degree PAN type CFRP layer 15 Flexible resin layer 16 Pitch type CFRP layer 17 0/90 degree cross CFRP Layer 18 Fixing hole 19 Suction pad hole 2 Holder 3 Suction pad 10 Robot hand W Workpiece

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view (a), a cross-sectional view (b), and an enlarged cross-sectional view (c) of the bottom plate of a prismatic pipe-shaped CFRP conveying member 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. . FIG. 2 shows a robot hand 10 to which the CFRP conveyance member 1 shown in FIG. 1 is attached. The robot hand 10 is attached to the tip of an arm part of an industrial robot, and supports a workpiece W such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a semiconductor wafer, or a precision device for conveyance. It is used to do.

In FIG. 2, the CFRP transport member 1 is held in a cantilevered state by a holder 2, and a plurality of CFRP transport members 1 are held by the holder 2, thereby forming a fork-like shape as illustrated. A robot hand 10 is configured. The tip portion may remain open, or, as shown in FIG. 2, the prepreg sheet may be bent to close the tip portion when manufacturing a hollow member to be described later. Or the cap which consists of elastic members, such as rubber | gum, may be inserted in the front-end | tip part of an open state. Further, in the case where a sensor or the like is attached to the hollow portion of the conveying member 1 in the air supply pipe for supporting the workpiece W in a non-contact manner, the suction pipe for supporting the workpiece by suction, or the tip of the conveying member 1, etc. Wiring or the like can be arranged. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the three conveying members 1 to which the suction pads 3 are attached are attached to the holder 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two or more conveying members are attached. can do. When the conveying member 1 is attached to the holder 2, the bolts may be bolted using the fixing holes 18. At this time, a buffer material such as a rubber material may be provided on the joint surface between the holder 2 and the conveying member 1. Moreover, the suction pad hole 19 may be provided in the conveying member 1 and the suction pad 3 may be attached as shown in FIG.

The material of the holder 2 is not particularly limited. The holder 2 has sufficient strength to hold the CFRP conveying member 1 in a cantilever state, and the weight increases more than necessary when a robot hand is used. For example, an aluminum material, an FPR material, or a hybrid product thereof can be used. Similar to the conveying member 1, those made of CFRP can be preferably used.

Furthermore, in this example, the conveyance member having a hollow rectangular pipe structure is illustrated, but a plate-like member as shown in Patent Document 1 may be used, and in that case, the plate-like member is disclosed in Patent Document 1. You may comprise the hand shape | molded in the fork-like shape as disclosed, and being fixedly hold | maintained at the holder. Alternatively, a solid structure member may be used. Moreover, the cross-sectional shape is not limited to a rectangle, and various shapes can be selected. Especially, it is preferable to set it as the elongate member which has a hollow structure from a viewpoint of suppressing the bending by dead weight.

Hereinafter, the conveyance member 1 having a hollow square pipe shape will be described as an example.
The conveying member 1 according to the present invention has a structure including a high-modulus pitch-based CFRP layer having excellent vibration damping properties and a flexible resin layer having a lower tensile elastic modulus than the matrix resin of the CFRP layer. In particular, it is preferable to have a structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between pitch-based CFRP layers.

In order to effectively develop the characteristics of the pitch-based carbon fiber, it is preferable to use a material having a certain degree of elastic modulus as the matrix resin. Usually, as the matrix resin, a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin, a phenol resin, a cyanate resin, an unsaturated polyester resin, a polyimide resin, or a bismaleimide resin is used. In this case, a material that can withstand a high temperature and high humidity environment is preferable. In addition, the thermosetting resin is obtained by adding fine particles of rubber or resin to the thermosetting resin for the purpose of imparting impact resistance or toughness, or by dissolving a thermoplastic resin in the thermosetting resin. May be used. In such applications, an epoxy resin which is a thermosetting resin is preferably used.

Any flexible resin layer interposed between the pitch-based CFRP layers can be used as long as it has a lower tensile elastic modulus than the above matrix resin, and an elastic material such as rubber or elastomer is preferable. The tensile modulus of elasticity of the flexible resin layer is 0.1 to 500 MPa, preferably 0.1 to 100 MPa, and more preferably 0.1 to 50 MPa.

Further, as the flexible resin layer, since the conversion from the carbon fiber prepreg to CFRP is performed by thermosetting, it is preferable to use a material that is stable against heat at that time. Furthermore, the flexible resin layer is preferably a material having excellent adhesiveness with the pitch-based CFRP material. From this point of view, the flexible resin material is preferably styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), butyl rubber (IIR), nitrile rubber (NBR), ethylene propylene rubber (EPM, EPDM) or the like. A heat-resistant rubber material is mentioned.

The flexible resin layer may be a single layer of the elastic material as described above, or may be a non-woven fabric such as glass fiber or carbon fiber impregnated with latex.

The thickness of the flexible resin layer increases the vibration damping property, but tends to decrease the mechanical strength and rigidity of the obtained conveying member. Therefore, the thickness of the flexible resin layer is 0.05 mm to 0.7 mm, preferably 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm, more preferably 0.05 mm to 0.25 mm.

高 Use highly elastic pitch-based CFRP in order to have excellent lightness, bending rigidity, heat resistance, etc. In the present invention, 40% or more is used as a volume ratio of the entire reinforcing fiber using pitch-based carbon fibers having a tensile modulus of 490 to 950 GPa as carbon fibers. If the volume ratio is less than 40%, sufficient rigidity cannot be obtained, and a member having high vibration damping characteristics cannot be obtained. Preferably, 60% or more is used. Further, all of the reinforcing fibers used may be high elastic carbon fibers, but some of them are other reinforcing fibers, for example, PAN-based carbon fibers having a tensile modulus of less than 490 GPa, glass fibers, aramid fibers, silicon carbide fibers, etc. Other known reinforcing fibers may be used. For example, when pitch-based carbon fiber is used in a volume ratio of up to 90% with respect to the entire reinforcing fiber, and the remainder is used in combination with other reinforcing fiber, particularly PAN-based carbon fiber having a tensile modulus of less than 490 GPa, mechanical performance, vibration In many cases, favorable results are obtained in terms of attenuation characteristics and cost.

The conveying member 1 is manufactured by a process as described in Patent Document 2, for example. First, as a preparation step, a core material, an original prepreg sheet, and a tape material for a flexible resin layer are prepared. The core material is formed corresponding to the shape of the conveying member 1 and has a certain degree of rigidity so as to function as a so-called address plate when the prepreg sheets are laminated. In order to function as a so-called medium size, a material that does not deform below the heating temperature in the heating process and that can be easily extracted from the CFRP member after heat curing is used. From this viewpoint, as the material of the core material, for example, metals such as aluminum, iron, and stainless steel, MC nylon resin, polyimide resin, and the like are suitable. Since the metal, resin, etc. have a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than CFRP, they shrink by cooling after heating and are easy to extract. Moreover, you may give a mold release material to the surface of a core material as needed. The release material may be any method such as application of a drug (for example, a surfactant) by spraying or the like, or use of a release sheet such as a Teflon (registered trademark) sheet.

In addition, the heating non-deformability at the predetermined temperature means a property that hardly deforms at a heating temperature in a heating process described later. “It hardly deforms at the heating temperature” means that under the heating conditions described later, the core material does not melt, warp, bend, bend, twist, bend, bend, or the like. To tell. The predetermined temperature is, for example, a temperature of about 100 to 190 ° C. or higher according to the thermosetting temperature of the matrix resin of the original prepreg sheet described later.

For example, the core material for producing the conveying member 1 of FIG. 1 is a square material having a horizontally long cross section.

The original prepreg sheet is obtained by impregnating a matrix resin into a carbon fiber sheet, and is an uncured sheet. For example, a plurality of prepreg sheets to be laminated mainly use a unidirectional prepreg sheet in which pitch-based carbon fibers having a tensile elastic modulus of 490 to 950 GPa are arranged without breaks in the longitudinal direction of the conveying member, and the remainder is a tensile elastic modulus. It is preferable to use a PAN-based carbon fiber prepreg sheet of less than 490 GPa. Moreover, as long as the support performance or conveyance performance as a conveyance member is not impaired, it is also possible to add the prepreg sheet containing the said glass fiber etc. or another fiber to a part.

By using a unidirectional prepreg sheet in which pitch-based carbon fibers are arranged seamlessly in the longitudinal direction of the conveying member, it becomes possible to obtain high rigidity and strength and impair the high vibration damping properties of the pitch-based carbon fibers themselves. There is nothing. If a slit or the like is partially provided, these characteristics may be impaired.

As the carbon fiber, the pitch type has a characteristic that the elastic modulus is high, and the PAN type has a characteristic that the tensile strength is high. The original prepreg sheet includes a unidirectional sheet in which reinforcing fibers are oriented in the same direction, and a cross sheet such as a plain woven fabric, a twill woven fabric, a satin woven fabric, and a triaxial woven fabric. As the pitch-based carbon fiber prepreg sheet, it is particularly preferable to use a unidirectional sheet. Such a unidirectional sheet is manufactured, for example, by impregnating a matrix resin with a large number of carbon fiber bundles aligned.

Various types of original prepreg sheets are prepared by using different types of reinforcing fibers, using different ratios of reinforcing fibers to the matrix resin, or changing the orientation of reinforcing fibers. Depending on the application of the conveying member 1, it is preferable to select a plurality of original prepreg sheets to be used so that a CFRP member having an optimum bending rigidity is formed.

In addition, the prepreg sheet piece of a predetermined dimension is similarly formed also about all the said original prepreg sheets selected. Next, a prepreg sheet piece is laminated and pasted on each surface of the core material (lamination step). Since the prepreg sheet piece is in an uncured state and has a certain degree of adhesive force, it is stuck only by sequentially superposing the sheets on the core material subjected to the release treatment.

In this case, while applying heat with an iron or the like, it is closely adhered to the underlying film or sheet, and is adhered and laminated until a desired thickness (for example, about 1 to 7 mm) is obtained. The desired thickness in this case allows for a volume decrease when the prepreg sheet is heat-cured, and is preferably slightly thicker than the required thickness of the CFRP plate of the conveying member 1. A plurality of prepreg sheets are laminated with a unidirectional sheet in which carbon fibers are oriented (hereinafter referred to as “90 ° orientation”) at a substantially right angle (90 ± 5 °) with respect to the longitudinal direction as the innermost (ie, lowermost layer). A plurality of unidirectional sheets that are oriented in parallel (0 ± 5 °) with respect to the longitudinal direction (hereinafter referred to as “0 ° orientation”) are laminated on the upper surface. In this case, in addition to the above sheet, the unidirectional sheet is inclined 45 ° clockwise or counterclockwise with respect to the longitudinal direction of the conveying member, whereby the reinforcing fiber is inclined (45 ± 15 ° or 135 ± 15 °). ) Or a bi-directional cross (woven fabric) prepreg in which reinforcing fibers intersect at right angles with each other (hereinafter referred to as “45 ° or 135 ° orientation”). You may laminate | stack combining the layer which consists of a cross prepreg sheet | seat etc. which orientate the orientation direction of a reinforced fiber in two directions of 45 degrees and 135 degrees by inclining 45 degrees around. In this case, the 0 ° oriented sheet has a longitudinal-direction deflection preventing property and vibration damping property. The 90 ° oriented sheet has the effect of suppressing the collapse of the hollow structure. Furthermore, the torsional rigidity and the torsional vibration damping characteristics are further improved by combining the 45 ° orientated sheet and the 135 ° orientated sheet. About a cross sheet, it has an effect according to the above-mentioned combination of a unidirectional sheet.

Moreover, you may combine winding and sticking of a sheet piece.
For example, the innermost layer winds a cross prepreg sheet around the entire circumference of the core material. Thereafter, the four surfaces are separately laminated in a strip shape, and these laminates are attached to each of the four surfaces of the core material. Finally, a method such as winding the outermost cross prepreg sheet around the entire circumference of the core material may be mentioned. In addition, the innermost layer is a prepreg sheet wrapped around the entire circumference of the core material, and then a prepreg laminated material of a predetermined thickness that has been laminated in advance is wound, and finally the cross prepreg sheet is wound around the entire circumference of the core material. You can also.

When the size of the conveying member is relatively small, for example, when the width is 100 mm or less and the height is 50 mm or less, the 90 ° oriented sheet may be omitted, and only the cross prepreg sheet and the 0 ° oriented sheet may be used. .

In that case, the innermost layer is wound with a cross prepreg sheet around the entire circumference of the core material, and then wound with a 0 ° oriented sheet laminated material of a predetermined thickness that has been laminated in advance, or is attached to four sides of the core material. It is possible to adopt a method in which the cross prepreg sheet is finally wound around the entire circumference of the core material.

As the stacking order, the cross prepreg sheet is preferably the lowermost layer (innermost) from the viewpoint of drilling such as the fixing holes 18 as shown in FIG. By providing the cross prepreg sheet in the lowermost layer as described above, it is possible to prevent fluffing or fluffing that occurs at the processing site when post-processing such as cutting or opening is performed. As a result, the workability is improved and there is an advantage that there is no fear of damaging a precision work such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a silicon wafer. In the example shown in FIG. 1A, an example in which two fixing holes 18 are provided is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a necessary number can be provided according to the size of the conveying member. That's fine.

Further, since the contribution to the properties of the conveying member 1 (that is, bending rigidity, etc.) is higher as the sheet laminated on the upper layer (that is, the outer sheet), the 0 ° oriented sheet is more than the 90 ° oriented sheet. It is preferable to laminate on the upper layer from the viewpoint of preventing warping. Considering this point, the combination of prepreg sheets to be used and the stacking order are determined.

Particularly, in the present invention, a pitch-based carbon fiber prepreg sheet of 490 to 950 GPa is used as the 0 ° oriented sheet.

The flexible resin layer is preferably interposed between the pitch-based prepreg sheets from the viewpoint of further improving vibration damping properties. Specifically, after a plurality of pitch-based carbon fiber prepreg sheets are laminated so as to have a desired film thickness, a tape material that becomes a flexible resin layer is stacked, and the pitch-based carbon fiber prepreg sheet has a desired film thickness. Laminate on it. By heating and curing this, a structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between pitch-based CFRP layers can be obtained.

When a prismatic pipe-shaped member described in the present embodiment is manufactured, the structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between pitch-based CFRP layers is the upper and lower surfaces of the prismatic pipe (upper and lower surfaces when the conveying member is used). Since an effect is acquired by arrange | positioning in a side surface, it is not necessary to interpose a flexible resin layer about a side surface.

In this way, a laminated member in a state where a laminated body of prepreg sheets is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the core material is formed by laminating and attaching the prepreg sheet to all surfaces of the core material. Then, the cross prepreg sheet is wound around the outer periphery of the laminated member by one or a few turns. (Coating process).

The cross prepreg sheet is an uncured sheet obtained by impregnating the matrix resin into reinforcing fibers woven in a plurality of directions. As the reinforcing fibers, woven carbon fibers, particularly PAN-based carbon fibers, glass Fiber, aramid fiber, silicon carbide fiber or the like is preferable. Further, a sheet having high flexibility and adhesiveness is preferable so that it can be covered with the laminated member.

After this coating step, the conveying plate 1 of the present embodiment is formed by pressing a counter plate or the like from four sides, putting the uncured member in this state into a vacuum bag or the like, and heating it. In this case, the heating condition is that the temperature is raised from room temperature at a rate of 2 to 10 ° C./min, held at about 100 to 190 ° C. for about 10 to 180 minutes, and then the heating is stopped and the temperature is lowered by natural cooling to normal temperature. return.

Since all the prepreg sheets contain a thermosetting resin, they are cured in a state where they are adhered to each other on the respective sheet surfaces and sheet edges. Further, in the portion where the flexible resin layer is inserted, a margin portion may be provided so that the sheets arranged above and below the adhesive resin layer are bonded to each other on both ends of the flexible resin layer. The purpose of putting the uncured member in the vacuum bag is to suck air bubbles generated between the sheets in the stacking process and to apply the external pressure (that is, atmospheric pressure) to the uncured member substantially evenly. There is.

Also, an external pressure in a specific direction may be applied to the uncured member. For example, the flatness of the upper surface (that is, the work support surface) of the conveying member 1 is improved by pressing with a weight or the like from above so that no gap is generated between the address plate and the thickness setting plate. Further, the dimensional (particularly thickness) accuracy of the conveying member 1 is increased, and the bonding property at the edge of the prepreg sheet is improved by pressing with a vise etc. in the direction in which the bonding interface is pressed against each other. To do.

Then, the core material is extracted (sampling process). Thereby, the conveyance member 1 having a hollow structure is formed. According to the present embodiment, since the conveying member 1 is configured as a hollow structure rather than as a CFRP solid material, weight reduction can be realized. Therefore, for example, in the case of a long conveying member which is attached to a holder or the like and constitutes a robot hand, it is possible to prevent the tip portion from being bent or vibrated due to its own weight or the load of the workpiece, and the workpiece supporting accuracy and conveying accuracy can be improved. Can be improved.

The CFRP transport member formed in this way preferably has a thickness in the range of about 2 to 20 mm, preferably about 2 to 10 mm, more preferably about 2 to 4 mm at the portion including the flexible resin layer. .

Also, in order to prevent cracking at the time of molding, it is desirable that the prepreg layer laminated on the flexible resin layer has a film thickness after conversion to CFRP of 0.5 mm or more, preferably 1 mm or more.

At this time, another reinforcing fiber, for example, a PAN-based prepreg sheet, may be interposed between the pitch-based prepreg sheets in order to prevent cracking during molding or drilling. Moreover, it is preferable that the pitch-type CFRP layers disposed on both surfaces of the flexible resin layer have the same thickness.

The flexible resin layer may be inserted over the entire longitudinal layer of the conveying member, or may be partially inserted. What is necessary is just to insert in the range of 1/3 or more continuously from the fixed side of the member for conveyance, when inserting partially.

In addition, the air supply path for supporting the workpiece in a non-contact manner, the suction path for supporting the workpiece by suction, or the wiring for attaching a sensor or the like to the tip of the conveyance member, etc. It can also be used as a road. According to the present embodiment, the core member has two functions as a so-called center plate when laminating the prepreg sheet and a so-called middle size when the conveying member 1 is thermoformed. That is, the prepreg sheet can be laminated and the conveying member can be formed at the same time (that is, mutual bonding with the prepreg sheet on the adjacent wall portion).

Further, since the outer peripheral surface is also covered with the cross prepreg sheet, it is possible to prevent fluffing or fluffing that occurs at the processing site when post-processing such as cutting or opening is performed. As a result, the workability is improved and there is an advantage that there is no fear of damaging a precision work such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a silicon wafer.

Also, the covering with the cross prepreg sheet has advantages such as improving the aesthetics by covering burrs and steps generated at the joining part of the prepreg sheet edge, and reinforcing the joining part of the prepreg sheet. In addition, as a manufacturing method of a conveyance member, the method of the said patent document 3 of winding a long prepreg sheet around the outer peripheral surface of a core material and laminating | stacking is also possible.

In the above description, the prismatic pipe shape having a substantially constant cross-sectional shape has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a tapered shape as exemplified in Patent Document 4 or a structure in which a part of the lower surface is removed is used. It is also possible to obtain a further excellent transport member in consideration of the vibration damping effect described in Patent Document 4.

The external dimensions of the conveying member are not particularly limited, and the length is sufficient and sufficient to support the workpiece, and the height and width are the weight of the workpiece to be supported and the robot hand. What is necessary is just to make it optimize suitably according to the number etc. of the conveyance member used.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to the examples.

(1) Unidirectional prepreg sheets A1 and A2
This is an “XN-80” prepreg in which pitch-based high modulus carbon fiber “XN-80” (tensile modulus 780 GPa) manufactured by Nippon Graphite Fiber Co., Ltd. is oriented in one direction and impregnated with epoxy resin. The carbon fiber mass per unit area contained in the prepreg sheet is 250 g / m ² , the epoxy resin content is 33% by mass, and the thickness of one prepreg sheet is 0.21 mm. The unidirectional prepreg sheet A is used as a 0 ° material in which the orientation direction of the reinforcing fibers is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the conveying member.

(2) Unidirectional prepreg sheets B1 and B2
This is a “T700S” prepreg in which a PAN-based carbon fiber “T700S” (tensile elastic modulus 230 GPa) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc. is oriented in one direction and impregnated with an epoxy resin. The carbon fiber mass per unit area contained in the prepreg sheet is 269 g / m ² , the epoxy resin content is 33% by mass, and the thickness of one prepreg sheet is 0.26 mm.

(3) Cross prepreg sheets C and D
This is a “T300” cross prepreg made of PAN-based carbon fiber “T300” (tensile elastic modulus: 230 GPa) manufactured by Toray Industries, Inc., plain-woven so that the carbon fibers are orthogonal, and impregnated with an epoxy resin. The carbon fiber mass per unit area contained in the prepreg sheet is 200 g / m ² , the epoxy resin content is 44% by mass, and the thickness of the prepreg sheet is 0.24 mm. This cross prepreg sheet is laminated so that the orientation angles of the reinforcing fibers are 0 ° and 90 ° with respect to the longitudinal direction of the conveying member.

(4) Matrix resin As the epoxy resin used as the matrix resin, one having a tensile elastic modulus of 2500 MPa measured by curing the resin alone was used.

(5) Flexible resin layer A SBR sheet (tensile elastic modulus: 85 MPa) having a thickness of 0.15 mm was used. The SBR sheet is used only on the upper and lower surfaces of the prismatic pipe, and is not used on the side surfaces.

Example 1
A rectangular MC nylon with a thickness of 11.1 mm and a width of 52.8 mm is prepared as a core material, and a cross prepreg sheet D and PAN-based carbon fibers oriented at 0 ° and 90 ° are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the core material in the innermost layer. Prepreg sheet B2 oriented 90 °, prepreg sheet A2 obtained by orienting pitch-based carbon fibers in the longitudinal direction of the core material, prepreg sheet B1, SBR sheet, prepreg sheet A1, and 0 ° and 90 ° oriented on the outermost layer. The cross prepreg sheets C were sequentially laminated on the core material in the number of layers shown in Table 1 below, and cured by heating. After curing, the core material was extracted, and the width was 60 mm, the height was 18 mm, and the wall thickness (upper and lower surfaces: 3.46 mm, side surface 3). .60 mm) and a square pipe-shaped conveying member A having a length of 2445 mm was obtained. In addition, the lowermost cross prepreg sheet D is wound one layer around the core material, and the prepreg sheet B2, the prepreg sheet A2, and the prepreg sheet B1 are arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the square pipe as shown in Table 1 below. The SBR sheet and the prepreg sheet A1 laminate, the laminates of the prepreg sheet B1 shown in Table 2 below are attached to both sides, and finally the outermost layer is the cross prepreg sheet C all around the core. Wrapped around. In addition, you may laminate | stack all the prepregs by a winding type. In this way, a CFRP conveyance member 1 having a laminated structure as shown in FIG. 1C was obtained. In FIG. 1 (c), 11 is a 0/90 ° cross CFRP obtained from the cross prepreg sheet D, 12 is a 90 ° PAN CFRP obtained from the prepreg sheet B2, and 13 is a 0 ° pitch CFRP obtained from the prepreg sheet A2. , 14 is a 90 ° PAN-based CFRP obtained from the prepreg sheet B1, 15 is a flexible resin layer made of an SBR sheet, 16 is a 0 ° pitch CFRP obtained from the prepreg sheet A1, and 17 is obtained from a cross prepreg sheet C. 0/90 ° cross CFRP.

Example 2
In Example 1, the conveying member B is the same as in Example 1 except that the SBR sheet inserted between the prepreg sheets A1 and B1 has a length from the fixed side to 2/3 in the longitudinal direction of the conveying member. Got.

Example 3
In Example 1, the conveying member C is the same as in Example 1 except that the SBR sheet inserted between the prepreg sheets A1 and B1 has a length from the fixed side to 1/3 of the longitudinal direction of the conveying member. Got.

Comparative Example 1
In Example 1, a conveying member D was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that no SBR sheet was inserted between the prepreg sheets A1 and B1.

Bending vibration damping characteristics were measured by the following method for the conveying members obtained in the examples and comparative examples of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, a range of 175 mm from one end of the conveying member 1 was sandwiched from above and below by a fixing jig 21 and held horizontally in a cantilever state. The strain gauge 24 was affixed on the upper surface and the lower surface corresponding to 250 mm from the fixed portion at a position 75 mm in the longitudinal direction, that is, from the end portion of the conveying member on the fixed side. Initial weight was given by suspending the weight 22 of mass 2 kg to the free end side using the aramid fiber 23, and the conveying member was vibrated by cutting the suspended aramid fiber 23. The vibration damping rate and vibration damping time were measured from the bending strain.

Measurement was performed on a total of four types of conveyance members A to C according to the present invention and a conveyance member D (without a flexible resin layer) as a comparative example.

FIG. 4 shows the vibration damping characteristics of the conveying member A and the conveying member D in an overlapping manner. It can be seen that the vibration damping property is significantly improved in the conveying member A according to the present invention with the flexible resin layer interposed as compared with the conveying member D without the flexible resin layer.

Also, FIG. 5 shows four types of time until the initial strain is attenuated to a predetermined strain amount (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 of the initial strain). As shown in the figure, it can be seen that even if the flexible resin layer is inserted to a length of 1/3 from the fixed side, the effect of improving the vibration damping can be obtained.

Claims (9)

1. A CFRP conveyance member comprising a high elastic modulus pitch-based carbon fiber reinforced resin composite material layer (pitch-based CFRP layer) and a flexible resin layer having a lower tensile elastic modulus than the matrix resin constituting the pitch-based CFRP layer.
2. The pitch-based CFRP layer is a unidirectional material in which carbon fibers are seamlessly oriented in the longitudinal direction of the conveying member, and has a structure in which a flexible resin layer is interposed between at least two pitch-based CFRP layers. The CFRP conveying member according to claim 1.
3. 3. The CFRP conveyance member according to claim 2, wherein the flexible resin layer is a heat-resistant rubber layer.
4. The CFRP transport member has a prismatic pipe shape, and at least two pitch-based CFRP layers are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the prismatic pipe, and the flexible resin layer is interposed between the pitch-based CFRP layers. The CFRP conveying member according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the conveying member has a structure.
5. The CFRP transport member is used in a cantilever state, and the flexible resin layer is inserted in a range of 1/3 or more of the entire length continuously from the fixed end side. 5. A CFRP conveyance member according to any one of items 1 to 4.
6. The CFRP conveyance member according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising a PAN-based carbon fiber reinforced resin composite material layer.
7. The CFRP conveying member according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the outermost layer includes a cloth fiber reinforced resin composite material layer.
8. A robot hand attached to an arm tip of an industrial robot, comprising: a support part for supporting a workpiece; and a holder part for holding and fixing the support part to the arm tip, wherein the support part is claim 1 to claim 2. 8. A robot hand according to claim 7, wherein the robot hand is a CFRP conveying member.
9. 9. The robot hand according to claim 8, wherein at least two CFRP conveying members are held and fixed to the holder portion in a cantilever state.

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