WO2014168167A1

WO2014168167A1 - Fiber opening device

Info

Publication number: WO2014168167A1
Application number: PCT/JP2014/060259
Authority: WO
Inventors: 基弘水野
Original assignee: トヨタ自動車株式会社
Priority date: 2013-04-09
Filing date: 2014-04-09
Publication date: 2014-10-16

Abstract

Provided is a fiber opening device that excels in fiber bundle opening properties. A fiber opening device (10) comprises a plurality of fiber opening rollers (1) that are rotatable and have a tapered surface, are that are disposed in the feed direction of a fiber bundle (F) and are arranged so that the tapering directions are mutually alternated.

Description

Opening device

The present invention relates to a fiber opening device that is applied when a fiber material forming a fiber reinforced resin member is opened from a fiber bundle.

Fiber reinforced plastic material (fiber reinforced plastic (FRP)), which is made of resin mixed with reinforcing fiber material, is lightweight and strong, so it can be used in various industrial fields such as the automobile industry, construction industry, and aviation industry. Has been.

For example, in the automobile industry, the above-mentioned fiber reinforced resin material is applied to vehicle skeletal structural members such as pillars, lockers, and underfloor floors, and non-structural members such as door outer panels and hoods that require design properties. Attempts have been made to reduce weight while guaranteeing and to produce low fuel consumption and environmentally friendly vehicles.

Carbon fiber is composed of thousands of carbon fiber yarns (filaments) to form a bundle of carbon fibers (fiber bundle, tow). The fiber yarn is opened, and the opened carbon fiber yarn is applied in the form of short fiber, long fiber, or continuous fiber. By sufficiently opening the carbon fiber bundle, the matrix resin can be easily impregnated, the strength of the FRP sheet and the tow prepreg can be improved, and the productivity can be improved.

If the fiber material is not sufficiently opened, an unimpregnated portion of the resin is formed inside the fiber layer in FRP, which causes peeling damage due to insufficient resin.

Here, Patent Document 1 discloses a device that applies a squeak force while pulling a large number of yarns arranged and supplied in one plane with a high tension, and has five openings for performing a fiber opening action. There is disclosed a fiber opening device that includes a fiber bar and in which the fiber opening bar is arranged in a zigzag shape with respect to the traveling direction of the yarn. Each fiber opening bar is a hollow tube, and a number of nozzles are formed at equal intervals in the longitudinal axis direction of the hollow tube, and compressed air is supplied from an air supply source. The jetting air is blown to the yarn passing through the hollow tube.

According to the opening device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the opening of the fluff around the yarn can be eliminated, the opening can be facilitated, and the attachment of the fluff to the hollow tube can be prevented. It is said that the yarn can be opened with quality. However, since squeak is added while pulling the open bundle with high tension, the fiber is rubbed strongly and may be easily cut, and the desired strength of FRP may not be satisfied.

Further, in Patent Document 2, a resin in a molten state is filled in an impregnation bath in which a plurality of opening rollers are alternately arranged obliquely with respect to the fiber bundle travel, and the carbon fiber bundle is applied to the opening roller in the impregnation bath. A method for producing an impregnated strand of carbon fiber is disclosed in which a resin is impregnated while being passed through and opened.

The opening roller used here has a cylindrical shape, and the opening rollers of the same shape are alternately arranged in a zigzag direction, and the fiber bundle is in the process of passing through the opening roller. The resin is likely to be caught in the gap between the roller and the roller. However, since the manufacturing apparatus disclosed here is not intended to sufficiently open the fiber bundle, the opening effect is unknown.

JP-A-5-247716 JP 2011-245755 A

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a fiber opening device having excellent fiber bundle opening properties.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a fiber opening device according to the present invention is configured such that a plurality of fiber opening rollers that are rotatable and have a tapered surface are arranged in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle with the taper directions alternately. .

In the fiber opening device of the present invention, a plurality of fiber opening rollers having tapered surfaces are arranged in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle by alternately changing the taper directions, and the fiber bundle is allowed to pass through the fiber opening roller. As a result, the fiber bundle can be alternately moved in the opposite direction, and in this process, the fiber bundle is unraveled and opened.

Since the fiber opening roller has a tapered surface, the fiber bundle tends to move in the direction downstream of the taper surface (in the direction in which the taper closes) when the fiber bundle passes through the fiber opening roller. In the fiber opening device of the present invention, a plurality of fiber opening rollers are arranged so that the taper directions are alternately reversed, so that adjacent fiber opening rollers on the fiber opening roller Each moving direction is opposite.

Thus, while the fiber bundle moves in the opposite direction between the adjacent opening rollers, the opening roller further rotates to promote the opening of the fiber bundle (or spread of the opening width).

In the form in which the opening roller does not rotate, the contact resistance between the opening roller and the fiber bundle becomes too high, and the tension in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle is larger than the force of the fiber bundle spreading on the opening roller. As a result, the fiber opening effect cannot be obtained sufficiently.

Here, the “opening roller” may be a conical roller having a predetermined taper angle or a truncated conical roller.

In a preferred embodiment of the opening device according to the present invention, the rotation axes of the plurality of opening rollers are parallel.

According to the verification by the present inventors, the opening device in which the rotation axes of the plurality of opening rollers are parallel to each other is a device in which the opening rollers are arranged in a zigzag as described in Patent Document 2. It has been found that a wider spread width can be realized.

Moreover, in the opening device according to the present invention, there are two types of arrangements of the rotation shafts of the plurality of opening rollers.

One form thereof is a form in which the rotation axes of a plurality of opening rollers are on the same plane.

On the other hand, in another form, the plurality of opening rollers are composed of two types of opening rollers having different taper directions, and the opening rollers in one taper direction are all on the same first plane, and the other taper direction These opening rollers are the same and are on a second plane different from the first plane.

The opening device of the present invention is based on a simple structure improvement in which a opening roller having a tapered surface is applied and arranged alternately in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle, and the configuration of the device is also simple.

Also, the amount of opening or the degree of opening can be controlled as desired by adjusting the taper angle of the tapered surface, the rotation speed of the opening roller, and the like.

In addition, the opening rollers applied in one device may all have the same shape (that is, have the same taper angle), or may include two or more types of opening rollers having different taper angles. There may be.

Further, in a preferred embodiment of the opening device according to the present invention, the dynamic friction coefficient μ of the opening roller is in the range of 0.065 to 0.9.

As a result of verification by the present inventors, when the dynamic friction coefficient μ of the fiber opening roller is in the above numerical range, it is specified that the surface of the fiber opening roller can guarantee an appropriate slip and the fiber bundle opening effect is enhanced. Has been.

In addition, the dynamic friction coefficient μ is more preferably in the range of 0.1 to 0.6, particularly in the above numerical range.

When the dynamic friction coefficient μ of the fiber opening roller is in the range of 0.065 to 0.9, the fiber bundle opening width can be secured to 13 mm or more, but when the dynamic friction coefficient μ is in the range of 0.1 to 0.6, the fiber bundle opening width is about 20 mm. It is specified that it can be secured. The opening width of 13 mm is the maximum opening width guaranteed by a conventional opening device (for example, a device in which a fiber bundle contacts and passes through a plurality of cylindrical and rotatable rollers).

Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the opening device according to the present invention, the taper angle of the tapered surface is in the range of 2 degrees or more.

As a result of the verification by the present inventors, it has been specified that the taper angle of the taper surface is 2 degrees and the spread width of the bundle can be secured about 13 mm, and that the spread width increases as the taper angle increases, The numerical range is defined based on the verification result.

As can be understood from the above description, according to the fiber opening device of the present invention, a plurality of fiber opening rollers that have a tapered surface and are rotatable are arranged in the fiber bundle feeding direction with their respective taper directions alternately. By making the fiber bundle contact and pass through this rotating opening roller, the fiber bundle is alternately moved in the opposite direction and the fiber bundle spreads, without applying excessive tension to the fiber bundle, The fiber bundle can be effectively opened.

It is a top view of embodiment (Example) of the fiber-spreading apparatus of this invention. FIG. 2 is a side view of the fiber opening device taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1. It is a side view of the fiber-spreading apparatus which showed the modification of FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view of Comparative Example 1 of the fiber opening device. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing experimental results relating to spread widths of a plurality of rollers in Examples and Comparative Example 1. It is the figure which showed the experimental result regarding the fiber opening width in the some roller when the feeding speed of fiber bundle 60m / min. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating experimental results regarding the spread widths of a plurality of rollers in Example and Comparative Example 2. It is the figure which showed the experimental result which pinpoints the optimal range of the dynamic friction coefficient of a fiber opening roller. It is the figure which showed the experimental result which pinpoints the optimal range of the taper angle of a fiber opening roller. FIG. 10 is a plan view of Comparative Example 3 of the fiber opening device. It is the figure which showed the experimental result regarding the opening width in the some roller of an Example and Comparative Examples 1,3,4.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the fiber opening device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment of opening apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment (Example) of a fiber-spreading apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of a fiber-spreading device showing a modification of FIG.

The illustrated opening device 10 rotates a plurality of opening rollers 1 having tapered surfaces rotatably attached to two fixed plates 2 via a rotation shaft 1a and a wound fiber bundle F. The bobbin 3 provided to the fiber opening roller 1 and a feeding means (not shown) for picking up and feeding the fiber bundle (Y direction) are roughly configured. In addition, A, B, C, D in the figure indicates a fiber opening roller in which the fiber bundle opening amount is measured in a comparative experiment with a comparative example shown below.

The plurality of fiber opening rollers 1 are alternately arranged in the taper direction over the feeding direction of the fiber bundle F.

Further, all the rotating shafts 1a are arranged in parallel.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, all the rotating shafts 1a are arranged on the same plane L1. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, you may vary the plane where the rotating shaft 1a is arrange | positioned for every two types of opening rollers from which a taper direction differs. That is, as shown in the figure, one opening roller 1 in the taper direction is on the same first plane L1, and the other opening roller 1 in the taper direction is the same and is different from the first plane L1. It is the form which exists on the plane L2.

As shown in the figure, the fiber bundle F is in contact with the opening roller 1 on the back side of an arbitrary opening roller 1 and is in contact with the opening roller 1 adjacent to the opening roller 1 on the front side. It is arranged on the front and back surfaces of the plurality of opening rollers 1 while meandering up and down.

The opening roller 1 has a tapered surface, and the taper angle is α. The illustrated opening roller 1 has a truncated conical shape, but a conical opening roller may be applied. In addition, the plurality of opening rollers 1 shown in the figure have the same shape and the same size, but may be an apparatus composed of a plurality of truncated conical opening rollers having different dimensions and taper angles. Good.

Since the fiber opening roller 1 has a taper surface, when the fiber bundle F passes through the fiber opening roller 1, the fiber bundle F tends to move in the downstream direction of the taper surface (direction in which the taper closes). And That is, as shown in the drawing, the opening roller 1 that is closest to the bobbin 3 has the downward direction in FIG. 1 inclined downstream of the tapered surface, and therefore the fiber bundle F tends to move downward in FIG. 1 (Z1 direction). ). On the other hand, in the next fiber opening roller 1, since the upward direction in FIG. 1 is the inclined downstream direction of the tapered surface, the fiber bundle F tends to move in the upward direction in FIG. 1 (Z2 direction). As described above, the movement in the Z1 direction and the Z2 direction is alternately executed for each fiber opening roller 1, and the fiber opening roller 1 is alternately rotated in the opposite direction (X1 direction, X2 direction), thereby opening the fiber bundle F. The fiber (or the spread width) is promoted.

The fiber opening device 10 is based on a simple structure improvement in which the fiber opening roller 1 having a tapered surface is applied and arranged alternately in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle F, and the device configuration is extremely simple. Therefore, the device manufacturing cost is not expensive. And although it is an apparatus of such a simple structure, opening of a fiber bundle can be implement | achieved very efficiently.

Further, it is not necessary to apply high tension to the fiber bundle as in the conventional apparatus, and the fiber bundle can be opened while the fiber bundle is fed with a relatively small tension, and damage that can act on the fiber bundle can be reduced. . According to the inventors, the tension of 50N is required in the case of the conventional apparatus, whereas the illustrated opening apparatus 10 can realize the same opening amount with a tension of about 10N. I know it.

As a method for controlling the amount of opening, there are a method of changing the taper angle of the tapered surface and adjusting the rotation speed of the opening roller.

[Comparison experiment 1]
The present inventors manufactured the opening device (Example) of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the opening device (Comparative Example 1) shown in FIG. 4, and each opening roller A of each device. Experiments were conducted to measure the amount of fiber bundles opened at ~ D.

Here, the opening device De shown in FIG. 4 is a device composed of a bobbin B and a plurality of cylindrical opening rollers R, and all the opening rollers R are fixed without rotating.

In both the example and the comparative example 1, there are nine opening rollers. In the example, the opening roller has a taper angle of 6 degrees and a surface with a dynamic friction coefficient of μ: 0.49.

The fiber bundle is 36K carbon fiber and the width before opening on the bobbin is 9mm. In addition, the feeding speed of the fiber bundle is 10 m / min.

In the example, the bobbin resistance is adjusted so that the tension in the feeding direction applied to the fiber bundle is 10N, while in the comparative example 1, the bobbin resistance is adjusted so that the tension in the feeding direction applied to the fiber bundle is 50N. It was adjusted. The results of the experiment are shown in FIG.

The opening width in the conventional apparatus is 13.0 mm at most, but from FIG. 5 and Table 1, in Comparative Example 1 of this experiment, the opening width was 12.0 mm at maximum.

In contrast, in the example, the fourth opening roller B exceeds the maximum value of 13.0 mm in the case of the conventional apparatus, and the opening width of about 20 mm can be realized in the eighth opening roller D. It was.

In addition, the tension of the fiber bundle in the example is as low as 10 N (20% of Comparative Example 1) as compared to Comparative Example 1, and the damage caused by the tension is extremely small in the fiber bundle.

In the embodiment, the fiber can be opened with a small tension of 10 N, and even when the fiber bundle is fed at a high speed rotation of the fiber opening roller, the contact resistance with the fiber opening roller can be kept low, and the tension change is small.

FIG. 6 shows the result of measuring the spread width in each spread roller when the fiber bundle is fed at a feeding speed of 60 m / min.

Thus, it has been demonstrated that the spread width similar to that in the case of the feed speed of 10 m / min shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained, and that the fiber bundle is hardly damaged even by such a high speed feed.

[Comparison experiment 2]
The present inventors are the opening device (Example) of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the opening roller having a tapered surface constituting the opening device of the present invention, but fixed without rotating. An opening device (Comparative Example 2) having an opening roller was manufactured, and an experiment was conducted to measure the opening amount of the fiber bundle in each of the opening rollers A to D of each device. The results of the experiment are shown in FIG.

From FIG. 7 and Table 2, it is demonstrated that the opening effect cannot be sufficiently obtained only by using the opening roller having a tapered surface, and that the opening roller is also an important factor. Has been.

[Experiment and results to identify the optimal range of dynamic friction coefficient on the surface of the opening roller]
The present inventors conducted an experiment for specifying the optimum range of the dynamic friction coefficient on the surface of the opening roller. In this experiment, regarding the production of the opening device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, five types of opening devices having five types of opening rollers having different dynamic friction coefficients were manufactured, and each of the devices was opened by the opening roller D. The width was measured. The experimental results are shown in FIG. 8 and Table 3 below.

FIG. 8 shows an approximation curve created based on five plots. 8 and Table 3, it is preferable that the dynamic friction coefficient μ is 0.065 or more because the dynamic friction coefficient μ is 0.065 or more and the maximum spread width 13.0 mm or more expected in the conventional apparatus is satisfied. In addition, when the dynamic friction coefficient μ is 0.9, the maximum opening width 13.0 mm expected in the conventional apparatus is obtained, and when the dynamic friction coefficient is higher than that, the opening width is less than 13.0 mm. Therefore, the dynamic friction coefficient μ is preferably 0.9 or less. Therefore, a range of 0.065 or more and 0.9 or less can be specified as a preferable range of the dynamic friction coefficient μ.

Further, from the approximate curve shown in FIG. 8, when the dynamic friction coefficient μ is 0.1 to 0.6, the spread width is about 20 mm, and outside the range, the spread width decreases, so that the range of 0.1 to 0.6 is the dynamic friction. It can be specified that the coefficient μ is in a more preferable range.

[Experiment and results to determine the optimum range of taper angle of the opening roller]
The present inventors conducted an experiment for specifying the optimum range of the taper angle of the opening roller. In this experiment, regarding the manufacture of the opening device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, four types of opening devices having four types of opening rollers with different taper angles were manufactured, and each of the devices was opened on the opening roller D. The width was measured. The experimental results are shown in FIG. 9 and Table 4 below.

FIG. 9 shows an approximate curve created based on four plots. From FIG. 9 and Table 4, the taper angle of the opening roller is preferably 2 degrees or more, since the taper angle is 2 degrees or more and the maximum opening width 13.0 mm or more expected in the conventional apparatus is satisfied.

Further, it has been found from the observation results that when the taper angle exceeds 9 degrees, the fiber bundle is likely to be cracked. Therefore, a more preferable taper angle range can be specified as a range of 2 degrees or more and 9 degrees or less. .

[Comparison experiment 3]
The present inventors further developed the opening device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (in the example, the taper angle of the opening roller is 6 degrees), and the opening device of Comparative Example 1 (the cylindrical opening roller does not rotate). 10), the opening device of Comparative Example 3 shown in FIG. 10 (having a cylindrical opening roller R, the inclination angle β is 15 degrees, and the opening roller R is fixed without rotating), Manufacture each device of the opening device (having a cylindrical opening roller R, the inclination angle β is 15 degrees and the opening roller R is freely rotatable), and the opening with the opening rollers A to D in each device The width was measured. Note that Comparative Example 4 simulates the fiber-spreading device disclosed in Patent Document 2 described. The experimental results are shown in FIG. 11 and Table 5 below.

From FIG. 11 and Table 5, Comparative Examples 1, 3, and 4 still have a maximum opening width of 13.0 mm or less that can be expected with the conventional apparatus, while in the embodiment, the conventional opening roller B has a conventional opening width B. It was found that the opening width exceeding the maximum value of 13.0 mm in the case of the apparatus can be realized by the eighth opening roller D of about 20 mm.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. They are also included in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Opening roller, 1a ... Rotating shaft, 2 ... Fixed plate, 3 ... Bobbin, 10 ... Opening device, F ... Fiber bundle

Claims

A fiber opening device in which a plurality of fiber opening rollers that are rotatable and have a tapered surface are arranged in the feeding direction of the fiber bundle with the taper direction alternately.
2. The spreader according to claim 1, wherein the dynamic friction coefficient μ of the spreader roller is in the range of 0.065 to 0.9.
3. The fiber opening device according to claim 1, wherein the dynamic friction coefficient μ of the fiber opening roller is in the range of 0.1 to 0.6.
The fiber opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the taper angle of the taper surface is in a range of 2 degrees or more.
The fiber opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein rotation axes of the plurality of fiber opening rollers are parallel to each other.
The opening device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the rotation shafts of the plurality of opening rollers are on the same plane.
The plurality of opening rollers are composed of two types of opening rollers having different taper directions, and one of the opening rollers in one taper direction is on the same first plane, and the other opening roller in the taper direction is any The fiber-spreading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, which is also on a second plane different from the first plane.