WO2021199696A1

WO2021199696A1 - Fiber bundle adhesion device

Info

Publication number: WO2021199696A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/004967
Authority: WO
Inventors: 潤稲垣
Original assignee: 東レエンジニアリング株式会社
Priority date: 2020-03-31
Filing date: 2021-02-10
Publication date: 2021-10-07
Also published as: JP2021160129A

Abstract

Provided is a fiber bundle adhesion device whereby it is possible to prevent the position of a fiber bundle from being offset during adhesion. Specifically provided is a fiber bundle adhesion device 1 for adhering a fiber bundle A to a prescribed adhesion site on an adhesion surface 5a using a thermosetting adhesive. The fiber bundle adhesion device 1 comprises at least a fiber bundle A feed device (feeder 9), an adhesive application means 7 that applies the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle A and/or the adhesion site, and a pressing means 10 that presses and adheres the fiber bundle A to the adhesion surface 5a. The fiber bundle adhesion device 1 further comprises a heating means 8 that heats the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive application means 7 before the pressing and adhering operation by the pressing means 10.

Description

Fiber bundle pasting device

The present invention relates to a fiber bundle affixing device that manufactures a fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) molded product or the like by affixing a fiber bundle to a surface to be attached.

It is known that a fiber reinforced plastic (FRP: Fiber Reinforced Plastics) molded product having a desired shape can be manufactured by attaching a fiber bundle such as carbon fiber to the surface to be attached to the work.

There are various names for manufacturing FRP molded products, such as ATL (Auto Tape Layup) method, ATW (Auto Tape Welding) method, and AFP (Auto Fiber Welding) method, but these manufacturing methods are strictly distinguished. is not it. In the present specification, a manufacturing method in which a fiber bundle is pressed and attached to a surface to be attached is collectively referred to as an ATL method, and the device (fiber bundle attaching device) is referred to as an ATL device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a construction method for implementing the ATL method. In this construction method, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is provided on one or both sides of a fiber reinforced plastic sheet, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to repair parts and reinforcing parts of columns and beams of concrete structures, car bodies, ships, aircraft, etc. After the fiber reinforced plastic sheet is attached using the layer, the fiber reinforced plastic sheet is cured by a curing method such as room temperature curing, heat curing, or photocuring to obtain a reinforced composite material structure.

JP-A-2002-47809

However, in the method of attaching the reinforced composite material described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the fiber reinforced plastic sheet may be misaligned at the time of attachment. Specifically, curing methods such as room temperature curing, heat curing, and photocuring are performed after the fiber-reinforced plastic sheet is attached, and the adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive, which cures under pressure. Since it is after pasting, the adhesive layer is not cured at all at the time of pasting, so it lacks tackiness at the time of pasting, and the position of the fiber reinforced plastic sheet shifts at the time of pasting. There was a problem that

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a fiber bundle pasting device capable of preventing misalignment of fiber bundles during pasting.

In order to solve the above problems, the fiber bundle sticking device of the present invention is a fiber bundle sticking device that sticks a fiber bundle at a predetermined sticking position on a sticking surface using a thermosetting adhesive. The fiber bundle sticking device is a transport device for the fiber bundle, an adhesive applying means for applying the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle and / or the sticking position, and the fiber bundle on the sticking surface. It is characterized by having at least a pressing means for pressing and sticking to the adhesive, and further having a heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive applying means prior to the pressing and sticking operation by the pressing means. It is said.

The fiber bundle pasting device of the present invention further has a heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive applying means prior to the pressing and pasting operation by the pressing means. The fiber bundle can be attached to the surface to be attached with the curing started and the fiber bundle having an appropriate tack property.

Further, as the adhesive coating means, it is preferable to have only the fiber bundle coating means for applying the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle.

By doing so, the size of the fiber bundle attaching device can be reduced, and in some cases, the fiber bundle can be impregnated with an adhesive.

Further, as the heating means, it is preferable to have only the fiber bundle heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied to the fiber bundle by the anti-fiber bundle coating means.

By doing so, the size of the fiber bundle pasting device can be reduced.

Further, it is preferable that the heating means heats the thermosetting adhesive by radiant energy.

By doing so, the accuracy of temperature control during heating can be improved.

Further, the thermosetting adhesive has a property that after the start of the curing reaction triggered by heating by the heating means, the curing reaction is promoted by its own reaction heat without external heating. good.

By doing so, it is not necessary to continuously heat the fiber bundle after the fiber bundle is attached to the surface to be attached.

The fiber bundle pasting device of the present invention can prevent the fiber bundle from being misaligned during pasting.

It is a perspective view which shows the schematic structure of the whole ATL apparatus in this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the ATL head in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state of picking up a fiber bundle in the ATL apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the ATL head in another embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the ATL head in another embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detail of the ATL head in another embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, the fiber bundle pasting device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the entire ATL device 1 (fiber bundle pasting device) according to the embodiment. The ATL device 1 provides an articulated robot 2, an ATL head 3 attached to the tip of an arm 2a of the articulated robot 2, a fiber bundle transporting means 4 for supplying and transporting a fiber bundle A to the ATL head 3, and a fiber bundle A. It is configured to include a mounting table 13 for mounting, a work table 6 for holding the work 5, and the like.

The work 5 in the present embodiment is made of, for example, an injection-molded product of a thermoplastic resin, and is reinforced by attaching a fiber bundle A made of carbon fibers to the surface thereof. The shape of the work 5, the position where the fiber bundle A is attached, and the length at which the fiber bundle A is attached are predetermined by design.

Further, in the present embodiment, the fiber bundle A is in a state of being impregnated with a minimum amount of thermoplastic resin in order to prevent the carbon fibers from falling apart, and at least a part of the fiber bundle A is not impregnated with the resin. There is an unimpregnated region that is a region. That is, it is different from the so-called prepreg tape or UD tape in which the entire fiber bundle is impregnated with resin.

As the articulated robot 2, a commercially available general-purpose industrial robot can be used. The ATL head 3 is attached to the tip of the arm 2a of the articulated robot 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of the ATL head 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ATL head 3 has an adhesive coating means 7, a heating means 8, a feeder 9, and a pressing means 10. The adhesive coating means 7 applies a thermosetting adhesive to the surface of the fiber bundle A sent from the feeder 9 toward the pressing means 10 on the side facing the work 5, and the heating means 8 heats the surface. When the pressing means 10 presses the fiber bundle A having the heated thermosetting adhesive against the surface 5a to be attached to the work 5, the fiber bundle A is attached to the work 5.

The adhesive coating means 7 is connected to the pressing means 10 via a connecting plate (not shown), and is located between the feeder 9 and the heating means 8 in the feeding path of the fiber bundle A.

The adhesive application means 7 has an opening having a width equal to the width of the fiber bundle A on the surface facing the fiber bundle A conveyed from the feeder 9 to the pressing means 10, and is piped from an adhesive supply means (not shown). The adhesive supplied via 7a is applied to the fiber bundle A through this opening. In this description, the means for applying the adhesive to the fiber bundle A like the adhesive coating means 7 is also referred to as the anti-fiber bundle coating means.

The adhesive applied by the adhesive applying means 7 to the fiber bundle A is a thermosetting adhesive, and includes, for example, epoxy-based, urethane-based, and polyester-based adhesives. Among these, for example, an epoxy-based thermosetting adhesive has a property that an exothermic reaction occurs triggered by a temperature rise to a predetermined temperature and the curing reaction is promoted by its own heat of reaction.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, at least a part of the fiber bundle A has an unimpregnated region which is a region not impregnated with the resin. In this case, by applying the thermosetting adhesive, it is possible to establish a state in which the fiber bundle A can be attached to the work 5 and impregnate the fiber bundle A with a resin (thermosetting adhesive) at the same time. ..

The heating means 8 is connected to the pressing means 10 via a connecting plate (not shown), and is located between the adhesive applying means 7 and the pressing means 10 in the feeding path of the fiber bundle A.

The heating means 8 includes an optical system (not shown) such as a reflector or a lens, and heat applied to the fiber bundle A in front of the pressing means 10 prior to the pressing and pasting operation by the pressing means 10. The curable adhesive is non-contactly heated by radiant energy. In this description, the one that heats the adhesive applied to the fiber bundle A like the heating means 8 is also referred to as the fiber bundle heating means.

A non-contact temperature sensor (not shown) is attached to the case of the heating means 8. The temperature of the fiber bundle A is measured by this temperature sensor, and based on this measured value, the output of the heating means 8 is controlled by a control unit (not shown), and the temperature of the fiber bundle A (the temperature of the thermosetting adhesive) is adjusted. It is maintained at a predetermined temperature that is optimal for pasting. In the present embodiment, the heating means 8 heats the object by radiant energy, and the temperature can be easily controlled as compared with, for example, the hot air method.

Here, when a part of the fiber bundle A is pre-impregnated with the thermoplastic resin, the thermosetting adhesive and the thermoplastic resin so that the curing temperature of the thermosetting adhesive is lower than the melting point of the thermoplastic resin. Is selected, and the fiber bundle A is heated by the heating means 8 to a temperature between the curing temperature of the thermosetting adhesive and the melting point of the thermoplastic resin. By heating in this way, the thermosetting adhesive starts to cure, and the thermoplastic resin does not melt but starts to soften. By doing so, both the curing of the thermosetting adhesive and the softening of the thermoplastic resin have started, and the fiber bundle A can be optimally attached to the work 5. In this case, the heating temperature is preferably a temperature lower than the glass transition temperature of this thermoplastic resin. This prevents the composition of the thermoplastic resin from changing, and the strength of the thermoplastic resin can be maintained.

The feeder 9 is a transfer device for the fiber bundle A in the ATL head 3, and is connected to the pressing means 10 via a connecting plate (not shown). The fiber bundle A is sandwiched by a set of rollers, and the rollers rotate. By driving, the fiber bundle A is sent out toward the pressing roller 10a of the pressing means 10.

Note that the feeder 9 may include a set of transport belts, and the fiber bundle A may be sandwiched between these transport belts for transport. At this time, a heater may be arranged inside the transport belt so that the transport belt can be preheated to a predetermined temperature, and the fiber bundle A may be preheated.

The pressing means 10 is configured such that the pressing roller 10a is attached to the base portion 10c via the roller support portion 10b. The pressing roller 10a presses the fiber bundle A against the surface to be attached 5a, and a cylinder portion 10d, which is an air cylinder that applies pressure to the pressing roller 10a, is arranged in the roller support portion 10b.

The fiber bundle transporting means 4 shown in FIG. 1 includes a mounting table 13 on which a fiber bundle A cut to a predetermined length is loaded, a pickup hand 14 that picks up the fiber bundle A one by one from the mounting table 13, and a pickup hand 14. The

gantry shafts

15 and 16 are included to move the

gantry shafts

15 and 16 in the vertical and horizontal directions.

The pickup hand 14 includes a plurality of vacuum suction chucks 14a, and the vacuum suction chucks 14a pick up the fiber bundles A loaded on the mounting table 13 one by one.

The work 5 to which the fiber bundle A is attached has various shapes (three-dimensional shapes). Therefore, in the ATL head 3, in order to keep the pressing state of the pressing roller 10a against the fiber bundle A constant, the pressing roller 10a is attached from the direction (normal direction) orthogonal to the tangential direction of the attachment surface 5a of the work 5. The posture (tilt) of the ATL head 3 is controlled so as to press 5a. For example, the attitude control of the ATL head 3 with respect to the work 5 is performed based on the three-dimensional design data of the work 5.

Next, the operation of attaching the fiber bundle A by the ATL device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, when the ATL device 1 is started, the

gantry shafts

15 and 16 operate, and as shown in FIG. 3, the pickup hand 14 picks up only one fiber bundle A on the mounting table 13. At this time, the vacuum chuck 14a sucks and picks up the fiber bundle A with both ends (at least one end) of the fiber bundle A protruding from both ends of the pickup hand 14 in the length direction.

Next, the pickup hand 14 moves to the delivery position. The fiber bundle A held by the pickup hand 14 at the delivery position is delivered to the feeder 9 in the ATL head 3. The delivery position may be within the common area of the movable area of the pickup hand 14 by the gantry axes 15 and 16 and the movable area of the ATL head 3 by the articulated robot 2, and the position is not particularly limited.

At the delivery position, the articulated robot 2 operates so that one end of the fiber bundle A held by the pickup hand 14 is slightly inserted into the upper insertion port (not shown) of the feeder 9 in the ATL head 3, and the feeder 9 is operated. Makes a bowing action.

When one end of the fiber bundle A is inserted into the feeder 9 for a predetermined length, the suction of the vacuum chuck 14a is released, and the fiber bundle A is delivered to the ATL head 3. At the same time, the feeder 9 operates to convey the fiber bundle A to a predetermined standby position.

Next, the articulated robot 2 operates, and the ATL head 3 moves to the attachment start position. Subsequently, the articulated robot 2 operates, and the pressing roller 10a is pressed against the surface to be attached 5a.

At this time, the feeder 9 operates at the timing when the pressing roller 10a comes into contact with the surface to be attached, and the fiber bundle A is placed so that the tip of the fiber bundle A is just sandwiched between the pressing roller 10a and the surface to be attached 5a. Transport.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the adhesive coating means 7 and the heating means 8 operate, and the thermosetting adhesive is applied to the fiber bundle A conveyed to the pressing roller 10a by the feeder 9 and heated.

Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the ATL head 3 moves and swings on the sticking surface 5a of the work 5 along the sticking path of the fiber bundle A, and sticks the fiber bundle A to the sticking surface 5a. To go. During that time, the feeder 9 is operating to convey and supply the fiber bundle A. Further, the adhesive coating means 7 and the heating means 8 apply the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle A and heat it.

When the fiber bundle A is completely attached to the affixed surface 5a to the rear end, the operations of the adhesive applying means 7 and the heating means 8 are stopped, and the pressing roller 10a presses the affixed surface 5a by the operation of the articulated robot 2. Is released, and the attachment of one fiber bundle A is completed.

Hereinafter, the same operation is repeated, and the fiber bundle A is attached on the surface to be attached 5a.

Next, the effect of the fiber bundle pasting device of the present invention will be described.

The fiber bundle sticking device 1 of the present invention is a fiber bundle sticking device 1 that sticks the fiber bundle A to a predetermined sticking position on the sticking surface 5a using a thermosetting adhesive. The sticking device 1 is a transport device (feeder 9) for the fiber bundle A, an adhesive applying means 7 for applying a thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle A and / or the sticking position, and the fiber bundle A on the sticking surface 5a. It has at least a pressing means 10 for pressing and sticking to the adhesive, and further has a heating means 8 for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive applying means 7 prior to the pressing and sticking operation by the pressing means 10. It is a feature.

The fiber bundle pasting device 1 further has a heating means 8 for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive applying means 7 prior to the pressing and pasting operation by the pressing means 10, so that the fiber bundle sticking device 1 is bonded at the time of sticking. The fiber bundle A can be attached to the surface to be attached 5a in a state where the curing of the agent has started and the adhesive has an appropriate tack property.

Further, by having only the anti-fiber bundle coating means for applying the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle A as the adhesive coating means 7, the size of the fiber bundle sticking device 1 can be reduced, and in some cases, the size of the fiber bundle sticking device 1 can be reduced. Can also impregnate the fiber bundle A with an adhesive.

Further, in this case, by having only the fiber bundle heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the anti-fiber bundle coating means to the fiber bundle A as the heating means 8, the dimensions of the fiber bundle attaching device can be adjusted. It can be made smaller.

Further, since the heating means 8 heats the thermosetting adhesive by radiant energy, the accuracy of temperature control at the time of heating can be improved.

Further, the heat-curable adhesive has a property that after the start of the curing reaction triggered by heating by the heating means 8, the curing reaction is promoted by its own reaction heat without external heating. If the temperature is raised to a temperature equal to or higher than the heat-curable adhesive trigger temperature by the heating means 8 before the heat-curable adhesive reaches the pressing roller 10a, the fiber bundle A is then cured by its own reaction heat. It is no longer necessary to continuously heat the fiber bundle A after it is attached to the surface to be attached 5a.

With the above fiber bundle pasting device, it is possible to prevent the fiber bundle from being misaligned during pasting.

Here, the fiber bundle pasting device of the present invention is not limited to the form described above, and may be another form within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the heating means is only the heating means 8 which is the fiber bundle heating means, but as shown in FIG. 4, the heating means 81 which is the attachment surface heating means for heating the attachment surface 5a is provided. It may have been done. The attached surface heating means may be at a position for heating the attached surface 5a before the fiber bundle A is attached as in the heating means 81 in FIG. 4, or as in the heating means 82 in FIG. The surface to be attached 5a after the fiber bundle A is attached to the fiber bundle A and the position where the fiber bundle A is heated may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the ATL head 3 has an adhesive coating means 7 which is a fiber bundle coating means and a heating means which is a fiber bundle heating means. Instead, as shown in FIG. Adhesive coating means 71, which is a means for applying a thermosetting adhesive to the surface to be attached 5a, and heating means 83, which is a means for heating the surface to be attached, are provided. Alternatively, the adhesive coating means and the heating means may be provided on both the fiber bundle A side and the surface to be attached surface 5a side.

Further, in the above embodiment, the fiber bundle A is in a state of being impregnated with the minimum amount of thermoplastic resin in order to prevent the carbon fibers from falling apart, but the fiber bundle A may not be impregnated with the thermoplastic resin at all. .. Further, a so-called prepreg tape or UD tape in which the entire surface is impregnated with resin may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the heating means 8 may employ a laser light source as a radiant energy type heating source. The laser light source has the advantages of high output, high energy density, and easy output control. However, the oscillator tube, optical fiber (light guide tube), optical system, power supply, control device, etc. are a little expensive.

Further, in the above embodiment, the gantry structure is adopted as the fiber bundle conveying means 4, but in another embodiment, an articulated robot may be adopted instead of the gantry structure.

Further, in the above embodiment, the articulated robot 2 is adopted as the driving device of the ATL head 3, but in another embodiment, the gantry structure may be adopted instead of the articulated robot. ..

When the gantry structure is adopted, the motion control of the ATL head 3 in the XYZ axis direction can be stably performed. Further, the rigidity of the ATL head 3 can be increased, the pressing force of the ATL head 3 can be increased, and the footprint of the ATL device 1 (in other words, the occupied volume including the operating range of the entire device) can be increased. You can also get the advantage of being able to make it smaller.

1 ATL device (fiber bundle pasting device)
2 Articulated robot 2a arm 3 ATL head (attached head)
4 Fiber bundle transport means 5 Work 5a Attached surface 6 Work stand 7 Adhesive application means 7a Piping 8 Heating means 9 Feeder (fiber bundle supply means)
10 Pressing means 10a Pressing roller 10b Roller support part 10c Base part 10d Cylinder part 13 Mounting stand 14 Pickup hand 14a Vacuum suction chuck 15 Gantry shaft 16 Gantry shaft 71 Adhesive application means 81 Heating means 82 Heating means A Fiber bundle B Sticking point

Claims

A fiber bundle affixing device that attaches a fiber bundle to a predetermined attachment position on a surface to be attached using a thermosetting adhesive, wherein the fiber bundle affixing device is a transfer device for the fiber bundle, said. It has at least an adhesive application means for applying the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle and / or the attachment position, and a pressing means for pressing and attaching the fiber bundle onto the attachment surface, and the pressing means is used. A fiber bundle pasting apparatus, further comprising a heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied by the adhesive coating means prior to the press sticking operation.
The fiber bundle pasting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive coating means includes only a fiber bundle coating means for applying the thermosetting adhesive to the fiber bundle.
The fiber bundle attachment according to claim 2, wherein the heating means has only a fiber bundle heating means for heating the thermosetting adhesive applied to the fiber bundle by the anti-fiber bundle coating means. Device.
The fiber bundle pasting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heating means heats the thermosetting adhesive by radiant energy.
The thermosetting adhesive is characterized in that after the start of a curing reaction triggered by heating by the heating means, the curing reaction is promoted by its own reaction heat without external heating. The fiber bundle pasting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.