JP6760098B2 - Supply device for carbon fiber bundle impregnated with uncured thermosetting resin - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is for supplying the carbon fiber bundle from a bobbin containing a carbon fiber bundle impregnated with an uncured thermosetting resin to an appropriate use site such as a filament winding device for manufacturing a high-pressure container. Regarding the supply device.

For example, as a method for manufacturing a high-pressure container used for storing or supplying hydrogen or the like, a carbon fiber bundle impregnated with an uncured thermosetting resin using a filament winding device on the outer peripheral surface of the liner (hereinafter referred to as the present specification). A manufacturing method is known in which a "top prepreg" (sometimes referred to as "top prepreg") is wound at a predetermined pitch width and then the resin is cured to form a fiber-reinforced resin layer.

Patent Document 1 describes an example of a guide device for a tuple prepreg used in such a manufacturing method, wherein when the tuple prepreg is brought into contact with an appropriate guide body to be guided, one of the surfaces of the fiber bundle is described. "Fluff" may be generated when the portion is scraped off by friction with the guide body, and in order to suppress the generation of the fluff, the invention in which the surface roughness of the guide body is set to a specific value. Is described.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-188838

The present inventors have a lot of experience in manufacturing high-pressure containers using tuprepregs, and in the process, when the bobbins involving the tuprepregs are fed out to the required site of use. In addition, I experienced that the fiber entanglement phenomenon occurs between the toe prepreg to be unwound and the toe prepreg to be caught in the lower layer of the bobbin, and the unwound does not proceed smoothly.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is a device for supplying a prepreg that can eliminate the entanglement phenomenon that may occur when the prepreg is unwound from a bobbin that involves the prepreg. The challenge is to provide.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have examined in detail the behavior when the toe prepreg is unwound from the bobbin involving the toe prepreg. Then, the following findings were obtained.

That is, the filament winding apparatus used for manufacturing a high-pressure container winds around a liner in a temperature environment of 25 ° C. or lower in order to prevent dripping of the impregnated resin (for example, epoxy resin) of the tuprepreg used. .. On the other hand, the carbon fiber bundle constituting the toe prepreg is a bundle of about 36000 carbon fiber bundles having a wire diameter of φ6 to 7 μm, which is impregnated with an epoxy resin, for example, to form a bobbin.

When feeding the toe prepreg from the bobbin, it may happen that not all of the 36000 fibers are fed and some are left behind. When the fiber bundle in the lower layer is unwound, the fibers left earlier may be unwound together, but the remaining fibers may be continuously increased. It was found that the remaining and continuously increasing fibers interfered with the feeding of new fiber bundles (lower fiber bundles), which caused entanglement.

In general, thermosetting resins such as epoxy resins tend to increase in viscosity as the temperature decreases. The lower the temperature of the entire bobbin when the tup prepreg is unwound from the bobbin, the more the impregnated thermosetting resin adheres to the underlying fiber bundle like glue, resulting in 36000 fine fibers together. It becomes difficult to pay out to. Furthermore, since the fiber bundle wound around the bobbin is usually provided with a twill angle, the fiber bundle in the lower layer and the remaining fibers often have different winding angles, which also hinders feeding. There is.

By heating the entire bobbin to an appropriate temperature before the filament winding treatment to reduce the viscosity of the thermosetting resin, the above-mentioned feeding problem can be solved. However, in that case, the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is too low, and exudation from the fiber bundle occurs, which tends to result in dropping the standard of the resin impregnation rate. In addition, there is a possibility that the resin may scatter when the toe prepreg is fed, which becomes a factor that hinders the movement of the device.

The present invention has been made based on the above findings, and the carbon fiber bundle (tuprepreg) feeding device impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin according to the present invention is impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin. The carbon fiber bundle is a feeding device in which the carbon fiber bundle is unwound from a bobbin that entrains the carbon fiber bundle and is supplied to an appropriate site of use, and the carbon fiber bundle impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin is used. A heating means capable of supplying heat to the vicinity of a position separated from the bobbin to heat the carbon fiber bundle that is fed out and at least the carbon fiber bundle that is fed out, and the carbon that is located downstream of the heating means and is fed out. It is characterized by including at least a cooling means capable of cooling the fiber bundle.

In the carbon fiber bundle supply device impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin according to the present invention, when the tuprepreg is unwound from the bobbin, only the uncured fiber bundle or its surroundings are warmed and the tuprepreg is impregnated with the thermosetting. By reducing the viscosity of the sex resin, it is possible to prevent the fibers from being entangled with the tuprepreg located in the lower layer. Then, the delivered prepreg is cooled immediately after that, so that the viscosity of the thermosetting resin increases again, whereby it is possible to prevent the thermosetting resin from scattering downstream from the viscosity. .. As a result, it becomes possible to supply the toe prepreg to a desired site of use without deteriorating the quality of the supplied toe prepreg.

The schematic diagram which shows an example of the filament winding apparatus for manufacturing a high-pressure container which uses the supply apparatus of the carbon fiber bundle (tuprepreg) impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin by this invention. The figure explaining the supply apparatus of the carbon fiber bundle (tuprepreg) impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin by this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a filament winding device for manufacturing a high-pressure container in which the prepreg feeding device according to the present invention is used. In FIG. 1, 100 is a toe prepreg supply device (krill stand) according to the present invention, has an appropriate number (4 in the figure) of bobbins 2 in which the toe prepreg 1 is involved, and is fed out from each bobbin 2. The prepreg 1 passes through the guide rolls 3 and 4 and is sent to the tension control device 7 including the dancer 5 and the active dancer 6. The prepreg 1 that has passed through the tension control device 7 is wound around the outer peripheral surface of the liner 10 via the fiber converging device 8 and the eye opening 9 that oscillates or moves back and forth. The top prepreg 1 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the liner 10 is subjected to an appropriate heat treatment to cure the thermosetting resin, and becomes a high-pressure container 11 used for storing or supplying hydrogen or the like.

In the above-mentioned prepreg supply device 100, as shown in FIG. 2, a temperature-controlled heating roller 20 is provided as a heating means so as to be in contact with the outermost prepreg 1a wound around the bobbin 2. ing. The arrangement position of the heating roller 20 is a portion s separated from the toe prepreg 1 wound inward by one when the toe prepreg 1 caught in the bobbin 2 is unwound from the bobbin 2, and a little upstream side from the portion s. It is a place where heat can be supplied to the area including the part of.

The heating roller 20 that contacts the prepreg 1 to heat the prepreg 1 is an example of a heating means, and heats the prepreg non-contactly by blowing warm air onto the region or heating with an infrared heater. It may be a means of adding. The heating by the heating means is for reducing the viscosity of the thermosetting resin (for example, epoxy resin) impregnated in the prepreg 1. The heating temperature is selected according to the type of thermosetting resin. As an example, in the case of an epoxy resin, about 40 ° C. or higher is a reference temperature. By setting the temperature in the range of about 40 ° C. to 70 ° C., the viscosity of the epoxy resin can be set to be equal to or lower than the viscosity at the time of impregnation, and the release property of the prepreg 1 from the bobbin is improved.

As described above, the bobbin 2 involving the top prepreg 1 is usually placed in a temperature environment of about 20 ° C. in order to prevent dripping, and the viscosity of the thermosetting resin is adjusted when impregnated. It is generally larger than. By heating to reduce the viscosity as described above, it is possible to eliminate or almost eliminate the entanglement of fibers between the unwound prepreg 1 and the one lower layer prepreg 1. The feeding becomes stable.

The prepreg supply device 100 further includes a cold air blowing nozzle 30 slightly downstream of the heating roller 20. The position of the cold air blowing nozzle 30 is set between the nearest downstream side of the portion s where the above-mentioned prepreg 1 is separated from the bobbin 2 and the guide roll 3. The cold air blown from the cold air blowing nozzle 30 cools the thermosetting resin whose viscosity has decreased, and the viscosity increases to a state where no dripping occurs. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the resin from seeping out from the fiber bundle and the resin impregnation rate becoming smaller than the standard value, or the resin being scattered around and deteriorating the environment.

The cold air blowing nozzle 30 is an example of a cooling means capable of cooling the prepreg 1 which is heated and delivered on the downstream side of the heating means (heating roller 20), and the cooling means is not limited to this. It may be a means for lowering the temperature by bringing the temperature-controlled rollers into contact with each other. However, since the softened resin may adhere to the contacting means, a non-contact cooling means is more rational.

The cooling temperature of the top prepreg 1 by the cooling means is appropriately selected depending on the type of the impregnated resin, provided that the impregnated thermosetting resin is cooled to a viscosity that does not cause dripping. When the resin is an epoxy resin, the intended purpose can be achieved if it is cooled to about 20 ° C.

As described above, in the device for supplying the prepreg according to the present invention, the prepreg 1 is heated at the position where the prepreg is fed out from the bobbin 2 or on the very upstream side thereof, and the prepreg 1 is cooled after passing the position where the prepreg is fed. , The viscosity of the resin is lowered at the place where the toe prepreg 1 is fed to prevent the fibers from being entangled, and the resin can be prevented from scattering due to heating. Therefore, the quality of the supplied toe prepreg 1 is not deteriorated. It becomes possible to supply the prepreg to the desired device side.

100 ... Tup prepreg supply device according to the present invention,
1 ... Tup prepreg,
2 ... Bobbin,
3, 4 ... Guidance roll,
7 ... Tension control device,
8 ... Fiber converging device,
9 ... Ai mouth,
10 ... Liner,
1a ... The outermost prepreg caught in the bobbin,
20 ... Heating roller,
30 ... Cold air blowing nozzle,
s ... A part that separates from the toe prepreg that is caught in the inside when the toe prepreg that is caught in the bobbin is unwound from the bobbin.

Claims (1)

A carbon fiber bundle supply device in which the carbon fiber bundle is unwound from a bobbin containing a carbon fiber bundle impregnated with an uncured thermosetting resin and supplied to an appropriate site of use.
By supplying heat to a region including a position where the carbon fiber bundle impregnated with the uncured thermosetting resin is unwound and separated from the bobbin and a position upstream thereof , at least the uncured carbon fiber bundle is heated. With the heating means that can be done
One or more guide rolls for guiding the carbon fiber bundles unwound from the bobbin,
A cooling means located between the heating means and the first guide roll and capable of cooling the drawn out carbon fiber bundles.
A carbon fiber bundle feeder impregnated with an uncured thermosetting resin, which comprises at least.

Images