JPH0581432B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to the molding of FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) products, in which air bubbles contained inside are removed from a reinforcing material-containing liquid resin layer formed on a mold. This article relates to an automatic defoaming device for FRP molding.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, in order to manufacture FRP products, a liquid resin layer containing a fiber reinforcing material is formed on a mold by a hand lay-up molding method, a spray-up molding method, etc., and the resin layer is hardened. By the way, the liquid resin layer formed on the mold initially contains air bubbles inside, and if these air bubbles remain even after curing, they may cause a decrease in the strength of the FRP.
There are disadvantages such as poor watertightness. Therefore, after the resin layer is formed and while it is still uncured, a defoaming operation is required in which a defoaming roller is moved while pressing against the resin layer to remove air bubbles in the resin layer. Therefore, the FRP manufacturing process includes two important steps: a lamination step (hand lay-up molding method) or a spraying step (spray-up molding method) for forming a resin layer, and a defoaming step. Of these two types of work, the former, lamination work or spraying work, has changed from manual work to automation such as robotization in response to the needs of labor saving, quality stabilization, and productivity improvement in recent years. is taken.

However, in defoaming work to defoam air bubbles mixed in the liquid resin layer, the worker holds the handle attached to the defoaming roller in his hand and presses the defoaming roller against the surface of the resin layer with an appropriate pressure. The common method is to move while hitting the target, and there is currently little automation. The reason for this is that the defoaming roller is required to press lightly against the soft resin layer and move to follow minute irregularities caused by the reinforcing material in the resin layer. This is because movement is difficult to achieve with machines such as robots, and it has to rely on the flexible movements of human wrists. Manual defoaming work not only requires a lot of manpower but also requires skill, and therefore automation has been desired.

As a way to automate this defoaming work, the 13th
As shown in the figure, a rod 2 that rotatably holds a defoaming roller 1 is attached to the wrist 4 at the tip of an arm 3 of the robot in a bendable manner, and by moving the arm 3 along a predetermined path, defoaming is performed. The roller 1 is configured to press against and move the reinforcing material-containing liquid resin layer 6 formed on the mold 5, and as shown in FIG. A roller in which a plurality of rollers 1a are rotatably attached is known (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-98579). Also,
As shown in FIG. 15, a cylinder 9 is held by a machine body 8 that is movable along a predetermined path, and a defoaming roller 1 is moved by a piston rod of this cylinder 9.
A reinforcing material-containing liquid resin layer 6 formed on a mold 5
There is also known a structure in which it moves while being pressed against it (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50-64369).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, all of the above conventional devices have problems. That is, in the device shown in FIG. 13, the rod 2 holding the defoaming roller 1 is attached to the wrist portion 4
Since the defoaming roller is attached to the resin layer in a flexible manner, the pressing force of the defoaming roller against the resin layer is determined only by the defoaming roller's own weight and cannot be freely adjusted. Moreover, even if the horizontal surface portion 6A of the resin layer is well degassed, the curved surface portion 6B and the vertical surface portion 6
Defoaming with C is not possible. To avoid this, it is conceivable to fix the rod 2 rigidly to the wrist part 4 of the robot arm, or to fix it so that it can be bent to some extent via a spring or the like. However, in that case, the pressing force of the defoaming roller will be greatly influenced by the accuracy of the movement trajectory of the robot arm 3, and since there is a limit to increasing the accuracy of this movement trajectory, the resin layer 6 flat horizontal surface portion 6A of
Even when performing defoaming, the pressing force fluctuates greatly, making it difficult to achieve good defoaming. Further, the pressing force of the defoaming roller 1 against the resin layer 6 is
It is necessary to adjust the pressing force according to the thickness of the reinforcing material, the content of the reinforcing material, etc.
Since this is done by changing the trajectory of movement, subtle adjustments cannot be made. Furthermore, the horizontal surface portion 6A and the curved surface portion 6
B. The pressing force applied to the defoaming roller 1 must be changed in each of the vertical parts 6C, and in particular, in the vertical part 6C, the influence of the weight of the resin layer 6 is large, so the force applied to the defoaming roller 1 must be adjusted slightly. If this adjustment is not made, the resin layer 6 will immediately fall off and shaping will become impossible, but such adjustment is difficult with conventional equipment. In addition, when defoaming the vertical portion 6C, the rod and arm holding the defoaming roller 1 are moved at an acute angle with respect to the moving direction of the defoaming roller 1, as shown by two-dot chain lines 2A and 3A. Although it is preferable to move the arm 3 at such an angle, a complicated and large mechanism is required, and the robot becomes expensive.

In the conventional device shown in FIG. 14, by using a plurality of defoaming rollers 1a, the pressing force can be adjusted somewhat easier than when using a single defoaming roller 1, but it is not satisfactory. I can't adjust it properly,
Therefore, it has the same problems as the conventional example shown in FIG.

In the conventional device shown in FIG. 15, the defoaming roller 1 is pressed against the resin layer 6 by the cylinder 9, but with this configuration, the defoaming roller cannot follow minute irregularities caused by the reinforcing material of the resin layer 6. , the pressing force fluctuates greatly, making it difficult to achieve good defoaming. That is, as shown in an exaggerated manner in FIG. 16, the reinforcing material-containing liquid resin layer 6 formed on the mold 5 is composed of a reinforcing material 6a and a resin 6b, but normally the content of the reinforcing material 6a is not necessarily uniform. Therefore, the reinforcing material 6a is inserted into the mold 5.
When pressed against the surface, the surface of the reinforcing material 6a is uneven. Therefore, when the defoaming roller 1 moves while pressing the surface of the resin layer 6 and therefore pressing the reinforcing material 6a against the surface of the mold, the defoaming roller 1 has to move up and down according to these minute irregularities. In the cylinder, the response is poor due to the sliding resistance of the piston, etc., and the defoaming roller 1 cannot follow minute irregularities in the resin layer. For this reason, while the defoaming roller 1 is moving, its pressing force fluctuates greatly, and the reinforcing material may be scraped off, making it impossible to achieve good defoaming. In addition, the pressing force is adjusted by adjusting the fluid pressure applied to the cylinder, but even if the fluid pressure is minutely adjusted, the pressing force created by the cylinder does not necessarily follow it accurately, making it difficult to make subtle adjustments to the pressing force. It is. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, since the machine body 8 and cylinder 9 are always held in the same position and move, the angle between the rod holding the defoaming roller 1 and the resin layer 6 cannot be changed arbitrarily. For example, when defoaming the vertical portion, the angle of the rod cannot be set at an acute angle with respect to the moving direction of the defoaming roller.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of such conventional devices, and it presses the defoaming roller against the resin layer to be defoamed with a desired pressing force, and also pushes the arm holding the defoaming roller against the resin layer. An automatic for FRP molding that can move while maintaining the desired angle, and also prevents excessive pressing force by having the defoaming roller follow minute irregularities in the resin layer during movement. The purpose is to provide a defoaming device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention allows a movable body such as a support attached to a robot arm to rotatably hold a rotation axis,
An arm is attached to the rotating shaft so as to rotate together with the rotation of the rotating shaft, and a defoaming roller is attached to the tip of the arm so as to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the rotating shaft, Furthermore, the apparatus is provided with a pair of elastic contracting bodies that rotationally drive the rotation shaft, and a pressurized fluid supply means for supplying pressurized fluid to the elastic contracting bodies.

[Effect]

In the apparatus configured as described above, by applying appropriate fluid pressure to each of the pair of elastic contraction bodies, the arm holding the defoaming roller is rotated, and the defoaming roller is pressed against the resin layer to be defoamed. By moving the machine body relative to the resin layer in this state, the defoaming roller moves onto the resin layer and defoaming can be performed. At this time, since the arm holding the defoaming roller is rotatable relative to the machine body, the arm can be set at a desired angle with respect to the resin layer regardless of the attitude of the machine body. In addition, the pressing force of the defoaming roller against the resin layer is determined according to the torque applied to the arm by a pair of elastic contracting bodies via the rotating shaft, and the elastic contracting bodies output a force that sensitively corresponds to the internal fluid pressure. Therefore, by adjusting the fluid pressure on the elastic contracting body, it is possible to finely adjust the torque applied to the arm, and the pressing force of the defoaming roller against the resin layer can be easily set to the desired value. be able to. Furthermore, by using a programmable control device so that the torque applied to the arm changes according to the position of the resin layer, it is also possible to change the pressing force of the defoaming roller according to the position of the resin layer. . Furthermore, since the elastic contractile body can be easily deformed, when the defoaming roller moves onto the resin layer, it can be displaced to follow the subtle irregularities in the resin layer, thereby preventing excessive pressing force. Occurrence is prevented. In addition, since the defoaming roller is configured to be pressed according to the torque of the arm, even if the position of the rotating shaft, which is the fulcrum of the arm, changes slightly, there is almost no change in the pressing force, and therefore the movement trajectory of the rotating shaft does not require much precision.

Here, each of the pair of elastic contraction bodies is provided with a tension detector that detects the tension acting on the elastic contraction body, and according to a signal from the tension detector,
Preferably, the pressure of the pressurized fluid supplied to each elastic contraction body is controlled. With this configuration, the force exerted by the elastic contractile body on the rotating shaft can be feedback-controlled, and the torque of the arm can always be controlled to a desired value.

Further, the arm holding the defoaming roller is provided with a deflection amount detector for detecting the torque acting on the arm, and the fluid is supplied to the pair of elastic contracting bodies according to the signal from the deflection amount detector. Preferably, it is configured to control pressure. With this configuration, the torque acting on the arm can be directly detected and feedback control can be performed so that the torque becomes a desired value, and the arm torque can be controlled more reliably.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an automatic defoaming device for FRP molding according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the main parts thereof. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 11 is a robot, 12 is an arm of the robot, and 13 is a support attached to the tip of the arm. This support 13 is arm 12
This constitutes a movable aircraft that can move along a desired route. The support 13 is preferably made of high-strength aluminum alloy to reduce weight. 14 is a rotating shaft rotatably held at the tip of the support 13; 15 is a pulley fixed to the rotating shaft 14; 16 is a wire rope hung on this pulley 15; 17A and 17B are wire ropes 1
A pair of elastic contraction bodies connected to both ends of 6,
Opposite ends of each elastic contraction body 17A, 17B are connected to the base 13A of the support 13, respectively.
The elastic contracting bodies 17A, 17B have the characteristic of contracting in the length direction when fluid pressure, for example, air pressure is applied inside them, like a rubber artificial muscle actuator. Therefore, the pair of elastic contracting bodies 17A, By applying different pressures to 17B, the lengths of both can be changed, and the rotating shaft 14 can be rotationally driven via the wire rope 16 and pulley 15.
Further, by controlling the pressure, a desired rotational force, that is, torque can be applied to the rotating shaft 14. As the elastic contractile body used here, for example, a lavatuator manufactured by Bridgestone Corporation is suitable. 18A, 18 is an elastic contraction body 17A,
A fitting for supplying working fluid is provided at one end of 17B, tension detectors 19A and 19B are provided at opposite ends to detect the tension acting on the wire rope 16, 20 is a working fluid supply source, and 21 is each elastic contractile body. A pressure control valve unit that controls the working fluid pressure supplied to 17A and 17B, 22 a control device that controls the pressure control valve unit 21, and 23 a rotating shaft 1.
This is an angle detector that detects the rotation angle of 4. Signals from the tension detectors 19A, 19B and the angle detector 23 are sent to signal amplifiers 24A, 24B, 24, respectively.
C and an analog/digital converter 25 to the control device 22 . The control device 22 is capable of feedback control and program control, which will be described later.

An arm 27 is attached to the rotating shaft 14 by an arm mount 26 so as to rotate together with the rotating shaft as the rotating shaft 14 rotates, and a defoaming roller is attached to the tip of the arm 27. 28 is the rotating shaft 14
It is rotatably mounted around an axis parallel to the Figures 3 and 4 show arm mount 2.
6 is shown enlarged. This arm fixture 26 is movable and rotatable in the axial direction through a block 32 fixed to the rotating shaft 14 with a set screw 31 and a hole formed in this block 32 in a direction perpendicular to the rotating shaft 14. Holder 3 inserted into
3, a coil spring 34 and a washer 35 that apply a force in the direction of arrow A to the holder 33, and a cap 36 attached to the right end of the holder 33 to prevent the holder 33 from coming off from the block 32 in the direction of arrow A. The arm 27 can be attached to the rotating shaft 14 by inserting one end of the arm 27 into a hole formed in the holder 33 and fixing it with a set screw 38. With this configuration, the defoaming roller 28 can be rotated in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 3, and the entire length of the defoaming roller 28 can be brought into uniform contact with the resin layer to be defoamed, as will be described later. When an excessive force in the direction of arrow C is applied to the defoaming roller 28 for some reason, the holder 33 is pushed into the block 32, and the defoaming roller 28, arm 27, and rotating shaft 1 are
4 etc. can be prevented from being damaged.

In FIG. 1, 40 is a mold, and 41 is a reinforcing material-containing liquid resin layer molded thereon. In this embodiment, the resin layer 41 has a horizontal surface portion 41A, a curved surface portion 41B, and an elevated surface portion 41C.

Next, the operation of the automatic defoaming device for FRP molding having the above configuration will be explained.

First, a defoaming operation for the horizontal surface portion 41A of the resin layer 41 formed on the mold 40 will be described. In FIG. 5, the robot operates and moves the rotary shaft 14 held in the direction of arrow D along a trajectory 43 parallel to the horizontal plane of the mold 40. In FIG. The trajectory 43 at this time is set so that the angle θ between the arm 27 and the resin layer 41 becomes a desired angle (for example, 45 degrees) with the defoaming roller 28 pressed against the resin layer 41. While the rotating shaft 14 is moving, the elastic contracting body 17
Fluid pressure is supplied to A and 17B via a pressure control valve unit 21 to apply tensions t ₁ and t ₂ to both ends of the wire rope 16, respectively. As a result, a torque T determined by these tensions t ₁ and t ₂ acts on the arm 27 holding the defoaming roller 28 , and the torque T causes the defoaming roller 28 to move toward the resin layer 41 .
pressed against. Here, the control device 22 (see FIG. 2) supplies fluid to the elastic contracting bodies 17A and 17B so that a torque T is generated to make the pressing force of the defoaming roller 28 against the resin layer 41 to a desired value. The pressure is feedback-controlled via the pressure control valve unit 21. That is, tension detector 19A,
The pressure of the fluid supplied to the elastic contracting bodies 17A and 17B is controlled so that the detected values by the elastic contraction bodies 19B become predetermined tensions t ₁ and t ₂ . Thus, while the defoaming roller 28 moves in the direction of arrow D while pressing the resin layer 41, a constant tension t ₁ is applied to both ends of the wire rope 16.
t ₂ acts, and a constant torque T corresponding to the difference acts on the arm 27 to press the defoaming roller 28 against the resin layer 41 with a constant pressing force, thereby achieving good defoaming. Furthermore, when moving the rotating shaft 14 along the trajectory 43, the rotating shaft 14 may deviate vertically from the predetermined trajectory 43 due to poor precision of the robot, etc.
Alternatively, the angle α of the support 13 holding the rotating shaft 14 with respect to the horizontal plane may change, but since the defoaming roller 28 is pressed against the resin layer 41 by the constant torque T acting on the arm 27, The pressing force of this defoaming roller 28 does not vary and is always kept constant. Furthermore, the 16th
As explained in the figure, the reinforcing material contained in the resin layer varies depending on the location, and the surface of the reinforcing material is uneven, so the defoaming roller needs to move up and down according to the unevenness. However, the arm 27 holding the defoaming roller 28 is rotatable around the rotating shaft 14, and the rotating shaft 14 has elastic contracting bodies 17A, 17 that can be quickly expanded and contracted and have a quick response.
Since the rollers B are connected, the defoaming roller 28 can easily move to follow the unevenness, and an excessive pressing force will not be generated.

When changing the pressing force by the defoaming roller 28 in accordance with changes in the thickness of the resin layer 41, reinforcing material content, etc., the setting values of the tensions t ₁ and t ₂ are changed by the control device 22 to prevent elastic contraction. What is necessary is to change the fluid pressure supplied to the bodies 17A and 17B. Unlike a cylinder, an elastic contractile body has no sliding parts, so it has good responsiveness, and its tensile force can be changed even by minute changes in pressure, allowing delicate tension adjustment. Therefore, the pressing force can be finely adjusted.

In addition, in the above explanation, the defoaming roller 28 is indicated by arrow D.
Although a case has been described in which defoaming is performed by moving the defoaming roller 28 once in the direction shown in FIG. However, in that case, it may be desirable to change the pressing force for movement in the direction of arrow D and for movement in the opposite direction. In that case, the control device 22 is preset with the desired torque T in the direction of arrow D and the desired torque T in the opposite direction.
By programming T', the elastic contractile body 1 is configured so that the control device 22 applies a desired torque T or T' to the arm 27 during each movement.
By controlling the fluid pressure to 7A and 17B, defoaming can be performed with a desired pressing force.

Next, when defoaming the vertical portion 41C of the resin layer 41, the rotating shaft 14 moves in the direction of arrow E along a trajectory 44 parallel to the side surface of the mold 40, as shown in FIG. However, during this time, a predetermined torque T is applied to the arm 27 by the pair of elastic contraction bodies 17A and 17B. As a result, the defoaming roller 2
8 is pressed against the resin layer 41 with a constant pressing force, and the arm 27 moves while being kept at a constant angle θ with respect to the advancing direction of the defoaming roller 28, thereby removing the resin layer 41.
Defoaming is performed. In this case as well, the locus 44 has an angle θ
is set to be at a preferable angle for defoaming, and the fluid pressure supplied to the elastic contracting bodies 17A, 17B is feedback-controlled by the control device 22 so as to give a desired torque T to the arm 27. has been done. In this way, the defoaming roller 28 moves while being pressed against the vertical portion 41C with a desired pressing force, and defoaming is performed satisfactorily.

In all of the above, the arm 27 holding the defoaming roller 28 is moved with respect to a flat resin layer while keeping it at a constant angle, and in this case, the pressing force by the defoaming roller is kept constant. Therefore, the torque applied to the arm 27 is kept constant, and the pressing force of the defoaming roller 28 against the resin layer is kept constant. In addition, even if the resin layer is not flat but curved, if the curve is gentle, good defoaming is possible with constant torque, and by controlling the torque to be constant, the defoaming roller can adapt to the curve. It follows and moves, allowing for good defoaming. However, when defoaming a curved resin layer, it may be desirable to change the pressing force by the defoaming roller 28 depending on the position of the curved surface. Furthermore, not only when changing the pressing force, but also when keeping it constant, it may be necessary to change the torque applied to the arm 27 depending on the position of the defoaming roller. The device of this embodiment can move the defoaming roller while pressing it with a desired pressing force even in such a case. The operation will be explained below.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the curved resin layer 4
When degassing 1B, the rotating shaft 14 is moved along a trajectory 45 by the robot. Here, for convenience of explanation, the positions during the movement of the rotating shaft 14 are assumed to be O ₁ , O ₂ , O ₃ , ...O _o , and the desired pressing force of the defoaming roller corresponding to each position is P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ ,...P _o ,
Let T ₁ , T ₂ , T ₃ , . . . T _o be the torques that should be applied to the arm 27 to obtain this pressing force. These desired pressing forces and desired torques are determined in advance through experiments, calculations, etc., and the desired torques T ₁ , T ₂ , T ₃ , . . . T _o are programmed into the control device 22.
As a result, when the robot moves the rotary shaft 14 along the path 45, the control device 22 moves the rotary shaft 14 along the path 45.
A pair of elastic contracting bodies 17A, 17 depending on the position of
The fluid pressure applied to B is controlled to apply a desired torque to the arm 27. In this way, the defoaming roller 28 moves while pressing the curved resin layer 41B with a desired pressing force, and good defoaming is performed.
Note that the position detection while the rotating shaft 14 is moving is as follows:
This can be done by a signal from the robot's control device. Alternatively, the angles β ₁ , β _{2 ,} . . . β _o can be detected by the angle detector 23, and the position can be detected from the detected values.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show defoaming of a resin layer 52 formed on a mold 51 for a septic tank end plate mounted on a support stand 50 using an automatic defoaming device for FRP molding having the above-mentioned configuration. This is an example of how to do this. The robot holds the rotating shaft 14 in a predetermined position,
In addition, a pair of elastic contracting bodies 17A and 17B are connected to the arm 2.
While applying a desired torque T to the mold 7, the support 50 rotates the mold 51 about its axis. As a result, the defoaming roller 28 moves the resin layer 5
2 in the circumferential direction, and presses the resin layer 52 with a constant pressing force to defoam. When one round of defoaming is completed, the robot moves the rotating shaft 14 to the path 5.
3 for a certain distance (a distance approximately equal to the length of the defoaming roller 28) and then stopped, the support base 50 rotates again. By repeating this operation, the entire surface of the resin layer 52 on the inner surface of the mold 51 can be defoamed. Note that when degassing is performed with the rotating shaft 14 fixed at a fixed position as in this case, instead of controlling the torque applied to the arm 27 to be constant, the support 13 of the arm 27 is
The supply fluid pressure to the elastic contracting bodies 17A and 17B may be controlled so that the angle β relative to the elastic contraction body 17A, 17B is maintained at a preset value. In this case, the control device 22 inputs the signal from the angle detector 23 and adjusts the elastic contractile body 17 so that the signal matches the set value.
Feedback control is performed to control the fluid pressure supplied to A and 17B.

FIG. 9 is a diagram similar to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a deflection amount detector 55 is attached to the middle of the arm 27, and its output is supplied to the control device 22 via a signal amplifier 24D and an analog/digital converter 25. This deflection amount detector 55 is connected to the arm 27
The load cell deflects according to the torque acting on the load cell, and detects the amount of deflection. For example, a beam-type load cell manufactured by Kyowa Dengyo Co., Ltd. can be used. The rest of the structure is the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this embodiment, since the torque acting on the arm 27 can be directly detected by the deflection amount detector 55, feedback control is performed to control the fluid pressure on the elastic contracting bodies 17A and 17B so that this torque becomes a desired value. This makes it possible to perform more accurate torque control than feedback control using the tension detectors 19A and 19B. Of course, if the deflection amount detector 55 is not used, it goes without saying that the same control as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be performed.

In all of the above embodiments, the elastic contracting body 17A,
Tension detectors 19A and 19B are attached to the arm 27, and when controlling the torque applied to the arm 27, the tension detection signal from the tension detector is fed back, and an elastic contractile body is installed so that the tension becomes a predetermined value. The structure allows the fluid pressure to be controlled. However, the tension detector is not necessarily essential, and the torque control for the arm 27 may be performed simply by controlling the fluid pressure to the elastic contractile body to a predetermined value. However, it is preferable to carry out feedback control of the tension as shown in the embodiment, since this allows highly accurate torque control.

Next, an example in which defoaming was actually performed using the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described.

Example A reinforcing material-containing resin layer was formed on a 2 m ² flat mold by spray-up molding using a robot. The reinforcing material used was glass fiber RS-240KL-570AS manufactured by Nittobo Co., Ltd., and the base material was unsaturated polyester resin manufactured by Nippon U-Pica Co., Ltd.
5126APT-2 (viscosity is approximately 6PS at 25°C), reinforcing material content is approximately 30wt%, and coating amount is approximately 5Kg/ ^m2 .

On the other hand, elastic contraction bodies 17A, 17 of the automatic defoaming device
As B, a rubber evacuator manufactured by Bridgestone Corporation was used, and as the pressure control valve unit 21, a servo valve manufactured by Bridgestone Corporation was used. Further, the outer diameter of the defoaming roller 28 is 50 mm, and the distance L between the center of the defoaming roller and the center of the rotating shaft is 200 mm. Using this automatic defoaming device, the control device 22 has an arm 27.
The torque T applied to
The movement trajectory of the rotating shaft 14 is determined so that the angle is maintained at 35 degrees, and the rotating shaft 14 is moved at a speed of 40 cm/s by a robot.
I made it reciprocate twice. As a result, the defoaming roller 2
8 reciprocated while being pressed against the resin layer, and was able to perform good defoaming.

Next, in order to investigate the fluctuation of the torque acting on the arm, a torque detector (manufactured by Nakamura Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) was attached to the middle of the arm 27, and the same operation as above was performed, and the torque detector acting on the arm 27 was The torque was measured. The results are shown in FIG.

For comparison, as shown in FIG.
A manual defoaming device with a handle 58 attached to the handle 7 was prepared, and a torque detector 59 was attached to the handle, and an operator held it in his hand to perform defoaming. The results of measuring torque fluctuations at this time are shown in FIG. As is clear from the results shown in Figures 10 and 11, during manual operation, the torque fluctuations are quite large (and therefore the pressing force of the defoaming roller is fluctuated).
However, in the case of this embodiment, the torque fluctuation is small. Therefore, the use of the device of this example is more efficient than manual defoaming, reduces the time required for defoaming work, and has less unevenness on the surface of the molded product and less variation in the thickness of the molded product. Molded products can be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the automatic defoaming device of the present invention allows a movable body to rotatably hold a rotary shaft, and rotates the rotary shaft together with the rotation of the rotary shaft. a defoaming roller is attached to the tip of the arm so as to be rotatable about an axis parallel to the rotation axis, and a pair of elastic contractile bodies that rotationally drive the rotation axis; Since the device is equipped with a pressurized fluid supply means for supplying pressurized fluid to the elastic contracting body, a desired torque is applied to the arm by the pair of elastic contracting bodies to push the defoaming roller against the resin layer. can be attached,
In addition, by relatively moving the rotating shaft along the resin layer, defoaming can be performed by moving the defoaming roller while being pressed against the resin layer. At this time, the torque applied to the arm by the elastic contractile body can be minutely adjusted, so the pressing force of the defoaming roller can be adjusted as desired, and the defoaming roller also follows minute irregularities in the resin layer. Since the defoaming roller can be moved while pressing against the flexible resin layer with a desired pressing force without generating an excessive pressing force, it is possible to perform good defoaming. Moreover, when the rotary shaft that holds the arm moves, even if its trajectory is slightly deviated, the pressing force of the defoaming roller does not change much, so the machine that moves the rotary shaft does not need to be precise, and instead Robots can be used. Furthermore, the use of elastic contraction bodies has various effects such as being able to reduce the weight of the entire device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of its main parts and a block diagram of the control system, and Fig. 3 is an arm mount and defoaming roller in the above embodiment. 4 is a side view thereof, FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are schematic side views of essential parts explaining the defoaming operation according to the above embodiment, and FIG. 8A is a side view of the above embodiment. FIG. 8B is a sectional view showing another example of defoaming operation by arrow B.
9 is a schematic cross-sectional view as seen in the -B direction, FIG. 9 is a diagram similar to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure 11 is a graph showing torque fluctuations during manual defoaming. Figure 12 is a side view showing torque fluctuations being measured with a manual defoaming device. Figure 13, Figure 14, 1st
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional defoaming device, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view exaggerating the state of the resin layer to be defoamed. 11... Robot, 12... Robot arm,
13...Support, 14...Rotation axis, 17A, 1
7B...Elastic contraction body, 19A, 19B...Tension detector, 20...Working fluid supply source, 21...Pressure control valve unit, 22...Control device, 23...Angle detector, 26...Arm attachment Tool, 27... Arm, 28... Defoaming roller, 40... Molding mold, 41
... Resin layer, 55 ... Deflection amount detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A movable body, a rotary shaft rotatably held by the body, and a rotary shaft held by the body that expands and contracts in response to supplied fluid pressure to rotationally drive the rotary shaft. a pair of elastic contracting bodies, a pressurized fluid supply means for supplying pressurized fluid to the elastic contracting bodies, an arm fixed to the rotating shaft and rotating in accordance with the rotation of the rotating shaft, and a tip of the arm. an automatic defoaming device for FRP molding, comprising: a defoaming roller rotatably mounted around an axis parallel to the rotation axis; 2. A deflection amount detector provided on the arm holding the defoaming roller to detect the torque acting on the arm, and adjusting the fluid pressure supplied to the pair of elastic contracting bodies according to the signal from the deflection amount detector. The automatic defoaming device for FRP molding according to claim 1, further comprising a control device for controlling the defoaming device.