Manufacturing apparatus and method of manufacturing a tow prepreg

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11660784-B2
Application number	US-202117173662-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2021
Priority date	Feb 17, 2020
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

Abstract

A resin supply unit of a manufacturing apparatus supplies a resin to a roller surface of an impregnated roller which is capable of rotating at a constant speed. A transport mechanism brings the fiber bundle into contact with the resin on the roller surface and thereby forms a tow prepreg while the fiber bundle is being transported. A fineness acquisition unit acquires as a fineness acquisition value a fineness, which is defined by a mass per unit length of the fiber bundle during conveyance thereof before being brought into contact with the resin. A resin supply amount control unit controls the resin supply amount based on the fineness acquisition value, in a manner so that a resin content of the tow prepreg becomes a target resin content.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus configured to manufacture a tow prepreg by impregnating with a resin a fiber bundle in which a plurality of fibers are bundled together, comprising:
an impregnated roller capable of rotating at a constant speed;
a resin supply unit configured to supply the resin to a roller surface of the impregnated roller;
a transport mechanism configured to bring the fiber bundle into contact with the resin on the roller surface and thereby form the tow prepreg while the fiber bundle is being transported;
a fineness acquisition unit arranged upstream of the impregnated roller and configured to acquire as a fineness acquisition value a fineness, which is defined by a mass per unit length of the fiber bundle prior to impregnation with the resin during conveyance thereof by the transport mechanism;
a blade disposed between the resin supply unit and a position at which the fiber bundle is brought into contact with the resin on the roller surface; and
one or more processors,
wherein the one or more processors cause the tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus to control a resin supply amount of the resin supplied to the roller surface by the resin supply unit,
wherein the one or more processors control the resin supply amount of the resin supplied from the resin supply unit to the roller surface based on the fineness acquisition value of the fiber bundle prior to the impregnation with the resin, in a manner so that a resin content of the tow prepreg becomes a target resin content,
wherein the blade faces the roller surface and is configured to level a thickness of the resin on the roller surface before the fiber bundle is brought into contact with the resin on the roller surface, and
wherein the one or more processors adjust a distance between the blade and the roller surface in accordance with the resin supply amount.

2. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors include resin supply amount setting information which defines a relationship between the fineness and the resin supply amount to result in the target resin content, and control the resin supply amount so as to become a target resin supply amount determined from the resin supply amount setting information and the fineness acquisition value.

3. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein:
in a transport path of the fiber bundle by the transport mechanism, at a stage after a fineness acquisition position where the fineness acquisition unit acquires the fineness acquisition value, a resin contact position is provided where the resin on the roller surface facing the blade and the fiber bundle come into contact with each other; and
when a fineness acquisition location of the fiber bundle from which the fineness acquisition value is acquired at the fineness acquisition position has reached the resin contact position, the one or more processors control the resin supply amount in a manner so that the resin supply amount of the resin in contact with the fineness acquisition location becomes the target resin supply amount corresponding to the fineness acquisition value at the fineness acquisition location.

4. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the fineness acquisition unit acquires the fineness acquisition value at a predetermined cycle.

5. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the fineness acquisition unit includes a fiber bundle basis weight measurement unit measuring a mass per unit area of the fiber bundle and thereby obtaining a fiber bundle basis weight measurement value, and a fiber bundle width measurement unit measuring a width of the fiber bundle and thereby obtaining a fiber bundle width measurement value, and acquire the fineness acquisition value based on the fiber bundle basis weight measurement value and the fiber bundle width measurement value.

6. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a tow prepreg acquisition unit configured to acquire a tow prepreg acquisition value, which is defined by a mass per unit length of the tow prepreg during conveyance thereof by the transport mechanism; and
a resin content acquisition unit configured to acquire a resin content acquisition value of the tow prepreg, based on the fineness acquisition value and the tow prepreg acquisition value.

7. The tow prepreg manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the tow prepreg acquisition unit includes a tow prepreg basis weight measurement unit measuring a mass per unit area of the tow prepreg and thereby obtaining a tow prepreg basis weight measurement value, and a tow prepreg width measurement unit measuring a width of the tow prepreg and thereby obtaining a tow prepreg width measurement value, and the tow prepreg acquisition unit is configured to acquire the tow prepreg acquisition value based on the tow prepreg basis weight measurement value and the tow prepreg width measurement value.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Fujiki Koei

Classifications

• B29B15/10 Primary

  Coating or impregnating {independently of the moulding or shaping step}(applying liquids in general B05) · CPC title

• B05C11/1015

  responsive to a conditions of ambient medium or target, e.g. humidity, temperature (B05C11/1005 takes precedence); responsive to position or movement of the coating head relative to the target · CPC title

• B29B15/122 Primary

  with a matrix in liquid form, e.g. as melt, solution or latex · CPC title

• G05D7/0623

  characterised by the set value given to the control element · CPC title

• B29B15/14

  of filaments or wires · CPC title