Method for forming and manufacturing hard hollow sphere of sounding balloon

Abstract

The invention provides a forming and manufacturing method of a hard hollow ball body of a sounding balloon, which is characterized in that thermoplastic forming is mainly carried out through an expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) material, the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane is a decomposable high polymer material formed by gathering a plurality of thermoplastic polyurethane foaming particles with sufficient elasticity and very light weight, and the expandable thermoplastic polyurethane foaming particles can be used for forming the hard hollow ball body of the sounding balloon. The hard sounding balloon provided by the invention has the advantages of environmental protection, ultra-light density, difficult deformation, high abrasion, temperature change resistance and yellowing resistance, so that the sounding balloon can keep a stable state for a long time and is difficult to crack when being used for meteorological observation at high altitude.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for forming and manufacturing a rigid hollow sphere of a sounding balloon, and in particular, an expanded thermoplastic polyurethane is a decomposable polymer material assembled by countless elastic and very light thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles. The rigid hollow sphere of the sounding balloon of the present invention has environmental protection, ultra-low density, not easy to deform, high abrasion resistance, resistance to temperature change, and resistance to yellowing, so that when the sounding balloon is used for meteorological observation at high altitude, it can maintain a stable state for a long time and is not easy to cause rupture. A method for forming and manufacturing a rigid hollow sphere of a sounding balloon Background Art

[0002] Generally, a sounding balloon can rise to a high altitude for observing atmospheric parameters due to the buoyant gas inside. The sounding balloon can observe temperature, pressure, relative humidity, etc. through a radiosonde. The rising rate of the sounding balloon can be controlled by the amount of gas inside. Usually, it can rise to a height of about 40 kilometers above sea level. During the process of gradually increasing height, the balloon will expand due to the gradually decreasing external air pressure and may even reach 100 times its original volume until the tension of the balloon skin is not enough to support the pressure caused by the internal gas and explodes. Then the radiosonde hanging below will fall freely and cannot be used anymore. After exceeding the height that the sounding balloon can observe, a sounding rocket will be used for observing the higher atmosphere; However, the existing sounding balloons are usually made of latex or neoprene materials. The sounding balloons made of these latex or neoprene materials have poor abrasion resistance, impact resistance, cold resistance and high temperature resistance, so that the existing sounding balloons are difficult to withstand the atmospheric pressure and temperature difference changes at high altitude, and are thus prone to explosion before the observation operation is completed, thereby causing losses to the observers.

[0003] In view of the above phenomena, the inventor of the present invention, based on years of production experience, has invented the best practical invention. Summary of the Invention

[0004] That is, the main object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a rigid hollow sphere of a sounding balloon, and the manufacturing steps include: a. Drying and preheating: putting thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) particles into a dryer, preheating to 70 °C, and removing excess moisture to slightly expand the thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) into expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles; b. Feeding: feeding the preheated expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles into the mold through an air pipeline; c. Preforming: while feeding, the mold will shake up and down, and a vacuum extraction device is used outside the mold to suck out the air inside the mold, keeping the inside of the mold in a vacuum state, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles can closely adhere to the edge of the mold; and continuously introducing high-pressure nitrogen into the mold to apply pressure inside the mold, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles closely adhere to the inner edge of the mold, keeping the center of the mold hollow. After the feeding is completed, the vacuum device is closed, and steam at a high temperature of about 120 °C and a high pressure of about 1.25 BAR is introduced outside the mold to gradually expand the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles to ten times their original volume to achieve preforming; d. Pressure reduction and cooling forming: after preforming, the high-pressure steam outside the mold is discharged, first reducing the pressure and temperature outside the mold, and introducing cooling water to cool the mold temperature to 20 °C to form; e. Demolding and trimming: opening the mold to take out the semi-finished product formed by foaming and trimming the excess edges; f. Vacuum treatment: putting the semi-finished product into a vacuum extraction device to extract the excess air and moisture in the foaming pores; g. Soaking in impregnating resin: soaking the vacuumed semi-finished product in a hot-melt impregnating resin at 150 °C to fill the holes in the foam particles to enhance the structural strength, elasticity, low-temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance, and ozone resistance of the finished product; h. Curing: taking out the semi-finished product treated by soaking in the hot-melt impregnating resin and soaking it in cooling water to cool it to 20 °C to cure; i. Finished product: taking out the cured finished product and blowing off the excess moisture and impurities on the surface with high-pressure air to obtain the rigid hollow sphere of the sounding balloon.

[0005] Furthermore, the above steps are formed by a molding device, wherein the molding device has a storage space, the storage space contains thermoplastic polyurethane, a drying barrel is provided adjacent to the storage space, a conveying pipe is connected between the storage space and the drying barrel, a heater is provided at a predetermined position of the conveying pipe, and the thermoplastic polyurethane is preheated and then conveyed to the drying barrel for drying and removing moisture, and the heater preheats the thermoplastic polyurethane to 70°C, so that the thermoplastic polyurethane is slightly expanded to become expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam beads, a mold is provided adjacent to the drying barrel, an air duct is provided between the drying barrel and the mold, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam beads are conveyed to the mold through the air duct, a vacuum device is provided adjacent to the mold, a material extraction device is provided adjacent to the vacuum device, and the material extraction device is provided with a material extraction device. Tube, the extraction pipe is connected to the mold, a high-pressure steam device is provided adjacent to the extraction device, the high-pressure steam device is provided with a steam pipe, the steam pipe is connected to the mold, a cooling device is provided adjacent to the high-pressure steam device, the cooling device is provided with cooling water, the cooling water is connected to the mold, a high-pressure nitrogen device is provided adjacent to the cooling device, the high-pressure nitrogen device is provided with a high-pressure nitrogen pipe, the high-pressure nitrogen pipe is connected to the inside of the mold, wherein the mold is provided with two symmetrical and movably clutched outer mold bases, each of the relative positions inside the outer mold base is formed with a semi-spherical mold core, one side of the mold core is provided with a guide hole portion, and the two symmetrical outer mold bases are combined to form a spherical molding space with a guide hole portion, wherein the two outer mold bases are respectively penetrated by a plurality of guide holes, and each guide hole is movably connected to a vacuum tube to vacuum the inside of the molding space.

[0006] Furthermore, the semi-finished product has a hollow sphere and a hollow chamber formed inside the hollow sphere. A guide hole in a convex shape is opened on one side of the hollow sphere.

[0007] Furthermore, the demoulding and trimming in step e are performed by clamping the semi-finished product in a fixed pivoting clamp provided inside a trimming device, and a trimming grinder is provided at a relative position of the fixed pivoting clamp, so that the semi-finished product rubs against the trimming grinder to modify the redundant corners of the spherical semi-finished product surface.

[0008] Furthermore, the vacuum treatment in step f is performed through a vacuum pumping device and a vacuum pumping pipeline arranged at a relative position to the vacuum pumping device, and a fixing seat centered inside the vacuum pumping device, so that the spherical semi-finished product is positioned on the fixing seat, and the foaming pores on the surface and excess air and moisture are extracted.

[0009] Furthermore, the impregnation resin in step g is impregnated into the spherical semi-finished product through an impregnation device and a 150°C hot-melt impregnation resin located in the impregnation device to fill the holes in the semi-finished foam particles to achieve the purpose of enhancing the structural strength and elasticity of the finished product, and improving low temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance and ozone resistance.

[0010] Furthermore, the solidification in step h is performed by soaking the spherical semi-finished product in cooling water provided in a cooling device, and the semi-finished product is cooled to 20° C. by soaking in cooling water to solidify.

[0011] Furthermore, the hard hollow sphere of the sounding balloon in step i is blown through the surface of the spherical semi-finished product by a high-pressure air device inside a high-pressure device, and a fixed base is placed inside the high-pressure device. After the spherical semi-finished product is positioned on the fixed base, the high-pressure air is used to blow away excess moisture and impurities on the surface to obtain the hard hollow sphere of the sounding balloon.

[0012] Furthermore, the molding device is provided with a vacuum adsorption device that can be raised and lowered in a sliding manner relative to the molding device. The vacuum adsorption device has an adsorption clamp that can flexibly vacuum adsorb the semi-finished product to absorb it and then lift and lower it to the mold, trimming device, vacuum pumping device, impregnation device, cooling device, and high-pressure device for processing. In this way, the rigid hollow sphere of the sounding balloon of the present invention is thermoplastically molded by expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU). Expanded thermoplastic polyurethane is a decomposable polymer material composed of countless elastic and lightweight thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles. The rigid hollow sphere of the sounding balloon of the present invention is environmentally friendly, ultra-light, not easy to deform, high in wear, resistant to temperature changes, and resistant to yellowing. This allows the sounding balloon to maintain a stable state for a long time and not easily break when conducting meteorological observations at high altitudes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 The present invention is a block diagram of the manufacturing process of the method for forming and manufacturing the hard hollow sphere of the sounding balloon.

[0014] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the molding equipment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 3 It is a partial enlarged view of the molding equipment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the bisymmetrical outer mold base of the mold of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 5 The present invention is a schematic diagram showing that a plurality of expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles are placed in the molding space of the mold and vacuum extraction is used to make the plurality of expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles adhere to the inner edge wall of the mold core.

[0018] Figure 6This is a schematic diagram showing that a high-pressure nitrogen pipe inside the molding space of the mold of the present invention releases high-pressure nitrogen, and through vacuum extraction, multiple expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles are adhered to the inner edge wall of the mold core.

[0019] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the high-temperature, high-pressure steam heating of the mold of the present invention. The main process is to close the vacuum equipment and introduce high-temperature, high-pressure, 1.25 BAR steam outside the mold to gradually expand the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles to ten times their original volume, thereby achieving pre-forming.

[0020] Figure 8 The present invention is a schematic diagram in which a cooling device is provided adjacent to the high-pressure steam device, and the cooling device is provided with cooling water, which is connected to the mold. After pre-forming, the high-pressure steam outside the mold is discharged to first reduce the pressure and temperature outside the mold, and then the cooling water is introduced to cool the mold temperature to 20°C to form the mold.

[0021] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention in which high-pressure steam outside the mold is discharged after preforming to reduce the pressure and temperature outside the mold.

[0022] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of trimming the redundant edges and corners of the foamed semi-finished product of the present invention by a trimming tool.

[0023] Figure 11 The figure is a schematic diagram showing that the excess air and moisture in the foamed pores of the foamed semi-finished product of the present invention are extracted by a vacuum device.

[0024] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention, in which a vacuumed semi-finished product is immersed in a hot-melt impregnation resin at 150°C through an impregnation device to fill the pores of the foamed particles, thereby achieving the purpose of enhancing the structural strength and elasticity of the finished product, and improving low-temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance and ozone resistance.

[0025] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram of taking out the semi-finished product after being soaked in hot-melt impregnation resin according to the present invention.

[0026] Figure 14 The figure is a schematic diagram showing that the foamed semi-finished product of the present invention is immersed in cooling water through a cooling device to cool down to 20° C. and solidify.

[0027] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of the present invention wherein the solidified semi-finished product is taken out and excess moisture and impurities on the surface are blown away with a high-pressure air device to obtain a hard hollow sphere of a sounding balloon.

[0028] Figure 16It is a three-dimensional appearance diagram of the hard hollow sphere of the sounding balloon of the present invention.

[0029] Among them, A, molding equipment; 1, storage space; 2, thermoplastic polyurethane; 3, conveying pipe; 4, expanded thermoplastic polyurethane; 5, drying barrel; 6, extraction equipment; 7, extraction pipe; 8, air duct; 9, heater; 10, mold; 11, outer mold base; 111, mold core; 12, guide hole; 13, molding space; 131, guide hole part; 14, high-pressure nitrogen equipment; 141, high-pressure nitrogen pipe; ST, vacuum equipment; 15, vacuum exhaust; 16, high-pressure steam equipment; 161, steam pipe; 17, cooling equipment; 17 1. Cooling water; 18. Vacuum adsorption equipment; 181. Vacuum adsorption jaws; 20. Semi-finished product; 20A. Hard hollow sphere of the sounding balloon; 21. Hollow sphere; 22. Hollow chamber; 23. Filling layer; 24. Guide hole; 30. Vacuuming equipment; 31. Vacuuming pipeline; 32. Fixing seat; 40. Trimming equipment; 41. Fixed pivoting jaws; 42. Trimming abrasive tool; 50. Impregnation equipment; 51. Impregnation resin; 60. Cooling equipment; 61. Cooling water; 70. High-pressure equipment; 71. High-pressure air apparatus; 72. Fixing seat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] See also Figures 1 - 16 As shown, this embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the method for forming and manufacturing a hard hollow sphere of a sounding balloon of the present invention. However, this embodiment is for illustration only, and the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. The steps include: a. Prepare multiple thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) pellets. Place the TPU pellets in a dryer, preheat to 70°C, and remove excess moisture to slightly expand the TPU into expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam pellets. Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) has the following properties: high wear and impact resistance; excellent cold resistance, capable of withstanding temperatures as low as -35°C; high temperature resistance, capable of withstanding temperatures above 120°C; environmental friendliness, excellent load-bearing capacity and impact resistance; grease and water resistance; excellent oxidation resistance; good processability; high hardness, combined with good elasticity and toughness; b. Feeding: The preheated expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles are fed into the mold 10 through the air duct 8; c. Pre-forming: While feeding, the mold 10 shakes up and down, and a vacuum device ST is used outside the mold 10 to suck out the air inside the mold 10, keeping the inside of the mold 10 in a vacuum state, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles can closely adhere to the edge of the mold 10; and high-pressure nitrogen 141 is continuously introduced into the mold 10 to apply pressure inside the mold 10, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles closely adhere to the inner edge of the mold 10, keeping the center of the mold 10 hollow. After feeding, the vacuum device ST is turned off, and steam with a high temperature of about 120 °C and a high pressure of about 1.25 BAR is introduced outside the mold 10, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles gradually foam and expand to ten times their original volume, achieving pre-forming; d. Pressure reduction and cooling forming: After pre-forming, the high-pressure steam outside the mold 10 is discharged, the pressure and temperature outside the mold 10 are first reduced, and cooling water is introduced to cool the temperature of the mold 10 to 20 °C for forming; e. Demolding and trimming: Open the mold 10 to take out the semi-finished product 20 formed by foaming and trim the excess edges and corners; f. Vacuum treatment: Put the semi-finished product 20 into the vacuum device 30 to pump out the excess air and moisture in the foaming pores; g. Immersion in impregnating resin 51: Immerse the vacuum-treated semi-finished product 20 into the hot-melt impregnating resin 51 at 150 °C to fill the holes in the foam particles, thereby achieving the purposes of enhancing the structural strength, elasticity, low-temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance and ozone resistance of the finished product; h. Curing: Take out the semi-finished product 20 treated by immersing in the hot-melt impregnating resin 51 and immerse it in cooling water 61 to cool it down to 20 °C for curing; i. Finished product: Take out the cured finished product and blow off the excess water and impurities on the surface with high-pressure air to obtain the hard hollow sphere 20A of the sounding balloon.

[0031] Please refer to Figures 2 - 9As shown, the above steps are formed by a molding device A, wherein the molding device A has a storage space 1, wherein the storage space 1 contains thermoplastic polyurethane 2 (Thermoplastic polyurethane, TPU), a drying barrel 5 is set adjacent to the storage space 1, and a conveying pipe 3 is connected between the storage space 1 and the drying barrel 5. A heater 9 is set at a predetermined position of the conveying pipe 3, so that the thermoplastic polyurethane 2 (Thermoplastic polyurethane, TPU) is preheated and then conveyed to the drying barrel 5 for drying and removing moisture. The heater 9 preheats the thermoplastic polyurethane 2 (Thermoplastic polyurethane, TPU) to 70°C, so that the thermoplastic polyurethane 2 (Thermoplastic polyurethane, TPU) is slightly expanded to become expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (ExpandedThermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foamed particles, a mold 10 is provided adjacent to the drying barrel 5, and an air duct 8 is provided between the drying barrel 5 and the mold 10 to transport the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (ETPU) foamed particles into the mold 10 through the air duct 8; The mold 10 is provided with two symmetrical and movable outer mold bases 11, each of which has a semi-spherical mold core 111 formed at a relative position inside the outer mold base 11. A guide hole portion 131 is provided on one side of the mold core 111. When the two symmetrical outer mold bases are combined, a spherical molding space 13 with a guide hole portion 131 is formed. A vacuum device ST is provided on the adjacent side of the mold 10. The vacuum device ST is used to suck out the air inside the mold 10 to maintain the interior of the mold 10 in a vacuum state. The two outer mold bases 11 are respectively penetrated by a plurality of guide holes 12. Each guide hole 12 is movably connected to the vacuum device ST so that the interior of the molding space 13 is vacuumed 15 to make the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane) The expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (ETPU) foam particles can be tightly attached to the edge of the mold 10. A high-pressure nitrogen device 14 is provided adjacent to the vacuum device ST. The high-pressure nitrogen device 14 is provided with a high-pressure nitrogen pipe 141. The high-pressure nitrogen pipe 141 is connected to the inside of the mold 10 and continuously introduces high-pressure nitrogen from the high-pressure nitrogen pipe 141 into the mold 10, applying pressure inside the mold 10 to expand the thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane 4). polyurethane, ETPU) foamed particles are close to the inner edge of the mold 10, so that the center of the mold 10 remains hollow. A suction device 6 is provided on the adjacent side of the vacuum device ST. The suction device 6 is provided with a suction pipe 7. The suction pipe 7 is connected to the mold. Excess expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 foamed particles can be extracted through the suction pipe 7 to keep the number of expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 foamed particles inside the mold moderate. A high-pressure steam device 16 is provided on the adjacent side of the suction device 6. The high-pressure steam device 16 is provided with a steam pipe 161. The steam pipe 161 is connected to the mold 10. When the feeding is completed, the vacuum device ST is closed, and the steam pipe 161 of the high-pressure steam device 16 introduces high-temperature steam of about 120°C and high-pressure steam of about 1.25BAR to make the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane The polyurethane (ETPU) foamed particles gradually expand to ten times their original volume to achieve pre-forming. A cooling device 17 is provided adjacent to the high-pressure steam device 16. The cooling device 17 is provided with a cooling water 171. The cooling water 171 is connected to the mold 10. After pre-forming, the high-pressure steam outside the mold 10 is discharged to reduce the pressure and temperature outside the mold 10. The cooling water 171 is then introduced to cool the mold 10 to 20°C to complete the forming process. in Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the appearance of molding equipment A; Figure 3 It is a partial enlarged view of the molding equipment A; Figure 4 1 is a schematic diagram of the appearance of the bisymmetrical outer mold base 11 of the mold 10; Figure 5It is a schematic diagram showing that multiple expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 foam particles are placed in the molding space 13 of the mold 10, and the multiple expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 foam particles are adhered to the inner wall surface of the mold core 111 by vacuum pumping 15; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram showing that a high-pressure nitrogen gas pipe 141 inside the molding space 13 of the mold 10 releases high-pressure nitrogen gas through a high-pressure nitrogen gas device 14, and the multiple expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 foam particles are adhered to the inner wall surface of the mold core 111 by vacuum pumping 15; Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram showing that the mold 10 is heated by high-temperature and high-pressure steam released from a steam pipe 161 of a high-pressure steam device 16. Mainly, the vacuum device ST is closed, and steam with a high temperature of about 120 °C and a high pressure of about 1.25 BAR is introduced outside the mold 10, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (Expanded Thermoplastic polyurethane, ETPU) foam particles gradually expand and foam to ten times their original volume, achieving pre-forming; Figure 8 It is that a cooling device 17 is provided adjacent to the high-pressure steam device 16. The cooling device 17 is provided with a cooling water 171, and the cooling water 171 is connected to the mold 10. After pre-forming, the high-pressure steam outside the mold 10 is discharged, the pressure and temperature outside the mold 10 are first reduced, and the cooling water 171 is introduced to cool the temperature of the mold 10 to 20 °C for forming; Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram showing that the high-pressure steam outside the mold 10 is discharged after pre-forming, reducing the pressure and temperature outside the mold 10.

[0032] Among them, the semi-finished product 20 has a hollow sphere 21 and a hollow chamber 22 formed inside the hollow sphere 21. A convex guide hole 24 is provided on one side of the hollow sphere 21; Please refer to Figure 10 As shown, in the demolding and trimming of step e, the semi-finished product 20 is clamped and positioned by a fixed pivoting jaw 41 provided inside a trimming device 40. A trimming abrasive tool 42 is provided at a relative position of the fixed pivoting jaw 41, so that the semi-finished product 20 rubs against the trimming abrasive tool 42 to trim the excess corners on the surface of the spherical semi-finished product 20.

[0033] Please refer to Figure 11 As shown, in the vacuum treatment of step f, a vacuum pumping device 30, a vacuum pumping pipeline 31 provided at a relative position of the vacuum pumping device 30, and a fixed seat 32 disposed in the middle of the vacuum pumping device 30 are used. After the spherical semi-finished product 20 is positioned on the fixed seat 32, the foaming pores and excess air and moisture on the surface are pumped out.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 12As shown, in step g, the impregnation resin 51 is impregnated into the spherical semi-finished product 20 through an impregnation device 50 and a 150°C hot melt impregnation resin 51 provided in the impregnation device 50 to fill the pores of the foamed beads of the semi-finished product 20, thereby achieving the purpose of enhancing the structural strength and elasticity of the finished product, and improving low temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance and ozone resistance; See also Figures 13 - 14 As shown, the solidification in step h is performed by soaking the spherical semi-finished product 20 through a cooling device 60 and cooling water 61 provided in the cooling device 60. The semi-finished product 20 is immersed in the cooling water 61 to cool to 20°C to solidify, and a filling layer 23 is formed on the surface of the hollow sphere 21.

[0035] See also Figure 15 As shown, the hard hollow sphere 20A of the sounding balloon in step i is blown through the surface of the spherical semi-finished product by a high-pressure air device inside a high-pressure device, and a fixed base 72 is placed inside the high-pressure device 70. After the spherical semi-finished product 20 is positioned on the fixed base 72, the high-pressure air is used to blow away excess moisture and impurities on the surface to obtain the hard hollow sphere 20A of the sounding balloon.

[0036] The above-mentioned molding equipment A is provided with a liftable vacuum adsorption device 18 in a sliding relative position. The vacuum adsorption device 18 has a suction clamp 181, which can movably vacuum adsorb the semi-finished product 20 to suck it up and down and unload it to the mold 10, trimming equipment 40, vacuum equipment 30, impregnation equipment 50, cooling equipment 60, and high-pressure equipment 70 for processing.

[0037] In this way, the hard hollow sphere 20A of the sounding balloon of the present invention is thermoplastically molded by expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 (ETPU). Expanded thermoplastic polyurethane 4 is a decomposable polymer material composed of countless elastic and lightweight thermoplastic polyurethane 2 foam particles. The hard hollow sphere 20A of the sounding balloon of the present invention is environmentally friendly, ultra-light, not easy to deform, highly abrasive, resistant to temperature changes, and resistant to yellowing. This allows the sounding balloon to maintain a stable state for a long time and not easily break when conducting meteorological observations at high altitudes.

[0038] In summary, the above-mentioned structure of the present invention can effectively overcome the shortcomings of existing sounding balloons and further possess the aforementioned numerous advantages and practical value. Therefore, the present invention is an extremely creative structure, and no identical or similar products have been invented or publicly used in the same technical field.

Claims

1. A manufacturing method for forming a rigid hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon, characterized in that, The steps include: a. Drying and preheating: Put the thermoplastic polyurethane particles into a dryer, preheat them to 70°C, and remove the excess moisture to make the thermoplastic polyurethane slightly expand into expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles; b. Feeding: Feed the preheated expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles into the mold through an air pipeline; c. Pre-forming: The mold will shake up and down while feeding, and a vacuum extraction device is used outside the mold to suck out the air inside the mold to keep the inside of the mold in a vacuum state, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles can closely adhere to the edge of the mold; and continuously introduce high-pressure nitrogen into the mold to apply pressure inside the mold, so that the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles closely adhere to the inner edge of the mold, keeping the center of the mold hollow. After the feeding is completed, turn off the vacuum device, and introduce steam at a high temperature of 120°C and a high pressure of 1.25 BAR outside the mold to make the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles gradually foam and expand to ten times their original volume to achieve pre-forming; d. Pressure reduction and cooling forming: After pre-forming, discharge the high-pressure steam outside the mold, first reduce the pressure and temperature outside the mold, and introduce cooling water to cool the mold temperature to 20°C to complete the forming; e. Demolding and trimming: Open the mold to take out the semi-finished product of the foam molding and trim the excess edges and corners; f. Vacuum treatment: Put the semi-finished product into a vacuum extraction device to extract the excess air and moisture in the foam pores; g. Soaking in impregnating resin: Immerse the vacuum-treated semi-finished product in a 150°C hot-melt impregnating resin to fill the holes in the foam particles to enhance the structural strength, elasticity, low-temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance, and ozone resistance of the finished product; h. Curing: Take out the semi-finished product treated by soaking in the hot-melt impregnating resin and soak it in cooling water to cool it to 20°C to cure it; i. Finished product: Take out the cured finished product and blow off the excess moisture and impurities on the surface with high-pressure air to obtain a hard hollow sphere of a sounding balloon.

2. The manufacturing method for forming a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, wherein The above steps are formed by a forming device, which has a storage space containing thermoplastic polyurethane inside. A drying barrel is arranged adjacent to the storage space. A conveying pipe is connected between the storage space and the drying barrel. A heater is arranged at a predetermined position of the conveying pipe to preheat the thermoplastic polyurethane and then convey it into the drying barrel for drying and moisture removal. The heater preheats the thermoplastic polyurethane to 70 °C, causing the thermoplastic polyurethane to slightly expand into expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles. A mold is arranged adjacent to the drying barrel. An air pipeline is connected between the drying barrel and the mold to convey the expanded thermoplastic polyurethane foam particles into the mold through the air pipeline. A vacuum device is arranged adjacent to the mold. A material extraction device is arranged adjacent to the vacuum device. The material extraction device is provided with a material extraction pipe, and the material extraction pipe is connected to the mold. A high-pressure steam device is arranged adjacent to the material extraction device. The high-pressure steam device is provided with a steam pipe, and the steam pipe is connected to the mold. A cooling device is arranged adjacent to the high-pressure steam device. The cooling device is provided with cooling water, and the cooling water is connected to the mold. A high-pressure nitrogen device is arranged adjacent to the cooling device. The high-pressure nitrogen device is provided with a high-pressure nitrogen pipe, and the high-pressure nitrogen pipe is connected to the inside of the mold. The mold is provided with two symmetrically arranged and movable outer mold seats that can be separated and combined. A semi-spherical mold core is formed at each relative position inside the outer mold seats. A guiding hole part is arranged on one side of the mold core. When the two symmetrically arranged outer mold seats are combined, a forming space in the shape of a sphere with a guiding hole part is formed. A plurality of guiding holes penetrate through the two outer mold seats respectively, and each guiding hole is movably connected to a vacuum pipe to perform vacuum pumping on the inside of the forming space.

3. The manufacturing method of the hard hollow sphere of the radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The semi-finished product has a hollow sphere and a hollow chamber formed inside the hollow sphere. A convex guiding hole is provided on one side of the hollow sphere.

4. The method for manufacturing a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The demolding and trimming in step e are carried out by a fixed pivoting jaw arranged inside a trimming device to clamp and position the semi-finished product. A trimming abrasive tool is arranged at the relative position of the fixed pivoting jaw, causing the semi-finished product to rub against the trimming abrasive tool to trim the excess edges and corners on the surface of the spherical semi-finished product.

5. The manufacturing method for forming a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vacuum treatment in step f is carried out by a vacuum pumping device, a vacuum pumping pipeline arranged at the relative position of the vacuum pumping device, and a fixed seat arranged in the middle of the vacuum pumping device. After the spherical semi-finished product is positioned on the fixed seat, the foaming pores, excess air, and moisture on the surface are pumped out.

6. The manufacturing method for forming a rigid hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The immersion in impregnating resin in step g is carried out by an impregnating device and immersing the spherical semi-finished product in a 150 °C hot-melt type impregnating resin arranged in the impregnating device to fill the holes in the semi-finished product foam particles, thereby achieving the purposes of enhancing the structural strength, elasticity, low-temperature resistance, UV resistance, yellowing resistance, and ozone resistance of the finished product.

7. The method for manufacturing a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The curing in step h is carried out by a cooling device and immersing the spherical semi-finished product in cooling water arranged in the cooling device, and immersing the semi-finished product in the cooling water to cool it down to 20 °C for curing.

8. The method for manufacturing a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 1, characterized in that, The hard hollow sphere of the radiosonde balloon in step i is blown on the surface of the spherical semi-finished product by a high-pressure air device inside a high-pressure equipment, and a fixed base placed in the middle of the high-pressure equipment. After the spherical semi-finished product is positioned on the fixed base, the excess moisture and impurities on the surface are blown off with high-pressure air to obtain the hard hollow sphere of the radiosonde balloon.

9. The method for manufacturing a hard hollow sphere of a radiosonde balloon according to claim 2, wherein A liftable vacuum adsorption device is slidably arranged at a relative position of the forming equipment. The vacuum adsorption device has an adsorption jaw, which can actively vacuum adsorb the semi-finished product to suck it up and down and unload it to the mold, trimming equipment, vacuum pumping equipment, impregnation equipment, cooling equipment, and high-pressure equipment for processing operations.

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