Liquid storage tank with reinforcement and production method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement and a production method thereof. The reinforcement is arranged on the surface of the liquid storage tank, and the reinforcement is made of a thermoplastic composite material containing fibers. In this solution, the reinforcement is heated in the process of a manipulator fixing the reinforcement and moving the reinforcement to a mold. The cooling time of the reinforcement before welding is reduced, so that the reinforcement has a higher temperature; and the reinforcement does not directly contact the mold with a lower temperature, which can effectively reduce the cooling rate of the reinforcement. At the same time, an intermediate mold is used to push the blank onto the reinforcement material and weld it. Before high-pressure blowing, the intermediate mold is used as a pressure source for welding. At this time, the blank and the reinforcement material have a higher temperature, less heat loss, and better welding quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of liquid storage tanks, and in particular relates to a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement piece and a production method thereof. Background Art

[0002] As emission regulations become increasingly stringent, new energy vehicles are becoming more and more popular. Among new energy vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles are both oil-electric and use electricity for short distances and oil for long distances. While achieving low fuel consumption, they also eliminate people's mileage anxiety and are being vigorously promoted and favored by people around the world.

[0003] When a plug-in hybrid vehicle is using electricity, the engine does not work and the carbon canister cannot be desorbed. In order to prevent fuel vapor from entering the carbon canister and saturating the carbon canister, the fuel vapor is generally sealed in the fuel tank, so the fuel tank needs to withstand a certain amount of pressure. At present, the common methods for improving the pressure resistance of the fuel tank are: 1. Placing a support frame inside the fuel tank to connect the upper and lower inner surfaces of the fuel tank. This method requires a built-in mechanism in the component to place the support frame inside the fuel tank during production. The support frame and tooling equipment have a considerable cost and occupy the internal space of the fuel tank. The support frame may occupy the position of other parts. Some places such as inclined surfaces are not suitable for placing the support frame. 2. The upper and lower surfaces of the inner wall of the fuel tank are connected top to top (kiss-off). This method will sacrifice a large amount of fuel tank volume, and small areas are not suitable for placing kiss-off. 3. Place multiple horizontal and vertical metal straps on the surface of the fuel tank to form a cage-like structure. The metal cage in this method has high development cost and heavy weight, which does not conform to the current development trend of lightweighting. 4. Connect a reinforcement layer on the surface of the fuel tank. The reinforcement layer occupies less space and is light. The resin in the reinforcement layer must be compatible with the fuel tank material. The reinforcement layer needs to be fully heated, but in the prior art, the reinforcement is not heated during the process of the manipulator fixing the reinforcement layer and moving the reinforcement to the mold. The reinforcement layer is not heated for a long time, and the blank and the reinforcement layer are welded by high-pressure blowing. The reinforcement material has a large temperature loss before the high-pressure blowing. Summary of the invention

[0004] The object of the present invention is to provide a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement part and a production method thereof, so as to solve the following problems in the prior art: the reinforcement part is not heated in the process of the robot fixing the reinforcement layer and moving the reinforcement part to the mold, the reinforcement layer is not heated for a long time, and the blank and the reinforcement layer are welded by high-pressure blowing, and the reinforcement material has a large temperature loss before the high-pressure blowing.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this application is implemented through the following technical solutions:

[0006] The invention discloses a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member. The reinforcement member is arranged on the surface of the liquid storage tank and is made of a thermoplastic composite material containing fibers.

[0007] Furthermore, the composite material is composed of more than one prepreg layer, each prepreg layer contains woven or non-woven continuous fibers, and the continuous fibers are wrapped or impregnated with resin.

[0008] Further, the resin is compatible or incompatible with the liquid tank material.

[0009] Furthermore, the bending modulus of the reinforcement is more than twice the bending modulus of the liquid tank material.

[0010] Furthermore, the resin on the outermost side of the reinforcement is a material that is compatible with the fuel tank material.

[0011] Furthermore, the thickness of the resin on the outermost side of the reinforcement is greater than 0.01 mm.

[0012] A method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member comprises the following steps:

[0013] S1. One side of the Y-shaped manipulator is an embedded ring clamping device, and the other side is a heater. A suction device is provided in the heater for sucking any of the above-mentioned reinforcements, and a heating element in the heater heats the reinforcement;

[0014] S2, the robot puts the reinforcement piece at the end of the first ejection device of the corresponding area of ​​the mold or at the suction device of the corresponding area, and fixes the reinforcement piece;

[0015] S3, the robot withdraws, and the mold and the intermediate mold move to the blank;

[0016] S4, the second ejection device of the intermediate mold corresponding to the reinforcement member ejects or the convex area on the intermediate mold, and pushes the blank onto the reinforcement member, so that the reinforcement member and the blank are welded together;

[0017] S5, the middle mold is withdrawn, the internal parts are placed in the blank, and high-pressure blowing is performed to form the blank;

[0018] S6. Open the mold and take out the liquid storage tank.

[0019] Furthermore, a heater door is provided on the outer side of the heater.

[0020] Furthermore, a plurality of third ejection devices are arranged in the heater, and an air suction device is arranged at the end of each of the third ejection devices.

[0021] Furthermore, the fixation of the first ejection device and the reinforcement member is achieved by an air suction structure arranged on the first ejection device.

[0022] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0023] This solution heats the reinforcement part while the manipulator fixes the reinforcement part and moves the reinforcement part to the mold, thereby reducing the cooling time of the reinforcement part before welding and making the reinforcement part have a higher temperature.

[0024] In this solution, the reinforcement part does not directly contact the mold with a lower temperature, which can effectively reduce the cooling speed of the reinforcement part.

[0025] This solution is to use the middle mold to push the blank onto the reinforcement material and weld it. Before high-pressure blowing, the middle mold is used as the pressure source for welding. At this time, the blank and the reinforcement material have higher temperatures, less heat loss, and better welding quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the Y-type manipulator structure;

[0027] Figure 2 It is a heater with the door closed;

[0028] Figure 3.1 It is a heater in the open state, which contains a heating element and a retractable suction device;

[0029] Figure 3.2 It is a doorless heater, in which a heating element and an air suction device are arranged;

[0030] Figure 4.1 is a schematic diagram of a reinforcement member being fixed to a first ejection device;

[0031] Figure 4.2 is a schematic diagram of a reinforcement being fixed to a suction device of a mold;

[0032] Figure 5.1 is a schematic diagram of the second ejector device on the middle mold;

[0033] Figure 5.2 is a schematic diagram of the protruding area on the middle mold;

[0034] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the middle mold welding the reinforcement and the blank;

[0035] Figure 7 , Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the state where the blank is between the mold and the middle mold;

[0036] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the intermediate mold welding the reinforcement and the blank.

[0037] Description of Reference Numerals

[0038] 1-heater, 2-ring clamping device, 3-heater door, 4-suction device, 5-heating element, 6-mold, 7-first ejection device, 8-suction hole, 9-reinforcement member, 10-blank, 11-intermediate mold, 12-second ejection device, 13-protruding area. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail below through examples. The following examples are merely exemplary and can only be used to explain and illustrate the technical solution of the present application, and cannot be construed as limiting the technical solution of the present application.

[0040] The present application provides a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member. The reinforcement member is arranged on the surface of the liquid storage tank. In the technical solution of the present application, the reinforcement member can be arranged on the outer surface of the liquid storage tank.

[0041] The reinforcement of the present application is made of a fiber-containing thermoplastic composite material, which is composed of one or more prepreg layers, that is, each prepreg layer contains woven continuous fibers or non-woven continuous fibers in a single direction, and the above-mentioned continuous fibers are wrapped or impregnated with resin.

[0042] The above resin may be a material that is compatible or incompatible with the liquid tank material. The flexural modulus of the reinforcement of the present application is at least twice that of the liquid tank material, preferably more than three times.

[0043] The resin on the outermost side of the reinforcement is a material compatible with the liquid tank material, and has a thickness of at least 0.01 mm, preferably 0.03 mm or more.

[0044] like Figures 1 to 9 As shown, the present application also provides a method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member, comprising the following steps:

[0045] The manipulator has a ring clamping device 2 on one side and a heater 1 on the other side. The heater continuously heats to ensure that the interior of the heater maintains a constant specified temperature. There are several third ejection devices inside the heater 1, and an air suction device 4 is provided at the end of each third ejection device. In other embodiments of the present application, the heater continuously heats to ensure that the heating surface maintains a constant temperature, and there is an air suction device on the heater, such as a suction cup.

[0046] The suction device 4 is used to suck any of the above-mentioned reinforcement members 9, the heating element 5 in the heater heats the reinforcement member, and the heating surface of the heater heats the reinforcement member.

[0047] The manipulator reaches the reinforcement placement location, the heater door opens, the third ejector device ejects, the suction cup at the end sucks the reinforcement, the third ejector device and the reinforcement are withdrawn to the heater together, the heater door 3 is closed, and the reinforcement is heated to a specified temperature in the heater. In other embodiments of the present application, the manipulator reaches the reinforcement placement location, the suction cup on the heating surface of the heater sucks the reinforcement, and the reinforcement is heated to a specified temperature at the heating surface.

[0048] The manipulator places the reinforcement at the end of the first ejection device 7 in the corresponding area of ​​the mold and fixes the reinforcement. Specifically, the first ejection device ejects from the surface of the mold, and the manipulator places the reinforcement at the end of the first ejection device 7 of the mold 6. At the end of the first ejection device, there is an air suction device for fixing the reinforcement. The reinforcement of this technical solution does not directly contact the mold with a lower temperature, which can effectively reduce the cooling rate of the reinforcement. In other embodiments of the present application, the manipulator places the reinforcement at the end of the air suction device in the corresponding area of ​​the mold and fixes the reinforcement. The end of the air suction device is a flexible material, such as a rubber suction cup. The suction cup surface slightly protrudes from the mold plane so that the reinforcement does not contact the mold. The reinforcement of this technical solution does not directly contact the mold with a lower temperature, which can effectively reduce the cooling rate of the reinforcement.

[0049] The manipulator withdraws, and the mold 6 and the middle mold 11 move to the blank 10. When the mold is closed, the second ejector 12 ejects, and the blank is between the mold and the middle mold. The second ejector corresponding to the reinforcement of the middle mold ejects, and pushes the blank onto the reinforcement, so that the reinforcement contacts the blank, and continues to push the two onto the mold (the first ejector on the mold is withdrawn at the same time), so that the two are welded together.

[0050] In other embodiments of the present application, the manipulator is withdrawn, and the mold 6 and the middle mold 11 are moved to the blank 10, at which time the blank is between the mold and the middle mold. When the mold is closed, the middle mold pushes the blank onto the reinforcement 9 corresponding to the protruding area 13 of the reinforcement 9, so that the reinforcement contacts the blank, and continues to push the two onto the mold to weld them together.

[0051] The middle mold is withdrawn, the component built-in mechanism places the built-in parts, and high-pressure blowing is performed to form the components.

[0052] Open the mold and take out the liquid storage tank.

[0053] The above are only specific embodiments of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited to this. Any changes or substitutions that are not conceived through creative work should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement, wherein a reinforcement is arranged on the surface of the liquid storage tank, and the reinforcement is made of a thermoplastic composite material containing fibers, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: S1, one side of the Y-shaped manipulator is an embedded ring clamping device, and the other side is a heater, a suction device is provided in the heater for sucking the reinforcement, and a heating element in the heater heats the reinforcement; S2, the manipulator places the reinforcement part at the end of the first ejection device of the corresponding area of ​​the mold or the suction device of the corresponding area, and fixes the reinforcement part, and the heater continues to heat to ensure that the inside of the heater maintains a constant specified temperature; S3, the robot withdraws, and the mold and the intermediate mold move to the blank; S4, the second ejection device of the intermediate mold corresponding to the reinforcement member ejects or the convex area on the intermediate mold, and pushes the blank onto the reinforcement member, so that the reinforcement member and the blank are welded together; S5, the middle mold is withdrawn, the internal parts are placed in the blank, and high-pressure blowing is performed to form the blank; S6. Open the mold and take out the liquid storage tank.

2. The method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fixing of the first ejection device and the reinforcement member is achieved by an air suction structure arranged on the first ejection device.

3. The method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The composite material is composed of one or more prepreg layers, each of which contains woven or non-woven continuous fibers wrapped or impregnated with resin.

4. The method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexural modulus of the reinforcement is more than twice the flexural modulus of the liquid tank material.

5. The method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member according to claim 3, characterized in that: The outermost resin of the reinforcement is a material compatible with the fuel tank material.

6. The method for producing a liquid storage tank with a reinforcement member according to claim 1, characterized in that: The thickness of the resin on the outermost side of the reinforcement is greater than 0.01 mm.

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