A high mechanical property rubber part vulcanization production device and method

Abstract

The application relates to a high-mechanical-property rubber part vulcanization production device and method, which comprises two heating molds, a loading device, a hard probe, a light displacement sensor and a control device. The two heating molds are arranged in a top-bottom mode and are provided with a heating function, are used for providing the temperature required by rubber part vulcanization, and are provided with a rubber part forming cavity between the two heating molds and are used for rubber part forming. The loading device is provided with a force sensor and is connected with the hard probe, is used for applying a controllable load to push the hard probe to move and press into the rubber part in the rubber part forming cavity. The surface of the hard probe is provided with a mark and moves synchronously with the hard probe. The light displacement sensor is arranged on the side of the mark and faces the mark, is used for detecting the displacement of the mark. The input end of the control device is electrically connected with the light displacement sensor, and the output end of the control device is electrically connected with the two heating molds and the loading device. The device and method are beneficial to efficiently producing the rubber part with excellent mechanical properties and reducing energy waste.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of rubber vulcanization technology, specifically to a vulcanization production apparatus and method for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts. Background Technology

[0002] Rubber parts possess excellent elasticity and damping properties, enabling their application in various fields. However, the original rubber compound's molecular chains are linear, resulting in poor mechanical properties. Therefore, during the manufacturing process, the rubber compound undergoes heat vulcanization to obtain high-performance rubber parts with three-dimensional cross-linking of the molecular chains.

[0003] In existing technologies, the vulcanization status of rubber parts in the mold is unknown during the vulcanization process of rubber compounds, and their mechanical properties are also unknown. The mechanical properties of rubber parts can only be tested after vulcanization is completed, and the vulcanization production of rubber parts is carried out through continuous trial and error. The relationship between rubber parts and vulcanization process cannot be obtained, and the entire production and R&D process wastes time and energy.

[0004] Because the cross-linking of rubber vulcanization hinders the movement of the probe, the probe displacement distance varies under the same load. The higher the degree of cross-linking of the rubber part, the smaller the probe indentation distance under the same load, thus obtaining the change in the mechanical properties of the rubber part during vulcanization production. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a vulcanization production apparatus and method for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts, which is conducive to the efficient production of rubber parts with excellent mechanical properties and reduces energy waste.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a high-mechanical-performance rubber part vulcanization production device, comprising two heating templates, a loading device, a hard probe, a photoelectric displacement sensor, and a control device. The two heating templates are arranged vertically and have a heating function to provide the temperature required for rubber part vulcanization. A rubber part forming cavity is provided between the two heating templates for forming the rubber part. The loading device is equipped with a force sensor and connected to the hard probe to apply a controllable load to push the hard probe to move and press the rubber part into the rubber part forming cavity. The surface of the hard probe is marked and moves synchronously with the hard probe. The photoelectric displacement sensor is arranged next to and facing the mark to detect the displacement of the mark. The input end of the control device is electrically connected to the photoelectric displacement sensor, and the output end of the control device is electrically connected to the two heating templates and the loading device.

[0007] Furthermore, the control device is electrically connected to the optical displacement sensor, the loading device, and the two heating templates via wires for data communication.

[0008] Furthermore, the two heating templates are stacked together, with at least one upper half cavity at the bottom of the upper heating template and at least one lower half cavity at the bottom of the lower heating template. The upper half cavity and the lower half cavity are joined together to form a rubber part molding cavity. A through hole is opened on the upper heating template corresponding to the position of the hard probe, so that the hard probe can pass through and be pressed into the rubber part in at least one rubber part molding cavity.

[0009] Furthermore, the material of the hard probe includes hard steel and ceramic.

[0010] Furthermore, the sampling frequency of the optical displacement sensor is higher than the indentation frequency of the hard probe.

[0011] This invention also provides a vulcanization production method for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts. Using the aforementioned vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts, the following steps are repeatedly performed during the heated vulcanization production of the rubber parts until heating is stopped: (1) The control device controls the loading device to apply a fixed load, pushes the hard probe to move and press into the rubber part; at the same time, the optical displacement sensor detects the displacement of the marker, thereby obtaining the probe movement distance at the current moment, and transmits the obtained probe movement distance at the current moment to the control device. (2) The control device saves the probe movement distance at the current moment and retrieves the probe movement distances at the two moments before the current moment to determine whether the mechanical properties of the rubber part are close to the optimal. (3) If the probe movement distance at the current moment is greater than the probe movement distance at the previous two moments, or if the difference between the probe movement distance at the current moment and the probe movement distance at the previous two moments is less than or equal to the preset threshold, then the mechanical properties of the rubber part are determined to be close to the optimal value, and heating is stopped.

[0012] Furthermore, the control device controls the heating template to heat the rubber part in the rubber part molding cavity to carry out the heat-curing of the rubber part.

[0013] Furthermore, the fixed load is the load required for the hard probe to penetrate 15% to 25% of the depth of the fully vulcanized rubber part.

[0014] Furthermore, the preset threshold is 0% to 5%.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: The present invention provides a vulcanization production device and method for high mechanical properties of rubber parts, which solves the problems of wasted time and energy and inability to determine the mechanical properties of rubber parts in real time during the vulcanization production of rubber parts; the device and method obtain the changes in the mechanical properties of rubber parts during the vulcanization process by real-time monitoring the probe movement distance, and stop heating when the mechanical properties of the rubber parts are close to the optimal level, thereby reducing energy waste and producing rubber parts with excellent mechanical properties with high efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the device structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the method implementation of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0017] In the diagram: 1. Heating template; 2. Rubber part molding cavity; 3. Loading device; 4. Hard probe; 5. Marker; 6. Optical displacement sensor; 7. Wire; 8. Control device. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0019] It should be noted that the following detailed descriptions are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation of this application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains.

[0020] It should be noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to this application. As used herein, the singular form is intended to include the plural form as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, it should be understood that when the terms "comprising" and / or "including" are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0021] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a high-mechanical-performance rubber part vulcanization production apparatus, including two heating templates 1, a loading device 3, a hard probe 4, a photoelectric displacement sensor 6, and a control device 8. The two heating templates 1 are arranged vertically and have a heating function to provide the temperature required for rubber part vulcanization. A rubber part forming cavity 2 is provided between the two heating templates 1 for forming the rubber part. The loading device 3 is equipped with a force sensor and connected to the hard probe 4, used to apply a controllable load to move the hard probe and press it into the rubber part in the forming cavity. The surface of the hard probe 4 has a mark 5 that moves synchronously with the hard probe 4. The photoelectric displacement sensor 6 is located beside and facing the mark 5, used to detect the displacement of the mark. The sampling frequency of the photoelectric displacement sensor 6 is higher than the pressing frequency of the hard probe 4. The input end of the control device 8 is electrically connected to the optical displacement sensor 6 via the wire 7. The output end of the control device 8 is also electrically connected to the two heating templates 1 and the loading device 3 via wires to perform data communication, thereby receiving the data collected by the optical displacement sensor 6 and issuing control commands to the two heating templates 1 and the loading device 3.

[0022] Specifically, the two heating templates 1 are stacked together, with at least one upper half cavity at the bottom of the upper heating template and at least one lower half cavity at the bottom of the lower heating template. The upper half cavity and the lower half cavity are joined together to form a rubber part molding cavity 2. A through hole is opened on the upper heating template corresponding to the position of the hard probe 4, so that the hard probe 4 can pass through and be pressed into the rubber part in at least one rubber part molding cavity.

[0023] The material of the hard probe 4 may include, but is not limited to, hard steel and ceramic. In this embodiment, ceramic is used, that is, the hard probe is a hard ceramic probe.

[0024] In this embodiment, the aforementioned high-mechanical-performance rubber vulcanization production apparatus is used for the vulcanization production of high-mechanical-performance EPDM rubber parts. The control device controls the heating template to heat the rubber part in the molding cavity for thermal vulcanization. For example... Figure 2 As shown, in the heat-curing production of rubber parts, the following steps are repeated until heating is stopped: (1) The load required for the hard ceramic probe to penetrate 15% to 25% of the fully vulcanized EPDM rubber part is denoted as F. In this embodiment, the load required to penetrate 20% of the fully vulcanized EPDM rubber part is taken as F.

[0025] (2) The control device controls the loading device to apply a fixed load F, which pushes the hard ceramic probe to move and press into the rubber part; at the same time, the optical displacement sensor detects the displacement of the marker, thereby obtaining the probe movement distance at the current moment, and transmits the obtained probe movement distance at the current moment to the control device.

[0026] (3) The control device saves the probe movement distance at the current moment and retrieves the probe movement distances at the two moments before the current moment to determine whether the mechanical properties of the rubber part are close to the optimal.

[0027] (4) If the probe movement distance at the current moment is greater than the probe movement distance at the previous two moments, or if the difference between the probe movement distance at the current moment and the probe movement distance at the previous two moments is less than or equal to a preset threshold, then the mechanical properties of the rubber part are determined to be close to optimal, and heating is stopped. The preset threshold value ranges from 0% to 5%. In this embodiment, the preset threshold is 2%.

[0028] The above technical description is illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, and which show implementations according to the described embodiments. While these embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to implement them, these embodiments are not limiting; thus, other embodiments can be used, and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the described embodiments. For example, the order of operations described in the flowcharts is not limiting, and thus the order of two or more operations illustrated in and described in the flowcharts can be changed according to several embodiments.

[0029] Furthermore, terminology is used in the above technical description to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiments. However, excessive detail is not required to implement the described embodiments. Therefore, the above description of the embodiments is presented for illustrative and descriptive purposes. The embodiments presented in the above description, as well as the examples disclosed according to the embodiments, are provided separately to add context and aid in understanding the described embodiments. The above specification is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the described embodiments to the precise form of this application. Based on the above teachings, several modifications, selections, and variations are possible. In some cases, well-known processing steps have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily affecting the described embodiments.

[0030] This application uses specific embodiments to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this application. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0031] The above are merely specific embodiments of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts, characterized in that, The device includes two heating templates, a loading device, a hard probe, a light displacement sensor, and a control device. The two heating templates are arranged vertically and have a heating function to provide the temperature required for the vulcanization of the rubber part. A rubber part molding cavity is provided between the two heating templates for molding the rubber part. The loading device is equipped with a force sensor and is connected to the hard probe to apply a controllable load to push the hard probe to move and press the rubber part into the rubber part molding cavity. The surface of the hard probe is marked and moves synchronously with the hard probe. The light displacement sensor is located next to and facing the mark to detect the displacement of the mark. The input end of the control device is electrically connected to the light displacement sensor, and the output end of the control device is electrically connected to the two heating templates and the loading device. The two heating templates are stacked together, with at least one upper half cavity at the bottom of the upper heating template and at least one lower half cavity at the bottom of the lower heating template. The upper half cavity and the lower half cavity are joined together to form a rubber part molding cavity. A through hole is opened on the upper heating template corresponding to the position of the hard probe, so that the hard probe can pass through and be pressed into the rubber part in at least one rubber part molding cavity. Using the aforementioned high-mechanical-performance rubber vulcanization production apparatus, the following steps are repeatedly performed during the heated vulcanization production of the rubber parts until heating is stopped: (1) The control device controls the loading device to apply a fixed load, pushes the hard probe to move and press into the rubber part; at the same time, the optical displacement sensor detects the displacement of the marker, thereby obtaining the probe movement distance at the current moment, and transmits the obtained probe movement distance at the current moment to the control device. (2) The control device saves the probe movement distance at the current moment and retrieves the probe movement distances at the two moments before the current moment to determine whether the mechanical properties of the rubber part are close to the optimal. (3) If the probe movement distance at the current moment is greater than the probe movement distance at the previous two moments, or if the difference between the probe movement distance at the current moment and the probe movement distance at the previous two moments is less than or equal to the preset threshold, then the mechanical properties of the rubber part are determined to be close to the optimal value, and heating is stopped. The control device controls the heating template to heat the rubber part in the rubber part molding cavity, so as to carry out the heat vulcanization of the rubber part.

2. The vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control device is electrically connected to the optical displacement sensor, the loading device, and the two heating templates via wires for data communication.

3. The vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The materials of the hard probe include hard steel and ceramic.

4. The vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sampling frequency of the optical displacement sensor is higher than the indentation frequency of the hard probe.

5. The vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The fixed load is the load required for the hard probe to penetrate 15% to 25% of the depth of the fully vulcanized rubber part.

6. The vulcanization production apparatus for high-mechanical-performance rubber parts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset threshold is 0% to 5%.

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