Thermoplastic composite pipe expanding system and process

Abstract

The invention discloses a thermoplastic composite material pipe expansion system and process, the thermoplastic composite material pipe expansion system comprises a mold, a heating box, a flexible medium injection device and an extrusion device, a cavity is arranged in the mold, a concave forming cavity is arranged in the cavity, the heating box can heat the mold, and the extrusion device is arranged in the cavity. The forming cavity is arranged on the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting to transfer heat to the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting, the flexible medium injection device can inject a flexible medium into the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting, the extrusion device extrudes the flexible medium in the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting, and the section, corresponding to the forming cavity, of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting is extruded through the extrusion device. And under the pressure action of the flexible medium, expansion forming is performed towards the forming cavity. By heating the thermoplastic composite material pipe fitting and under the pressure of the flexible medium and the avoiding effect of the forming cavity, the section, corresponding to the forming cavity, of the thermoplastic composite material pipe fitting can be expanded, and therefore compared with traditional special-shaped pipe fitting machining, the machining efficiency can be effectively improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of composite material processing, and particularly relates to a hot plastic composite material tube expanding system and process. Background Art

[0002] For composite material special-shaped pipe fittings, their structures are different from conventional straight pipe structures and usually have variable cross-section structures. Currently, specific-shaped molds need to be designed, and then the composite materials are manually laid, with complex processes and high costs.

[0003] Therefore, how to improve the forming efficiency of composite material special-shaped pipe fittings is a technical problem that those skilled in the art urgently need to solve. Summary of the Invention

[0004] One object of the present invention is to provide a hot plastic composite material tube expanding system, which can effectively improve the forming efficiency of composite material special-shaped pipe fittings, and another object is to provide a hot plastic composite material tube expanding process.

[0005] To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0006] A hot plastic composite material tube expanding system includes:

[0007] A mold, with a chamber provided inside the mold, the chamber being used to accommodate a hot plastic composite material pipe fitting to be processed, and an inwardly concave forming cavity being provided inside the chamber;

[0008] A heating box, provided on the outer peripheral side of the mold, for heating the forming cavity to transfer heat to the hot plastic composite material pipe fitting;

[0009] A flexible medium injection device, used to inject a flexible medium into the hot plastic composite material pipe fitting;

[0010] An extrusion device, used to extrude the flexible medium inside the hot plastic composite material pipe fitting, and the section of the hot plastic composite material pipe fitting corresponding to the forming cavity expands and forms towards the forming cavity under the pressure of the flexible medium.

[0011] In some embodiments, the mold includes a first section, a second section, and a third section distributed in sequence, the forming cavity is provided inside the second section, guiding cavities communicating with the forming cavity are provided inside the first section and the third section, the guiding cavities are used to accommodate both ends of the hot plastic composite material pipe fitting, and the inner diameter of the forming cavity is larger than the inner diameter of the guiding cavity.

[0012] In some embodiments, the heating box is sleeved on the outer periphery of the second section and the outer peripheries of parts of the first section and the third section close to the second section.

[0013] In some embodiments, the thermal conductivity of the first section and the third section is lower than that of the second section.

[0014] In some embodiments, both ends of the second section are detachably connected to the first section and the third section.

[0015] In some embodiments, the flexible medium injection device includes a first hydraulic pump and a second hydraulic pump, and the first hydraulic pump and the second hydraulic pump are used to inject liquid from both ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting.

[0016] In some embodiments, the extrusion device includes a first hydraulic cylinder and a second hydraulic cylinder. The first hydraulic cylinder includes a first push head for inserting into one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting, and the second hydraulic cylinder includes a second push head for inserting into the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting. When the first push head and the second push head move towards each other, they can extrude the flexible medium.

[0017] In some embodiments, one end of the first hydraulic cylinder is provided with a first sealing member for sealing one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting, and one end of the second hydraulic cylinder is provided with a second sealing member for sealing the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting.

[0018] In some embodiments, the thermoplastic composite pipe expanding system further includes a controller, which is connected to the heating box, the flexible medium injection device and the extrusion device to control the heating temperature of the heating box, the injection pressure of the flexible medium injection device and the feed amount of the extrusion device.

[0019] A thermoplastic composite pipe expanding process using the thermoplastic composite pipe expanding system according to any one of the above. The thermoplastic composite pipe expanding process includes the following steps:

[0020] Place the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting to be processed into the cavity of the mold;

[0021] Heat the mold to soften the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting corresponding to the forming cavity;

[0022] Inject a flexible medium into the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting;

[0023] By extruding the flexible medium, the softened section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting expands and forms towards the forming cavity.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the above technical solution has the following advantages:

[0025] A thermoplastic composite tube expanding system and process provided by the present invention places a thermoplastic composite tube to be processed in the cavity of a mold, and the position on the thermoplastic composite tube that needs to be expanded and deformed corresponds to the forming cavity. After the thermoplastic composite tube is placed in place, the heating box can heat the mold to transfer heat to the thermoplastic composite tube; the flexible medium injection device can inject the flexible medium into the thermoplastic composite tube, and finally, the extrusion device extrudes the flexible medium in the thermoplastic composite tube. The section of the thermoplastic composite tube corresponding to the forming cavity expands and forms towards the forming cavity under the pressure of the flexible medium. By heating the thermoplastic composite tube and under the pressure of the flexible medium and the avoidance effect of the forming cavity, the section of the thermoplastic composite tube corresponding to the forming cavity can be expanded. Therefore, compared with the processing of traditional special-shaped tubes, the processing efficiency can be effectively improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only the embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained according to the provided drawings.

[0027] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a thermoplastic composite tube expanding system provided by a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 It is a cross-sectional view of a mold of a thermoplastic composite tube expanding system provided by a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] The reference numerals are as follows:

[0030] 100 - thermoplastic composite tube;

[0031] 1 - mold, 11 - first section, 12 - second section, 121 - forming cavity, 13 - third section;

[0032] 2 - heating box, 3 - first hydraulic pump, 4 - second hydraulic pump, 5 - first hydraulic cylinder, 6 - second hydraulic cylinder, 7 - controller, 8 - flexible medium. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0033] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 .

[0035] A thermoplastic composite tube expansion system provided by an embodiment of the present invention includes: a mold 1, a heating box 2, a flexible medium injection device, and an extrusion device. A cavity is provided in the mold 1, and an inwardly concave forming cavity 121 is provided inside the cavity. The heating box 2 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the mold 1. During use, the thermoplastic composite tube 100 to be processed is placed in the cavity of the mold 1, and the position on the thermoplastic composite tube 100 that needs to be expanded and deformed corresponds to the forming cavity 121. The thermoplastic composite tube 100 to be processed can be prepared by a pultrusion process. The mold 1 includes an upper mold and a lower mold, and the upper mold can be opened from the lower mold. The above-mentioned cavity is formed between the upper mold and the lower mold. After the tube expansion of the thermoplastic composite tube 100 is completed, the upper mold can be opened to take out the processed tube. After the thermoplastic composite tube 100 is placed in place, the heating box 2 can heat the mold 1, that is, heat the forming cavity 121 to transfer heat to the thermoplastic composite tube 100; the flexible medium injection device can inject the flexible medium 8 into the thermoplastic composite tube 100, for example, inject a liquid into the thermoplastic composite tube 100, and the thermoplastic composite tube 100 can be wrapped by an airtight flexible film; finally, the flexible medium 8 in the thermoplastic composite tube 100 is extruded by the extrusion device, and the section of the thermoplastic composite tube 100 corresponding to the forming cavity 121 expands and forms toward the forming cavity 121 under the pressure of the flexible medium 8. By heating the thermoplastic composite tube 100 and extruding the flexible medium 8 injected into the thermoplastic composite tube 100 by the extrusion device, the section of the thermoplastic composite tube 100 corresponding to the forming cavity 121 can be expanded. Therefore, compared with the processing of traditional special-shaped tubes, the processing efficiency can be effectively improved, which is suitable for mass production.

[0036] In some embodiments, the mold 1 includes a first section 11, a second section 12, and a third section 13 distributed in sequence. For example Figure 2As shown, the mold 1 is successively distributed with a first section 11, a second section 12, and a third section 13 from right to left along its axis direction. Among them, a forming cavity 121 is provided in the second section 12, and guiding cavities communicating with the forming cavity 121 are provided in the first section 11 and the third section 13. The structures of the first section 11 and the third section 13 are cylindrical. The shape of the forming cavity 121 can be determined according to the shape required for the pipe fitting to be processed. It is necessary to ensure that the inner diameter of the forming cavity 121 is larger than the inner diameter of the guiding cavity. After the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 is placed in the cavity, the two ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that do not need to be deformed are located in the guiding cavity, and the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that needs to be deformed is located in the forming cavity 121. When the heating box 2 heats the forming cavity 121, the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that needs to be deformed will soften and can expand and deform under the action of the pressure of the flexible medium 8 until it contacts the inner wall of the forming cavity 121.

[0037] In some embodiments, as Figure 2 shown, the heating box 2 is sleeved on the outer periphery of the second section 12 and the outer periphery of a part of the structures of the first section 11 and the third section 13 close to the second section 12. The main purpose of the heating box 2 is to heat the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that needs to be deformed. At the same time, the heating box 2 is also sleeved on the positions of the first section 11 and the third section 13 close to the second section 12 to avoid too large a temperature difference between the position where the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 needs to be deformed and the position where it does not need to be deformed, thereby affecting the processing quality.

[0038] In some embodiments, the thermal conductivity of the first section 11 and the third section 13 is lower than that of the second section 12. At this time, when the heating box 2 heats, most of the heat will be transferred to the second section 12 to make full use of the heat, and it can also avoid having an adverse impact on the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that does not need to be deformed.

[0039] In some embodiments, in order to improve the adaptability of the mold 1, the two ends of the second section 12 are detachably connected to the first section 11 and the third section 13. For example, multiple second sections 12 can be preset, and the forming cavities 121 in each second section 12 have different shapes. When it is necessary to perform tube expansion deformation of one of the shapes on the pipe fitting, the second section 12 with the corresponding shape can be connected to the first section 11 and the third section 13. The detachable connection method can be selected as a threaded connection; in addition, multiple first sections 11 and multiple third sections 13 can be preset respectively, the inner diameters of the first sections 11 are different, and the inner diameters of the third sections 13 are also different; in addition, an inner concave cavity structure that can make the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 expand can be provided in the first section 11 and the third section 13.

[0040] In some embodiments, the flexible medium injection device includes a first hydraulic pump 3 and a second hydraulic pump 4. The first hydraulic pump 3 and the second hydraulic pump 4 can inject liquid from both ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100, so that the liquid flows towards the middle of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. Additionally, only one hydraulic pump can be provided, but one end of the mold 1 needs to be closed, and the other end can be used for the hydraulic pump to inject liquid.

[0041] In some embodiments, the extrusion device includes a first hydraulic cylinder 5 and a second hydraulic cylinder 6. The first hydraulic cylinder 5 can be supplied with oil by the first hydraulic pump 3, and the second hydraulic cylinder 6 can be supplied with oil by the second hydraulic pump 4. The first hydraulic cylinder 5 includes a first push head, which is used to be placed at one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100, and the second hydraulic cylinder 6 includes a second push head, which is used to be placed at the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. When extrusion is required, the first push head of the first hydraulic cylinder 5 and the second push head of the second hydraulic cylinder 6 move towards each other, and can extrude the flexible medium 8. Under the action of pressure and the avoidance effect of the forming cavity 121, the flexible medium 8 will extrude the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 corresponding to the forming cavity 121, so that this section expands and deforms towards the inside of the forming cavity 121 until it contacts the inner wall of the forming cavity 121.

[0042] In some embodiments, a first sealing member is provided at one end of the first hydraulic cylinder 5, and the first sealing member is used to seal one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. A second sealing member is provided at one end of the second hydraulic cylinder 6, and the second sealing member is used to seal the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. After placing the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 in the mold 1, it is necessary to seal both ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 through the first sealing member and the second sealing member to prevent the flexible medium 8 from leaking from the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100.

[0043] In some embodiments, the thermoplastic composite tube expanding system further includes a controller 7, as Figure 1 shown, the controller 7 is connected to the heating box 2, the flexible medium injection device, and the extrusion device. The controller 7 can control the heating temperature of the heating box 2, the injection pressure of the flexible medium injection device, and the feed rate of the extrusion device. When the heating temperature, injection pressure, and feed rate do not meet the preset values, they can be adjusted in real time to ensure the processing quality.

[0044] The present invention also provides a thermoplastic composite tube expanding process, which uses a thermoplastic composite tube expanding system provided in any one of the above embodiments to process the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. The thermoplastic composite tube expanding process includes the following steps:

[0045] Place the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 to be processed into the cavity of the mold 1. The section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 that needs to be deformed corresponds to the forming cavity 121 in the cavity.

[0046] Heat the mold 1 to soften the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 corresponding to the forming cavity 121. After the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 is placed in place, the mold 1 can be heated by the heating box 2. For example, after heating the mold 1 to 200 °C by the heating box 2 and keeping it warm for a period of time until the section to be deformed is softened. The heating temperature can be adjusted according to the differences of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100.

[0047] Inject the flexible medium 8 into the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100. For example, the liquid can be injected into the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 through a hydraulic pump. The temperature of the liquid can be raised and the pressure can be increased. The temperature range can be selected as 90 °C to 95 °C, and the pressure range can be selected as 10 bar to 15 bar.

[0048] By extruding the flexible medium 8, the softened section of the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 expands and forms towards the forming cavity 121. While the liquid in the thermoplastic composite pipe fitting 100 is heated and the pressure is increased, the controller 7 can be used to control the two push heads to move towards each other. The feed speed of the push heads can be selected within the range of 1 mm to 5 mm / s.

[0049] When the feed amount of the two push heads reaches the theoretical feed amount, keep the temperature and pressure constant for 5 min to 10 min.

[0050] When the temperature in the mold 1 drops to room temperature, open the mold 1 to take out the formed pipe fitting.

[0051] It should be noted that in this specification, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity from several other entities, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities.

[0052] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0053] The above has introduced in detail a thermoplastic composite pipe expansion system and process provided by the present invention. Specific examples are used in this article to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the core idea of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the principle of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made to the present invention, and these improvements and modifications also fall within the protection scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A thermoplastic composite expansion tube system, characterized in that, Comprising: A mold, within which there is a chamber for accommodating a thermoplastic composite pipe to be processed, and an inwardly concave forming cavity is provided inside the chamber; A heating box, which is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the mold and is used to heat the forming cavity so as to transfer heat to the thermoplastic composite pipe; A flexible medium injection device, which is used to inject a flexible medium into the thermoplastic composite pipe; An extrusion device, which is used to extrude the flexible medium inside the thermoplastic composite pipe, and the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe corresponding to the forming cavity expands and forms towards the forming cavity under the pressure of the flexible medium.

2. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 1, wherein The mold includes a first section, a second section and a third section which are distributed in sequence. The forming cavity is provided inside the second section, and guiding cavities communicating with the forming cavity are provided inside the first section and the third section. The guiding cavities are used to accommodate both ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe, and the inner diameter of the forming cavity is larger than that of the guiding cavity.

3. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 2, wherein, The heating box is sleeved on the outer periphery of the second section and the outer periphery of a part of the structures of the first section and the third section close to the second section.

4. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The heat conductivity of the first section and the third section is lower than that of the second section.

5. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 2, wherein, Both ends of the second section are detachably connected to the first section and the third section.

6. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flexible medium injection device includes a first hydraulic pump and a second hydraulic pump, and the first hydraulic pump and the second hydraulic pump are used to inject liquid from both ends of the thermoplastic composite pipe.

7. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The extrusion device includes a first hydraulic cylinder and a second hydraulic cylinder. The first hydraulic cylinder includes a first push head which is used to be placed into one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe, and the second hydraulic cylinder includes a second push head which is used to be placed into the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe. When the first push head and the second push head move towards each other, they can extrude the flexible medium.

8. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to claim 7, characterized in that, One end of the first hydraulic cylinder is provided with a first sealing member which is used to seal one end of the thermoplastic composite pipe, and one end of the second hydraulic cylinder is provided with a second sealing member which is used to seal the other end of the thermoplastic composite pipe.

9. The thermoplastic composite expansion tube system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The thermoplastic composite pipe expanding system further includes a controller, which is connected to the heating box, the flexible medium injection device and the extrusion device to control the heating temperature of the heating box, the injection pressure of the flexible medium injection device and the feed amount of the extrusion device.

10. A hot-melt composite material expanding tube process, applying the hot-melt composite material expanding tube system described in any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The thermoplastic composite pipe expanding process includes the following steps: Placing the thermoplastic composite pipe to be processed into the chamber of the mold; Heating the mold to soften the section of the thermoplastic composite pipe corresponding to the forming cavity; Injecting a flexible medium into the thermoplastic composite pipe; By extruding the flexible medium, the softened section of the thermoplastic composite pipe expands and forms towards the forming cavity.

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