Aerospace flexible thermal control material opening device

Abstract

The application relates to a spaceflight flexible heat control material opening device, which comprises a flexible heat control material winding and unwinding system arranged on an upper layer, a buffer pad winding and unwinding system arranged on a lower layer, an opening mechanism comprising oppositely arranged upper and lower die plates, and an electric control system; wherein the buffer pad winding and unwinding system flattens and supports the buffer pad on the surface of the lower die plate; the flexible heat control material winding and unwinding system flattens and lays the flexible heat control material to be opened on the surface of the buffer pad; the buffer pad and the flexible heat control material are configured to be closely attached by a first composite roller before entering the gap between the upper and lower die plates, and to pass through the gap between the upper and lower die plates together to complete the opening. The application can solve the technical problems that wrinkles, scratches, irregular hole shapes and edge burrs are easily generated when opening the extremely thin flexible heat control material in the prior art.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of flexible material perforation technology, and in particular to a perforation device for aerospace flexible thermal control materials. Background Technology

[0002] In the field of aerospace technology, spacecraft undergo a rapid transition from the Earth's atmospheric environment to the vacuum of space during launch. Research and analysis have shown that in simulated spacecraft launch tests, the pressure inside the fairing drops from standard atmospheric pressure to extremely low pressure within approximately 100 seconds, with a maximum depressurization rate of about 6.8 kPa / s. During ground-based simulations of spacecraft launches, there have been multiple instances of multi-layered thermal insulation components detaching due to vacuum extraction. Therefore, the flexible thermal control materials used in spacecraft (typically multi-layered composite films containing an aluminum-coated layer) must possess excellent gas release properties to allow for rapid release of internal gases, preventing malfunctions such as bulging, loosening, or even detachment.

[0003] To achieve good venting performance in flexible thermal control materials, it is usually necessary to create openings on their surface. However, aerospace-grade flexible thermal control materials are not only extremely thin (typically 4–100 µm) but also possess exceptional flexibility, especially their soft aluminum plating layer, which is highly susceptible to scratches. When processed using conventional drilling equipment, wrinkles or scratches are easily generated on the thin film surface, and the drilled through-holes are prone to being elliptical, with defects such as breakage or burrs frequently appearing at the edges of the through-holes.

[0004] Chinese utility model patent CN201205726Y discloses a flexible thermal control film punching die, which mechanically punches the film using a die and a punch with double rows of cutting edges. However, this prior art has the following drawbacks:

[0005] 1. Lack of buffer support: The film is directly laid on the surface of the metal mold for punching. Because the film is extremely thin and soft, under the instantaneous impact of the punch, the area around the impacted area of ​​the film is prone to stretching deformation due to lack of support, resulting in irregular hole shape or tearing.

[0006] 2. Limited tension control: Applying tension to the film using only a simple tensioning roller makes it difficult to accurately control the flatness of the ultra-thin flexible material during dynamic winding, which can easily lead to wrinkles and affect the accuracy of the opening position.

[0007] 3. Risk of mold wear and film scratch: Metal-to-metal punching requires extremely high precision in mold fitting, and the lower die cutting edge is prone to wear. The burrs after wear can severely scratch the sensitive aluminum-plated layer surface.

[0008] 4. Inability to adapt to materials of different thicknesses: For flexible thermal control materials of different thicknesses, the requirements for punching gap and support conditions are different, and existing equipment lacks flexible and precise adjustment methods.

[0009] Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a special equipment that can effectively solve the above problems and is suitable for the mass production and high-quality perforation of flexible thermal control materials in the aerospace field. Summary of the Invention

[0010] To address the problems existing in the prior art, the purpose of this application is to provide an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device, which can solve the technical problems of wrinkles, scratches, irregular hole shapes and edge burrs that are easily generated when perforating ultra-thin flexible thermal control materials in the prior art.

[0011] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, this application provides an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device, comprising:

[0012] The upper layer is equipped with a flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system;

[0013] The lower layer features a buffer pad retraction system;

[0014] The hole-opening mechanism includes an upper template and a lower template disposed opposite to each other; and

[0015] Electrical control system;

[0016] The buffer pad unfolding system flattens and supports the buffer pad on the surface of the lower template, and an organic pad is fixed on the upper surface of the lower template. The buffer pad is flattened and supported on the organic pad. The flexible thermal control material unfolding system flattens and lays the flexible thermal control material to be perforated on the surface of the buffer pad.

[0017] The buffer pad and the flexible thermal control material are configured to be tightly bonded by the first composite roller before entering between the upper template and the lower template, and pass together through the gap between the upper template and the lower template to complete the opening;

[0018] The lower surface of the upper template is detachably fitted with a plurality of punches, which are configured to punch the organic pad to form through holes in the flexible thermal control material.

[0019] According to one technical solution of this application, it further includes: a second composite roller, wherein the first composite roller and the second composite roller are respectively disposed in front of and behind the opening mechanism along the material travel direction; the flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad separate from each other after passing through the second composite roller;

[0020] The flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system includes:

[0021] A first unwinding tension roller, a first front guide roller, a first rear guide roller, a flattening roller, and a first winding tension roller are arranged sequentially along the travel direction of the flexible thermal control material; the first composite roller and the second composite roller are located between the first front guide roller and the first rear guide roller.

[0022] The first unwinding tension roller is located above the front end of the equipment, the first front guide roller is located below and behind the first unwinding tension roller and its installation height is lower than that of the first composite roller, and the first winding tension roller is located above the flattening roller at the rear end of the equipment.

[0023] According to one technical solution of this application, the first unwinding tension roller and / or the first winding tension roller of the flexible thermal control material unwinding and winding system are configured with a cantilever quick-change structure, the cantilever quick-change structure comprising:

[0024] The first tension roller has a fixed end that is rotatably connected to the frame and driven by a tension driver at one end, and an open end that can be detachably supported at the other end.

[0025] The lifting arm is hinged to the frame and can swing between the lifting position and the avoidance position under the drive of the cylinder;

[0026] A locking mechanism is provided at the lifting end of the lifting arm for releasably locking the open end of the first tension roller at the lifting position.

[0027] According to one technical solution of this application, the locking mechanism includes a positioning pin disposed on the lifting end of the lifting arm and a slot disposed on the open end bushing of the first tension roller; in the lifting position, the positioning pin engages with the slot to fix the first tension roller.

[0028] The slot is in the shape of a semi-circular arc that fits the bushing, and the positioning pin is driven by a cylinder.

[0029] The lifting arm is driven by a linkage self-locking mechanism, which includes a joint linkage group driven by a cylinder. The joint linkage group is configured to extend to the dead point position when the lifting arm is raised to the lifting position to achieve self-locking.

[0030] According to one technical solution of this application, the first front guide roller is configured with a fine-tuning mechanism, the fine-tuning mechanism comprising:

[0031] A rectangular connecting body is connected to the shaft end of the first front guide roller, and the rectangular connecting body is slidably engaged with the vertical groove of the roller frame;

[0032] An adjusting screw is connected at one end to the rectangular connecting body, and a handwheel is provided at the other end of the adjusting screw for manually adjusting the height of the front guide roller to fine-tune the tension.

[0033] According to one technical solution of this application, the buffer pad unwinding and rewinding system includes: a second unwinding tension roller, a second front guide roller, a power roller group, a second rear guide roller, and a second winding tension roller arranged sequentially along the buffer pad traveling direction; the first composite roller and the second composite roller are located between the second front guide roller and the second rear guide roller.

[0034] The power roller assembly includes a drive roller driven by a stepper motor and a driven roller that is detachably pressed against the drive roller.

[0035] According to one technical solution of this application, the second unwinding tension roller is configured with a sliding quick-change structure, the sliding quick-change structure comprising:

[0036] Horizontal track groove, installed on the frame;

[0037] The second tension roller is slidably supported at both ends in the horizontal track groove by bushings;

[0038] A fixed slot is provided at the near end of the horizontal track groove to accommodate and lock the bushing of the second tension roller body that slides in.

[0039] Two loading and unloading swing arms are set at the remote end of the horizontal track groove, and are used to lift or lower the second tension roller body from the horizontal track groove during loading and unloading; the fixed end of each loading and unloading swing arm is fixed to a rotatable connecting rod, and the lifting end is provided with a groove that matches the bushing of the second tension roller body.

[0040] The buffer pad take-up and take-up system has a driven gear on the bushing at one end of the unwinding tension roller; when the tension roller is locked in the fixed slot, the driven gear meshes with the drive gear of a tension drive to apply controllable tension to the buffer pad.

[0041] According to one technical solution of this application, the punching mechanism includes a pneumatic system for driving the upper template to perform punching motion, the pneumatic system comprising:

[0042] A cylinder, the piston rod of which is connected to the upper template;

[0043] A two-way solenoid valve controls the intake and exhaust of the cylinder;

[0044] A quick exhaust valve is connected to the exhaust chamber of the cylinder, allowing compressed air to quickly enter the upper chamber of the cylinder and push the upper template downward at high speed.

[0045] The pressure regulating valve is used to adjust the working air pressure to 0.3~0.7 MPa;

[0046] The cylinder has a stroke adjuster at its tail end. The stroke adjuster is connected to the tail shaft of the cylinder by a thread and locked by a nut, which is used to limit the downward stroke of the upper template.

[0047] According to one technical solution of this application, the punches are arranged in an array on the lower surface of the upper template, and the positions of the punches between adjacent rows and adjacent columns are staggered to form a rhomboid array;

[0048] The punch is threadedly connected to the upper template and locked by a lock nut;

[0049] The punch includes: a needle head with a concave hemispherical recess on its end face to form an annular cutting edge at the periphery; a threaded needle body for connection with the upper template; and a needle tail, which is shaped like a cuboid for easy rotation.

[0050] According to one aspect of this application, a method for opening holes in aerospace flexible thermal control materials is proposed, employing the aerospace flexible thermal control material opening device as described in any of the above technical solutions, and comprising the following steps:

[0051] Step S1: Determine the required surface Shore hardness of the organic pad based on the thickness H of the flexible thermal control material to be opened and the target hole diameter d. Select an organic pad with the corresponding hardness and fix it to the upper surface of the lower template.

[0052] Step S2: Flatten the cushioning pad and support it on the surface of the organic pad using the cushioning pad unfolding system;

[0053] Step S3: Flatten the flexible thermal control material to be perforated and lay it on the surface of the buffer pad using the flexible thermal control material unwinding and winding system.

[0054] Step S4: Before entering between the upper and lower templates, the first composite roller is used to tightly press the buffer pad and the flexible thermal control material together to form a bubble-free composite layer.

[0055] Step S5: Pass the composite layer through the gap between the upper and lower templates together;

[0056] Step S6: Drive the upper template to move downward, so that the punch on the lower surface of the upper template presses the organic pad, forming a circular through hole in the flexible thermal control material;

[0057] Step S7: After the opening is completed, the flexible thermal control material is separated from the buffer pad by the second composite roller, and then wound up separately.

[0058] Compared with existing technologies, the aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device provided in this application has the following significant technical advantages:

[0059] The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation equipment involved in this application introduces a buffer pad as a support layer for the flexible thermal control material. Before perforation, the two are tightly bonded together by a composite roller, effectively absorbing the impact energy of the punch and preventing the flexible thermal control material from stretching and deforming at the moment of perforation. This ensures high roundness, burr-free, and damage-free through holes. At the same time, the introduction of the buffer pad transforms the traditional "hard-to-hard" punching of metal molds into "hard-to-soft" punching. The micro-deformation of the organic pad cooperates with the punch to form a cutting edge, significantly reducing the stringent requirements for mold fitting accuracy and mold wear, extending mold life, and avoiding the risk of scratches on the aluminum plating layer caused by the lower metal mold.

[0060] This application employs an independent unwinding and rewinding system with a double-layer layout and a multi-roller assembly with precise tension adjustment. This allows for the application of differentiated and precise tension to both the extremely thin flexible thermal control material and the relatively thicker buffer pad, ensuring flatness during high-speed dynamic winding. In particular, the introduction of a semi-open quick-change tension roller structure, a connecting rod self-locking mechanism, and a dovetail screw fine-tuning mechanism not only facilitates the rapid loading and unloading of heavy-duty rolls but also provides stable and reliable tension control during operation. This solves the problems of wrinkling and misalignment of flexible materials, ensuring the accuracy of the opening position and the stability of mass production.

[0061] The diamond-shaped staggered array of punches designed in this application effectively disperses punching stress and avoids material tearing that may be caused by continuous straight-line arrangement. The punches adopt a three-section structure, especially the annular punching edge formed by the recess on the end face of the punch head. Combined with the empirical formula for selecting the hardness of the organic pad, it achieves optimized matching for aluminum-coated films of different thicknesses, and can obtain high-quality circular through holes in the range of 4~100 micrometers.

[0062] The pneumatic control system provided in this application, through the configuration of a two-way solenoid valve, a rapid exhaust valve, and a pressure regulating valve, achieves rapid impact and rapid return of the upper template, thereby improving production efficiency. The stroke adjuster can precisely control the punching depth of the punch, ensuring precise matching with the organic pad, and further guaranteeing the stability and consistency of the hole opening quality. Attached Figure Description

[0063] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0064] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the composition of an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0065] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the assembly structure of the opening mechanism of an aerospace flexible thermal control material opening device according to this application is shown;

[0066] Figure 3 A schematic diagram showing the arrangement of punches on the upper template surface of a perforation device for aerospace flexible thermal control materials according to this application is shown.

[0067] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a punch for an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0068] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the locking method of the punch in a flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0069] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the mounting structure of the first unwinding tension roller of an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0070] Figure 7 It shows Figure 6 A partial enlarged view of a portion of the schematic diagram of the installation structure of the first unwinding tension roller;

[0071] Figure 8 It shows Figure 6 A partial enlarged view of another part of the schematic diagram of the installation structure of the first unwinding tension roller;

[0072] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the installation structure of the second unwinding tension roller of an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0073] Figure 10 It shows Figure 9 A partially enlarged view of a portion of the schematic diagram of the installation structure of the second unwinding tension roller;

[0074] Figure 11 It shows Figure 9 A partial enlarged view of another part of the schematic diagram of the installation structure of the second unwinding tension roller (hidden bearing sleeve);

[0075] Figure 12 A schematic flowchart of a method for creating openings in a flexible thermal control material for aerospace applications is shown.

[0076] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of the mounting structure of the first front guide roller of an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0077] Figure 14A schematic diagram of the rectangular connector of a flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown;

[0078] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of the roller frame of an aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to this application is shown.

[0079] in, Figures 1 to 15 The correspondence between the reference numerals and component names in the attached drawings is as follows:

[0080] 1- Flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system; 2- Buffer pad winding and unwinding system; 3- Opening mechanism; 4- First composite roller; 5- Second composite roller; 6- Stroke adjuster; 7- Locking nut; 8- Frame;

[0081] 11-First unwinding tension roller; 12-First front guide roller; 13-First rear guide roller; 14-Flattening roller; 15-First winding tension roller; 16-First tension roller body; 17-Lifting swing arm; 18-Positioning pin; 19-Linkage self-locking mechanism;

[0082] 12a. Rectangular connecting body; 12b. Roller frame; 12b1. Rectangular groove; 12c. Lead screw; 12d. Handwheel;

[0083] 17a - Groove; 19a - Upper connecting rod; 19b - Lower connecting rod; 19c - Connecting pin;

[0084] 21-Second unwinding tension roll; 22-Second front guide roll; 23-Power roll assembly; 24-Second rear guide roll; 25-Second winding tension roll; 26-Horizontal track groove; 27-Second tension roll body; 28-Fixing slot; 29-Loading / unloading swing arm;

[0085] 21a-Limiting groove; 231-Driving roller; 232-Driven roller; 26a-Locking block; 27a-Driven gear; 29a-Arc-shaped groove; 29b-Connecting rod;

[0086] 31-Cylinder; 32-Upper template; 33-Lower template; 34-Punch; 35-Base plate; 36-Support column; 37-Top plate; 38-Guide sleeve; 39-Organic pad;

[0087] 34a - Needle tip; 34b - Needle body; 34c - Needle tail; 34d - Locking nut. Detailed Implementation

[0088] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0089] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "outer ring," "inner ring," "center," "longitudinal," "transverse," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "straight," "horizontal," "parallel," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "end face," "side," "input end," "output end," "between," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0090] Furthermore, the terms "first-level," "second-level," "first," and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first-level," "second-level," "first," or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one level, one or more levels, or multiple versions of that feature. Further, in the description of this application, "hybrid reduction transmission" means a combination of two or more different types of transmission methods, including features embodied in some transmission components of this application as well as features embodied in the overall transmission scheme of this application, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0091] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other. The following embodiments only illustrate several implementation methods of this application, and their descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, but they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be pointed out that, for those skilled in the art, several modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of this application, and these all fall within the protection scope of this application.

[0092] like Figures 1 to 15 As shown in the figure, this embodiment describes in detail a flexible thermal control material opening device for aerospace. The device mainly includes: a flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system 1, a buffer pad winding and unwinding system 2, an opening mechanism 3, a buffer pad, and an electrical control system.

[0093] The buffer pad take-up and unwinding system 2 is located on the lower layer of the entire equipment. Its function is to smoothly release and flatten a roll of buffer pad, and precisely lay it on the surface of the lower mold plate 33 of the perforation mechanism 3. In contrast, the flexible thermal control material take-up and unwinding system 1 is located on the upper layer of the equipment. Its function is to smoothly release and flatten the roll of flexible thermal control material to be perforated, and lay it on the already flattened buffer pad surface.

[0094] The upper and lower layers are the relative positions of the flexible thermal control material winding system 1 and the buffer pad winding system 2.

[0095] To ensure the cushioning pad and flexible thermal control material form a single unit before entering the punching area, a first composite roller (or front composite roller) is positioned in front of the punching mechanism 3. This first composite roller presses the upper flexible thermal control material and the lower cushioning pad together, achieving a tight, flat, and bubble-free bond. Subsequently, these two composite layers pass together through the gap between the upper template 32 and the lower template 33 of the punching mechanism 3. Within this gap, the punching mechanism 3 performs the punching action on the flexible thermal control material. Behind the punching mechanism 3, a second composite roller (or rear composite roller) is also provided to separate the punched flexible thermal control material and the cushioning pad again, allowing them to enter their respective winding systems for winding.

[0096] The specific structure of the flexible thermal control material unwinding and rewinding system 1 includes: a first unwinding tension roller 11, a first front guide roller 12, a first rear guide roller 13, a flattening roller 14, and a first winding tension roller 15 arranged sequentially along the material travel direction. The first unwinding tension roller 11 is located at the highest point above the front end of the equipment and is used to support and release the flexible thermal control material roll to be processed. Behind it, near the opening mechanism 3, is the first front guide roller 12, whose installation height is designed to be lower than the first composite roller 4. This height difference design helps to form a suitable wrap angle and tension gradient before the material enters the composite roller. Behind the mold (opening mechanism 3), near the mold, is the first rear guide roller 13, whose installation height is also lower than the second composite roller 5. Next is the flattening roller 14, which is positioned higher than the first rear guide roller 13 and is used to further flatten the material. Finally, the first winding tension roller 15 is located above the flattening roller 14 and is used to wind the finished material that has been opened.

[0097] In this embodiment, differentiated tension control of two different materials (an extremely thin and fragile flexible thermal control material and a supporting buffer pad) is achieved through an independent unwinding and rewinding system with upper and lower layers. The upper system controls the low-tension unwinding and rewinding of the flexible thermal control material to prevent it from being stretched and deformed; the lower system provides the stable tension required by the buffer pad. The two systems achieve a "composite, punched, and separated" process route through the first composite roller 4 and the second composite roller 5, ensuring that at the moment of punching, the flexible thermal control material is completely and flatly supported by the buffer pad, without any suspension or wrinkles, guaranteeing the roundness of the hole and avoiding tearing. The entire equipment has a compact layout and clear process logic, providing a reliable hardware platform for high-precision punching.

[0098] The specific structure of the buffer pad unwinding system 2 includes: a second unwinding tension roller 21, a second front guide roller 22, a power roller group 23, a second rear guide roller 24, and a second winding tension roller 25 arranged sequentially along the buffer pad's traveling direction. The second unwinding tension roller 21 is located below the front end of the equipment, mainly below the first unwinding tension roller 11. The second front guide roller 22 is located behind it and slightly below the opening mechanism 3; similarly, the second front guide roller 22 is located below the first front guide roller 12. The power roller group 23 is located at the rear end of the equipment, slightly below the mold, and its function is to provide the main driving force for the buffer pad's movement. This power roller group 23 includes a driving roller 231 driven by a stepper motor through gears and a driven roller 232 located directly below the driving roller 231. The driving roller 231 is detachably pressed onto the driven roller 232. The second rear guide roller 24 is located behind the power roller group 23. Finally, the second take-up tension roller 25 is located slightly above and behind the second rear guide roller 24 and is used to take up the buffer pad. It can be understood that the second take-up tension roller 25 is located below the first take-up tension roller 15 and the second rear guide roller 24 is located below the first rear guide roller 13.

[0099] By positioning the power roller assembly 23 at the rear end of the die (i.e., after material separation), a stable and controllable traction force can be provided for the buffer pad, avoiding tension interference caused by traction force fluctuations in the material composite section undergoing punching within the die. The power roller assembly 23 employs a design with an active roller 231 and a separable driven roller 232, greatly simplifying the initial threading and installation process of the buffer pad. Simply detach the driven roller 232, pass the buffer pad through the gap, and press it together; the operation is convenient and efficient. The stepper motor drive ensures precise control of the winding speed, guaranteeing a stable production speed of 3~10 m / min.

[0100] The specific structure of the opening mechanism 3 includes: a power system and a mold part.

[0101] The power system is a pneumatic system, including an air compressor, a two-way solenoid valve, a cylinder, a quick-release valve, a muffler, and air pipes. The air compressor is connected to the two-way solenoid valve via air pipes, which splits the air path in two: one path directly connects to one chamber of the cylinder, and the other path connects to the other chamber of the cylinder after passing through the quick-release valve. A muffler is installed at the exhaust port of the quick-release valve to reduce exhaust noise. The cylinder is vertically mounted on top of the opening mechanism 3, and its output shaft (piston rod) is connected to the upper template 32 of the mold. A pressure regulating valve is also provided in the air path to precisely regulate and stabilize the pressure of the working gas within the range of 0.3~0.7 MPa. The tail shaft (upper end) of the cylinder extends through a through hole in the mold top plate 37 to the upper surface of the top plate 37, and a stroke adjuster 6 is fitted on it. The stroke adjuster 6 is connected to the tail shaft by threads and can be locked in position by a locking nut 7, thereby precisely limiting the downward stroke of the cylinder piston rod, i.e., the downward depth of the upper template 32.

[0102] The pneumatic system of this application features high-speed response, precise control, and noise suppression. The combination of a two-way solenoid valve and a quick exhaust valve facilitates high-speed punching. When the two-way solenoid valve switches to the downward pressure state, compressed air quickly enters the upper chamber of the cylinder, pushing the upper template 32 downward at high speed. When switching to the return state, air enters the lower chamber of the cylinder, while the air in the upper chamber is directly discharged to the atmosphere through the quick exhaust valve. The exhaust path is short and the resistance is low, thus achieving a rapid return of the upper template 32, significantly improving production efficiency. The pressure regulating valve ensures the consistency and adjustability of the impact force, while the stroke adjuster 6 provides mechanical limits, ensuring the absolute accuracy and repeatability of the punch 34's downward pressure depth, which helps protect the organic pad 39 and ensures the quality of the opening.

[0103] The punching mechanism 3 includes a base plate 35, a support column 36, a top plate 37, a first composite roller 4, a second composite roller 5, an upper template 32, and a lower template 33. The top plate 37 is used to mount a cylinder 31, the tail of which is fixedly mounted on the lower surface of the top plate 37. The output shaft of the cylinder 31 is connected to the upper template 32. The upper template 32 is slidably connected to the support column 36 around its perimeter via guide sleeves 38, allowing the upper template 32 to move smoothly up and down along the support column 36 under the drive of the cylinder 31. Multiple punches 34 for punching holes are arranged in an array on the lower surface of the upper template 32. The lower template 33 is fixed to the base plate 35, and an organic pad 39 is fixed to its upper surface by screws or adhesive. The punches 34 on the upper template 32 and the organic pad 39 on the lower template 33 are spatially corresponding one-to-one.

[0104] The first composite roller 4 and the second composite roller 5 are respectively disposed on the front and rear sides of the lower template 33. The installation positions of the two composite rollers are designed to be adjustable up and down to accommodate material combinations of different thicknesses. The main function of the first composite roller 4 and the second composite roller 5 is to smoothly and bubble-freely bond the flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad together before drilling, and to separate them after drilling. During drilling, the lower template 33 remains fixed, while the upper template 32 moves rapidly downward under the push of the cylinder 31. The punch 34 mounted on it impacts the organic pad 39 on the lower template 33, forming a recess on the surface of the organic pad 39 that matches the shape of the end of the punch 34. The cutting edge of the punch 34 cooperates with the edge of the recess in the organic pad 39 to form a shearing action, thereby punching through holes in the flexible thermal control material bonded between the two.

[0105] The traditional punching method using a combination of "punch 34 + organic pad 39" replaces the traditional "punch + die" metal punching method. The flexible organic pad 39 undergoes minute and uniform elastic deformation upon impact from the punch 34, creating a shearing effect similar to an anvil and a cutter with the sharp edge of the punch 34. This significantly reduces impact wear between the punch 34 and the lower die, extending die life. Furthermore, the flexibility of the organic pad 39 ensures that the aluminum plating on the back of the flexible thermal control material is not scratched or indented during punching. The adjustable position design of the composite roller allows the equipment to flexibly adapt to combinations of buffer pads and flexible thermal control materials of varying thicknesses, ensuring a tight and bubble-free composite, which is beneficial for achieving high-quality openings.

[0106] The punch 34 on the surface of the upper template 32 is assembled with the threaded hole machined on the upper template 32 and the threaded engagement on the needle body 34b of the punch 34, and its position is locked by the locking nut 34d. The detachable threaded mounting structure design greatly facilitates the replacement and adjustment of the punch 34. When a punch 34 is worn or damaged, it can be unscrewed and replaced individually without scrapping the entire upper template 32, reducing maintenance costs and time.

[0107] The replaceable punch 34 design significantly improves the maintainability and flexibility of the equipment. When processing products with different hole diameters or different arrangements, only the punch 34 needs to be replaced or rearranged, without replacing the entire mold, greatly shortening product changeover time. Simultaneously, during equipment commissioning, the tip height of the punch 34 can be easily adjusted by rotating it, ensuring that all punches 34 are on the same horizontal plane and guaranteeing consistent hole depth.

[0108] On the surface of the upper template 32, the punches 34 are arranged in an alternating pattern between rows and columns, meaning that the positions of the punches 34 in adjacent rows or columns differ by half the row spacing or column spacing in the projection. This arrangement makes the punches 34 appear as a diamond array on the upper surface of the upper template 32. The row spacing (the center-to-center distance between two adjacent punches 34 in the same row) of this diamond array is set in the range of 10~30 mm, and the column spacing (the center-to-center distance between two adjacent punches 34 in the same column) is set in the range of 20~50 mm.

[0109] The staggered diamond array arrangement of the punch 34 is an optimized design for thin film materials. Compared with traditional square or rectangular arrays, the diamond staggered arrangement can distribute the stress generated during punching more evenly and dispersedly on the material, effectively avoiding material tearing or deformation caused by stress concentration along a straight line. At the same time, it helps to maintain the structural strength and integrity of the flexible thermal control material itself to the maximum extent while ensuring that the total opening area (i.e., venting area) meets the requirements, thus ensuring its reliability in subsequent use.

[0110] Each punch 34 can be disassembled into three functional parts: a head 34a, a body 34b, and a tail 34c. The head 34a is cylindrical, with a length of 3–15 mm and a diameter (i.e., the diameter of the through hole to be machined) between 1 and 3 mm. The end face of the head 34a is not flat, but rather has a concave hemispherical recess with a depth of 0.2–0.8 mm. This hemispherical recess forms a sharp, annular stamping edge around the cylindrical end face of the head 34a. This edge, in conjunction with the organic pad 39, completes the cutting of the flexible thermal control material. The body 34b is a cylindrical shape with threads on its surface, with a length of 30–80 mm and a diameter of 3–10 mm. Its threads are used to mate with the threaded holes of the upper template 32 for installation. The needle tail 34c is cuboid in shape, with a length of 3~8 mm, a width of 3~8 mm, and a height of 5~10 mm. The cuboid shape is designed to facilitate clamping with tools such as wrenches for tightening or loosening operations.

[0111] The hemispherical recessed structure allows the cutting edge of the punch 34 to contact the material first during impact, creating stress concentration and achieving clean, crisp shearing rather than tearing or squeezing. This ensures that the punched through-hole has a neat, burr-free, and highly rounded edge. The threaded design of the needle body 34b provides reliable installation and precise height adjustment. The cuboid structure of the needle tail 34c provides a stable gripping point for the tool, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly even within the confined space of the upper template 32. The entire three-section structure is rationally designed, functionally clear, and balances punching performance, ease of installation, and precise adjustment.

[0112] The organic pad 39, fixed to the surface of the lower template 33, has a surface Shore hardness selected within the range of 40~70 HD. The selection of the hardness of the organic pad 39 material is related to the thickness of the aluminum-coated film and the hole diameter (i.e., the diameter of the punch 34), and these three factors satisfy the formula:

[0113]

[0114] Where Q represents the surface hardness (Shore hardness) of the selected organic pad material 39, and k is an empirical parameter with a value range of 2~20×10. 2 The unit is HD / (mm). 2 d is the diameter of the punch needle in mm, and H is the thickness of the aluminum-coated film in mm.

[0115] When the film is thicker or the pore size is larger, the energy and impact force required for punching are greater, necessitating the use of a slightly harder organic backing plate 39 to provide sufficient support and create clear indentations. Conversely, for extremely thin films or films with tiny pores, a softer backing plate is required to avoid "hard landing" damage to the film caused by an overly hard backing plate, while ensuring the sharpness of the punching. The above formula provides a scientific basis for the rapid determination of process parameters, avoiding the traditional empirical method that relies on repeated trial and error, greatly shortening the process debugging cycle, and ensuring the stability and consistency of product quality.

[0116] like Figures 6 to 8 As shown, the first unwinding tension roller 11 of the flexible thermal control material unwinding system 1 adopts a cantilever quick-change structure. One end of the first tension roller body 16 is a fixed end, and its structure is as follows: the roller shaft passes through the inner ring of a bearing and forms a fixed connection with the bearing. The outer ring of the bearing is installed in a circular bushing, which is firmly fixed to the frame 8 of the equipment by a flange and screws. After passing through the inner ring of the bearing, the roller shaft continues to extend outward and meshes with the output gear of the tension driver through a gear to receive torque from the tension controller.

[0117] The other end of the first tension roller 16 is an open end (suspended end), which has the following structure: the roller shaft at the open end is also connected to an inner ring of a bearing, and a circular bushing is also installed on the outer ring of the bearing. An arc-shaped groove is specially machined on the outer circumference of this bushing.

[0118] A lifting swing arm 17 is installed on the frame 8, corresponding to the position of the open end. One end of the lifting swing arm 17 is hinged to the frame 8, and the other end is an open end that can swing up and down. A semi-circular groove 17a is machined at the open end of the swing arm to support the circular bushing of the open end of the first tension roller 16. In addition, a positioning pin 18 driven by a small cylinder is also provided at the open end. When the lifting swing arm 17 is raised to the lifting position by the cylinder, the semi-circular groove 17a at its end fits exactly with the circular bushing of the open end of the first tension roller 16, and lifts the entire first tension roller 16, so that it can be maintained in a horizontal position after the flexible thermal control material is installed. At this time, the cylinder that drives the positioning pin 18 is activated, the positioning pin 18 extends and engages in the arc-shaped groove of the outer ring of the bushing, thereby firmly locking the movable end of the first tension roller 16.

[0119] To withstand the immense downward pressure from the heavy roll material, a two-link self-locking structure is installed in the middle of the lifting arm 17. This structure consists of two links, one end of which is hinged to form a movable joint, and they are installed at a vertical angle in the locked position. The open end of the upper link 19a is hinged to the lifting arm 17, while the open end of the lower link 19b is hinged to the frame 8 (connected by a connecting pin 19c extending from the frame 8). The cylinder body of a drive cylinder is fixed to the frame 8, and its movable rod is connected to the middle of the lower link 19b. When the arm needs to be raised, the movable rod of the drive cylinder extends, pushing the joint of the two links to gradually open (straighten) from the folded state. When the link joint is fully open, i.e., the upper and lower links 19b are nearly in a straight line, the lifting arm 17 rises to its highest point (lifting position). At this point, the linkage mechanism reaches its mechanical "dead point" position, achieving self-locking. In this self-locking state, the enormous downward pressure of the roll material is primarily transmitted to the frame 8 via the connecting rod, without placing a continuous load on the drive cylinder, making it both safe and energy-efficient. The first winding tension roller 15 also employs the same cantilevered quick-change structure.

[0120] The cantilevered quick-change structure greatly improves operational convenience and equipment safety, while also ensuring precise positioning of the take-up and unwinding shafts of the winding and unwinding system, avoiding tension fluctuations caused by misalignment of the take-up and unwinding shafts. For heavy and long rolls (widths exceeding 1200mm), the traditional double-end supported through-shaft installation method requires disassembling one side of the bearing housing, which is laborious and dangerous. The design of this application allows operators to easily push the roll into or out of the tension roller from the open end (pulling the roll out of the tension roller, using a lifting mechanism to support the weight of the roll during extraction) simply by pneumatically lowering the swing arm, achieving rapid loading and unloading of heavy rolls. The ingenious design of the linkage self-locking mechanism 19 utilizes the mechanical dead point principle to bear the working load, allowing only a small cylinder to drive the lifting and lowering of the swing arm, reducing equipment costs and energy consumption. At the same time, the self-locking state provides extremely high reliability, ensuring the stability of the tension roller during production.

[0121] like Figures 9 to 11 As shown, the second unwinding tension roller 21 of the buffer pad take-up and unwinding system 2 adopts a sliding quick-change structure. The structures at both ends of the second tension roller body 27 are symmetrical, and each end is connected to a bearing (connected to the inner ring of the bearing), with a circular bushing installed on the outer ring of the bearing. Unlike before, each bushing has a limiting groove 21a (full circle) machined on the outer ring (along the outer circumference). On both sides of the frame 8, corresponding to the positions at both ends of the tension roller, a horizontal track groove 26 is provided. The second tension roller body 27 is slidably supported in these two horizontal track grooves 26 through the limiting grooves on the bushings at both ends, so that the entire tension roller can slide back and forth in the horizontal direction.

[0122] At one end of each horizontal track groove 26 near the inner side of the frame 8 (near the machine end), there is a semi-circular or U-shaped fixing groove 28 and a locking block 26a driven by a cylinder. When it is necessary to fix the tension roller, the tension roller is pushed inward along the horizontal track groove 26 so that the bushing at its end slides into the fixing groove 28. Then, the cylinder is activated to release the locking block 26a, which locks the limiting groove 21a on the bushing, thereby fixing the tension roller.

[0123] At the end of each horizontal track groove 26 furthest from the frame 8 (the remote end), a cylinder-driven loading / unloading swing arm 29 is provided. One end of the loading / unloading swing arm 29 is fixed to a rotatable connecting rod 29b, and the other end is a lifting end with an arc-shaped groove 29a machined on it. When it is necessary to disassemble or install the cushioning pad roll, the cylinder (each loading / unloading swing arm 29 is equipped with one cylinder; of course, if the required power is met, to save costs, a single cylinder can also be considered) is activated to drive the loading / unloading swing arm 29 to rotate upward, so that the arc-shaped groove 29a of its lifting end aligns with the remote end of the horizontal track groove 26. At this time, the tension roller can be unlocked from the U-shaped slot and pushed outward along the horizontal track groove 26, allowing it to slide into the arc-shaped groove 29a of the loading / unloading swing arm 29. Then, the cylinder is activated to drive the loading / unloading swing arm 29 to descend, thus lowering the tension roller along with the roll on it, completing the disassembly. The installation process is the reverse.

[0124] Furthermore, the end of the horizontal track groove 26 on the side away from the equipment is provided with an arc-shaped portion that smoothly transitions with the arc-shaped groove 29a.

[0125] In addition, a driven gear 27a is provided on the outside of the bearing at one end of the tension roller. When the tension roller is pushed to the near end and locked in the fixed slot 28, the driven gear 27a meshes with the drive gear of a tension actuator fixed on the frame 8, thereby transmitting controllable tension to the buffer pad.

[0126] The sliding quick-change structure is particularly suitable for relatively heavy but wide roll materials such as cushioning pads. The horizontal track groove 26 provides a smooth push-in and pull-out path, reducing operational effort. Lifting and lowering are achieved using the loading / unloading swing arm 29, eliminating the need for manual lifting of heavy roll materials and reducing labor intensity and safety risks. Gear-driven tension drive ensures accurate and reliable tension transmission. The entire loading and unloading process is smooth and safe, significantly shortening auxiliary production time.

[0127] The second winding tension roller 25 of the buffer pad winding and unwinding system 2 also adopts a cantilever quick-change structure. Its specific structure and working principle are exactly the same as the cantilever quick-change structure of the first winding tension roller 15 of the flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system 1 described above. It also includes a fixed end, an open end, a lifting swing arm 17 with a semi-circular groove and a positioning pin 18, and a connecting rod self-locking mechanism 19, which will not be described in detail here.

[0128] The cantilevered quick-change structure at the winding end allows for the rapid and safe unloading of the perforated cushioning rolls. Since the cushioning pads can be rolled out in batches to reduce weight after winding, the convenience and safety advantages offered by this structure are even more pronounced. The standardized modular quick-change design also reduces the complexity of equipment design, manufacturing, and maintenance.

[0129] In some embodiments of this application, such as Figures 13 to 15 As shown, the two ends of the first front guide roller 12 are coaxially connected to two rectangular connecting bodies 12a via bearings, allowing them to rotate freely and forming a rotating pair. A vertical rectangular groove 12b1 is formed on each of the left and right side walls of the roller frame 12b of the equipment. The two rectangular connecting bodies 12a are respectively embedded in these two rectangular grooves. To ensure smooth and precise sliding, dovetail protrusions are designed on the two sides of the rectangular connecting bodies, while matching dovetail grooves are designed on the two side walls of the rectangular grooves. Through the cooperation of the dovetail grooves and dovetail protrusions, the rectangular connecting bodies can slide smoothly vertically within the rectangular grooves without any back-and-forth or left-and-right wobbling.

[0130] The roller frame includes a mounting frame for connecting the rectangular connector. This mounting frame is composed of a U-shaped frame and an I-shaped frame, with the I-shaped frame fixed to the open side of the U-shaped frame by bolts. The rectangular groove of the roller frame is located on the vertical part of the U-shaped frame.

[0131] A vertically mounted lead screw 12c is also installed on the roller frame. One end of the lead screw is connected to the center of the bottom surface of the rectangular connecting body. Specifically, the bottom end of the lead screw passes through a threaded hole on a "I"-shaped frame, and a handwheel 12d is fixed at the top. By turning the handwheel, the operator can drive the lead screw to rotate. Due to the threaded engagement between the lead screw and the nut, the lead screw will drive the rectangular connecting body at its top to move up and down, thereby achieving precise adjustment of the longitudinal position of the first front guide roller 12. Since the change in the position of the first front guide roller 12 will change the wrap angle and path length of the flexible thermal control material, this adjustment is essentially a fine-tuning of the tension of the flexible thermal control material.

[0132] The dovetail groove screw fine-tuning mechanism provides a manual, precise, and reliable supplementary adjustment method for tension control of flexible thermal control materials. In actual production, the physical properties of flexible thermal control materials from different batches and under different environmental conditions may have slight differences. Automatic tension control systems sometimes cannot completely eliminate minute wrinkles or uneven tension, especially when the tension on both sides of the flexible thermal control material is uneven. In this case, the operator can observe the winding process and manually rotate the handwheels at both ends of the first front guide roller 12 to adjust the height of the first front guide roller 12 at the micrometer level, thereby achieving precise compensation for local tension. The dovetail groove design ensures high guiding accuracy and structural rigidity during the adjustment process, avoiding positional drift after adjustment. This mechanism is simple, intuitive, and effective, and is an important supplement to automated control systems.

[0133] In some embodiments of this application, the driven roller 232 in the power roller assembly 23 has its two ends coaxially connected to two rectangular connecting bodies via bearings, forming a rotating pair. Each rectangular connecting body has a dovetail groove machined on its side. On the frame 8, corresponding to the positions of these two rectangular connecting bodies, two vertical dovetail-shaped tracks are fixedly installed. The rectangular connecting bodies are nested in the dovetail-shaped tracks via their dovetail grooves and can slide up and down along the tracks.

[0134] At the bottom of each rectangular connector, a piston rod of a cylinder is attached. The cylinder body is fixed to the frame 8. By controlling the air intake and exhaust of the cylinder, the rectangular connector can be pushed up and down along the dovetail track. When the cylinder piston rod extends upward, it pushes the rectangular connector and the driven roller 232 mounted on it upward, so that the driven roller 232 is tightly pressed against the driving roller 231; when the cylinder piston rod retracts downward, it drives the driven roller 232 downward, separating it from the driving roller 231 and forming a gap.

[0135] The pneumatic clutch mechanism greatly facilitates the installation and routine maintenance of the buffer pad. During initial tape threading or buffer pad replacement, the cylinder retracts via the electronic control system, causing the driven roller 232 to descend. This creates a sufficiently large gap between the driving roller 231 and the driven roller 232, allowing the operator to easily pass the buffer pad through without laboriously lifting the rollers. After threading, the cylinder extends, and the driven roller 232 automatically presses into place. The pressing force can be controlled by adjusting the air pressure according to the thickness of the flexible thermally controlled material and the winding tension. The entire process is fast, labor-saving, and the pressing force is stable and controllable, ensuring the buffer pad does not slip during operation and guaranteeing the accuracy of the winding length.

[0136] The reason why the power system of this equipment is set on the buffer pad winding and unwinding system, firstly combining the flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad, and then having the buffer pad drive the flexible thermal control material to move forward, is to reduce the tension fluctuation of the flexible thermal control material during the winding and unwinding process (there are many types of flexible thermal control materials, with large differences in thickness, and high requirements for surface quality), and secondly to avoid the high pressure of the power roller scratching the surface of the flexible thermal control material.

[0137] In some embodiments of this application, in order for the buffer pad to provide the intended support, cushioning, and protection without negatively impacting the winding and perforation processes of the flexible thermal control material, the buffer pad must possess specific physical properties. After repeated testing and selection, the thickness of the buffer pad used in this application is preferably 0.2 to 0.8 mm. This thickness range provides sufficient cushioning and shock absorption without causing excessive bending stress at the composite roller or affecting the perforation accuracy due to excessive thickness.

[0138] Its tensile strength is 5~10 kN / m, ensuring that it will not undergo plastic deformation or breakage when subjected to the tension (30~70 N) applied by the winding and unwinding system.

[0139] The elastic modulus is 2~4 GPa, indicating that the material has a certain rigidity and good resilience. It can generate a small elastic deformation to absorb energy when impacted by the punch 34, and quickly return to its original shape after the impact, providing stable support for the next punching.

[0140] The surface hardness of the cushioning pad is Shore 30~40 HD. This hardness value makes its surface tough enough to withstand the extrusion during the punching process, while also being soft enough not to cause any scratches to the aluminum-plated layer of the flexible thermal control material in contact with it.

[0141] The surface roughness Ra value is controlled to be ≤1.0 μm. The smooth surface ensures that the friction is minimal during the bonding and separation of the flexible thermal control material, avoiding scratches or static electricity accumulation caused by friction.

[0142] Another aspect of this application provides a method for creating openings in aerospace flexible thermal control materials. This method can be implemented using the aforementioned aerospace flexible thermal control material opening equipment, such as... Figure 12 As shown, it includes the following steps:

[0143] Step S1: Prepare the hole-opening mechanism 3.

[0144] First, based on the thickness H of the flexible thermal control material (aluminum-coated film) to be processed and the target aperture (i.e., the diameter d of the 34 punch head), the formula Q = k·H·d is applied (k is an empirical parameter, with a value range of 2~20×10). 2 The unit is HD / (mm). 2 Calculate the required Shore hardness Q of the organic pad 39 surface, and select an organic pad 39 with a hardness in the range of 40~70 HD that is closest to the calculated value Q. The thickness of the selected organic pad 39 is usually 5~25 mm. Fix the organic pad 39 onto the upper surface of the lower template 33.

[0145] Next, adjust the stroke adjuster 6 at the tail end of the cylinder of the opening mechanism 3 to set the downward stroke of the upper template 32, and lock it with the locking nut 7. Then, lower the upper template 32 to the bottom dead center, screw all the punches 34 into the threaded holes of the upper template 32, and use a tool to hold the tail of the punch 34c and rotate it to finely adjust the height of the tip of each punch 34 to keep them on the same horizontal plane. After completion, lift the upper template 32.

[0146] By introducing empirical formulas for the scientific selection of the organic pad 39, the traditional trial-and-error method was replaced, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of process settings. The precise setting of the stroke adjuster 6 and the uniform calibration of the punch 34 height provided a decisive guarantee for obtaining through holes with consistent depth and neat edges in subsequent mass production. The replaceable punch 34 structure made changing designs for different hole diameter requirements extremely convenient, enhancing the flexibility of the production line.

[0147] Step S2: Install the cushioning pad.

[0148] Start the equipment's electrical control system and switch to manual control mode. Operate the clutch control switch of the driven roller 232 to drive the driven roller 232 to descend and separate it from the driving roller 231. Use hoisting equipment to lift the cushioning pad roll to the front end of the equipment and install it on the second unwinding tension roller 21. Then, pull out the end of the cushioning pad, pass it around the second front guide roller 22 to flatten it, pass it through the first composite roller 4 of the perforation mechanism 3, lay it flat on the surface of the lower template 33 (organic pad 39) of the perforation mechanism 3, pass it through the second composite roller 5 of the perforation mechanism 3, then pass it through the gap between the driving roller 231 and the driven roller 232 of the power roller group 23, pass it around the second rear guide roller 24 to flatten it, and finally fix the end on the second winding tension roller 25.

[0149] Input the preset tension values ​​of the buffer pad take-up and unwinding system into the electronic control system: take-up tension 30~60 N, unwinding tension 35~70 N. Start the tension controller to apply tension to the buffer pad. Finally, close the clutch control switch of the driven roller 232, causing the driven roller 232 to rise and press tightly against the driving roller 231, completing the installation of the buffer pad.

[0150] The separation operation of the driven roller 232 eliminates the need for manual lifting of heavy rollers during the buffer pad threading process. The path is clear, the operation is simple, and the roll change time is greatly shortened. The preset tension range (30~60 N for winding and 35~70 N for unwinding) has been verified through extensive experiments. It ensures that the buffer pad is flat and does not deviate during the winding process, while also preventing the buffer pad from being stretched thin or broken due to excessive tension. This provides a solid foundation for the subsequent stable composite with flexible thermal control materials.

[0151] Step S3: Installation of flexible thermal control material.

[0152] The flexible thermal control material roll to be perforated is hoisted to the upper layer of the equipment using hoisting equipment and installed onto the first unwinding tension roller 11. The end of the flexible thermal control material is pulled out, passed around the first front guide roller 12 to flatten it, passes through the first composite roller 4 of the perforation mechanism 3 (at this time it is located on the buffer pad), lays flat on the surface of the buffer pad, passes through the second composite roller 5 of the perforation mechanism 3, then passes around the first rear guide roller 13 and the flattening roller 14, and finally the end is fixed on the first winding tension roller 15.

[0153] Input the preset tension values ​​for the flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system 1 into the electronic control system: winding tension 10~30 N, unwinding tension 15~40 N. Start the tension controller to apply tension to the flexible thermal control material.

[0154] This step, in conjunction with step S2, completes the deployment of the double-layer material. The separately set tension range for the flexible thermal control material, significantly lower than that of the buffer pad (10-30 N for winding, 15-40 N for unwinding), is one of the key process parameters of this application. This extremely low tension control ensures that the film, only 4-100 µm thick, is not stretched or deformed during winding, thus guaranteeing the accuracy of the hole spacing after opening and the physical properties of the film itself. Independent tension control systems for the upper and lower layers are a prerequisite for achieving this differentiated and precise control.

[0155] Step S4: Material composite adjustment.

[0156] Set the opening speed (3~10 m / min) in the electronic control system. Start the equipment for low-speed winding. During winding, carefully observe the bonding of the flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad at the first composite roller 4, and the winding of the flexible thermal control material after separation by the second composite roller 5. If wrinkles, bubbles, or relative slippage between the two layers are found in the composite layer, the tension of the buffer pad winding system and the flexible thermal control material winding system 1 should be finely adjusted through the electronic control system, or the handwheel of the fine-tuning mechanism of the first front guide roller 12 should be manually rotated to adjust the local tension of the flexible thermal control material. Repeat this process until the two layers are perfectly bonded across the entire width, flat, tight, bubble-free, and without relative slippage.

[0157] By observing and adjusting, the two materials with vastly different physical properties are brought to an optimal "unity," which is a crucial step in ensuring the final hole quality. Eliminating air bubbles prevents uneven local impact caused by bubble rupture or compression during hole opening; preventing relative slippage ensures precise alignment between the hole position and the material's preset position. Setting the winding speed (3~10 m / min) ensures production efficiency while providing ample reaction time for dynamic adjustments.

[0158] Step S5: Trial opening and adjustment.

[0159] In manual control mode, the hole-opening mechanism 3 is controlled to perform one or more trial openings. Then, the winding is stopped, and the appearance of the flexible thermal control material surface and the quality of the formed through-hole are carefully inspected. Inspection items include: whether the hole is completely punched through, whether there are burrs or damage at the hole edges, whether the roundness of the hole meets the requirements, and whether there are new scratches or wrinkles on the material surface. Based on the inspection results, relevant parameters are fine-tuned, for example: fine-tuning the working air pressure of the cylinder via the pressure regulating valve to change the punching force, fine-tuning the pressing depth of the punch 34 via the stroke adjuster 6, or recalibrating individual punches 34 with inconsistent heights. The trial opening and adjustment are repeated until the quality of the obtained through-hole fully meets the predetermined technical standards.

[0160] By fine-tuning the air pressure (within the range of 0.3~0.7 MPa) and the depth of punch 34, the optimal punching energy for a specific batch of material can be found, avoiding damage to the backing plate due to excessive energy or incomplete punching due to insufficient energy. Recalibration of the punch 34 height ensures the uniformity of the multi-hole punching. This step pushes the precision of process tuning to its extreme and is crucial for ensuring high yield rates in mass production.

[0161] Step S6: Continuous opening production of flexible thermal control material.

[0162] After confirming that all parameters are adjusted correctly, switch the equipment to automatic continuous production mode. Upon starting the equipment, the unwinding / rewinding mechanism and the perforation mechanism 3 begin to operate in tandem. The specific process is as follows: the unperforated flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad are released from their respective unwinding systems, pressed by the first composite roller 4, and then fed into the mold area in a composite state, lying flat on the surface of the organic pad 39 of the lower mold plate 33. Subsequently, the upper mold plate 32 is rapidly pressed down to close the mold under the push of a cylinder, and the punch 34 impacts the organic pad 39, completing one perforation in the flexible thermal control material. Immediately afterwards, the cylinder drives the upper mold plate 32 to quickly return and open the mold. At this time, the equipment's unwinding / rewinding systems work together, driving the perforated composite material layer forward by a preset step distance. During this process, after passing through the second composite roller 5, the perforated composite layer separates the flexible thermal control material from the buffer pad and is guided to its respective winding system for winding. Simultaneously, the next section of the unperforated composite layer is synchronously fed into the mold area. The equipment automatically and continuously repeats the above-mentioned cycle of "winding-mold closing-hole opening-mold opening" until all the flexible thermal control material at the unwinding end has been processed.

[0163] The entire process is highly automated, seamlessly integrating material bonding, punching, separation, and winding. The precise coordination between the stepper motor-driven winding system and the pneumatic punching system ensures consistent hole spacing. The use of a rapid exhaust valve allows for quick return of the upper template 32, shortening the time of a single work cycle and achieving a stable production efficiency of 3-10 m / min. The final product, flexible perforated thermal control material, features a diamond-shaped array of through-holes with a diameter between 1-3 mm, a roundness of less than 2.0 µm, and clean, burr-free, wrinkle-free, and scratch-free edges, fully meeting the stringent quality requirements of aerospace-grade materials. These flexible perforated thermal control materials include, but are not limited to, flame-retardant cloth, aluminized film, flame-retardant cloth tape, and aluminized film tape, with a total thickness of 4-100 µm.

[0164] Step S7: Slitting, rewinding, quality inspection, and warehousing of flexible thermal control materials.

[0165] The pre-drilled, wound rolls of flexible thermal control material, produced through continuous production, are transferred to a rewinding and slitting machine. Based on the final product's dimensions, the material is slit and rewound to form standard-sized finished rolls. During the slitting and rewinding process, the perforation quality is simultaneously inspected online or offline, and defective products are rejected. Products that pass inspection are packaged and then processed for warehousing.

[0166] The semi-finished products from the continuous production line are transformed into final standardized products. Slitting and rewinding meet the needs of different spacecraft parts for thermal control materials of different sizes. Simultaneous quality inspection is the final checkpoint before the product leaves the factory, ensuring that every product delivered to the customer meets aerospace-grade reliability requirements.

[0167] The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device provided in this application has the following advantages:

[0168] (1) The aerospace flexible thermal control material drilling equipment involved in this application is applicable to a wide range of flexible thermal control materials and can drill holes on the surface of flexible thermal control materials with different thicknesses of 4 to 100 micrometers.

[0169] (2) The aerospace flexible thermal control material opening equipment involved in this application uses a metal punch and an organic pad to form a mold cutting edge. The mold not only has a small gap and high precision, but also has low friction and impact on the punch, making the mold punching process stable and long service life.

[0170] (3) The aerospace flexible thermal control material opening device involved in this application is precisely manufactured and has high drilling accuracy. It can form through holes with a diameter of 1~3mm on the surface of the flexible thermal control material without damaging the surface quality. Not only is the roundness of the through hole high, but the edges are also neat, without burrs or damage, and without any other defects such as wrinkles or scratches, thus meeting the requirements as a thermal control material for spacecraft.

[0171] (4) The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation equipment involved in this application can simultaneously perform "composite, punched and separated" on buffer pads and flexible thermal control materials, realizing the composite and perforation of buffer pads and flexible thermal control materials, and the separation of perforation and separation. This not only significantly improves the perforation production efficiency of flexible thermal control materials, but also avoids the damage to the material surface quality caused by the independent composite or separation of buffer pads and flexible thermal control materials.

[0172] (5) The aerospace flexible thermal control material opening device involved in this application uses an organic pad as a lower template. When the punch impacts the organic pad, it can form a very smooth pit. No defects such as cracks, curling or burrs will appear at the edge of the pit. This effectively avoids damage such as scratches or wear caused by defects on the surface of the mold during the unwinding, laying and winding of the flexible thermal control material on the lower mold surface.

[0173] The above description is merely one embodiment of this application and an explanation of the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art should understand that the scope of the invention involved in this application is not limited to the technical solutions formed by specific combinations of the above-described technical features, but should also cover other technical solutions formed by arbitrary combinations of the above-described technical features or their equivalents without departing from the inventive concept. For example, technical solutions formed by substituting the above features with (but not limited to) technical features with similar functions disclosed in this application.

Claims

1. A perforation device for aerospace flexible thermal control materials, characterized in that, include: The upper layer is equipped with a flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system; The lower layer features a buffer pad retraction system; A hole-opening mechanism, comprising an upper template and a lower template disposed opposite to each other; as well as Electrical control system; The buffer pad unfolding system flattens and supports the buffer pad on the surface of the lower template, and an organic pad is fixed on the upper surface of the lower template. The buffer pad is flattened and supported on the organic pad. The flexible thermal control material unfolding system flattens and lays the flexible thermal control material to be perforated on the surface of the buffer pad. The buffer pad and the flexible thermal control material are configured to be tightly bonded by the first composite roller before entering between the upper template and the lower template, and pass together through the gap between the upper template and the lower template to complete the opening; The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device further includes: a second composite roller, wherein the first composite roller and the second composite roller are respectively disposed in front of and behind the perforation mechanism along the material travel direction; the flexible thermal control material and the buffer pad separate from each other after passing through the second composite roller; The buffer pad unwinding and rewinding system includes: a second unwinding tension roller, a second front guide roller, a power roller group, a second rear guide roller, and a second winding tension roller arranged sequentially along the buffer pad traveling direction; the first composite roller and the second composite roller are located between the second front guide roller and the second rear guide roller. The power roller assembly includes a drive roller driven by a stepper motor and a driven roller that is detachably pressed against the drive roller; The thickness of the flexible thermal control material is 4~100 µm; The unwinding tension of the buffer pad unwinding system is 35~70 N, and the winding tension is 30~60 N; the unwinding tension of the flexible thermal control material unwinding system is 15~40 N, and the winding tension is 10~30 N. The thickness of the buffer pad is 0.2~0.8 mm, the tensile strength is 5~10 kN / m, the elastic modulus is 2~4 GPa, the surface hardness is Shore 30~40 HD, and the surface roughness Ra≤1.0 μm; The lower surface of the upper template is detachably fitted with a plurality of punches, the punches being configured to punch the organic pad to form through holes in the flexible thermal control material; The punches are arranged in an array on the lower surface of the upper template, with the positions of the punches in adjacent rows and columns staggered to form a diamond array; The punch is threadedly connected to the upper template and locked by a lock nut; The punch includes: a needle head with a concave hemispherical recess on its end face to form an annular cutting edge at the periphery; a threaded needle body for connection with the upper template; and a needle tail, which is shaped like a cuboid for easy rotation. The surface of the organic pad is provided with a recess that matches the shape of the end of the punch; The surface Shore hardness of the organic pad is 40~70 HD.

2. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flexible thermal control material winding and unwinding system includes: A first unwinding tension roller, a first front guide roller, a first rear guide roller, a flattening roller, and a first winding tension roller are arranged sequentially along the travel direction of the flexible thermal control material; the first composite roller and the second composite roller are located between the first front guide roller and the first rear guide roller. The first unwinding tension roller is located above the front end of the equipment, the first front guide roller is located below and behind the first unwinding tension roller and its installation height is lower than that of the first composite roller, and the first winding tension roller is located above the flattening roller at the rear end of the equipment.

3. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first unwinding tension roller and / or the first winding tension roller of the flexible thermal control material unwinding and take-up system are configured with a cantilever quick-change structure, the cantilever quick-change structure comprising: The first tension roller has a fixed end that is rotatably connected to the frame and driven by a tension driver at one end, and an open end that can be detachably supported at the other end. The lifting arm is hinged to the frame and can swing between the lifting position and the avoidance position under the drive of the cylinder; A locking mechanism is provided at the lifting end of the lifting arm for releasably locking the open end of the first tension roller at the lifting position.

4. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The locking mechanism includes a positioning pin disposed at the lifting end of the lifting arm and a slot disposed on the open end bushing of the first tension roller; at the lifting position, the positioning pin engages with the slot to fix the first tension roller. The slot is in the shape of a semi-circular arc that fits the bushing, and the positioning pin is driven by a cylinder. The lifting arm is driven by a linkage self-locking mechanism, which includes a joint linkage group driven by a cylinder. The joint linkage group is configured to extend to the dead point position when the lifting arm is raised to the lifting position to achieve self-locking.

5. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first front guide roller is equipped with a fine-tuning mechanism, the fine-tuning mechanism comprising: A rectangular connecting body is connected to the shaft end of the first front guide roller, and the rectangular connecting body is slidably engaged with the vertical groove of the roller frame; An adjusting screw is connected at one end to the rectangular connecting body, and a handwheel is provided at the other end of the adjusting screw for manually adjusting the height of the front guide roller to fine-tune the tension.

6. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The second unwinding tension roller is equipped with a sliding quick-change structure, the sliding quick-change structure comprising: Horizontal track groove, installed on the frame; The second tension roller is slidably supported at both ends in the horizontal track groove by bushings; A fixed slot is provided at the near end of the horizontal track groove to accommodate and lock the bushing of the second tension roller body that slides in. Two loading and unloading swing arms are set at the remote end of the horizontal track groove, and are used to lift or lower the second tension roller body from the horizontal track groove during loading and unloading; the fixed end of each loading and unloading swing arm is fixed to a rotatable connecting rod, and the lifting end is provided with a groove that matches the bushing of the second tension roller body. The buffer pad take-up and take-up system has a driven gear on the bushing at one end of the unwinding tension roller; when the tension roller is locked in the fixed slot, the driven gear meshes with the drive gear of a tension drive to apply controllable tension to the buffer pad.

7. The aerospace flexible thermal control material perforation device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The punching mechanism includes a pneumatic system that drives the upper template to perform punching motion, the pneumatic system comprising: A cylinder, the piston rod of which is connected to the upper template; A two-way solenoid valve controls the intake and exhaust of the cylinder; A quick exhaust valve is connected to the exhaust chamber of the cylinder, allowing compressed air to quickly enter the upper chamber of the cylinder and push the upper template downward at high speed. The pressure regulating valve is used to adjust the working air pressure to 0.3~0.7 MPa; The cylinder has a stroke adjuster at its tail end. The stroke adjuster is connected to the tail shaft of the cylinder by a thread and locked by a nut, which is used to limit the downward stroke of the upper template.

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