Hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp

Abstract

This application provides a support fixture for a hydrogen cylinder plastic liner, comprising several support members, all of which form at least three support points with the plastic liner. All support points are distributed on both sides of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic liner. Each support point is equipped with a rotatable support wheel, and at least one of the support points has a controllable drive wheel that drives the plastic liner to rotate circumferentially. This hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support fixture achieves detection support during visual inspection of the plastic liner through several support points formed at the ends of the support members. Since only a few support points contact the plastic liner, it has the advantages of a small obstruction area, avoiding obstruction of the movement of the inspection robotic arm.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of material positioning tooling technology, specifically to a support fixture for the plastic inner liner of a hydrogen cylinder. Background Technology

[0002] Over the past decade, the rapid development of the domestic and international hydrogen energy industry has led to significant advancements in hydrogen storage technology. Although chemical hydrogen storage technology has been developed, physical hydrogen storage technology based on high-pressure cylinders remains the widely adopted solution for end-use applications due to its low cost and ease of operation. Because hydrogen molecules are smaller than those of almost all metals and non-metals, hydrogen cylinders inevitably experience some degree of hydrogen permeation leading to storage losses; however, they still offer significant advantages for short-term storage.

[0003] Due to their advantages in lightweighting and manufacturing cost, composite material gas cylinders are gradually replacing metal gas cylinders. Existing composite material hydrogen cylinders are mainly made of a plastic inner liner and a carbon fiber-based or glass fiber-based composite material wound around the outside of the plastic inner liner. The plastic inner liner is generally manufactured using injection molding or rotational molding processes. After molding, the plastic inner liner must pass inspection before fiber winding is performed to form the outer composite material layer. The plastic inner liner determines the basic shape and dimensions of the gas cylinder; to ensure the finished product's pass rate, the plastic inner liner needs to be inspected to ensure it is qualified before use in subsequent processes.

[0004] The current workflow primarily involves manual visual inspection of the plastic liner's appearance, using pre-fabricated gauges or standard measuring tools to check critical dimensions. This method is extremely inefficient. Therefore, it's advisable to apply automated visual inspection technology to the plastic liner manufacturing process to achieve rapid, online, full-scale measurement. To achieve complete coverage of the plastic liner's outer surface during visual inspection, minimal obstruction of the liner is required during the inspection process. Utility Model Content

[0005] In order to reduce the obstruction of the outer surface of the plastic inner liner by the fixture during visual inspection, this application provides a support fixture for the plastic inner liner of a hydrogen cylinder.

[0006] This application provides a support clamp for a plastic liner of a hydrogen cylinder, comprising a plurality of support members, wherein at least three support points are formed between all the support members and the plastic liner; all the support points are distributed on both sides of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic liner.

[0007] Preferably, the system includes three support members, each of which forms a support point with the plastic inner liner, and the three support points form a triangular region surrounding the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner. or It includes four support members, each of which forms a support point with the plastic inner liner, and the four support points form a quadrilateral region surrounding the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner.

[0008] Preferably, it includes two sets of support members, each of which has a dumbbell-shaped support seat fixedly disposed at its end, and the distance between the two support seats is equivalent to the distance between the curved surfaces at both ends of the plastic inner liner.

[0009] Preferably, the distance between the two support bases is adjustable.

[0010] Preferably, each of the support points is provided with a rotatable support wheel, the axis of rotation of which is parallel to the axis of the plastic inner liner; at least one of the support points is provided with a controllable drive wheel, which drives the plastic inner liner to rotate circumferentially.

[0011] Preferably, the surface at the end of the support member forming the support point is an inclined support surface, and the support surfaces on both sides of the vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic inner liner form an inverted V-shaped support.

[0012] Preferably, on each of the support surfaces, a plurality of support wheels are arranged along the support surface, and all of the support wheels on at least one of the support surfaces are controllable drive wheels.

[0013] Preferably, all the support members are disposed on a base, and the base is adjustable in height.

[0014] The hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support fixture of this application provides detection support during the visual inspection of the plastic liner through several support points formed at the end of the support member. Since only a few support points are in contact with the plastic liner, it has the advantages of small obstruction area and avoids hindering the movement of the inspection robot arm. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the outer shape of the plastic liner of the hydrogen cylinder for the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp of this application. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp of this application. Figure 3-5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of different embodiments of the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp of this application.

[0016] In the picture: 1: Support clamp; 11: Support component; 12: Support base; 13: Support wheel; 14: Support surface; 15: Drive motor; 16: Base; 1P: Support point; O: Axis; OV: Vertical surface; W: Plastic inner liner. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The technical solution of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. In this specification, the dimensions of the drawings do not represent the actual size ratio. The drawings are only used to illustrate the relative positional relationship and connection relationship between the components. Components with the same name or the same reference numeral represent similar or the same structure, and are limited to illustrative purposes.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external shape of the plastic liner of the hydrogen cylinder according to this application. The plastic liner W typically has a barrel-shaped appearance with arc-shaped constricted ends. The cross-section of the constricted ends is usually partially inward, forming a concave space around the central hole at the end face. Before wrapping the composite material, the central hole at both end faces can be sealed using appropriate seals. A corresponding valve assembly can also be installed on the seal at one end. The skirt of the seal can be accommodated within the concave space, ensuring the stability of the connection between the seal and the plastic liner W after the composite material is wrapped. Manual inspection of the appearance and dimensions of the plastic liner W is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Besides the possibility of missing appearance defects, the complex end face shape, numerous dimensions to be inspected, and difficulty in determining positioning references also make it difficult to achieve rapid and accurate dimensional inspection.

[0019] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support fixture of this application. The support fixture 1 includes several support members 11. When the plastic liner W is placed on the support fixture 1, at least three support points 1P are formed between all the support members 11 and the plastic liner W. All the formed support points are distributed on both sides of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic liner W. Firstly, in terms of determining the support position of the plastic liner W, three non-collinear support points are sufficient. On the other hand, during the visual inspection process, since the inspection system needs to acquire as many surface support points as possible, the number of support points should not be too large to avoid occlusion and hindering the movement of the inspection robot arm. The number of support points 1P is preferably three or four.

[0020] The number of support points formed by each support member 11 and the plastic inner liner W is not limited. Figure 3 as well as Figure 4 The embodiments provide examples of each support member 11 forming one and two support points with the plastic inner liner W, respectively. For example... Figure 3In this embodiment, the support clamp 1 has three support members 11, each forming a support point with the plastic inner liner W. In this case, the three support points 1P are distributed on both sides of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic inner liner W, forming a triangle surrounding the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner W. Therefore, the plastic inner liner W can be stably placed on top of the three support members 11 without external force, and is less prone to shaking during visual scanning.

[0021] Figure 4 The embodiment shown presents a case with four support points. This can be achieved by using four support members, each providing one support point. It can also be achieved through other configurations. Figure 4 The embodiment provides a scheme using two support members 11, each providing two support points 1P. For example... Figure 3 In the embodiment shown, the support points 1P on each support member 11 are located on both sides of the vertical plane of the plastic inner liner W axis, and the four support points form a quadrilateral area surrounding the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner W. In this case, the plastic inner liner can still be stably supported on the top of the support member 11.

[0022] Figure 5 The embodiment described is an improved version of the support clamp 1 with four support points. Its purpose is to simultaneously achieve positioning and clamping along the W-axis of the plastic inner liner. Figure 5 As shown, the support clamp 1 has two sets of support members 11, each with a dumbbell-shaped support seat 12 fixedly mounted at its end. The distance between the two support seats 12 is pre-adjusted, roughly corresponding to the distance between suitable positions of the curved surfaces at both ends of the plastic inner liner W. When the plastic inner liner W is placed at the end of the support member 11, the support point 1P is formed at the thicker ends of the support seat 12, and the support point 1P actually contacts the curved surface at the end of the plastic inner liner W. Therefore, the support seat 12 can not only limit the plastic inner liner W on both sides of the axis, but also limit the support seat 12 along the axial direction. In this case, in actual production operations, since hydrogen cylinder products are diverse and have multiple specifications, the distance between the support seats 12 is adjustable to accommodate different length specifications of the plastic inner liner W. This adjustable setting is achieved by adjusting the distance between the two support members 11.

[0023] Returning to the original technical problem, while optimizing the support clamp 1 can reduce occlusion, it cannot completely eliminate it. Therefore, in demanding applications, during visual inspection of the plastic inner liner W, it is necessary to control the rotation of the plastic inner liner W around its axis, moving the circumferential area originally located between support points 1P to outside that area. To ensure that the position of the plastic inner liner W remains largely consistent during repeated positioning, avoiding repositioning of the visual probe, it is preferable that the rotation of the plastic inner liner W is performed automatically by the support clamp 1, rather than removing the plastic inner liner W from the support clamp 1 and then repositioning it using other methods.

[0024] To achieve the above functions, in any of the above embodiments, a rotatable support wheel 13 is provided at the support point 1P. The axis of rotation of the support wheel 13 is parallel to the axis of the plastic inner liner W. When the support wheel 13 rotates, the plastic inner liner W begins to roll circumferentially, thereby rolling the obstructed area on the outer circumference to an unobstructed position. The support wheel 13 provided at at least one support point 1P is a controllable rotation drive wheel, and the rotation angle of the plastic inner liner W is controlled by controlling the start and stop of the drive wheel.

[0025] In actual production, the specifications of plastic inner liners W vary. Besides differences in length, their radial dimensions also differ, with radial diameters ranging from approximately 300-1100 mm. Using a single-point support 11 makes it difficult to ensure stable support for plastic inner liners W with different radial dimensions. If the spacing between support points 1P in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the axis of the plastic inner liner W is large, while it accommodates the measurement of large-sized plastic inner liners W, small-sized plastic inner liners W may be smaller than this spacing and cannot be supported at all. Similarly, when setting a small spacing to accommodate small-sized plastic inner liners W, because the spacing is too small relative to the spacing between support points 1P, the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner W is easily moved away from the area enclosed by the support points, leading to tipping over. Therefore, the surface at the end of the support 11 that forms support points 1P is preferably an inclined support surface 14. In the technical solution of this application, the support surfaces 14 on both sides of the vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic inner liner W should form an inverted V-shaped support, that is, when viewed along the axial direction of the plastic inner liner W, the cross-section formed by the two support surfaces 14 has a larger opening at the top and a smaller opening at the bottom.

[0026] In this structure, to accommodate the need for full-surface inspection, rotation detection of the plastic inner liner W can still be preferably achieved. Therefore, on each support surface 14, a plurality of support wheels 13 need to be arranged along the support surface 14. At least one support surface 14 has all support wheels 13 that are controllable drive wheels for starting and stopping, for example... Figure 3The support member 11 is synchronously driven by the drive motor 15, and has multiple support surfaces 14. In the embodiment with three support points 1P, the drive wheel is disposed on a single support surface 14 on one side, or on two support surfaces 14 on the other side. In the embodiment with four support points 1P, the drive wheel is disposed on two support surfaces 14 on the same side.

[0027] In the above embodiments, the support is typically integrated with the conveyor line of the plastic inner liner W. To lift the plastic inner liner W away from the conveyor line, all the support members 11 are mounted on the base 16. The base 16 is height-adjustable; it is in a retracted state when receiving the plastic inner liner W and in a raised state when lifting the plastic inner liner W, thus detaching the plastic inner liner W from the conveyor line and avoiding visual interference from the conveyor line during visual measurement.

[0028] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of this application. Any modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art to the technical solutions of this application without departing from the spirit of this application shall fall within the protection scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp characterized by, It includes several support members (11), and at least three support points (1P) are formed between all the support members (11) and the plastic inner liner (W); all the support points (1P) are distributed on both sides of a vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic inner liner (W); It includes four support members (11), each of which forms a support point (1P) with the plastic inner liner (W), and the four support points (1P) form a quadrilateral region surrounding the center of gravity of the plastic inner liner (W).

2. The hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp as described in claim 1, characterized in that, It includes two sets of support members (11), and each support member (11) has a dumbbell-shaped support seat (12) fixedly provided at its end. The distance between the two support seats (12) is equivalent to the distance between the two end curved surfaces of the plastic inner liner (W).

3. The hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The spacing between the two support bases (12) can be adjusted.

4. The hydrogen cylinder plastic inner liner support clamp as described in claim 1, characterized in that, Each support point (1P) is provided with a rotatable support wheel (13), the axis of rotation of the support wheel (13) being parallel to the axis of the plastic inner liner (W); at least one of the support points (1P) is provided with a support wheel (13) that is a controlled rotating drive wheel, the drive wheel driving the plastic inner liner (W) to rotate circumferentially.

5. The hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp as described in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The surface at the end of the support member (11) forming the support point (1P) is an inclined support surface (14), and the support surfaces (14) on both sides of the vertical plane passing through the axis of the plastic inner liner (W) form an inverted V-shaped support.

6. The hydrogen cylinder plastic liner support clamp as described in any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, All of the aforementioned support members (11) are mounted on the base (16), which is raised and lowered.

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