Feed block and t-die

Abstract

To provide a feed block capable of improving the molding accuracy of a first resin material and a second resin material in multi-row or multi-layer molding of a resin.SOLUTION: A feed block 20 comprises: a first FB passage 21 which guides a first resin material; a second FB passage 25 which guides a second resin material; and a confluent passage 30 where the first resin material and the second resin material merge so as to be adjacent to each other and which guides the merged resin material to a T-die body 40, wherein the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25 each have a first widening portion 23 in which a dimension in a first direction perpendicular to a flow direction of the merged resin material in the confluent passage 30 expands toward downstream, and are connected to the confluent passage 30 by the first widening portion 23, and the confluent passage 30 has a deforming portion 32 that deforms the flow of the merged resin material extending in the first direction by reducing the dimension in the first direction toward downstream to form a flow with a circular cross section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a feed block and a T-die.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a film forming method, in which a brittle resin and a tough resin are heated and melted by separate extruders, respectively, supplied to pipes for supplying molten resin connected to the respective extruders, holes are formed on both sides of the lower part of the pipe for supplying the brittle resin, and the ends of the pipe for supplying the tough resin are connected to the holes formed on both sides thereof to supply the heated and melted brittle resin and tough resin to a feed block, then the resin is widened by a manifold connected to the feed block, and the resin is extruded from the die lip of the extrusion T-die onto a casting roll in a state where the tough resin coexists on both sides of the brittle resin, to form a non-stretched brittle resin film having a brittle resin in the center and tough resin portions at both ends.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Generally, the T-die body in a T-die widens the resin led from a circular flow path into a sheet shape and discharges it from a discharge port. For this reason, in the film forming method of Patent Document 1, a pipe for supplying a tough resin having a circular cross section is joined to a pipe for supplying a brittle resin having a circular cross section in a feed block, and the joined resin is led to the T-die body.

[0005] As disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the melt viscosities of a brittle resin and a tough resin are different, when the brittle resin and the tough resin merge and are discharged from a T-die, for example, a wrap portion may be formed in which one enters the upper and lower gaps of the other. The occurrence of the wrap portion causes an error in the width of the brittle resin and the tough resin, so it is desirable to suppress the wrap portion. Thus, in the T-die described in Patent Document 1, one resin material may inadvertently enter the gap around the other resin material, and as a result, the resin material in the molded product may not be molded into the intended shape.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a feed block and a T-die capable of improving the molding accuracy of a first resin material and a second resin material in multi-row or multi-layer molding of resins.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] According to an aspect of the present invention, a feed block includes a first passage for guiding a first resin material, a second passage for guiding a second resin material, and a confluence passage for guiding the confluent resin material in which the first resin material and the second resin material merge so as to be adjacent to each other to a T-die. At least one of the first passage and the second passage has a widened portion that is widened while maintaining the flow path cross-sectional area in a predetermined one direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the confluent resin material in the confluence passage and is connected to the confluence passage by the widened portion. The confluence passage has a deformed portion that deforms the flow of the confluent resin material extending in one direction so as to narrow the width in one direction as it goes downstream.

[0008] Also, according to an aspect of the present invention, the T-die includes a feed block that merges a first resin material and a second resin material and guides the merged resin material, and a T-die body that discharges the merged resin material guided from a supply port in a sheet shape from a discharge port. The feed block includes a first passage that guides the first resin material, a second passage that guides the second resin material, and a merging passage that merges the first resin material and the second resin material so as to be adjacent to each other and guides the merged resin material to the T-die. At least one of the first passage and the second passage has a widened portion that is widened while maintaining a flow path cross-sectional area in a predetermined one direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the merged resin material in the merging passage and is connected to the merging passage by the widened portion. The merging passage has a deformed portion that deforms the flow of the merged resin material extending in one direction so as to narrow the width in one direction as it goes downstream.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] According to these aspects, the first resin material and the second resin material merge with at least one of them extending in one direction. According to this, compared with the case where both the first resin material and the second resin material merge without extending in one direction, the gap above and below the resin material extending in one direction becomes smaller, making it difficult for the other resin material to enter. Therefore, the first resin material and the second resin material can be molded into the intended shape, and the molding accuracy is improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

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Figure 5

Figure 6

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the feed block 20, the T-die 100, and the sheet molding apparatus 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each drawing, for convenience of explanation, the scale of each component is appropriately changed and is not necessarily strictly shown. Also, for a plurality of the same components, only a part thereof may be assigned a reference numeral, and the other parts may be omitted.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sheet forming apparatus 101 includes a T-die 100 for sheet forming, a first extruder 102 that supplies a first resin material heated and melted to the T-die 100, and a second extruder 103 that supplies a second resin material different from the first resin material to the T-die 100. The first extruder 102 and the second extruder 103 are, for example, single-screw extruders respectively. Note that the first extruder 102 and the second extruder 103 may also be twin-screw extruders. The T-die 100 is connected to the first extruder 102 through a first pipe 102a and to the second extruder 103 through a second pipe 103a.

[0013] The sheet forming apparatus 101 discharges the first resin material and the second resin material from the T-die 100 toward a cooling roll R (see FIG. 2) to form a multi-row sheet-shaped molded product. The first resin material and the second resin material are, for example, thermoplastic resins whose flow characteristics change depending on temperature. The second resin material is provided at both end portions in the width direction of the first resin material.

[0014] The second resin material is, for example, a portion formed to be gripped by clips during stretching in the width direction in the process of manufacturing a stretched film. By using a material with relatively high durability for the second resin material, the sheet molded product can be stably stretched in the width direction. Also, in an unstretched film, it is difficult to ensure the thickness accuracy at the end portions in the width direction compared to the central portion in the width direction, so the end portions in the width direction to be trimmed are formed of the second resin material composed of an inexpensive material such as a recycled material, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the sheet molded product (film product).

[0015] As shown in FIG. 3, the T-die 100 is configured such that the first resin material and the second resin material are supplied and discharged in a sheet shape through a discharge port 46.

[0016] The T-die 100 includes a junction block 10 that individually (independently) guides a first resin material and a second resin material, a feed block 20 that merges the first resin material and the second resin material, and a T-die body 40 that discharges the merged first resin material and second resin material (hereinafter, also referred to as "merged resin material") through a discharge port 46. The junction block 10 is attached to one end face of the feed block 20, and the T-die body 40 is attached to the other end face of the feed block 20.

[0017] In the present embodiment, the first resin material and the second resin material (merged resin material) are guided through the T-die 100 from above to below in FIG. 3. Hereinafter, the direction of the flow of the synthetic resin material, which is the vertical direction in FIG. 3, is also referred to as the "resin flow direction".

[0018] Connected to the junction block 10 are a first pipe 102a that guides the first resin material discharged from the first extruder 102 and a second pipe 103a that guides the second resin material discharged from the second extruder 103 (see FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 3, formed in the junction block 10 are a first JB passage 11 through which the first resin material is guided from the first pipe 102a and a pair of second JB passages 15 through which the second resin material is guided from the second pipe 103a.

[0019] The first JB passage 11 opens to the mounting surface 10a of the junction block 10 to which the feed block 20 is attached. The pair of second JB passages 15 are passages branched into two from an upstream passage (not shown) connected to the second pipe 103a. The pair of second JB passages 15 each open to the mounting surface 10a of the junction block 10. Also, between the openings of the second JB passages 15 with respect to the mounting surface 10a of the junction block 10, the opening of the first JB passage 11 is located. That is, the opening of the first JB passage 11 and the openings of the pair of second JB passages 15 with respect to the mounting surface 10a of the junction block 10 are located on a straight line.

[0020] The first pipe 102a and the second pipe 103a are pipes each having a circular (perfect circle) cross-section. Correspondingly, the first JB passage 11 and the second JB passage 15 are each formed with a perfect circular cross-section in the flow path cross-sectional shape (the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the passing flow).

[0021] The feed block 20 has a first FB passage 21 through which a first resin material is led from the first JB passage 11 of the junction block 10, a pair of second FB passages 25 through which a second resin material is led from the pair of second JB passages 15 of the junction block 10, and a confluence passage 30 where the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passages 25 merge. For example, the first FB passage 21 corresponds to the first passage, and each of the pair of second FB passages 25 corresponds to the second passage. Note that this correspondence relationship may be interchanged. The first FB passage 21 and the second FB passages 25 are adjacent in a predetermined direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 3). Hereinafter, the adjacent direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 3) between the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passages 25 is referred to as the "first direction", and the direction perpendicular to each of the resin flow direction and the first direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 3) is referred to as the "second direction".

[0022] The first FB passage 21 has a first introduction part 22 that opens to the mounting surface 20a of the feed block 20 to which the junction block 10 is mounted and communicates with the first JB passage 11 of the junction block 10, and a first widening part 23 that is connected to the confluence passage 30 and guides the first resin material from the introduction part to the confluence passage 30.

[0023] The first introduction part 22 is formed with a perfect circular cross-section in the flow path cross-sectional shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the first JB passage 11.

[0024] The first widening portion 23 is formed such that, as it goes downstream in the flow of the first resin material passing through, the dimension in a first direction (hereinafter also referred to as "width"), which is a predetermined one direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction, expands (is widened) while maintaining the cross-sectional area of the flow path. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first widening portion 23 is formed such that its width expands as it goes downstream, and correspondingly, the dimension in a second direction (hereinafter referred to as "thickness"), which is perpendicular to the resin flow direction and perpendicular to the first direction, becomes smaller. Thus, the cross-sectional shape of the flow path of the first widening portion 23 changes from a perfect circle, which is the boundary with the first introduction portion 22, to a flat shape (rectangle) extending in the first direction while maintaining the passing flow rate. Note that the first direction corresponds to the width direction of the sheet molded product discharged from the T-die body 40, which will be described later.

[0025] One of the second FB passages 25 communicates with one of the second JB passages 15 of the junction block 10, and the other second FB passage 25 communicates with the other second JB passage 15 of the second JB passage 15. The pair of second FB passages 25 have the same shape as each other.

[0026] The second FB passage 25 has a second introduction portion 26 that opens to the mounting surface 20a of the feed block 20 to which the junction block 10 is mounted and communicates with the second JB passage 15 of the junction block 10, and a second widening portion 27 that is connected to the merging passage 30 and guides the second resin material from the second introduction portion 26 to the merging passage 30.

[0027] The second introduction portion 26 is formed with a perfect circular cross-sectional shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the second JB passage 15.

[0028] The second widening portion 27 is formed such that, as it goes downstream in the flow of the second resin material passing through, the dimension (width) in the first direction expands while maintaining the cross-sectional area of the flow path. Although illustration is omitted, similar to the first widening portion 23 of the first FB passage 21, as the second widening portion 27 goes downstream, its width expands, and correspondingly, the dimension (thickness) in the second direction with respect to the resin flow direction becomes smaller. The thickness of the lowermost downstream portion of the second widening portion 27 is formed to be the same as the thickness of the lowermost downstream portion of the first widening portion 23. The cross-sectional shape of the flow path of the second widening portion 27 changes from a perfect circular shape, which is the boundary with the second introduction portion 26, to a flat shape (rectangle) extending in the first direction while maintaining the passing flow rate.

[0029] The confluence passage 30 includes a connection portion 31 to which the first FB passage 21 and the pair of second FB passages 25 are connected, a deformation portion 32 that deforms the cross-sectional shape of the flow path of the confluent resin material led from the connection portion 31, and a lead-out portion 33 that supplies the synthetic resin material led from the deformation portion 32 to the T-die body 40.

[0030] In the connection portion 31, the second resin materials converge on both sides of the first resin material in the first direction (width direction, left-right direction in FIG. 3). The first resin material and the second resin materials are respectively adjusted so that their flow velocities match (synchronize) and are led to the connection portion 31 by the first widening portion 23 and the second widening portion 27. The connection portion 31 guides the synthetic resin material downstream so as to maintain the flow velocity at which the first resin material and the second resin materials are led. The cross-sectional shape of the flow path of the connection portion 31 is formed in a flat shape extending in the first direction. The thickness of the connection portion 31 is formed corresponding to the thicknesses of the first widening portion 23 of the first FB passage 21 and the second widening portion 27 of the second FB passage 25, which are the boundaries with the connection portion 31 (in other words, the thicknesses of the lowermost downstream portions of the first widening portion 23 and the second widening portion 27).

[0031] The cross-sectional shape of the deformation part 32 gradually narrows in the width direction and expands in the thickness direction so that the cross-sectional shape of the flow path becomes a perfect circle from the flat cross-sectional shape corresponding to the connection part 31 as it goes downstream. That is, the synthetic resin material is changed by the deformation part 32 so that the width in the first direction becomes narrower from the flow with a flat cross-sectional shape of the flow path (Fig. 5(a)) to the flow with a perfect circular cross-sectional shape (Fig. 5(b)).

[0032] As shown in Fig. 3, the lead-out part 33 has a perfect circular cross-sectional shape of the flow path and opens to the mounting surface 20b of the feed block 20 with respect to the T-die body 40.

[0033] In the T-die body 40, a supply passage 41 through which the combined resin material is guided from the combined flow passage 30 of the feed block 20 and a discharge port 46 for discharging the combined resin material guided by the supply passage 41 are formed. The supply passage 41 opens to the mounting surface 40a of the T-die body 40 to which the feed block 20 is attached and communicates with the combined flow passage 30 of the feed block 20. The opening of the supply passage 41 to the mounting surface 40a is configured as a supply port 45. Further, the supply passage 41 opens to another end surface 40b opposite to the mounting surface 40a, and the opening is configured as the discharge port 46.

[0034] The supply passage 41 has an upstream part 42 that opens to the mounting surface 40a, a downstream part 44 connected to the discharge port 46, and a third widening part 43 as a secondary widening part that connects the upstream part 42 and the downstream part 44.

[0035] The upstream part 42 has a perfect circular cross-sectional shape corresponding to the lead-out part 33 of the combined flow passage 30 of the feed block 20 and guides the combined resin material from the lead-out part 33 downstream.

[0036] The downstream part 44 has a flat cross-sectional shape extending in the first direction and guides the guided combined resin to the discharge port 46.

[0037] The cross-sectional shape of the third widening portion 43 changes from a true circular cross-section corresponding to the upstream portion 42 to a flat shape corresponding to the downstream portion 44 (discharge port 46) while gradually expanding in width and decreasing in thickness toward the downstream, while maintaining the cross-sectional area of the flow path. In this way, the synthetic resin material guided by the flow in the true circular cross-section from the upstream portion 42 is deformed into a flat flow extending in the first direction and guided to the downstream portion 44, so that the second resin material is formed in a state of being arranged on both sides of the first resin material in the first direction.

[0038] The rate of change of the width in the first widening portion 23 of the first FB passage 21 of the feed block 20 is the same as the rate of change of the width in the third widening portion 43 of the T-die body 40. The rate of change of the width is the amount of change in the width dimension per unit dimension in the resin flow direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 3). That is, the first widening portion 23 of the first FB passage 21 and the third widening portion 43 of the supply passage 41 of the T-die body 40 are each formed in a shape such that the inclination θ of the inner wall on the cross-section shown in FIG. 3 is the same.

[0039] The discharge port 46 of the T-die body 40 is formed in a flat shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the downstream portion 44. By discharging the merged resin material through the discharge port 46, a multi-row sheet-shaped molded product in which the second resin material is arranged on both sides in the width direction of the first resin material is molded.

[0040] Here, in order to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the T-die 300 according to the comparative example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the comparative example, for the configurations similar to those in the above embodiment, the same reference numerals as those in the above embodiment are given and the description thereof is omitted. Note that FIG. 7(a) is a cross-section along the VA-VA line in FIG. 6, and FIG. 7(b) is a schematic diagram showing the flow of the resin material in the cross-section along the VB-VB line in FIG. 6.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 6, in the feed block 220 of the T-die 300, the first FB passage 221, the pair of second FB passages 225, and the confluence passage 230 are not formed in a shape extending in a predetermined one direction, but are formed as passages having a cross-sectional shape with substantially the same dimensions in two orthogonal directions, specifically, a circular cross-sectional shape. In such a comparative example, when the first resin material and the second resin material merge in the confluence passage 230, due to the difference in their viscosities, the first resin material and the second resin material may wrap around each other. For example, when the second resin material has a higher viscosity than the first resin material, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the first resin material enters the gap between the second resin material and the confluence passage 230. Conversely, when the first resin material has a higher viscosity than the second resin material, although not shown, the second resin material enters the gap between the first resin material and the confluence passage 230. When one of the first resin material and the second resin material enters between the other and the confluence passage 230 in this way and is widened in the T-die body 40 and formed into a sheet shape, as shown in FIG. 7(b), a wrap W occurs in which the first resin material and the second resin material overlap in the thickness direction.

[0042] The occurrence of such a wrap W causes the widths of the first resin material and the second resin material in the sheet molded product discharged from the discharge port 46 to deviate from the intended values, resulting in dimensional errors. As a result, the width of the first resin material used as a product becomes smaller, which may lead to a decrease in yield and the like. As described above, when one of the first resin material and the second resin material enters between the other and the confluence passage 230, the shapes of the first resin material and the second resin material in the sheet molded product may not be as intended.

[0043] In contrast, in the present embodiment, the first resin material and the second resin material merge in a state where they are each widened in the width direction (a flattened state) (see Fig. 5(a)). Since the first resin material and the second resin material are in a flat shape, the gaps between each of the first resin material and the second resin material and the confluence passage 30 become smaller than those in the comparative example. Therefore, even if the viscosities of the first resin material and the second resin material are different from each other, when the confluent resin material is deformed into a circular cross-section by the deformation portion 32, the entry of one of the first resin material and the second resin material into the gap between the other and the confluence passage 30 is suppressed (see Fig. 5(b)). Therefore, even if it is subsequently formed into a sheet shape in the T-die body 40 and discharged from the discharge port 46, the occurrence of the lap W between the first resin material and the second resin material can be suppressed, and the sheet molded product (the first resin material and the second resin material) can be accurately molded into the intended shape.

[0044] Also, in order to reduce the lap, it is also conceivable to merge the first resin material and the second resin material in a flat shape in the feed block and guide the confluent resin material from the feed block to the T-die body while keeping it in a flat shape. However, for example, the T-die body of a T-die used for single-layer or single-row sheet molding generally widens the resin guided from a supply port having a circular cross-section into a sheet shape and discharges it from the discharge port. When guiding the confluent resin material from the feed block to the T-die body while keeping it in a flat shape, the supply passage of the T-die body needs to open on the mounting surface with the feed block in a shape corresponding to the flat shape of the guided confluent resin material. On the other hand, the flat shape of the confluent resin material varies depending on the sheet molded product to be manufactured. Therefore, with such a method, a general T-die body of a T-die cannot be used, and it is necessary to make the T-die body into a dedicated shape according to the sheet molded product.

[0045] In contrast, in the present embodiment, the first resin material and the second resin material are joined together in a flat shape and deformed again into a flow with a circular cross-section by the deformation portion 32 of the joining passage 30, and the joined resin is led to the T-die body 40. Thereby, multi-row sheet forming can be performed using the T-die body 40 in a general T-die that widens the resin guided from a passage with a circular cross-section into a sheet shape and discharges it from the discharge port 46. That is, since it is not necessary to use a dedicated T-die body 40 in multi-row sheet forming, the cost can be reduced.

[0046] Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the present embodiment will be described.

[0047] The T-die 100 includes a feed block 20 that joins the first resin material and the second resin material and guides the joined resin material, and a T-die body 40 that guides the joined resin from a supply port 45 having a circular cross-section and discharges it in a sheet shape from a discharge port 46. The feed block 20 includes a first FB passage 21 that guides the first resin material, a second FB passage 25 that guides the second resin material, and a joining passage 30 in which the first resin material and the second resin material join so as to be adjacent to each other and guide the joined resin material to the T-die body 40. At least one of the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25 has a widened portion (first widened portion 23, second widened portion 27) that widens while maintaining the flow channel cross-sectional area in a first direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the joined resin material in the joining passage 30, and is connected to the joining passage 30 by the widened portion. The joining passage 30 has a deformation portion 32 that deforms the flow of the joined resin material extending in the first direction into a flow with a circular cross-section by reducing the dimension in the first direction as it goes downstream.

[0048] Further, in the feed block 20, the first FB passage 21 has a first widened portion 23 as a widened portion, and the second FB passage 25 has a second widened portion 27 as a widened portion.

[0049] According to such a configuration, the first resin material and the second resin material merge while extending in the first direction. According to this, compared with a comparative example in which they merge by a cross-section having a shape that does not extend in one direction (in other words, a cross-section having substantially the same dimensions in two orthogonal directions), such as a perfect circle, the upper and lower gaps between the first resin material, the second resin material, and the merging passage 30 become smaller, making it difficult for the resin material to enter. Therefore, the first resin material and the second resin material can be formed into the intended shape.

[0050] Further, according to the present embodiment, since the merged resin material is deformed into a circular cross-section by the deformed portion 32 of the merging passage 30 and guided to the T-die body 40, a T-die body 40 having a supply port 45 with a circular cross-section can be used. Therefore, a dedicated product is not required, and multi-row sheet molded products can be manufactured using a general-purpose T-die body 40.

[0051] The T-die body 40 has a supply passage 41 that guides the merged resin material introduced from the supply port 45 to the discharge port 46 while expanding the dimension in the first direction as it goes downstream. The rate of change of the dimension in the first direction by the first widening portion 23 of the first JB passage 11 in the feed block 20 is the same as the rate of change of the dimension in the first direction in the third widening portion 43 of the supply passage 41 of the T-die body 40.

[0052] In this configuration, when the synthetic resin material deformed from a flat shape to a circular shape by the deformed portion 32 is made into a flat shape again by the second widening portion 27, it can be deformed with high reproducibility into the flat shape before being deformed into a circular shape by the deformed portion 32. Therefore, in the T-die body 40, since the synthetic resin material can be deformed into a cross-sectional shape with less entry of the first resin material and the second resin material, the first resin material and the second resin material can be formed into the intended shape with higher accuracy.

[0053] Next, a modified example of the present embodiment will be described. In the following, the same components as those in the above embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the T die 100 includes the junction block 10, the feed block 20, and the T die body 40. In contrast, the feed block 20 may be integrally formed with the junction block 10. In other words, the junction block 10 may not be provided. Further, the feed block 20 may be composed of two or more block bodies.

[0055] Also, in the above embodiment, the first FB passage 21 has the first widened portion 23, and the pair of second FB passages 25 each have the second widened portion 27. According to this, regardless of the magnitude relationship between the viscosities of the first resin material and the second resin material, it is possible to form into an intended shape such as suppressing the lap W. In contrast, a widened portion (the first widened portion 23 or the second widened portion 27) may be provided in either one of the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25. Even in this case, since the gap between one of the first resin material and the second resin material and the confluence passage 30 becomes small, it becomes easy to form into an intended shape. Such a form is particularly effective, for example, in an easy case where the magnitude relationship between the viscosities of the first resin material and the second resin material is known in advance. That is, by providing a widened portion in at least one of the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25, the same operational effects as those of the above embodiment can be achieved.

[0056] Also, in the above embodiment, the confluence passage 30 has the connection portion 31 that guides the confluent resin material downstream while maintaining the flat cross-sectional shape. In contrast, the confluence passage 30 may not be provided with the connection portion 31. That is, the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25 may be directly connected to the deformed portion 32 of the confluence passage 30.

[0057] In the above embodiment, the first JB passage 11, the second JB passage 15, the first introduction part 22 of the first FB passage 21, the second introduction part 26 of the second FB passage 25, the derivation part 33 of the confluence passage 30, and the upstream part 42 of the supply passage 41 each have a perfect circular cross-section. Although these are generally preferably perfect circles, they are not limited to perfect circles and may be other circular shapes such as ellipses. Also, these passages are not limited to circular shapes. In particular, the cross-section of the derivation part 33 is not limited to a perfect circle and may be an ellipse or the like. That is, the deformation part 32 is not limited to a configuration that deforms the flow of the flat confluent resin guided to the connection part 31 into a perfect circular flow, and may be a configuration that deforms it into a flat flow with a width smaller than the flow by the connection part 31. Even in this case, the effects described in the above embodiment can be achieved. Also, in this specification, the term "circular" is not in a strict sense, and deviations are allowed within the range that does not deviate from the technical idea of the present invention.

[0058] Also, in the above embodiment, the case of forming multiple rows of sheet molded products was described as an example. In contrast, the feed block 20 of the present embodiment and the T-die 100 including the same may be used for a multilayer sheet molded product in which the first resin material and the second resin material are laminated in the thickness direction.

[0059] Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12, a modified example in the case of a multilayer sheet molded product will be described. Hereinafter, for the same configurations as those in the above embodiment, the same reference numerals will be given and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0060] In the above embodiment of forming multiple rows of sheet molded products, the first FB passage 21 has a first widening part 23, and the second FB passage 25 has a second widening part 27. The first widening part 23 and the second widening part 27 are each widened in the direction in which the first FB passage 21 and the second FB passage 25 are adjacent (the left-right direction in FIG. 3).

[0061] In contrast, in the T-die 200 according to a modified example of forming a multi-layer sheet molded product, the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127 are perpendicular to the resin flow direction and widen in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the first resin material and the second resin material are adjacent (in other words, the direction in which the first resin material and the second resin material are laminated as a sheet molded product). That is, the T-die 200 according to the modified example is different in that the direction in which the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127 widen is shifted by 90 degrees from that of the above-described embodiment. Stated more specifically, in the following modified example, the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127 widen in the second direction and the thickness in the first direction becomes thinner. Therefore, the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127 according to the modified example have the correspondence between the first direction and the second direction reversed from the first widening portion 23 and the second widening portion 27 of the above-described embodiment in which the first widening portion and the second widening portion widen in the first direction and the thickness in the second direction becomes thinner. Hereinafter, the configuration of the T-die 200 according to the modified example will be specifically described.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 8, in the T-die 200 according to the modified example, the configuration related to the junction block 10 (the first JB passage 11, the second JB passage 15) is configured in the same manner as in the above-described embodiment.

[0063] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the first FB passage 121 of the feed block 120 has a first introduction portion 22 and a first widening portion 123. The first widening portion 123 widens in a direction (second direction, the left-right direction in FIG. 9) perpendicular to the direction (first direction, the left-right direction in FIG. 8) in which the first FB passage 121 and the second FB passage 125 are adjacent. As shown in FIG. 8, as the width of the first widening portion 123 increases, the thickness (the dimension in the left-right direction in FIG. 8) perpendicular to the width becomes thinner so as to maintain the cross-sectional area.

[0064] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the second FB passage 125 includes a second introduction portion 26, a second widening portion 127, and a confluence connection portion 128 that guides the second resin material led from the second widening portion 127 to the confluence passage 130. Similar to the first FB passage 121, the second widening portion 127 of the second FB passage 125 widens in a direction (second direction) perpendicular to the adjacent direction between the first FB passage 121 and the second FB passage 125, as shown in FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 8, the thickness perpendicular to the width of the second widening portion 127 decreases as the width increases so as to maintain the cross-sectional area. The confluence connection portion 128 is connected to the confluence passage 130 while maintaining the width widened by the second widening portion 127. The two-dot chain line in FIG. 10 schematically shows the boundary between the confluence connection portion 128 and the connection portion 131 of the confluence passage 130.

[0065] The first widening portion 123 of the first FB passage 121 and the second widening portion 127 of the second FB passage 125 are widened to the same width and respectively merge into the confluence passage 130.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 9, the confluence passage 130 includes a connection portion 131, a deformation portion 132, and a lead-out portion 33. The connection portion 131 is formed to have the same width as the most downstream width of the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127. The cross-sectional shape of the deformation portion 132 changes from a flat shape extending in the widening direction corresponding to the connection portion 131 to a perfect circle corresponding to the lead-out portion 33 as it goes downstream, narrowing the width and increasing the thickness in the second direction. The lead-out portion 33 is the same as the configuration of the above embodiment.

[0067] The supply passage 141 of the T-die body 140 has an upstream portion 42, a downstream portion 144, and a third widening portion 143. The third widening portion 143 widens in a direction (second direction) perpendicular to the adjacent direction of the first FB passage 121 and the second FB passage 125, similar to the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127. The downstream portion 144 has a flat channel cross-sectional shape in the second direction corresponding to the third widening portion 143, and guides the guided merged resin to the discharge port 146. Also, similar to the above-described embodiment, the rate of change of the dimension in the second direction by the first widening portion 123 of the first FB passage 121 and the rate of change of the dimension in the second direction in the third widening portion 143 of the supply passage 141 of the T-die body 140 are the same as each other.

[0068] Here, even when forming a multi-layer sheet molded product, consider the case where the first resin material and the second resin material are guided by the first FB passage 221 and the second FB passage 225 (see FIG. 6) having a circular cross-section and merge while maintaining the circular cross-section. In such a comparative example, as shown in FIG. 12, the other resin material may inadvertently enter the gap between one of the first resin material and the second resin material and the confluence passage 230 having a circular cross-section. As a result, in the confluence passage 230, when viewed along the second direction, the size of the region R2 where the first resin material and the second resin material do not overlap in the first direction becomes relatively large. When widening in the direction (second direction) perpendicular to the adjacent direction (lamination direction) of the first resin material and the second resin material so as to form a multi-layer sheet molded product in this state, a portion R2' where the first resin material and the second resin material do not laminate (only the first resin material exists when viewed in the thickness direction) is formed at both ends of the sheet molded product (see FIG. 12(b)). Therefore, the width that can be used as a product becomes small, and there is a risk of causing a decrease in yield and the like.

[0069] In contrast, as shown in Fig. 11(a), according to the T-die 200, the first resin material and the second resin material merge in a state of being widened in the second direction at the connection portion 131 of the confluence passage 130. As a result, compared with the comparative example in which the confluence is formed by a circular cross-section, even if the flow path cross-section of the confluent resin becomes circular due to the outlet portion 33 of the confluence passage 130, the region R1 where the first resin material and the second resin material do not overlap becomes relatively small (see Fig. 11(b)). Therefore, even if it is widened again by the third widening portion 143 thereafter, it is possible to suppress the formation of regions where the first resin material and the second resin material do not overlap at both ends of the sheet molded product, and the sheet molded product (the first resin material and the second resin material) can be accurately molded into the intended shape.

[0070] According to the above-described modification, the same operational effects as those of the above embodiment can be achieved.

[0071] In the above embodiment for molding a multi-row sheet molded product, the first widening portion 23 and the second widening portion 27 are widened in the direction in which the first resin material and the second resin material are adjacent to each other, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, the first widening portion 23 and the second widening portion 27 may be widened in a direction perpendicular to the resin flow direction and perpendicular to the direction in which the first resin material and the second resin material are adjacent to each other. Similarly, in the case of a modification for molding a multi-layer sheet molded product, instead of the above content, the first widening portion 123 and the second widening portion 127 may be configured to be widened in the direction in which the first resin material and the second resin material are adjacent to each other. That is, the widening direction of the first widening portions 23, 123 and the second widening portions 27, 127 and the adjacent direction of the first resin material and the second resin material may be the same or different.

[0072] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the above embodiments merely show a part of the application examples of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0073] 100, 200 T-die 20, 120 Feed block 21,121 First FB path (first path, second path) 23,123 First amplification part (amplification part) 25,125 Second FB path (second path, first path) 27,127 Second amplification part (amplification part) 30,130 Confluence path 32,132 Deformation part 40,140 T-die body 41,141 Supply path 43,143 Third amplification part (secondary amplification part) 45 Supply port 46,146 Discharge port

Claims

1. A feed block for guiding a resin material to a T-die body that discharges the resin material in a sheet form from a discharge port, a first passage for guiding a first resin material, a second passage for guiding a second resin material, a confluence passage in which the first resin material and the second resin material merge so as to be adjacent to each other, and the merged confluent resin material is guided to the T-die body as the resin material, and at least one of the first passage and the second passage has a widened portion that is widened while maintaining a flow path cross-sectional area in a predetermined one direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the confluent resin material in the confluence passage, and is connected to the confluence passage by the widened portion, the confluence passage has a deformed portion that deforms the flow of the confluent resin material extending in the one direction so as to narrow the width in the one direction as it goes downstream, a feed block.

2. The feed block according to claim 1, wherein the first passage has a first widened portion that is the widened portion, and the second passage has a second widened portion that is the widened portion. a feed block.

3. a feed block that merges a first resin material and a second resin material and guides the merged confluent resin material, a T-die body that discharges the confluent resin material guided from a supply port in a sheet form from a discharge port, and the feed block includes a first passage for guiding the first resin material, a second passage for guiding the second resin material, a confluence passage in which the first resin material and the second resin material merge so as to be adjacent to each other, and the merged confluent resin material is guided to the T-die body, at least one of the first passage and the second passage has a widened portion that is widened while maintaining a flow path cross-sectional area in a predetermined one direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the confluent resin material in the confluence passage, and is connected to the confluence passage by the widened portion, the confluence passage has a deformed portion that deforms the flow of the confluent resin material extending in the one direction so as to narrow the width in the one direction as it goes downstream, a T-die.

4. The T-die according to claim 3, wherein the T-die body has a supply passage having a secondary widened portion that expands the dimension in the one direction of the confluent resin material guided from the supply port and guides it to the discharge port as it goes downstream. The change rate of the dimension in the one direction due to the widened portion of the first passage or the second passage in the feed block is the same as the change rate of the dimension in the one direction in the secondary widened portion of the T-die body. T-die.

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