MECHANICAL SYSTEM FOR THE AUTOMATED PLACEMENT OF COMPOSITE MATERIAL STRIPS WITH ANGULAR CUTTING CAPABILITY.

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mechanical system for the automated placement of composite material strips onto a mold mounted on the end effector of a robotic arm. This system is characterized by its ability to cut the strips at angular positions ranging from 0 to 360 degrees. The mechanical system places at least one composite material strip with selectable widths from a filament up to 30 mm. Furthermore, because the strip is pre-impregnated, a mechanism is required to easily separate the protective material from the strip before the compaction process. The modular design of the linear guide channels allows for greater ease of maintenance of the channels as needed.The present invention consists of a set of modular subsystems that together with the robotic system and in a synchronized manner follow a logical sequence of operation to achieve the objective of placing strips of composite material and it is also important to mention that in comparison with existing commercial heads, the invention described has been designed considering the reduction of dimensions and weight as a requirement.

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