Automatic Prepreg Lay-Up With Widthwise Pressing Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In automatic lay-up devices, cutting prepreg sheets at an angle to the longitudinal direction can result in the front end of the prepreg sheet being pressed outside the lay-up range, causing issues with thermosetting resin adherence and leading to wrinkles or air bubbles, compromising the quality of the fiber reinforced composite material.
Innovation Solution
A driving mechanism is introduced to move the pressing device in a direction parallel to the width of the prepreg sheet, controlled to maintain alignment with the cutting angle, ensuring the rear end of the prepreg piece is pressed against the layer surface while avoiding pressing the front end, thus preventing poor quality issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the cutting device cuts the prepreg sheet at a cutting angle that forms an angle with the longitudinal direction and the width direction, then the cutting end of the prepreg piece does not protrude from the lay-up range, but the front end of the prepreg sheet is pressed outside the lay-up range causing wrinkles or air bubbles
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing device is made movable in the width direction of the prepreg sheet, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position during the pressing operation. This enables the pressing device to follow the cutting angle and press only the intended rear end of the prepreg piece without pressing the front end that would otherwise be pressed outside the lay-up range, thereby preventing wrinkles and air bubbles while maintaining cutting end alignment
Solution Approach 2:
The pressing operation is segmented into controlled portions by making the pressing device movable in the width direction. This allows the pressing device to selectively press only the rear end of the prepreg piece within the lay-up range while avoiding the front end, effectively separating the pressing zones to prevent harmful effects
2Ease of manufacture
If the pressing device presses the prepreg sheet at the same position across the width direction, then the pressing operation is simple, but the rear end of the prepreg piece is not properly pressed when cut at an angle
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing device is equipped with a driving mechanism that enables it to move in the width direction of the prepreg sheet. This dynamic capability allows the pressing device to automatically adjust its position to follow the cutting angle, ensuring that the rear end of the prepreg piece is properly pressed while maintaining a relatively simple pressing operation through automated control
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Provided is an automatic lay-up device capable of preventing poor quality of a fiber reinforced composite material to be produced by pressing a portion on a rear end side of a prepreg piece PS', which is cut out from the prepreg sheet PS, against a layer surface without pressing a portion on a front end side, regarding a long sheet-shaped thermosetting prepreg (prepreg sheet PS) cut at a cutting angle forming an angle with respect to a longitudinal direction and a width direction. In an automatic lay-up device that lays up a long sheet-shaped thermosetting prepreg on a layer surface by moving, in a lay-up direction, a lay-up head (20) including a raw-cloth roller (21) around which the thermosetting prepreg is wound, a cutting device (27) that cuts the thermosetting prepreg at a cutting angle, and a pressing device (30) that presses the thermosetting prepreg against the layer surface, the automatic lay-up device includes a driving mechanism (31, 32) for moving the pressing device (30) in a direction parallel to the width direction; and a drive controller (72) that controls driving of the driving mechanism (31, 32) to start moving the pressing device (30) when a cutting end of the thermosetting prepreg reaches a position of the pressing device (30).