Composite Tape Placement with Oblique Butt-Cut Edges
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lamination machines for composite materials waste time and material due to the need to cut and realign tape at the beginning and end of each ply, and their cutting devices are unreliable, limiting productivity and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for fabricating composite items using an automated lamination device that applies composite tape at an oblique angle with butt-cut leading and trailing edges, converging with the ply boundary, and generates a crenulated pattern across transition zones, allowing for wider tape usage and simplified cutting mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the width of the tape is increased to increase lay-down rates and speeds, then productivity is improved, but the size and complexity of the tape cutting device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cutting function from the head assembly by using pre-cut tapes with trailing ends that are already prepared. The cutting operation is separated from the placement operation, allowing the head to focus solely on accurate positioning and placement of wide tapes without requiring complex integrated cutting mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapes are pre-cut to specific lengths with trailing ends prepared in advance before placement. This preliminary cutting action eliminates the need for complex real-time cutting mechanisms during the placement process, enabling the use of wider tapes while maintaining simplicity in the head assembly.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional lamination machines cut and realign tape at the beginning and end of each ply, then profile matching is achieved, but time and composite material are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous placement of tapes by eliminating the stop-and-cut cycle. Tapes are placed continuously across plies with their trailing ends naturally aligning with ply boundaries through the oblique angle placement method, removing interruptions and waste associated with conventional cutting and realignment operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of cutting tapes to match ply boundaries, the patent inverts the approach by placing tapes at an oblique angle so that their fixed-length trailing ends naturally converge with the ply boundaries. This eliminates the need for conventional cutting and realignment operations.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional lamination machines use cutting devices to match tape profiles, then ply alignment is achieved, but reliability decreases due to cutting device failures
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting function is extracted from the head assembly, eliminating the cutting device from the placement system. This removes the reliability issue associated with cutting devices while maintaining precise ply alignment through the oblique angle placement method with pre-cut tapes.
Data Source
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AI summary
To apply a course (42) on a layup mold (20), a ply boundary (40-n) that defines a ply area on the layup mold is determined and a tape of composite material (32) is applied on the ply area at an oblique angle relative to the ply boundary. In addition, a leading edge (46) of the tape is butt cut and the leading edge, and the ply boundary essentially converge. Furthermore, a trailing edge (48) is generated. The trailing edge is a butt cut and the trailing edge and the ply boundary essentially converge.