Cutting Device Segments Offcuts to Reduce Material Waste
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional membrane electrode assembly manufacturing methods result in significant offcuts during cutting, leading to uneven tension, rolling misalignment, and increased material waste, particularly of expensive catalyst layers and electrolyte membranes, thereby increasing manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A sheet material cutting device with a lower die and upper die that move relative to each other, featuring specific edge configurations to shear and segment offcuts into smaller pieces, allowing for efficient collection and reducing material waste by segmenting the offcuts immediately after cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the sheet base material is cut by shearing process using upper die and lower die, then the sheet material can be punched out, but a large amount of offcut containing expensive catalyst layer and electrolyte membrane is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The lower die is divided into a first lower die and a second lower die, with the second lower die positioned below the first lower die. This segmentation allows the offcut to be further divided into smaller pieces after the initial cutting, facilitating easier collection and reducing material waste. The segmented structure of the lower die enables multi-stage cutting action that systematically processes the offcut material.
Solution Approach 2:
The second lower die is disposed in a direction intersecting the extension direction of the first lower die (vertically below it), creating a three-dimensional arrangement. This dimensional change allows the offcut to be cut from multiple directions, effectively segmenting it into smaller pieces and improving collection efficiency while minimizing material loss.
2Ease of operation
If the ladder-shaped offcut is collected by rolling it up, then the offcut can be gathered, but the offcut sags and becomes unevenly tensioned causing rolling misalignment and fracture
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the offcut into smaller pieces through the two-stage cutting process (first lower die and second lower die), the offcut loses its continuous ladder shape that causes sagging during rolling. The segmented pieces are small enough to be easily collected without rolling, eliminating the tension and alignment problems associated with rolling up large continuous offcuts.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the problematic continuous offcut structure by introducing a second cutting stage that removes and segments the offcut material. This extraction of the continuous structure eliminates the root cause of sagging and tension issues during collection.
3Reliability
If wide portions are left on both sides of the opening after punching out, then the offcut can withstand tension during conveyance, but increased portions remain as offcut causing material waste and increased manufacturing cost
Solution Approach 1:
The offcut is segmented into smaller pieces by the second lower die and second upper die, which allows the remaining portions to be adequately small while still maintaining structural integrity. This segmentation enables the offcut to retain sufficient width for tension resistance during conveyance without requiring excessive material to be left as offcut.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting device applies different cutting actions at different locations: the first lower die and first upper die perform the main punching operation, while the second lower die and second upper die perform localized segmentation of the offcut. This local quality approach ensures that sufficient material remains for structural integrity while minimizing overall offcut volume.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively reduces the generation of offcuts containing expensive materials, facilitating their collection and lowering the manufacturing cost of membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells by minimizing material waste and improving the efficiency of the cutting process.
Implementation Method 1
the sheet base material is shorn to punch out the sheet material between the first upper-die edge and the first lower-die edge
Implementation Method 2
The offcut is shorn and divided between the second upper-die edges and the second lower-die edges
Data Source
AI summary
A lower die has a first lower-die edge extending along the outline shape of a sheet material, and a plurality of second lower-die edges disposed vertically below the first lower-die edge and each extending in a direction traversing an offcut of a sheet base material that is left behind after the sheet material is punched out. An upper die has a first upper-die edge which extends along the first lower-die edge and between which and the first lower-die edge the sheet base material is shorn to punch out the sheet material, and a plurality of second upper-die edges which is provided so as to be protrusible to vertically below the second lower-die edges and between which and the second lower-die edges the offcut is shorn and divided.