Dockable Fiber Placement Head With Separated Creel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art automated fiber placement systems with dockable lay-up heads face issues due to integrated creel assemblies in the last motion axis or lay-up head, leading to increased costs, larger profiles, reduced productivity, and frequent material replenishment needs, limiting their ability to handle tightly contoured parts and increasing downtime for maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A fiber placement system with a dockable head that separates the creel from the last motion axis, utilizing a K-axis housing and a docking station for rapid and automatic head exchange, allowing for standard-sized creels and reduced weight, enabling efficient fiber placement and minimizing downtime for maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the creel assembly is integrated into the lay-up head or last motion axis, then the dockable mechanism can be exchanged, but the head size increases and limits the ability to lay-up on tightly contoured parts
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the fiber placement system into separate functional modules: the creel assembly is separated from the dockable lay-up head, with the CCR mechanism serving as an intermediate interface. This segmentation allows the head to remain compact while the creel provides material storage, resolving the contradiction between dockable exchange capability and head size.
2Quantity of substance
If the creel assembly is integrated into the lay-up head or last motion axis, then material supply is available, but the weight increases and requires larger motors and structures throughout the machine
Solution Approach 1:
The creel assembly is extracted from the dockable head and positioned separately on the machine structure. Only the lightweight CCR mechanism remains integrated with the head, while the heavy creel components are removed from the moving mass, eliminating the cascade effect of increased weight throughout the machine while maintaining material supply capability.
3Duration of action of moving object
If standard-sized creels are used, then material supply duration is extended, but the creel assembly size increases and cannot be integrated into the dockable head
Solution Approach 1:
The creel assembly is extracted from the dockable head configuration, allowing standard-sized creels to be used without compromising head compactness. The separation enables standard creels to provide extended material supply duration while the dockable head maintains its small profile for accessing tightly contoured parts.
Data Source
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AI summary
A fiber placement machine (10) has a fiber placement head (22) and a K-axis housing (24) that is supplied with fiber tow from a creel. The fiber placement head (22) is mounted on the front of the K-axis housing (24). The fiber placement head (22) has a compaction roller (27) and a cut, clamp, and restart mechanism (26) positioned adjacent to the compaction roller (27) that receives fiber tow from the K-axis housing (24). A separable coupling (44) connects the fiber placement head (22) to the K-axis housing (24), whereby the fiber placement head (22) may be disconnected from the K-axis housing (24) for docking purposes.