Fibre Coating Roller and Belt Press for Solvent-Free Resin Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing prepreg fibre tapes, such as solvent dip and hot melt processes, face issues like residual solvent in the final product, high energy consumption, and fibre weakening during slitting, making them unsuitable for high-end applications like aerospace.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that uses a belt press with a matrix application roller and a second gap to control the application of a viscous liquid matrix to a fibre tow, reducing process steps, energy use, and fibre damage, while ensuring consistent resin distribution and volume fraction without intermediate paper backing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a solvent dip process is used to apply resin to fibres, then the resin can be evenly distributed, but residual solvent remains in the final product causing high void content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state parameter of the resin from dissolved (liquid solution) to viscous liquid (melt), eliminating the solvent component entirely. This parameter change allows the resin to be applied uniformly without introducing harmful residual solvents that cause void content in the final composite product.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent eliminates the need for expensive solvent recovery and disposal systems by using a solvent-free viscous liquid resin. The resin is applied directly in a controlled manner and then cured, avoiding the entire solvent handling, evaporation, and disposal infrastructure required in traditional dip processes.
2Ease of manufacture
If a hot melt process with intermediate paper backing is used, then the resin can be applied and stored, but multiple process steps and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the intermediate paper backing step from the traditional hot melt process. By applying the viscous liquid resin directly to the fibres without paper support, the process removes unnecessary handling, storage, and removal steps, thereby reducing energy consumption while maintaining manufacturing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous application of resin directly to fibres in a single uninterrupted process. The viscous liquid resin is applied, immediately impregnates the fibres, and proceeds directly to curing without interruption for paper backing application, storage, or removal, maintaining continuous useful action throughout the process.
3Productivity
If wide sheets are used for efficient processing, then productivity increases, but slitting into narrow tapes cuts fibres and weakens the product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by width - multiple narrow fibre tows are processed simultaneously in parallel across the width of the belt press. Each tow receives individual resin application and compression, maintaining fibre integrity while achieving high productivity through parallel processing of multiple segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from processing one wide sheet that must be slit (two-dimensional approach) to processing multiple narrow tows in parallel (adding the dimension of parallelism). This dimensional change allows simultaneous processing of multiple units without the harmful slitting operation, preserving fibre strength while maintaining productivity.
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
This approach reduces costs, minimizes energy consumption, and enhances the quality of the prepreg fibre by eliminating residual solvents and fibre weakening, making it suitable for high-end applications with improved mechanical properties and reduced wastage.
Implementation Method 1
a matrix application roller arranged to receive liquid matrix and transfer it to the fibre tow
Implementation Method 2
transfer it to the fibre tow... ensuring consistent resin distribution and volume fraction
Implementation Method 3
a belt press arranged to receive the fibre tow and compress it between two moving belts
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
An apparatus (1) for applying a liquid matrix to a fibre (20) comprises a belt press (4) arranged to receive and compress the fibre between two moving belts, a matrix application roller arranged to receive and transfer liquid matrix to the fibre, a second matrix application component arranged adjacent to the matrix application roller forming a first gap (6) between the component and the matrix application roller; wherein the matrix application roller is positioned adjacent to the belt press forming a second gap (7) between the matrix application roller and a belt of the belt press; and wherein the second gap is larger than the first gap. Positioning the matrix application roller adjacent to the belt press and controlling the relative size of the gaps controls the amount of liquid matrix material that is applied to the fibre and prevents excess matrix material from being transferred to the belt press.