Strip-Shaped Member Bonding Wrinkle Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for bonding strip-shaped members often result in wrinkles due to excessive tension or slacking, particularly in the manufacturing of fuel cell components like electrolyte membranes, where precise tension control is crucial to prevent wrinkling and ensure bonding quality.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that convey and bond strip-shaped members with controlled tension by aligning the shorter direction of one member with the other and placing its ends between the ends of the second member, minimizing tension and preventing wrinkling, using a bonding apparatus with a roll holding unit to apply pressure and regulate adhesive force.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If excessively high tensions are applied to the members prior to bonding, then the members are stretched to suppress wrinkles, but one of the members is likely to be contracted and separated after bonding resulting in wrinkling
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameter of tension application by introducing a support member that provides mechanical support to the strip-shaped member during bonding. This support member prevents excessive tension from causing contraction and separation, while still allowing sufficient tension to suppress wrinkles during the bonding process.
2Reliability
If excessively low tensions are applied to the members prior to bonding, then the members may be slacked, but this results in wrinkling in the course of bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces a support member as an intermediary between the strip-shaped member and the bonding process. This support member acts as a mediator that maintains proper tension levels, preventing both excessive tension (which causes contraction) and insufficient tension (which causes slacking and wrinkles).
3Manufacturing precision
If the second member has a larger width than the first member, then proper alignment is achieved with ends of the first member placed between ends of the second member, but the bonding process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-positioning the support member before the bonding process begins. The support member is placed to provide mechanical support to the strip-shaped member, establishing proper alignment and tension conditions before bonding occurs, thereby simplifying the overall bonding process rather than complicating it.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a technique of reducing the possibility of the occurrence of wrinkles in the process of bonding strip-shaped members to each other. A long strip-shaped first member is conveyed in a longitudinal direction of the first member. A width of a long strip-shaped second member in the shorter direction of the second member is larger than a width of the first member in a shorter direction of the first member. The second member is placed such that respective ends in a shorter direction of the second member are freed. The second member is bonded to the first member being conveyed, such that the shorter direction of the first member is aligned with the shorter direction of the second member and that respective ends in the shorter direction of the first member are placed between the respective ends in the shorter direction of the second member. The second member bonded to the first member is then conveyed along with the conveyed first member.