Fiber-Reinforced Tape Sectioning With Variable-Length Defect Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
The quality of fiber reinforced composite tape rolls can vary significantly, leading to defects such as contamination, seams, breaks, and inconsistent dimensions, resulting in direct and indirect material losses during the cutting process, especially in expensive UD tape, where up to 20% of products may be rejected due to defects.
Innovation Solution
A tape sectioning system that includes a quality inspection system along the web feed path to assess tape quality and a sectioner that varies the length of tape sections based on defects, allowing for separate discharge paths for sections of different qualities, optimizing material use and reducing waste by cutting sections of minimal length and equal length for viable and non-viable tape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If fixed-length tape sections are cut from the web, then the processing is simple and fast, but material loss increases due to defects in defective sections
Solution Approach 1:
The quality inspection system performs preliminary assessment of the tape web before the sectioning process. Defects are detected and recorded in advance, allowing the sectioner to plan cut positions that minimize inclusion of defective areas, thereby reducing material loss before the actual cutting occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The sectioning system transitions from fixed-length cutting to dynamic variable-length cutting. The sectioner adjusts the length of each tape section based on real-time quality feedback from the inspection system, cutting shorter sections around defects and longer sections in high-quality areas, thus optimizing material utilization.
2Loss of substance
If variable length tape sections are cut based on quality, then material loss is reduced, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The quality inspection system operates continuously along the web feed path, scanning the entire tape web without interruption. This continuous monitoring allows real-time quality assessment and immediate feedback to the sectioner, enabling seamless variable-length cutting without stopping the production line, thus minimizing processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The inspection system provides continuous feedback on tape quality to the sectioning system. This feedback loop enables the sectioner to dynamically adjust cut positions and lengths in real-time based on detected defects, optimizing material usage while maintaining efficient processing speeds through automated control.
3Reliability
If all tape sections are inspected for quality, then product reliability is improved, but the inspection time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The quality inspection system performs preliminary screening of the entire tape web before sectioning. By detecting and flagging defects in advance, the system ensures that all sections are assessed for quality, providing comprehensive reliability assurance while enabling efficient downstream processing through pre-sorted quality information.
Data Source
AI summary
A tape sectioning system, comprising a tape web feed path for feeding a web of fiber reinforced tape, a quality inspection system arranged along the web feed path that inspects the quality of the web of tape, and a sectioner that sections off longitudinal tape sections from the web of tape, wherein the sectioner is arranged to vary the length of the tape sections that are sectioned off from the web of tape based on the outcome of the quality inspection.