WO1998042495A1 - Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component - Google Patents

Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1998042495A1
WO1998042495A1 PCT/GB1998/000892 GB9800892W WO9842495A1 WO 1998042495 A1 WO1998042495 A1 WO 1998042495A1 GB 9800892 W GB9800892 W GB 9800892W WO 9842495 A1 WO9842495 A1 WO 9842495A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
screen
fibres
nozzle
fibre
path
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1998/000892
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Alan Roger Harper
Original Assignee
Alan Roger Harper
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Alan Roger Harper filed Critical Alan Roger Harper
Priority to EP98912628A priority Critical patent/EP1021291A1/en
Priority to AU67408/98A priority patent/AU6740898A/en
Publication of WO1998042495A1 publication Critical patent/WO1998042495A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29CSHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
    • B29C70/00Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts
    • B29C70/04Shaping composites, i.e. plastics material comprising reinforcements, fillers or preformed parts, e.g. inserts comprising reinforcements only, e.g. self-reinforcing plastics
    • B29C70/28Shaping operations therefor
    • B29C70/30Shaping by lay-up, i.e. applying fibres, tape or broadsheet on a mould, former or core; Shaping by spray-up, i.e. spraying of fibres on a mould, former or core
    • B29C70/305Spray-up of reinforcing fibres with or without matrix to form a non-coherent mat in or on a mould
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B29WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
    • B29KINDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASSES B29B, B29C OR B29D, RELATING TO MOULDING MATERIALS OR TO MATERIALS FOR MOULDS, REINFORCEMENTS, FILLERS OR PREFORMED PARTS, e.g. INSERTS
    • B29K2105/00Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped
    • B29K2105/06Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts
    • B29K2105/08Condition, form or state of moulded material or of the material to be shaped containing reinforcements, fillers or inserts of continuous length, e.g. cords, rovings, mats, fabrics, strands or yarns
    • B29K2105/10Cords, strands or rovings, e.g. oriented cords, strands or rovings

Definitions

  • PROCESS AND APPARATUS, FOR MANUFACTURE OF A COMPONENT
  • This invention relates to a process, and apparatus, for manufacture of a component.
  • it is concerned with the manufacture of a component of dry glass fibre preformed shape as used by the glass fibre reinforced ('grp') industry (sometimes referred to as the fibre reinforced ('frp') industry).
  • 'grp' glass fibre reinforced
  • 'frp' fibre reinforced
  • Hitherto glass fibre in the form of glass fibre mats have been prepared from sheet material drawn from a fibre glass mat roll and cut to a pattern shape to generally fit a forming mould.
  • the mould is then filled with resin so as to impregnate the glass fibre glass mat and subsequently to produce a reinforced plastic moulding.
  • a degree of excess fibre mat is placed over the moulded shaped edges. This results in fibre wastage since excess has to be trimmed following the mould step as a secondary moulding operation to achieve the final form of the moulded component. This excess is in addition to wasteful off cuts derived when cutting the pattern shapes from the glass fibre mat roll in the initial mat insertion into the mould.
  • Such mats are commonly known as preforms, preformed or preshaped (dry unimpregnated) ideally net size to the shape of the final moulded part.
  • Such an ideal net or near net size fibre preform would be best suited to grp /frp closed mould moulding processes such as: cold press moulding, resin transfer moulding, vacuum injection or infusion moulding and reaction injection moulding. However other processes could also benefit from such preforms.
  • pre-formable mats are from 2.5 to 3 times as expensive as rovings.
  • Glass fibre rovings as a product are factory supplied in reels referred to as 'bobbins' or 'cheeses'.
  • the fibre forms a continuous winding of multiple strands and each bobbin has a weight of about 30 kg.
  • glass rovings are acknowledged as being the cheapest form of raw stock glass fibre.
  • a moulding component such as a pre-form from a roving comprising the steps of:
  • a screen which is foraminous to enable air in the stream to pass through the screen while causing deposition of fibres on the screen.
  • the drawing step involves the use of motorised pinch rollers.
  • the separating step involves the use of an air comb or roller comb.
  • the step of displacing the nozzle relative to the screen is undertaken along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen.
  • the step of deposition of the polymerisable material occurs by way of a spray nozzle located above the screen.
  • the step of providing for the polymerisable material to polymerise involves the use of ultra violet light.
  • apparatus for fabricating a moulding component as a pre-form from a roving comprising:
  • roller unit providing for a fibre strand to be withdrawn from a bobbin supported by the carrier unit
  • fibre separating means such as an air comb or a roller comb for acting on fibre strand from the motorised roller unit so as to cause the strand to broken up by a predominantly shearing action up into constituent filaments or strands of the roving to a greater or lesser extent so as to form a stream of fibres in an outlet region of the separating means;
  • nozzle 5 a nozzle and means for urging a supply or air or gas through the nozzle such that fibres at the supply region are entrained in a supply of the gas and can be dispensed from the nozzle along a path towards a working area;
  • the screen is foraminous with holes of a size enabling air flowing along the path from the nozzle to pass through the screen with a resulting deposition of fibres from the path originally entrained in the path onto the screen.
  • the means for displacing the nozzle relative to the screen provides for the nozzle to be displaced along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen and /or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen and to the rectilinear co-ordinate axis.
  • the binder dispensing means incorporates a spry nozzle positioned above the screen.
  • the means for causing the polymerisable material to polymerise includes a source of ultra violet light.
  • a moulding component fabricated by a process according to the first aspect or any preferred version thereof.
  • a moulding component fabricated by apparatus process according to the second aspect or any preferred version thereof.
  • the invention provides for a continuous glass rovings to be reeled off a bobbin and fired as a continuous fibre onto a shaped screen to set into position along with a small percentage of resin binder to produce the desired preform.
  • the invention eliminates the need to chop or cut the roving because the fibres are dispensed as a continuous thread.
  • One consequence is that there is no requirement for a motorised cutting or chopping device in the system.
  • the process comprises dispensing multi-filament and stranded glass fibre 11 from a bobbin 12, causing it to be separated into filaments and strands and then to direct the separated strands onto a preform screen 13.
  • Bobbin 12 is mounted on a horizontal axis 12B by means of bearings allowing free rotation of the bobbin 12.
  • Strand 11 is drawn off the bobbin 12 by way of a set 14 of motorised pinch rollers with elastomeric surfaces.
  • strand 11 is passed through a separation stage to cause the roving filaments and strands to become separated from one another by a predominantly shearing action in which the neighbouring fibres in the strand are subjected to a scuffing or relative rubbing action. Control of the effect of shearing action on the fibre is desirable as the material used to form the preform component later in the process.
  • the fibre produced can be varied from a fine filament to a heavy strand texture. Fibre separation in this case is achieved in either of two ways. The first involves by running the strand through an air comb fibre separator 15. The second involves the use of a second set 16 of pinch rollers having angled axis of rotation providing for the fibres in the strand to be scuffed apart.
  • Form the separation stage (whether comb separator 15 or pinch rollers 16 the fibre is caused to flow along a light and flexible duct 18 lined with a low friction material to an air powered nozzle 19.
  • the nozzle 19 is operated to have a sub atmospheric pressure at inlet 19A and a pressurised air flow at its outlet 19B.
  • Fibre 20 is entrained into, and is swept through, the nozzle 19 to generally follow a flow path P for entrained fibre particles.
  • the nozzle outlet 19B is directed towards the upper side U of shaped screen 13 which is foraminous.
  • the holes in the screen 13 are of a size such that air arriving on the screen 13 along flowpath P tends to through the holes to the lower side L of the screen while preventing the passage of fibres which as a consequence are left on the upper side U of the screen 13.
  • the preform screen 13 is laid out substantially normal to the path P.
  • the fibre deposition on the screen 13 from flow path P is randomised due to the random turbulent flow issuing from the nozzle outlet 19B and entering the flowpath P.
  • the area of the screen 13 covered by the fibre deposition is dependent on two major factors: the distance of the screen 13 below the nozzle 19; and the velocity of the nozzle air flow. This is on the assumption that the supply of fibre to the nozzle 19 is not limited by the primary dispensing or fibre separation stages upstream of the nozzle 19.
  • the nozzle 19 and the screen 13 are positioned so that only a small area of the screen is covered if the nozzle 19 and/or the screen 13 remain stationary then by moving either the nozzle or the screen or both while the nozzle dispenses fibre the required area of the screen may be covered progressively.
  • the speed at which the nozzle traverse the screen in the shown x-axis and y-axis directions for a constant delivery of fibre from the nozzle 19 the density of the randomly dispensed fibres can be controlled.
  • Motion of the nozzle 19 in the z-axis can be used to govern the area of instant deposition by the nozzle. It also serves to provide for control of deposition in relation to the fibre size entrained in the air flow from the nozzle 19.
  • nozzle 19 Various modes of movement of nozzle 19 may be used. As the nozzle 19 has of slight mass it can be readily moved at high speed while dispensing and can be readily manipulated. Apart from, or as an alternative to linear translation the nozzle 19 can be provided with means for angular displacement to vary the angle at which the path P strikes the screen 13.
  • the screen 13 being fabricated from perforated metal sheet can also be readily orientated to allow the stream of dispensed fibre from the nozzle 19 to land normally to the surface area being contacted.
  • the nozzle outlet 19B and screen 13 can be controlled by means providing for optimised operation so that regardless of the required shape of the manufactured component to be formed on the screen 13 the nozzle outlet 19B are aligned in a manner to produce optimised product.
  • a draught of air S is made to flow beneath the screen 13.
  • This draught S is readily achieved by a fan 21 with ducting for encouraging air flow only through the preform shape.
  • Short vertical fences 22 located on the upper side of the screen and extends round the edge of the preform. Apart from limiting the ability of the deposited fibre to extend outside the required preform boundary the fences 22 can be set at an angle to produce a funnel effect for the air entrained fibre and also to provide for a fibre rich boundary edge for the preform.
  • the pre-formable fibre mat is seeded with a thermoplastic binder which when heated will allow the fibre mat to be pressed into a shape and allowed to cool. This serves to set the preform fibre mat into the required shape.
  • the second fibre is directed at a screen similar to that described earlier.
  • the fibre is in chopped form and is mixed with a water soluble thermoset binder, on e the preform has been deposited on the screen it needs to be dried and then cured with heat to hold the preform in its desired shape. This approach requires significant energy consumption.
  • thermoset binder is used but it is not mixed with water. Instead a binder is used having sensitivity to ultra violet light.
  • the binder is misted onto the screen 13 by means of a nozzle 23 at the same time as the fibre is deposited.
  • the material deposited on the screen is then subjected to ultra violet light from lamp 24.
  • the binder polymerises under the action of the UV light to set the deposited fibre in the preform shape within a few seconds.
  • a preform is usually required to have a degree of 'lift' that is to say to provide resilience when pressed and a thickness fractionally greater than the mould cavity in which the preset is to be used.
  • thickness control is to a great extend regulated by the quantity of fibre deposited per unit area. This is determined by the rate of fibre flow through the nozzle and the traverse speed in the X and Y axial directions.
  • a fibre preform needs to have a unit area weight of 1 kg/square metre and to fit a 3 mm mould cavity. If the preform manufactured by the described process results in a correct unit area weight and a thickness of 4 mm it would probably be considered acceptable. However a thickness of 6 mm would not be satisfactory as it would be considered as having too high a 'loft'.
  • a transparent/ translucent film can be placed over the screen once the deposition of the fibre and binder have been completed. By adjusting flow beneath the screen the film can be drawn down onto the deposited material so as to consolidate it against the screen to the required depth.
  • the use of a transparent/translucent film allows ultra violet illumination to act on the material so as to cure the binder.
  • the loft control film may be automatically positioned over each screen and automatically removed after the curing stage. The film can be located on a light frame for each screen preform deposition.

Abstract

A method of fabricating a moulding component such as a fiber pre-form from a roving (11) comprises the steps of drawing the roving (11) from a supply station, separating constituent filaments or strands of the roving (11) to form a stream of fibres, spraying the fibres and a polymerisable binder from respective nozzles (19) onto a screen (13) and providing for the polymerisable binder to polymerise following the dispensing onto the screen (13). A process for manufacturing a moulding component according to said process is also described.

Description

PROCESS, AND APPARATUS, FOR MANUFACTURE OF A COMPONENT
This invention relates to a process, and apparatus, for manufacture of a component. In particular it is concerned with the manufacture of a component of dry glass fibre preformed shape as used by the glass fibre reinforced ('grp') industry (sometimes referred to as the fibre reinforced ('frp') industry).
Hitherto glass fibre in the form of glass fibre mats have been prepared from sheet material drawn from a fibre glass mat roll and cut to a pattern shape to generally fit a forming mould. The mould is then filled with resin so as to impregnate the glass fibre glass mat and subsequently to produce a reinforced plastic moulding. To ensure fibre covers the whole moulding surface a degree of excess fibre mat is placed over the moulded shaped edges. This results in fibre wastage since excess has to be trimmed following the mould step as a secondary moulding operation to achieve the final form of the moulded component. This excess is in addition to wasteful off cuts derived when cutting the pattern shapes from the glass fibre mat roll in the initial mat insertion into the mould.
In the last 40 years there have been many attempts to find a more economic method of producing dry fibre mats exactly to moulding size without generating waste fibre. Such mats are commonly known as preforms, preformed or preshaped (dry unimpregnated) ideally net size to the shape of the final moulded part. Such an ideal net or near net size fibre preform would be best suited to grp /frp closed mould moulding processes such as: cold press moulding, resin transfer moulding, vacuum injection or infusion moulding and reaction injection moulding. However other processes could also benefit from such preforms.
Preform manufacture has tended to followed one or other of two approaches.
The first has been towards preforming glass fibre mats. The second towards manufacturing preforms from continuous glass fibre rovings. This latter approach although dating back to the mid fifties has had little impact. although dating back to the mid fifties has had little impact. Most work has been in connection with the first approach but it is believed that current processes making use of mat are wasteful with wastage from off-cuts ranging from between 15 to 30%. Such waste cannot usually be re-cycled. In addition commercially available pre-formable mats are from 2.5 to 3 times as expensive as rovings.
Glass fibre rovings as a product are factory supplied in reels referred to as 'bobbins' or 'cheeses'. The fibre forms a continuous winding of multiple strands and each bobbin has a weight of about 30 kg. In this form glass rovings are acknowledged as being the cheapest form of raw stock glass fibre.
Previous developments involving continuous roving to generate the pre-form have focus on pre-cutting or chopping the fibres into short lengths just prior to dispensing them onto a shaped preform screen. This allows the fibres to randomly fall upon the forming screen and, assuming the rate of delivery is reasonably constant with even dispensing, an acceptable isotropic fibre preform is produced.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of fabricating a moulding component such as a pre-form from a roving comprising the steps of:
1 drawing the roving from a wound bobbin thereof;
2 separating predominantly by shearing constituent filaments or strands of the roving to a greater or lesser extent from one another to form a stream of fibres;
3 causing the stream of fibres to be passed along a duct to an nozzle where the fibres are entrained in a supply of gas, such as air,
4 dispensing entrained fibres from the nozzle for deposition on a screen serving to define a boundary region of the required moulding component;
5 displacing the nozzle relative to the screen to provide for fibres to be dispensed over an extend region of the screen;
6 depositing on at least some fibres in the stream a polymerisable material prior to, or simultaneously with, the deposition of the stream on the screen; and
7 providing for the polymerisable material to polymerise following the dispensing onto the screen. According to a first preferred version of the present invention for the dispensing step there is provided a screen which is foraminous to enable air in the stream to pass through the screen while causing deposition of fibres on the screen.
According to a second preferred version of the first aspect of the present invention or the first preferred version thereof the drawing step involves the use of motorised pinch rollers.
According to a third preferred version of the first aspect of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the separating step involves the use of an air comb or roller comb.
According to a fourth preferred version of the first aspect of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the step of displacing the nozzle relative to the screen is undertaken along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen.
According to a fifth preferred version of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the step of deposition of the polymerisable material occurs by way of a spray nozzle located above the screen.
According to a sixth preferred version of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the step of providing for the polymerisable material to polymerise involves the use of ultra violet light.
According to a second preferred version of the present invention there is provided apparatus for fabricating a moulding component as a pre-form from a roving comprising:
1 carrier unit for supporting a bobbin of glass fibre roving;
2 a roller unit providing for a fibre strand to be withdrawn from a bobbin supported by the carrier unit;
3 fibre separating means such as an air comb or a roller comb for acting on fibre strand from the motorised roller unit so as to cause the strand to broken up by a predominantly shearing action up into constituent filaments or strands of the roving to a greater or lesser extent so as to form a stream of fibres in an outlet region of the separating means;
4 a duct whereby the stream of fibres in the outlet region of the separating means is caused to pass from the outlet region to a supply region;
5 a nozzle and means for urging a supply or air or gas through the nozzle such that fibres at the supply region are entrained in a supply of the gas and can be dispensed from the nozzle along a path towards a working area;
6 a screen located in the working area and, at least in that region of the screen which intersects the path, substantially at right angles to the path;
7 means for displacing the nozzle relative to the screen to provide for fibres to be dispensed over an extended region of the screen;
8 binder dispensing means for depositing on at least some fibres in the path a polymerisable material prior to, or simultaneously with, a deposition of the fibres from the path on the screen; and
9 means for causing polymerisable material on the fibres to polymerise following the dispensing of the fibres onto the screen.
According to a first preferred version of the second aspect of the present invention the screen is foraminous with holes of a size enabling air flowing along the path from the nozzle to pass through the screen with a resulting deposition of fibres from the path originally entrained in the path onto the screen.
According to a second preferred version of the present invention or the first preferred version thereof the means for displacing the nozzle relative to the screen provides for the nozzle to be displaced along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen and /or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen and to the rectilinear co-ordinate axis.
According to a third preferred version of the second aspect of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the binder dispensing means incorporates a spry nozzle positioned above the screen.
According to a fourth preferred version of the second aspect of the present invention or any preceding preferred version thereof the means for causing the polymerisable material to polymerise includes a source of ultra violet light. According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a moulding component fabricated by a process according to the first aspect or any preferred version thereof.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a moulding component fabricated by apparatus process according to the second aspect or any preferred version thereof.
The invention provides for a continuous glass rovings to be reeled off a bobbin and fired as a continuous fibre onto a shaped screen to set into position along with a small percentage of resin binder to produce the desired preform. The invention eliminates the need to chop or cut the roving because the fibres are dispensed as a continuous thread. One consequence is that there is no requirement for a motorised cutting or chopping device in the system. Furthermore as the fibre is randomly dispensed on to the forming screen in a continuous from the final preform dry consolidated shape produces higher fibre strength in the final moulded part.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing of a process for producing a pre-formed component.
Broadly the process comprises dispensing multi-filament and stranded glass fibre 11 from a bobbin 12, causing it to be separated into filaments and strands and then to direct the separated strands onto a preform screen 13.
The process will now be described in more detail.
PRIMARY DISPENSING
Bobbin 12 is mounted on a horizontal axis 12B by means of bearings allowing free rotation of the bobbin 12. Strand 11 is drawn off the bobbin 12 by way of a set 14 of motorised pinch rollers with elastomeric surfaces.
FIBRE SEPARATION
From pinch roller set 14 strand 11 is passed through a separation stage to cause the roving filaments and strands to become separated from one another by a predominantly shearing action in which the neighbouring fibres in the strand are subjected to a scuffing or relative rubbing action. Control of the effect of shearing action on the fibre is desirable as the material used to form the preform component later in the process. The fibre produced can be varied from a fine filament to a heavy strand texture. Fibre separation in this case is achieved in either of two ways. The first involves by running the strand through an air comb fibre separator 15. The second involves the use of a second set 16 of pinch rollers having angled axis of rotation providing for the fibres in the strand to be scuffed apart.
NOZZLE DISPENSING
Form the separation stage (whether comb separator 15 or pinch rollers 16 the fibre is caused to flow along a light and flexible duct 18 lined with a low friction material to an air powered nozzle 19. The nozzle 19 is operated to have a sub atmospheric pressure at inlet 19A and a pressurised air flow at its outlet 19B. Fibre 20 is entrained into, and is swept through, the nozzle 19 to generally follow a flow path P for entrained fibre particles. The nozzle outlet 19B is directed towards the upper side U of shaped screen 13 which is foraminous. The holes in the screen 13 are of a size such that air arriving on the screen 13 along flowpath P tends to through the holes to the lower side L of the screen while preventing the passage of fibres which as a consequence are left on the upper side U of the screen 13. The preform screen 13 is laid out substantially normal to the path P. The fibre deposition on the screen 13 from flow path P is randomised due to the random turbulent flow issuing from the nozzle outlet 19B and entering the flowpath P. The area of the screen 13 covered by the fibre deposition is dependent on two major factors: the distance of the screen 13 below the nozzle 19; and the velocity of the nozzle air flow. This is on the assumption that the supply of fibre to the nozzle 19 is not limited by the primary dispensing or fibre separation stages upstream of the nozzle 19.
PREFORM GENERATION
Assuming the nozzle 19 and the screen 13 are positioned so that only a small area of the screen is covered if the nozzle 19 and/or the screen 13 remain stationary then by moving either the nozzle or the screen or both while the nozzle dispenses fibre the required area of the screen may be covered progressively. By controlling the speed at which the nozzle traverse the screen in the shown x-axis and y-axis directions for a constant delivery of fibre from the nozzle 19 the density of the randomly dispensed fibres can be controlled. Motion of the nozzle 19 in the z-axis can be used to govern the area of instant deposition by the nozzle. It also serves to provide for control of deposition in relation to the fibre size entrained in the air flow from the nozzle 19.
Various modes of movement of nozzle 19 may be used. As the nozzle 19 has of slight mass it can be readily moved at high speed while dispensing and can be readily manipulated. Apart from, or as an alternative to linear translation the nozzle 19 can be provided with means for angular displacement to vary the angle at which the path P strikes the screen 13.
The screen 13 being fabricated from perforated metal sheet can also be readily orientated to allow the stream of dispensed fibre from the nozzle 19 to land normally to the surface area being contacted. In an alternative embodiment the nozzle outlet 19B and screen 13 can be controlled by means providing for optimised operation so that regardless of the required shape of the manufactured component to be formed on the screen 13 the nozzle outlet 19B are aligned in a manner to produce optimised product.
SCREEN AIR FLOW
To aid the deposition of fibre strands onto the screen 13 and to reduce the risk of fibre being deposited outside the screen boundary a draught of air S is made to flow beneath the screen 13. This draught S is readily achieved by a fan 21 with ducting for encouraging air flow only through the preform shape. Short vertical fences 22 located on the upper side of the screen and extends round the edge of the preform. Apart from limiting the ability of the deposited fibre to extend outside the required preform boundary the fences 22 can be set at an angle to produce a funnel effect for the air entrained fibre and also to provide for a fibre rich boundary edge for the preform.
In existing preform manufacturing systems there are two main methods used to provide a binder for the mat material.
In the first the pre-formable fibre mat is seeded with a thermoplastic binder which when heated will allow the fibre mat to be pressed into a shape and allowed to cool. This serves to set the preform fibre mat into the required shape. In the second fibre is directed at a screen similar to that described earlier. The fibre is in chopped form and is mixed with a water soluble thermoset binder, on e the preform has been deposited on the screen it needs to be dried and then cured with heat to hold the preform in its desired shape. This approach requires significant energy consumption.
In the present invention a different approach is adopted. A thermoset binder is used but it is not mixed with water. Instead a binder is used having sensitivity to ultra violet light. The binder is misted onto the screen 13 by means of a nozzle 23 at the same time as the fibre is deposited. The material deposited on the screen is then subjected to ultra violet light from lamp 24. The binder polymerises under the action of the UV light to set the deposited fibre in the preform shape within a few seconds.
A preform is usually required to have a degree of 'lift' that is to say to provide resilience when pressed and a thickness fractionally greater than the mould cavity in which the preset is to be used. In the case of the present invention thickness control is to a great extend regulated by the quantity of fibre deposited per unit area. This is determined by the rate of fibre flow through the nozzle and the traverse speed in the X and Y axial directions.
By way of example if a fibre preform needs to have a unit area weight of 1 kg/square metre and to fit a 3 mm mould cavity. If the preform manufactured by the described process results in a correct unit area weight and a thickness of 4 mm it would probably be considered acceptable. However a thickness of 6 mm would not be satisfactory as it would be considered as having too high a 'loft'.
In order to control the height of the 'loft' of a deposited random fibre a transparent/ translucent film can be placed over the screen once the deposition of the fibre and binder have been completed. By adjusting flow beneath the screen the film can be drawn down onto the deposited material so as to consolidate it against the screen to the required depth. The use of a transparent/translucent film allows ultra violet illumination to act on the material so as to cure the binder. The loft control film may be automatically positioned over each screen and automatically removed after the curing stage. The film can be located on a light frame for each screen preform deposition.

Claims

A method of fabricating a moulding component such as a pre-form from a roving comprises the steps of:
1 drawing the roving from a wound bobbin thereof;
2 separating predominantly by shearing constituent filaments or strands of the roving to a greater or lesser extent from one another to form a stream of fibres;
3 causing the stream of fibres to be passed along a duct to an nozzle where the fibres are entrained in a supply of gas, such as air,
4 dispensing entrained fibres from the nozzle for deposition on a screen serving to define a boundary region of the required moulding component;
5 displacing the nozzle relative to the screen to provide for fibres to be dispensed over an extend region of the screen;
6 depositing on at least some fibres in the stream a polymerisable material prior to, or simultaneously with, the deposition of the stream on the screen; and
7 providing for the polymerisable material to polymerise following the dispensing onto the screen.
A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the screen is foraminous to enable air in the stream to pass through the screen while causing deposition of fibres on the screen.
A process as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the drawing step involves the use of motorised pinch rollers.
A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the separating step involves the use of an air comb or roller comb.
A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the step of displacing the nozzle relative to the screen is undertaken along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen.
A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the step of deposition of the polymerisable material occurs by way of a spray nozzle located above the screen.
A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the step of providing for the polymerisable material to polymerise involves the use of ultra violet light.
A process as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Apparatus for fabricating a moulding component as a pre-form from a roving comprises:
1 carrier unit for supporting a bobbin of glass fibre roving;
2 a roller unit providing for a fibre strand to be withdrawn from a bobbin supported by the carrier unit;
3 fibre separating means such as an air comb or a roller comb for acting on fibre strand from the motorised roller unit so as to cause the strand to broken up by a predominantly shearing action up into constituent filaments or strands of the roving to a greater or lesser extent so as to form a stream of fibres in an outlet region of the separating means;
4 a duct whereby the stream of fibres in the outlet region of the separating means is caused to pass from the outlet region to a supply region;
5 a nozzle and means for urging a supply or air or gas through the nozzle such that fibres at the supply region are entrained in a supply of the gas and can be dispensed from the nozzle along a path towards a working area;
6 a screen located in the working area and, at least in that region of the screen which intersects the path, substantially at right angles to the path;
7 means for displacing the nozzle relative to the screen to provide for fibres to be dispensed over an extended region of the screen; 8 binder dispensing means for depositing on at least some fibres in the path a polymerisable material prior to, or simultaneously with, a deposition of the fibres from the path on the screen; and
9 means for causing polymerisable material on the fibres to polymerise following the dispensing of the fibres onto the screen.
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the screen is foraminous with holes of a size enabling air flowing along the path from the nozzle to pass through the screen with a resulting deposition of fibres from the path originally entrained in the path onto the screen.
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10 wherein the means for displacing the nozzle relative to the screen provides for the nozzle to be displaced along rectilinear co-ordinates axis substantially parallel to the screen and /or along a further co-ordinate axis substantially perpendicular to the screen and to the rectilinear co-ordinate axis.
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the binder dispensing means incorporates a spry nozzle positioned above the screen.
Apparatus as claimed in any of preceding claims 9 to 12 wherein means for causing the polymerisable material to polymerise includes a source of ultra violet light.
Apparatus as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A moulding component fabricated by a process as claimed in any of preceding claims 1 to 8.
A moulding component fabricated by apparatus process as claimed in any of preceding claims 9 to 14.
PCT/GB1998/000892 1997-03-24 1998-03-24 Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component WO1998042495A1 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP98912628A EP1021291A1 (en) 1997-03-24 1998-03-24 Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component
AU67408/98A AU6740898A (en) 1997-03-24 1998-03-24 Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9705523.0 1997-03-24
GB9705523A GB2323552B (en) 1997-03-24 1997-03-24 Method and apparatus for manufacture of a preform

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1998042495A1 true WO1998042495A1 (en) 1998-10-01

Family

ID=10809391

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/GB1998/000892 WO1998042495A1 (en) 1997-03-24 1998-03-24 Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1021291A1 (en)
AU (1) AU6740898A (en)
GB (1) GB2323552B (en)
WO (1) WO1998042495A1 (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6383320B1 (en) 1999-12-03 2002-05-07 Lear Corporation Method of forming a headliner
WO2011021133A1 (en) 2009-08-21 2011-02-24 Gilbert Chomarat Textile core having continuous glass fibers

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB791976A (en) * 1956-01-06 1958-03-19 Owens Corning Fiberglass Corp An improved method of forming glass strands into bodies of predetermined shape
US3616002A (en) * 1969-11-12 1971-10-26 Bjorksten Research Lab Inc Method of making nonwoven articles from continuous filaments
US3734803A (en) * 1971-09-28 1973-05-22 Allied Chem Apparatus for splaying and depositing nonwoven filamentary structures
US3840941A (en) * 1971-07-30 1974-10-15 Inst Textile De France Method and apparatus for making a lap of fibres
GB2022004A (en) * 1978-05-15 1979-12-12 Geonautics Inc Ballistic helmet
US4600423A (en) * 1985-05-01 1986-07-15 Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation Method and apparatus for producing a continuous glass filament mat
US4679291A (en) * 1986-02-26 1987-07-14 Shell Oil Company Robotic stapling system for fiber placement for composite parts
US5169571A (en) * 1991-04-16 1992-12-08 The C.A. Lawton Company Mat forming process and apparatus

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5041260A (en) * 1989-10-30 1991-08-20 Ford Motor Company Resin transfer molding method
US5093059A (en) * 1991-01-18 1992-03-03 Shell Oil Company Method for the transport of a homogeneous mixture of chopped fibers
US5374141A (en) * 1991-09-11 1994-12-20 Board Of Control Of Michigan Technological University Mat forming apparatus
WO1993020994A1 (en) * 1992-04-08 1993-10-28 Davidson Textron Inc. Method of forming a preform using a powder binder

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB791976A (en) * 1956-01-06 1958-03-19 Owens Corning Fiberglass Corp An improved method of forming glass strands into bodies of predetermined shape
US3616002A (en) * 1969-11-12 1971-10-26 Bjorksten Research Lab Inc Method of making nonwoven articles from continuous filaments
US3840941A (en) * 1971-07-30 1974-10-15 Inst Textile De France Method and apparatus for making a lap of fibres
US3734803A (en) * 1971-09-28 1973-05-22 Allied Chem Apparatus for splaying and depositing nonwoven filamentary structures
GB2022004A (en) * 1978-05-15 1979-12-12 Geonautics Inc Ballistic helmet
US4600423A (en) * 1985-05-01 1986-07-15 Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation Method and apparatus for producing a continuous glass filament mat
US4679291A (en) * 1986-02-26 1987-07-14 Shell Oil Company Robotic stapling system for fiber placement for composite parts
US5169571A (en) * 1991-04-16 1992-12-08 The C.A. Lawton Company Mat forming process and apparatus

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6383320B1 (en) 1999-12-03 2002-05-07 Lear Corporation Method of forming a headliner
US6736915B2 (en) 1999-12-03 2004-05-18 Lear Corporation Method of forming a headliner
WO2011021133A1 (en) 2009-08-21 2011-02-24 Gilbert Chomarat Textile core having continuous glass fibers

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9705523D0 (en) 1997-05-07
AU6740898A (en) 1998-10-20
GB2323552B (en) 2001-12-12
EP1021291A1 (en) 2000-07-26
GB2323552A (en) 1998-09-30

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US2731066A (en) Reinforced fibrous products, method and apparatus for making same
JP2520903B2 (en) Fiber-reinforced composite material product and manufacturing method thereof
JP5722732B2 (en) Method for producing isotropic random mat for forming thermoplastic composite material
KR102091993B1 (en) Method for producing fibre preforms
KR101444631B1 (en) Random mat and fiber reinforced composite material
US2732885A (en) Method and apparatus for producing
CN1009014B (en) Make the method for formed article
EA017245B1 (en) System for forming reinforcement layers having cross-directionally oriented fibers and a process for making same
EP1223238A2 (en) Melt-blowing head and method for making polymeric material fibrils
CA2015170A1 (en) Fiber reinforced plastic sheet and producing the same
JPH08118490A (en) Crosshead die, and manufacture of long fiber-reinforced resin structure
US5413750A (en) Method of fabricating a preform
EP0907475B1 (en) Method for dispensing resinated reinforcement fibers
US5819614A (en) Method for dispensing reinforcement fibers
JP2002506754A (en) Method for distributing cut reinforcing strands using vortex nozzles
WO1998042495A1 (en) Process and apparatus for manufacture of a component
EP2125340B1 (en) Method of producing a moulded product
US20150258762A1 (en) Method of Producing Isotropic Random Mat for Forming Thermoplastic Composite Material
US3246064A (en) Method of manufacturing a felted fibrous mat
CN104768724A (en) Depositing device for the controlled deposition of reinforcing fibre bundles
US3028282A (en) Method for smoothing and evening out the surfaces of pre-moulded parts consisting ofinorganic or organic fibers and resulting product
CA2272966C (en) Twin chopper device for spray-up molding
JPH02251651A (en) Fibrous sheet-like material for frp and preparation thereof
JPH04232702A (en) Fiber-contained material overlaid with new fiber
KR20230024992A (en) Continuous non-woven fabric manufacturing method and related non-woven fabric manufacturing apparatus and non-woven fabric board

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AU BR BY CA CN CZ HU IL JP KR MX NO NZ PL RU SG TR US YU

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE

DFPE Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101)
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 1998912628

Country of ref document: EP

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: JP

Ref document number: 1998545240

Format of ref document f/p: F

WWP Wipo information: published in national office

Ref document number: 1998912628

Country of ref document: EP

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: CA

WWW Wipo information: withdrawn in national office

Ref document number: 1998912628

Country of ref document: EP