PROCESS ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A FIBRE-REINFORCED PLASTIC COMPONENT

Abstract

A process arrangement for producing a fiber-reinforced plastic component comprises a stacking station in which pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products can be stacked, and an assembly station in which the semi-finished products can be further processed to form the layered packet. The forming of the fiber-reinforced plastic component is subsequently carried out in the press. According to the invention, the stacking station is assigned at least one transport and/or storage container in which the semi-finished products can be stored air-tight, light-proof, and/or moisture-tight shielding and can be transported to the assembly station.

Claims

1. A process arrangement for producing a fiber-reinforced plastic component, comprising: a stacking station in which pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products can be stacked, and an assembly station in which the semi-finished products can be further processed to form a layered packet, wherein the stacking station is associated with at least one transport and/or storage container in which the semi-finished products can be stored while being shielded in a manner that is air-tight, light-proof and/or moisture-proof and can be transported to the assembly station.

2. The process arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the transport and/or storage container is configured in two parts, with a lower housing section on which the semi-finished products are stacked, and with an upper housing section that is detachably held on the lower housing section.

3. The process arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the lower housing section is a housing bottom that is open along a circumference thereof and is configured rim-free without an upright side wall that could otherwise constitute an interfering contour, and wherein the upper housing part is a housing hood having a top cover wall as well as encircling side walls.

4. The process arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the transport and/or storage container has an inert gas connection by means of which an interior of the container can be conditioned with dry air and/or an inert gas.

5. The process arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the assembly station has a processing space that is shielded vis-à-vis the processing environment and that is conditioned with dry air, and wherein the assembly station has at least one docking site where the semi-finished products can be transferred to the outside and into the assembly station while being shielded.

6. The process arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the processing space of the assembly station is delimited by a housing in which the at least one closable access opening is configured, and wherein the semi-finished products can be transferred from the transport and/or storage container into the processing space of the assembly station via the access opening.

7. The process arrangement according to claim 6, wherein a closable removal opening is configured in the housing of the transport and/or storage container, and wherein, during the transfer procedure, the removal opening of the transport and/or storage container and the access opening of the assembly station are coupled to each other in a manner that is air-tight, light-proof and/or moisture-proof.

8. The process arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the transport and/or storage container is in contact with an edge area of the access opening of the assembly station with a sealing element between them, and wherein the sealing element surrounds the access and removal openings like a frame.

9. The process arrangement according to claim 7, wherein the docking site of the assembly station has a frame on which the transport and/or storage container can be positioned in a position in which the removal opening of the container and the access opening of the assembly station are coordinated with each other.

10. The process arrangement according to claim 6, characterized in that wherein the removal opening of the container and/or the access opening of the housing have a passage slit which is widened especially in the crosswise direction, and through which the semi-finished products can be passed, and at least one access slit adjoining it, which has an upright elongated configuration and through which access is made possible to a topmost semi-finished product in the semi-finished product stack of the container.

11. The process arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the removal opening of the container and/or the access opening of the housing have an approximately T-shaped configuration, and/or wherein a lower edge of the access slit is at approximately a same height as the container bottom, as a result of which the height to which the semi-finished products have been stacked in the container can easily be seen.

12. The process arrangement according to claim 10, wherein, inside the container, there is a lifting unit by which the semi-finished products that are stacked on top of each other can be conveyed further, so that the topmost semi-finished product is arranged at the height of the passage slit.

13. The process arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the removal opening is configured in a side wall of the housing hood of the transport and/or storage container.

14. The process arrangement according to claim 1, wherein, in terms of the process sequence, the stacking station is downstream from a production station in which the textile semi-finished products that have been pre-impregnated with the thermoplastic matrix material can be produced and cut to size.

15. A method for producing a fiber-reinforced plastic component in a process arrangement, in which pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products are stacked and transported to an assembly station for purposes of further processing, wherein the semi-finished products are transported and/or the transferred to the assembly station while being shielded in a manner that is air-tight, light-proof and/or moisture-proof.

Description

[0020] The following is shown:

[0021] FIG. 1 a block diagram to illustrate process steps for producing the fiber-reinforced plastic component;

[0022] FIG. 2 a depiction of the principle of an assembly station with a processing space in a top view;

[0023] FIGS. 3 and 4 a docking station of the assembly station with as well as without a storage and/or transport container; and

[0024] FIG. 5 a view from inside the assembly station of an access opening configured in the housing.

[0025] On the basis of FIG. 1, a method for producing a fiber-reinforced plastic component is shown to the extent that this is necessary to understand the invention. Accordingly, for example, first of all, two fiber layers 1 are placed onto a continuous conveyor belt 5 in a continuous process in a production station I, while a first film 3 made, for instance, of polyamide or another suitable material, is placed between these layers. The textile layered structure 7 thus formed is impregnated with a starting component 8 of a thermoplastic matrix material such as lactam, and this is done under exposure to heat 10 at a temperature below the starting temperature for the polymerization of the starting component of the thermoplastic material.

[0026] Subsequently, during the further processing sequence, a second film 9 is applied and the textile layered structure 7 is cooled off in a cooling unit 11 and prepared in a subsequent cutting unit 13 to form individual pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products 15.

[0027] The pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products 15 are stacked on top of each other in a subsequent stacking station II. For this purpose, the stacking station II has a transport and/or storage container 17 that is configured in two-parts in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIG. 1, the transport and/or storage container 17 is shown in the open position, namely, with a housing bottom 19 that is open along the circumference, that is to say, rim-free without an upright side wall, and with an upper housing hood 21 having a top cover wall as well as encircling side walls 23. In the side wall 23 shown in FIG. 1, there is a removal opening 27 which is closed off by a side cover 25 and whose function will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, the container 17 has been placed on a height-adjustable scissor lift table 29. The underside of the container bottom 19 (that is to say, the baseplate of the container) has forklift pockets 31 in order to facilitate the transport of the container.

[0028] In terms of the process sequence, the stacking station II is followed by an assembly station III in which the pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products 15 (below also referred to as prepregs) are cut to size and stacked on top of each other as a layered packet 16 (FIG. 2) in order to prepare for a subsequent deep-drawing and/or compression procedure. During the deep-drawing and/or compression procedure, the layered packet 16 is heated to a temperature above the polymerization starting temperature, which is done with the simultaneous compression and/or deep-drawing of the layered packet 16 into the shape of the fiber-reinforced plastic component that is to be produced.

[0029] The transport and/or storage process between the stacking station II and the assembly station III is described in greater detail below: after the container 17 is loaded with the fiber semi-finished products 15, its housing bottom 19 is raised by means of a scissor lift table and docked onto the housing hood 21. As a result, the fiber semi-finished products 15 stored in the container are shielded vis-à-vis the outside in a manner that is air-proof, light-proof and moisture-proof.

[0030] In FIG. 1, the container 17 has an inert gas connection 33 by means of which the interior of the container can be conditioned with dry air and/or an inert gas such as, for example, nitrogen or argon. Moreover, the container 17 has, for example, another connection 38 for a safety valve. In a container 17 that has been conditioned in this manner, the prepregs 15 can be stored for an extended period of time without this impairing their further processing, and they can subsequently be transported to the assembly station III, whose structure is shown roughly in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the assembly station III has a housing 34 delimiting a processing space 35 that is conditioned with dry air and that is shielded vis-à-vis the outside against detrimental environmental influences. In FIG. 2, the assembly station III has a total of, for example, three docking sites 37 on the outside of its housing 37. A container 17 loaded with pre-impregnated textile semi-finished products 15 is positioned at each of the docking sites 37. The semi-finished products 15 contained in each container 17 each have different fiber orientations and/or a different fiber structure and/or different fiber material, as is indicated in the sectional top view of FIG. 2 by the cross-hatching, the horizontal hatching, and the diagonal hatching of the semi-finished products 15.

[0031] In this context, the removal opening 27 of each of the containers 17 is placed congruently with a corresponding access opening 39 that is formed in the housing 34 of the assembly station III. In FIG. 2, the three containers 17 are in contact with the housing 34, with a sealing flange 41 (FIGS. 2 to 4) between them. The sealing flange 41 surrounds the access and removal openings 27, 39 in an air-tight manner. The side cover 25 that closes off the removal opening 27 of each container 17 is constructed in such a way that it can be opened from the processing space 35 by an operator (or as an alternative, automatically) after the docking process of the container 17 has been completed. FIG. 5 shows a view from inside the assembly station III, namely, in the viewing direction of the operator towards the opened access and removal openings 27, 39. In this manner, the operator, who is in the processing space 35, has direct access to the fiber semi-finished products 15 contained in the docked containers 17. The fiber semi-finished products 15 can thus be removed in such a way that they are protected against external environmental influences and they can be automatically or manually cut to size on a cutting table 43 in the processing space 35.

[0032] Subsequently, the fiber semi-finished products 15 that have been cut to size are stacked on top of each other on a work table 45, either loosely or optionally with a binder between them, in order to form a layered packet 16. The layered packet 16 is subsequently pushed (transported) out of the assembly station III through a flap that can be opened towards the outside via a drawer that is mounted on a rail system, and it can then be placed into a mold in which a deep-drawing or compression procedure is carried out in order to produce the plastic component.

[0033] One of the docking sites 37 of the assembly station III is shown in a roughly simplified depiction in FIGS. 3 and 4. Accordingly, the docking site 37 has a frame 47 with a rail system on which the container 17 is movably positioned. The container 17 positioned here can be pushed in the direction of the housing 34 until it comes to rest flush against the sealing flange 41 and is held in place by means of quick-release clamps 40 (FIG. 4). Subsequently, the side cover 25 of the container 17 can be opened from the inside of the assembly station III.

[0034] As can also be seen in FIGS. 3 to 5, the removal opening 27 of the container as well as the access opening 39 of the housing 34 have a special, approximately T-shaped opening cross section. The latter is formed by a passage slit 51 which is widened in the crosswise direction and through which the semi-finished products 15 can be transferred, and it is followed by an access slit 53 which is configured to be upright and elongated, and through which access to the topmost semi-finished product 15 in the semi-finished product stack of the container 17 is made possible. In FIG. 5, the lower edge 55 of the access slit 53 is at approximately the same height as the container bottom 19, as a result of which the height to which the semi-finished products 15 have been stacked in the container 17 can easily be seen.