Control system for tooling

摘要

A tooling system for moulding a work piece is provided The tooling system comprises a mould tool (4) having a tool surface divided into a plurality of individual temperature controlled tool zones (6), and a control system for controlling the temperature of the plurality of individual zones of a tool surface, the control system comprising, a memory means (14) for storing desired curing parameters for the work piece, a plurality of sensors (12) associated with the individual tool zones (6) that sense and output a signal indicative of a property of the work piece or the tool surface in each tool zone (6), a main processor (16) and a controller (18) The main processor (16) is programmed to monitor said output signals so as to monitor said property of the work piece or tool surface and to read the desired curing parameters from the memory means (14) The controller (′8) is programmed to receive said signals and to receive information relating to said desired curing parameters of each tool zone (6) and, based on the information received, to calculate and output a control solution to control a supply of heat to each individual tool zones (6) so as to heat or cool them The main processor (14) is programmed to compare the signals of the monitored property to the desired curing parameters, to identify trends in said monitored property and, if said trends indicate that the monitored property of a tool zone (6) will move out of a tolerance band of the desired curing parameters, to modify or distort the desired curing parameters read from the memory means (14) and to request a further control solution to obtain said modified or distorted curing parameters so as to maintain the monitored property within said desired tolerance band of the desired curing parameters.

主权项

1. A method of moulding a work piece to a functional specification, the method comprising:
providing a mould tool comprising:
a mould surface divided into a plurality of individual temperature-controlled tool zones;a fluid conduit configured to selectively provide a flow of compressed fluid to each tool zone:a valve configured to control the flow of compressed fluid through each fluid conduit; anda heater associated with each tool zone, each heather being configured to heat the compressed fluid provided to the associated tool zone; storing desired curing parameters for the work piece on a memory; placing mould material in the mould tool; sensing at least one property of the work piece or tool surface at each tool zone; monitoring signals from the sensors to monitor the sensed properties: comparing the sensed properties to the desired curing parameters; based on the compared sensed properties, calculating a control solution to control a supply of thermal energy to and from each individual tool zone to meet the desired curing parameters; controlling the thermal energy to and from each tool zone in accordance with the control solution by selectively controlling the valve and the heater.