| 摘要 |
A fiber placement system for manufacturing composite components includes at least one material storage enclosure including a material spool assembly, a swiveling roller assembly, and a redirect roller assembly, for each tow to be produced per course, at least one material feeding/cutting station configured with a nip roller drive system, and a cutting mechanism, at least one material transfer station configured with an individual, moveable guide tray for each tow to be produced per course, the moveable guide trays respectively being configured with a vacuum system, and at least one layup station comprising a vacuum table/layup surface, and a pick-and-place device equipped with an end-effector. |
| 主权项 |
1. A fiber placement system for producing a plurality of tows per course, comprising:
at least one material storage enclosure, wherein for each tow to be produced per course, the material storage enclosure includes a material spool assembly having a material wound thereon, a swiveling roller assembly, and a redirect roller assembly; at least one material feeding/cutting station including a nip roller drive system and a cutting mechanism; at least one material transfer station, wherein for each tow to be produced per course, the material transfer station includes a moveable guide tray equipped with a vacuum system; and at least one layup station including a vacuum table/layup surface, and a pick-and-place device equipped with an end-effector; wherein the nip roller drive system is configured to independently pull the material wound on each material spool assembly forward through its respective swiveling roller assembly and redirect roller assembly, so that the material wound on each material spool assembly is fed forward beyond the cutting mechanism into a respective moveable guide tray located in the material transfer station; the vacuum system of each respective moveable guide tray is configured to hold the material in position within the respective moveable guide tray, the cutting mechanism is configured to sever the material from its respective material spool assembly, thereby producing one of the plurality of tows, each moveable guide tray is configured to be moved horizontally, in a direction away from the cutting mechanism, to make the plurality of tows simultaneously accessible by the pick-and-place device, the pick-and-place device is configured to rotate the end-effector into alignment with the moveable guide trays, lower the end-effector into contact with the plurality of tows, and activate the end-effector, the vacuum system in of each moveable guide tray is configured to be deactivated and the pick-and-place device is configured to retract the end-effector, so as to lift the plurality of tows away from the moveable guide trays, the pick-and-place device is configured to position the end-effector above the vacuum table/layup surface, and to lower the end-effector so as to place the plurality of tows into contact with a previously laid ply on the vacuum table/layup surface; and the pick-and-place device is configured to retract the end-effector, leaving the plurality of tows in position atop the previously laid ply on the vacuum table/layup surface. |
