阅读说明：本技术 复合制造 (Composite fabrication ) 是由 C·圣托尼 于 2018-10-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种复合制品制造设施包括：多个形成工位(1),各形成工位能够用层状增强材料的原料形成块；多个铺放工位(3),各铺放工位能够将一叠所形成的块以重叠方式布置；移送机构(2),其被配置为同时将所形成的部分从所述形成工位中的多个形成工位朝向所述铺放工位中的多个铺放工位输送；存储器(93),其存储将被铺放在所述铺放工位中的第一铺放工位处的块的第一序列和将被铺放在所述铺放工位中的第二铺放工位处的块的第二序列；以及控制器(90),其联接到所述形成工位、所述铺放工位和所述移送机构,用于控制它们的操作,所述控制器能访问所述存储器并且被配置为当所述第一序列中的所形成的块和所述第二序列中的所形成的块被装载到所述移送机构上时,致使所述移送机构同时将它们分别朝向所述第一铺放工位和所述第二铺放工位输送。(A composite article manufacturing facility comprising: a plurality of forming stations (1), each forming station being capable of forming a block from a stock of a laminar reinforcing material; a plurality of laying stations (3), each station being able to arrange a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner; a transfer mechanism (2) configured to simultaneously convey the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations towards a plurality of the depositing stations; a storage (93) storing a first sequence of blocks to be laid at a first one of the laying stations and a second sequence of blocks to be laid at a second one of the laying stations; and a controller (90) coupled to the forming station, the depositing station and the transfer mechanism for controlling operation thereof, the controller having access to the memory and being configured to cause the transfer mechanism to simultaneously transport the formed pieces of the first sequence and the formed pieces of the second sequence towards the first depositing station and the second depositing station, respectively, when loaded onto the transfer mechanism.)

1. A composite article manufacturing facility, comprising:

a plurality of forming stations, each forming station capable of forming a block from a stock of layered reinforcing material;

a plurality of laying stations, each laying station capable of arranging a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner;

a transfer mechanism configured to simultaneously convey the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations;

a storage storing a first sequence of pieces to be laid at a first of the laying-down stations and a second sequence of pieces to be laid at a second of the laying-down stations; and

a controller coupled to the forming station, the placement station, and the transfer mechanism for controlling operation thereof, the controller having access to the memory and being configured to cause the transfer mechanism to simultaneously transport the formed pieces of the first sequence and the formed pieces of the second sequence toward the first placement station and the second placement station, respectively, when loaded onto the transfer mechanism.

2. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 1, wherein the forming stations are arranged in a first row, the placement stations are arranged in a second row side-by-side with the first row, and the transfer mechanism is disposed between the first row and the second row.

3. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 2, wherein the transfer mechanism is elongated along a direction of extension of the first row and the second row.

4. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer mechanism is operable in two directions to move a block from either end of the first row towards a respective opposite end of the second row.

5. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer mechanism is a conveyor belt.

6. A composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the forming station to form blocks and to cause the transfer mechanism to convey those blocks so as to cause the blocks to be available from the first and second layup stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

7. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to change the direction in which the pieces are conveyed by the transfer mechanism so as to cause the pieces to be available from the first and second layup stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

8. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the forming station to place the formed pieces on the transfer mechanism in a non-overlapping manner.

9. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first sequence.

10. The composite article manufacturing facility of any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first and second sequences.

11. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, comprising one or more stations configured for injecting resin into a stack of the blocks.

12. A composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the forming stations is capable of cutting the blocks from a stock of layered reinforcement material.

13. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer mechanism comprises a first manipulator positioned so as to be able to pick up the formed pieces at the forming station and a second manipulator positioned so as to be able to lay down the formed pieces at the laying station, the second manipulator being positioned so that it can hold the formed pieces being held by the first manipulator.

14. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause one or both of the first and second manipulators to turn the formed pieces so as to cause the formed pieces to be laid down in an orientation about a horizontal axis that is opposite to the orientation in which the pieces are formed.

15. The composite article manufacturing facility of claim 14, wherein the block formed is a first block or a last block in a stack of blocks.

16. A method for manufacturing a composite article, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a plurality of blocks from a stock of layered reinforcement material at each of a plurality of forming stations;

simultaneously conveying the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations; and

the stacks of formed blocks are laid in an overlapping manner at a plurality of laying stations.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the delivering step is performed by a single material handling device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the material handling device is a linear conveyor.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the manufacture of products from composite materials.

Background

More and more relatively large parts are being manufactured from composite products. Some examples are the cargo box of a car, the wings of an airplane, the blades of a wind turbine and the mast of a yacht.

One class of composite materials involves a matrix in which fibers are embedded. These fibers may take the form of mats, long single fiber lengths or bundles or short pieces of fibers. For components that will have good strength to weight ratios, a common construction method is to lay up multiple overlapping fibrous mats. The mat is then secured by disposing the mat in a matrix material. The shape and orientation of the pads are selected so that they will impart the desired strength characteristics to the resulting component. In areas of the component where stress concentrations are expected, the thickness of the material may be greater than at locations where the stress is lower. The fibers in the mat may be oriented in the direction of the anticipated tensile stress. In addition to the mats being formed to provide strength at specific areas of the component, it may also be necessary to cut the mats to allow them to fold around the contours of the component. For example, it may be necessary to cut cuts or pleats in the mat to avoid the mat wrinkling where it is folded around the inner corners, or to allow it to crack around the outer corners. Because of these considerations, in complex parts made according to this configuration, there may be hundreds of differently shaped pads that are laid down at different locations in a single part.

To automate this process, each fiber mat must be cut to shape. Traditionally, these fiber mats are cut from rolls. Many different types of rolls may be used in a single component, and these rolls may vary in weight, fiber orientation, how the fibers are held together, and the like. Once the fibrous mats are cut, they are stacked in preparation for placement. For complex parts, this can require a significant amount of storage space in a factory where a number of different parts are being made; and it takes time to collect the required parts when the parts are to be manufactured.

There is a need for improved ways of manufacturing composite parts.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an aspect, there is provided a composite article manufacturing facility comprising: a plurality of forming stations, each forming station capable of forming a block from a stock of layered reinforcing material; a plurality of laying stations, each laying station capable of arranging a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner; a transfer mechanism configured to simultaneously convey the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations; a storage storing a first sequence of pieces to be laid at a first of the laying-down stations and a second sequence of pieces to be laid at a second of the laying-down stations; and a controller coupled to the forming station, the depositing station and the transfer mechanism for controlling operation thereof, the controller having access to the memory and being configured to cause the transfer mechanism to simultaneously transport the formed pieces of the first sequence and the formed pieces of the second sequence towards the first depositing station and the second depositing station, respectively, when loaded onto the transfer mechanism.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for manufacturing a composite article, the method comprising the steps of: forming a plurality of pieces from a stock of a layered reinforcement material at each of a plurality of forming stations; simultaneously conveying the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations; and laying the stacks of formed blocks in an overlapping manner at a plurality of laying stations.

The step of conveying may be performed by a single material handling device.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a method of operating a composite article manufacturing facility, the operating a composite article manufacturing facility comprising: a plurality of forming stations, each forming station capable of forming a block from a stock of layered reinforcing material; a plurality of laying stations, each laying station capable of arranging a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner; a transfer mechanism configured to simultaneously convey the formed portions from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations; the method comprises the following steps: when the formed pieces of the first and second sequences are loaded onto the transfer mechanism, the transfer mechanism is caused to simultaneously convey them towards the first and second depositing stations, respectively. The method may comprise: storing a first sequence of pieces to be laid at a first of the laying-down stations and a second sequence of pieces to be laid at a second of the laying-down stations.

The forming stations may be arranged in a first row. The placement stations may be arranged in a second row alongside the first row. The transfer mechanism may be disposed between the first row and the second row.

The transfer mechanism may be elongated along a direction of extension of the first and second rows. The transfer mechanism may be a linear conveyor.

The transfer mechanism may be operable in two directions to move a block from either end of the first row towards a respective opposite end of the second end.

The transfer mechanism may be a conveyor belt.

The controller may be configured to cause the forming stations to form blocks and to cause the transfer mechanism to convey those blocks so as to cause the blocks to be available from the first and second deposit stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

The controller may be configured to change the direction in which the pieces are conveyed by the transfer mechanism so as to cause the pieces to be available from the first and second layup stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

The controller may be configured to cause the forming station to place the formed pieces on the transfer mechanism in a non-overlapping manner.

The controller may be configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first sequence.

The controller may be configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first and second sequences.

The facility may include one or more stations configured to inject resin into a stack of the blocks.

At least one of the forming stations may be capable of cutting the block from a stock of layered reinforcement material.

The transfer mechanism may comprise a first manipulator positioned so as to be able to pick up a formed slug at the forming station and a second manipulator positioned so as to be able to lay down the formed slug at the laying station, the second manipulator being positioned such that it can hold the formed slug being held by the first manipulator.

The controller may be configured to cause one or both of the first and second manipulators to turn the formed pieces so as to cause the formed pieces to be laid in an orientation about a horizontal axis opposite to the orientation in which the pieces were formed.

The block formed may be the first or last block in a stack of blocks. The pieces may be the uppermost piece or the lowermost piece in this stack.

Drawings

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a portion of a manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 2 illustrates a manufacturing station.

Detailed Description

FIG. 1 illustrates an example layout of a manufacturing device. The apparatus is configured to cut pieces from a generally laminar stock material (e.g., from a roll of flexible woven reinforcing fiber sheets) and lay the pieces in an overlapping manner to collectively form a stiffener for the composite part. The apparatus is arranged so that multiple pieces can be cut and laid simultaneously. There are a plurality of cutting stations 1 that can use no raw material and a plurality of laying stations 3 that can lay down different parts or sub-components. Between the cutting station and the laying station is a transfer mechanism 2. In such an example, the transfer mechanism is a conveyor belt. The cutting stations are arranged in a row. The laying stations are arranged in a row. A transfer mechanism extends between the rows to dispense the cut pieces of reinforcement to the placement station. This can lead to an efficient process, especially when many different types and material sequences of parts or sub-parts are to be made. The rows may be straight or curved.

The apparatus in fig. 1 is intended for the manufacture of composite parts. In summary, these parts are made by the following steps.

1. The rolls of reinforcing fiber fabric are cut to form a mat of the desired shape.

2. Sets of mats are laid down in association with each other and formed into sub-components. These sub-elements may be semi-hardened into a non-planar shape, as will be described further below.

3. Sets of subelements are placed together in a mold.

4. The mold is closed and resin is injected around the subelements. The resin is cured to form the final rigid part. The part is removed from the mold.

Typically, the workflow is from the upper portion to the lower portion of fig. 1. The work stations shown in fig. 1 include a cutting station 1, a mat dispensing station 2, a laying station 3, an initial forming station 4, an assembling station 6, and a resin injection station 8.

In fig. 1, there are four cutting stations 1. The purpose of each cutting station is to cut portions of the mat of fibrous sheet material into predetermined shaped mats and to dispense the mats. Each cutting station has a feed roll 10 of fibrous sheet material. The material extends over the cutting station 11 to the take-up roll 12. The take-up roll may be driven by a motor to advance the material over the cutting station. The cutting head 13 can be moved over the cutting table. The cutting head has a cutting device for cutting the fibrous material. The cutting means may be a knife, a laser or an abrasive beam unit. The cutting head can be moved under computer control to cut the sheet material at the cutting station into predetermined shaped mats. Once the sheet at the cutting station is cut, it can be advanced to a take-up roll to expose fresh fabric at the cutting station. The computer controlling the cutting station is shown as 90.

Each cutting station may hold a different stock material than any one or more or all of the other cutting stations; or two or more of the cutting stations may contain the same stock. The stock provided at each cutting station may be selected so that the cutting stations together are capable of providing all of the material required to form the mat intended to constitute the final product. Once the constituent material of the mat of the final product is determined, a roll 10 of stock suitable for forming the final product may be installed at the cutting station. If the apparatus is intended to form a variety of end products, sufficient stock can be installed at the cutting station to make all of these products.

The cutting head is movable above the cutting station by being mounted on a beam 14 that can traverse the cutting station in a direction between the feed roll and the take-up roll. The cutting head may be mounted on the beam in such a way that it is movable along the length of the beam. A motor may be provided to move the beam and move the cutting head on the beam.

Each cutting station has a manipulator 5. For example, it may be a manipulator with multiple linear and/or rotational degrees of freedom. In this example, the manipulator is a robotic arm. Each robotic arm is configured to be able to pick up a cut mat from its cutting station and place the mat on the distribution strip 20 at the mat distribution station 2. The robotic arm may have jaws at a distal end thereof for engaging a cutting pad. More generally, the jaws may be any suitable gripping end effector, such as a mechanical gripper, hook or fork, or a vacuum gripper. There may be multiple robotic arms at each cutting station to help hold the mat so that it hangs flat when it is lifted. Each robot arm may be provided with a plurality of pairs of jaws. A robot for moving the mat from the cutting station to the transfer mechanism may be shared between the cutting stations.

The cutting stations are arranged side by side. The rows of cutting stations extend substantially linearly. The distribution strip 20 extends along and preferably adjacent to the row of cutting stations so that each of the robotic arms 15 can distribute pads onto the strip.

The distribution strip can be driven along its length by a drive unit 21. The drive unit 21 may drive the belt to move in either direction. Conveniently, the distribution strip is an endless strip. Alternatively, it may be a reciprocating stage. In another alternative, it may be provided by a series of hangers, each mounted on the annular ring, and each pad may be fastened by a respective hanger. In another alternative, it may be provided by a series of stations, and each station may carry an individual pad or a set of pads, while each station may be independently powered and move in both directions independently of the other stations. Preferably, the transfer mechanism provides an upwardly facing and/or substantially horizontal surface on which the mat may be supported. The surface can be horizontally movable along the row of cutting stations and/or the row of depositing stations.

In addition, the deposit station 3 is arranged along the distribution belt. Each of the laying stations has a laying table 30. A series of layup manipulators 31 are positioned so that they can pick up a mat from the distribution strip and place the mat on one of the layup tables. In this example, the manipulator 31 is a robotic arm. To lay the mat to form a particular sub-component, one of the robots 31 picks up the mat to form the component in turn and lays the mat in a stack on one of the laying tables. This involves selecting the appropriate pads from the distribution strip, rotating each of them to the appropriate orientation, and then depositing them onto the laying table in the appropriate translational relationship with respect to the other pads in the stack. A robot for moving the mat from the transfer mechanism to the laying station may be shared between the laying stations.

An adhesive (preferably a tackifier) may be dispensed between the layers of the stack to help hold the pads in place relative to each other. The adhesive may be pre-applied to one or both sides of some or all of the pads.

In one convenient arrangement, the material for all of the mats making up the stack is coated onto only a single face with adhesive prior to the start of the laying process. Thus, each cutting mat has an adhesive coating on one side and is substantially free of adhesive on its other side before it is laid into the stack. The mats are laid up such that there is a layer of pre-applied adhesive between the fibrous material of each mat and the fibrous material of the adjacent mat. This arrangement provides a convenient way of holding the stack together. Typically, the stack will be built up from pads having a lower surface substantially free of adhesive. If all the layers of the stack have the same orientation and are all pre-coated with adhesive, the end surfaces of the stack will carry the exposed adhesive. This can make the stack difficult to store and the exposed adhesive can stick to subsequent forming equipment, such as a diaphragm forming machine. It is desirable that both end faces be substantially free of adhesive. One way to achieve this is that one end face of the pad is not pre-coated with adhesive. However, this may require that it be formed from a different material than the other layers of the stack. Another approach is to flip one or more of the uppermost layers of the stack relative to the other layers of the stack. Conveniently, only the upper layer is turned over. It is preferred not to store the overlying mat in a flipped configuration, as in that case it would stick to the surface on which it was resting prior to being laid. One convenient method is to place the manipulator 31 of the placement station close enough to the manipulator 15 of the cutting station so that the manipulator 31 can hold the mat being suspended by the manipulator 15. In this arrangement, the laying manipulator 31 may hold the mat being held by the cutting manipulator 15 without the mat resting on the surface. This allows one or both of the manipulators to conveniently invert the pad before placing it on the stack without the pad resting on the surface in an inverted configuration.

Once the stack for forming a particular subelement is complete, the stack is moved to a Double Diaphragm Forming (DDF) station 4. This may be done by another robot (not shown in fig. 1) or manually. The purpose of the DDF station is to effect the initial shaping of the stack into substantially the shape that will be adopted in the final part. This is done by pulling the stack against a rigid former in the DDF unit 40 in the presence of heat and then cooling the stack. The heat causes the adhesive present in the stack to set, thereby fixing the stack into the shape imparted by the rigid former. The adhesive may be pre-impregnated into the fabric from which the mat is cut, or the adhesive may be applied to the cutting mat before or after placement.

The subelements can have different shapes. To allow one DDF unit 40 to easily form any of a plurality of sub-elements, the DDF station may be provided with a library of rigid formers indicated at 41. When a particular sub-element is to be formed, the appropriate shaper may be selected from the library and installed in the DDF unit.

Once the adhesive has set the stack in shape, the resulting sub-element can be removed from the DDF unit. This may be done by another robot (not shown in fig. 1) or manually. The formed sub-elements can be stored in the holding area 5.

The sub-elements will form the final part in the moulding station 8. Before this, the sub-elements are assembled together inside or on the rigid mould element. This may be done at the assembly station 6. For example, in the case of a truck cargo box, there may be sub-elements for the floor, front bulkhead, rear bulkhead, underframe and cross bulkhead. After being formed separately, these sub-elements may be brought together into a mold at station 6 that is sized to form the entire container.

Once the sub-elements have been assembled into or onto the mould, the mould is transported by the carrier system 7 to the moulding station 8. The molding station may, for example, employ Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). The mold volume containing the subelement can be closed and then a vacuum can be drawn in the mold volume. Then, a resin may be injected in the mold space. Once the resin is fully injected, the mold may be heated to cause the resin to harden.

Once the matrix material hardens, the resulting part may be removed from the mold.

Some or all of the stations may be operated under the control of computer 90. The computer comprises a program memory 91, a processor 92 and a design memory 93. The program memory stores code executable by the processor 92 in a non-transitory manner to cause the computer 90 to perform its functions. The design memory 93 stores, in a non-transitory manner, information defining the shape of the mat to be cut, from which materials the cutting mat will be cut, how the cutting mat will be laid down to form the stack (i.e., in what sequence and their relative orientation and position), and for which sub-components.

The final part may be formed from a large number of sub-elements: for example more than 10, 20 or 30 subelements. To allow them to be formed efficiently without excessive storage of cutting mats or subelements, the system may operate in the following manner.

1. The need for a particular component is established. This is signaled to the controller 90.

2. The controller uses the data in the design memory 93 to establish which subelements are needed to form the part and which cutting pads will be needed to form the subelements.

3. The controller assigns the sub-components to respective ones of the placement stations 3. If there are sufficient placement stations, all the subcomponents can be placed in parallel. Otherwise, after the stack of laying mats before the DDF station has released the laying table, some subcomponents may be subsequently formed.

4. The controller identifies in memory 93 the first cutting mat to be formed for one of the subelements. The mat will be made of a material available at one of the cutting stations 1. The controller causes the cutting station to cut the mat into the desired shape and its robot to place the mat on the distribution strip 20. Other mats may be cut simultaneously, as will be described further below.

5. The controller causes the dispensing strip to move at least the appropriate distance in the appropriate direction to transfer the cutting mat to the placement station where it will be used. A robot at the paving station removes the cutting mat from the distribution strip and places it in the proper orientation and position on the placement table.

6. The controller identifies in memory the next cutting mat to be formed for the subelement. The mat will be made of a material available at one of the cutting stations 1. The controller causes the cutting station to cut the mat into the desired shape and its robot to place the mat on the distribution strip 20. The mat is transferred to a suitable laying station and laid similarly to the steps taken for the first cutting mat.

7. Once the stack for the sub-components is complete, the stack is transported to the DDF station and preformed, as described above.

8. The process proceeds similarly (in parallel, if possible) to form other sub-elements needed to make the part.

9. If necessary, the controller 90 causes the appropriate component-forming RTM mold to be put in place.

10. The formed sub-components are laid up in an RTM mold and then an RTM process is performed to form the finished part.

When multiple components (or sub-components of a larger component) are to be laid, the controller reads from memory 93 the sequence of materials that will be used to lay those components/sub-components. The controller has knowledge about the relative positions of the cutting station and the placement station. This knowledge may be preprogrammed into the memory 93. The controller also has knowledge of which material is available for which cutting station. This knowledge may be preprogrammed into the memory 93, or the controller may have caused the respective cutting stations to be loaded with the material needed to make the desired element/sub-element. The controller determines which placement stations will place which of the components/sub-components. This may be done programmatically by the controller (e.g., in such a way as to cause efficient dispensing of the cutting mat), or it may be pre-programmed into memory 93. The controller 93 then executes a program stored in the program memory 91 to determine the direction and distance in which the cutting station should cut the mat components to form the sequence of components/sub-components and the transfer mechanism should transport the components to dispense them to the appropriate placement station. This is done depending on the relative positions of the cutting station and the placement station, the material available at the respective cutting station, the placement station for which a specific component/sub-component has been dispensed, and the sequence of materials in the desired component/sub-component. This can result in multiple parts being cut simultaneously at different cutting stations (optionally from different materials). One input to the controller 93 may be the demand for a particular cutting mat part from downstream components of the process. This may be predetermined according to a production plan, or it may be generated during operation, for example, in response to defective cutting mat components being rejected by downstream processing, resulting in a need to replace parts. If this occurs, the controller may schedule the rejected item to be produced repeatedly. In this manner, the system can implement a lean manufacturing system, manufacturing only those cut parts that are needed at the time needed. This results in multiple parts being conveyed on the transfer mechanism simultaneously in a direction from the station where they are cut toward the lay-up station where they are unloaded from the transfer mechanism and laid down. This may lead to an efficient operation of the device, since the cutting, laying and conveying of the different components/sub-components may take place simultaneously. The cutting stations are shared between the laying stations. The material from each cutting station may be automatically dispensed to a plurality of placement stations.

The parallel operation aspect of the process will now be described in more detail.

Multiple cutting mats may be simultaneously on the conveyor belt 20. When the conveyor belt is shifted to the left as shown in fig. 1, it can simultaneously convey the cutting mat from multiple cutter displacements toward multiple layup stations. The controller 90 may cause multiple simultaneous cutting mats in the cutting station and loading the mats onto the conveyor so the mats are on the conveyor at the same time. By performing a correct sequencing of the cutting tasks, the cutting mats can be transferred to the laying-down station to arrive in a desired sequence without the conveyor belt 20 having to move individually for each cutting mat. This means that the cutting station may be operating at a high duty cycle.

Preferably, the cutting mats arrive at the laying-up station in the sequence in which they are to be stacked, the lowest mat in the stack arriving first. However, by transferring the messy cutting mat to the placement station, the utilization of the cutting station can be maximized. In this case, one option is for the robot at the placement station to pick up the disordered mat from the conveyor belt and temporarily deposit it on the placement table at a position offset from the existing stack until it is needed. It can then be picked up from the laying table and moved onto the stack. Another option is to have the robot at the placement station leave the cutting mat on the conveyor belt until it is needed.

Preferably, the controller 90 maintains a record of which cutting mat is in which position on the conveyor belt and the configuration of the belt position. This allows the controller to (a) cause the robot at the cutting station to place a newly cut mat at a blank location on the conveyor belt and (b) direct the robot at the placement station to pick a cut mat from a suitable location on the conveyor belt.

Preferably, the controller directs the cutting station, the placement station, and the conveyor belt to cut and position the mat such that placement can occur at multiple placement stations simultaneously. The stacks for forming the different sub-elements can be formed simultaneously on different laying tables. If the laying table is sufficiently large relative to the stack, a plurality of stacks can be formed simultaneously on the laying table.

To illustrate the process, it is assumed that there are three cutting stations (C1, C2, and C3) arranged in a sequence, with each cutting station opposing a respective one of the three deposit stations (L1, L2, and L3) and the conveyor belt 20 running between the cutting station and the deposit station. This is illustrated in fig. 2. Assume that stations C1, C2 and C3 are created for cutting the materials A, B and C, respectively, and that layers of material having the following sequence are to be laid up:

stack 1 (to be laid at L1): A. b, B

Stack 2 (to be laid at L2): B. c, C, A

Stack 3 (to be laid at L3): C. b is

The controller may direct the following steps:

-simultaneously: c1 cut the first pad of L1, C2 cut the first pad of L2, C3 cut the first pad of L3, and these pads were moved to a conveyor belt

-the mats are moved to the respective laying stations without the conveyor belt having been moved yet

-simultaneously: c2 cuts the second pad of L1, C3 cuts the second pad of L2, and these pads are moved to the conveyor belt

The conveyor belt is moved one station to the left, the mats are brought into position in the vicinity of the appropriate laying station and the mats are moved to the appropriate laying station

-simultaneously: c2 cuts the third pad of L1, C3 cuts the third pad of L2, and these pads are moved to the conveyor belt

The conveyor belt is moved one station to the left, the mats are brought into position in the vicinity of the appropriate laying station and the mats are moved to the appropriate laying station

-simultaneously: c2 cuts the second pad of L3, C1 cuts the fourth pad of L2, and these pads are moved to the conveyor belt

-the conveyor belt moves one station to the right, bringing the mats into position near the appropriate laying station, and the mats are moved to the appropriate laying station

In this way, the cutting station can simultaneously cut mats of different stations, which will be moved by the conveyor belt to the laying-down station at the appropriate time. The shape of the mat cut at each step may be the same or different.

The controller may be preprogrammed with the sequence of cutting and tape movement operations required to efficiently form the mats and deliver them to the placement station. Alternatively, programming can be performed to determine the appropriate or efficient sequence of cutting and belt movement from knowledge of the materials available at the cutting station, their relative positions along the conveyor belt, and the sequence of materials required to lay down each required sub-component. The controller may be implemented by a single computer or may be distributed among multiple computers.

The materials used in the process may be in any suitable form. For example, the mat may be made of fibers having high tensile strength. These mats may include, for example, glass fibers, carbon fibers, polymer fibers (e.g., aramid fibers). The matrix may comprise a polymer such as an epoxy resin. The fibers making up the mat may be woven, knitted, welded or glued together to form the mat. Alternatively, the pads may be pre-impregnated with adhesive. The mat at each cutting station may be the same or may differ in any one or more of its constituent fiber weight (i.e., weight per unit area), thickness, tensile strength, stiffness, and relative orientation.

The forming process performed after laying may be double diaphragm forming, single diaphragm forming, corner molding, pressing, or any other suitable process. Alternatively, the forming process may be omitted.

The molding process may be resin transfer molding or any other suitable molding process.

There may be a plurality of conveyor belts 20 within reach of the robotic arms at the cutting station and the placement station. In one mode of operation, one such band may travel in one direction and another such band may travel in the opposite direction for at least a portion of the time that the apparatus is operating. This may allow for a particularly efficient scheduling of cutting operations. Instead of a belt, the transfer of the mat from the cutting station to the laying station may be accomplished by a trolley, a mobile robot or robotic arm, a pneumatic table, or a series of movable hangers on which the mat may be suspended. The movable hanger is movable along a linear path.

While it is convenient for the cutting mats to be laid on a horizontal table, they may be laid in an overlapping manner in other ways (e.g., by nailing to an upright wall or hanging from a common hanger).

In the example given above, the cutting station forms the mat to be laid by cutting the mat from a sheet or roll of material. More generally, the cutting station may be considered a forming station, and the mat may be formed in other ways. The mat or blank of material may be formed in other ways. For example, the mat may be laid, woven, knitted or stitched together as desired by the forming station. The forming station may employ additive placement techniques such as customized fiber placement, 3D weaving, automated fiber placement, or automated tape placement.

In the apparatus of fig. 1, the individual mats are formed as sub-components, and the sub-components are assembled together to form a unitary component. For simpler components, the pads may be assembled directly to form a unitary component.

The applicant hereby discloses in isolation each feature described herein and any combination of two or more such features, to enable such features or combinations to be carried out in general accordance with the common general knowledge of a person skilled in the art, irrespective of whether such features or combinations of features solve any problems disclosed herein, and without limitation to the scope of the claims. The applicant indicates that aspects of the present invention may consist of any such individual feature or combination of features. In view of the above description it will be evident to a person skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

The claims (modification according to treaty clause 19)

1. A composite article manufacturing facility, comprising:

a plurality of forming stations, each forming station capable of forming a block from a stock of layered reinforcing material;

a plurality of laying stations, each laying station capable of arranging a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner;

a transfer mechanism configured to simultaneously convey the formed pieces from a plurality of the forming stations toward a plurality of the depositing stations;

a storage storing a first sequence of pieces to be laid at a first of the laying-down stations and a second sequence of pieces to be laid at a second of the laying-down stations; and

a controller coupled to the forming station, the placement station, and the transfer mechanism for controlling operation thereof, the controller having access to the memory and being configured to cause the transfer mechanism to simultaneously transport the formed pieces of the first sequence and the formed pieces of the second sequence toward the first placement station and the second placement station, respectively, when loaded onto the transfer mechanism.

2. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 1, wherein the forming stations are arranged in a first row, the placement stations are arranged in a second row side-by-side with the first row, and the transfer mechanism is disposed between the first row and the second row.

3. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 2, wherein the transfer mechanism is elongated along a direction of extension of the first row and the second row.

4. A composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the transfer mechanism is operable in two directions to move a block from either end of the first row towards a respective opposite end of the second row.

5. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer mechanism is a conveyor belt.

6. A composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the forming station to form blocks and to cause the transfer mechanism to convey those blocks so as to cause the blocks to be available from the first and second layup stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

7. The composite article manufacturing facility according to claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to change the direction in which the pieces are conveyed by the transfer mechanism so as to cause the pieces to be available from the first and second layup stations in the first and second sequences, respectively.

8. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause the forming station to place the formed pieces on the transfer mechanism in a non-overlapping manner.

9. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first sequence.

10. The composite article manufacturing facility of any of the preceding claims, wherein the controller is configured to cause a plurality of the forming stations to simultaneously form a plurality of blocks in the first and second sequences.

11. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, comprising one or more stations configured for injecting resin into a stack of the blocks.

12. A composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the forming stations is capable of cutting the blocks from a stock of layered reinforcement material.

13. The composite article manufacturing facility according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the transfer mechanism comprises a first manipulator positioned so as to be able to pick up the formed pieces at the forming station and a second manipulator positioned so as to be able to lay down the formed pieces at the laying station, the second manipulator being positioned so that it can hold the formed pieces being held by the first manipulator.

14. The composite article manufacturing facility of claim 13, wherein the controller is configured to cause one or both of the first and second manipulators to turn the formed piece so as to cause the formed piece to be laid in an orientation about a horizontal axis opposite to the orientation in which the piece is formed.

15. The composite article manufacturing facility of claim 14, wherein the block formed is a first block or a last block in a stack of blocks.

16. A method for manufacturing a composite article, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a plurality of blocks from a stock of layered reinforcement material at each of a plurality of forming stations;

simultaneously conveying the formed blocks from a plurality of said forming stations towards a plurality of depositing stations, each depositing station being capable of arranging a stack of the formed blocks in an overlapping manner; and

laying up a plurality of stacks of formed blocks in an overlapping manner at the plurality of laying stations;

wherein the conveying step is performed by means of a single material handling device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the material handling device is a linear conveyor.

Statement or declaration (modification according to treaty clause 19)

Under PCT treaty clause 19, clause (1), amended claims have been filed to answer international search reports and written comments on month 14, 1, 2019.

In the amended claims:

claims 1 and 16 have been modified to adopt "formed blocks" in unison.

-the reference relationship of claim 4 has been modified so that it depends on claim 2 or claim 3.

The reference relationship of claim 14 has been modified so that it depends on claim 13.

Claim 16 has been modified to incorporate the features of claim 17. Claim 16 is also modified to include "the lay-up stations are capable of laying a stack of formed blocks in an overlapping manner". The basis of this modification is shown in claim 1.

Claim 18 has been renumbered and its reference relationships modified accordingly.