阅读说明：本技术 制备三维成型制品的方法 (Method for producing three-dimensional shaped articles ) 是由 曹凯 祁贵东 向金宝 于 2020-07-01 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种制备三维成型制品的方法。所述方法包括以下步骤：a)通过计算机辅助设计软件将具有曲面的三维成型制品的三维轮廓展开；b)通过计算机辅助设计软件将步骤a)中得到的展开的三维轮廓切分成若干基本层；c)根据在步骤b)中获得的基本层的形状与大小将连续纤维增强热塑性树脂基复合片材切割成与基本层具有相同或接近的形状与大小；d)将切割后的复合片材按照其大小进行叠放得到堆叠物；和g)使步骤d)中得到的堆叠物、脱模和任选裁切后得到所述三维成型制品。根据本发明的方法可将连续纤维增强热塑性树脂基复合材料片材加工成厚度不均、曲度较大的三维成型制品,所得三维成型制品重量轻、抗冲击、抗压缩性好。(The present invention relates to a method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article. The method comprises the following steps: a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software; b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software; c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet material into a shape and a size which are the same as or close to those of the base layer according to the shape and the size of the base layer obtained in the step b); d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object; and g) subjecting the stack obtained in step d) to demoulding and optionally cutting to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article. According to the method, the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material sheet can be processed into the three-dimensional molded product with uneven thickness and larger curvature, and the obtained three-dimensional molded product has light weight and good impact resistance and compression resistance.)

1. A method of making a three-dimensional shaped article comprising the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

e) optionally, pre-laminating the stacks obtained in step d) together to obtain a pre-laminate;

f) optionally, preforming the stack obtained in step d) or the prelaminate obtained in step e) into a semi-finished product; and

g) shaping, demolding and optionally cutting the stack obtained in step d), the prelaminate obtained in step e) or the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein in step b), the computer-aided design software determines the thickness, shape and size of the base layer from the three-dimensional profile developed in step a).

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in step e) the prelaminate is performed under heat and pressure conditions and after prelaminate the prelaminate is cooled.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein in step f) the preforming is performed under heat and pressure.

5. The process according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein in step g) the shaping is carried out under conditions of heat and pressure.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet material is selected from a single layer of unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastic resin based prepreg tape, a single layer of woven fibre mesh reinforced thermoplastic resin based prepreg tape and laminates thereof.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the fibers in the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet are selected from the group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers and aramid fibers.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the thermoplastic resin in the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet is selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyoxymethylene, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyurethane and polycarbonate blends selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate blends with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate blends with polyethylene terephthalate and polycarbonate blends with polybutylene terephthalate.

9. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the thermoplastic resin in the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet is a polycarbonate resin and in step g) the molding is carried out at a temperature of 180-250 ℃ and a pressure in the range of 50bar to 150 bar.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the method comprises step f) and the prelaminated is carried out at a temperature of 180 ℃ and 250 ℃ and a pressure in the range of 5bar-50 bar.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein in step b) the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) is cut into several elementary layers, including an upper layer, an intermediate layer and a lower layer, by computer-aided design software.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the thickness of the lower layer and the minimum thickness of the expanded three-dimensional profile are the same.

13. A method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the total thickness of the upper, intermediate and lower layers and the maximum thickness of the developed three-dimensional profile are the same.

14. Method according to any of claims 11-13, wherein the shape and size of the upper layer are the same as the shape and size, respectively, of the maximum thickness area of the unfolded three-dimensional profile.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, wherein the shape and size of the lower layer is the same as the shape and size, respectively, of the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile.

16. The method of any one of claims 11-15, wherein the shape and size of the intermediate layer is between the shape and size of the upper and lower layers, respectively.

17. A three-dimensional shaped article, characterized in that it is prepared by a process according to any one of claims 1-16.

18. The three-dimensional shaped article according to claim 17, selected from a toe cap, a helmet, a knee guard, a curved panel or a curved blade, preferably it is a safety toe cap.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the field of product processing. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of making a three-dimensional shaped article.

Background

With the national emphasis on safety production and the improvement of the consciousness of safety production of people, safety shoes are used in more and more production scenes. The safety shoe has the function of protecting the foot and the leg of a worker from foreseeable injuries, because the safety shoe has a toe cap with high strength and high impact resistance, which can effectively protect the foot from external impacts or shocks. It can be seen that the toe cap is the core component of the safety shoe. The shoe toe cap with good quality can not only meet the wearing comfort of people, but also meet the requirements on mechanical strength.

The impact resistance, compression resistance and environmental testing of safety shoe toes are described in detail in national standard GB21148, american standard ASTM F2413, european standard EN 12568. For example, European Standard EN12568 specifies that the minimum clearance in the toe cap of a safety shoe, after the toe cap has been subjected to an impact of 200J and a compression of 15,000N, is satisfactory.

Due to the stringent regulations of various countries for testing the impact resistance, pressure resistance and environment of safety shoe toe caps, not all materials are suitable for making safety shoe toe caps. In order to meet the requirements of various national standards on safety shoe toes, the safety shoe toes are made of metal materials mostly. However, the metal toe cap is heavy, so that the shoe is difficult and uncomfortable to wear, meanwhile, the metal toe cap is easy to rust and is not well combined with the vamp layer, the safety inspection equipment can give an alarm through safety inspection, and the use of the metal toe cap is limited by the defects. Because the resin-based composite material is compounded by adopting the resin with lower density and the fiber with higher strength, the weight of the resin-based composite material is not too heavy under the condition of ensuring the strength, and the resin-based composite material does not cause security check equipment to give an alarm, and simultaneously has good chemical resistance and good combination with a vamp layer, so the resin-based composite material becomes the preferred material for preparing the safety toe cap. Resin-based composites are further classified into thermosetting composites and thermoplastic composites.

The safety shoes have complex three-dimensional geometrical shapes, and the processing process is complex.

CN2742806Y discloses a thermosetting composite toe cap, wherein a relatively long curing stage is provided in the process of forming the thermosetting composite, which greatly affects the production efficiency of the product, and some toxic and harmful gases are volatilized in the curing process, which seriously affects the environment, and meanwhile, the thermosetting composite cannot be recycled.

CN1136798C discloses a composite material toe cap, which is prepared by long fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin, the average fiber length of the reinforced fiber is 10mm-50mm, the reinforced fiber is non-directional distribution, and the volume content of the reinforced fiber is 40% -60%.

CN114739C discloses a composite material of a sandwich structure composed of a long fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer and a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer, and a safety shoe toe cap made of the composite material, which has excellent material molding performance, and the toe cap made of the composite material has light weight, high strength and high compressive strength. The fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material comprises a core layer and a surface layer, wherein the core layer adopts a woven fabric or a woven mesh or a unidirectional fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer (a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer), and the surface layer adopts a random form fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer (a long fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin layer). The composite material with the structure is formed in a three-dimensional mold by a hot stamping or high-speed compression molding technology, and the obtained final formed product has no wrinkles or folds and has no difference in strength in all directions.

CN103478988A discloses a safety protection device with special composite material structure, which is obtained by hot-press compounding a preform formed by stacking a plurality of layers, wherein the preform comprises at least 4 base layers and at least 1 reinforcing layer, each base layer is semicircular or quasi-semicircular or T-shaped or quasi-T-shaped, and has radial cutting cuts when the base layer is semicircular or quasi-semicircular, the base layer comprises at least two structural forms, the area of the base layer is reduced in a gradient manner according to the stacking sequence, the area of the reinforcing layer is smaller than the area of the smallest base layer, and the reinforcing layer is positioned between the base layers or on the surface of the preform; the substrate layer or the reinforcing layer is obtained by uniformly coating thermosetting resin materials on continuous fibers or fiber woven fabrics.

The continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material has the advantages of high strength, high modulus, good impact resistance and low density, so that the specific strength and the specific modulus are high. In addition, the composite material has the advantages of good chemical resistance, high processing efficiency and recyclability. If the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material is only used for molding and processing the safety shoe toe cap, the strength and the impact resistance of the shoe toe cap can be improved, the thickness and the weight of the shoe toe cap can be reduced, and the production efficiency of the shoe toe cap is improved. However, there is no report on a method of manufacturing a toe cap using only a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite material. On one hand, the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material has poor flowability under the processing conditions of high temperature and high pressure, and is difficult to form, and on the other hand, the toe cap is uneven in thickness and needs deep curved surface processing. Therefore, the technical challenge of processing the safety shoe toe cap with uneven thickness and larger curvature only by adopting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material is also great.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for three-dimensional shaped articles such as safety shoe toes and the like made of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite materials and methods for making the same.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a three-dimensional shaped article using a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a three-dimensional shaped article prepared from a continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite.

Thus, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of making a three-dimensional shaped article comprising the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

e) optionally, pre-laminating the stacks obtained in step d) together to obtain a pre-laminate;

f) optionally, preforming the stack obtained in step d) or the prelaminate obtained in step e) into a semi-finished product; and

g) shaping, demolding and optionally cutting the stack obtained in step d), the prelaminate obtained in step e) or the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional shaped article prepared by the above method.

According to the method, the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin matrix composite material sheet can be processed into the three-dimensional molded product with uneven thickness and larger curvature, and the obtained three-dimensional molded product has light weight and good impact resistance and compression resistance.

Drawings

The invention will be described and explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 schematically shows a computer-aided design process according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a ply structure design of a composite sheet for a three-dimensional article according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 schematically shows a part of a process for the preparation of a three-dimensional article according to one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

Some specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described in more detail for purposes of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a three-dimensional shaped article, comprising the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

e) optionally, pre-laminating the stacks obtained in step d) together to obtain a pre-laminate;

f) optionally, preforming the stack obtained in step d) or the prelaminate obtained in step e) into a semi-finished product; and

g) shaping, demolding and optionally cutting the stack obtained in step d), the prelaminate obtained in step e) or the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article.

In some embodiments, the method does not include steps e) and f).

Thus, in some embodiments, the method comprises the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object; and

g) shaping, demolding and optionally cutting the stack obtained in step d) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article.

In some embodiments, the method includes step e), but does not include step f).

Thus, in some embodiments, the method comprises the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

e) pre-laminating the stacks obtained in step d) together to obtain a pre-laminate; and

g) shaping, demolding and optionally cutting the prelaminate obtained in step e) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped article.

In some embodiments, the method includes step f), but does not include step e).

Thus, in some embodiments, the method comprises the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

f) preforming the stack obtained in step d) into a semi-finished product; and

g) shaping, demoulding and optionally cutting the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped product.

In some embodiments, the method comprises step e) and step f).

Thus, in some embodiments, the method comprises the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the three-dimensional molded product with the curved surface by computer aided design software;

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of basic layers by computer aided design software;

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet into a shape and size identical or close to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object;

e) pre-laminating the stacks obtained in step d) together to obtain a pre-laminate;

f) preforming the pre-laminated material obtained in step e) into a semi-finished product; and

g) shaping, demoulding and optionally cutting the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to obtain the three-dimensional shaped product.

One skilled in the art can determine the shape and size of the base layer to minimize the phenomena of starving or flashing.

For the purpose of the present invention, the three-dimensional profile of the three-dimensional shaped article having a curved surface is developed into a three-dimensional profile having no curved surface by step a).

In step b), the computer aided design software determines the number, thickness, shape and size of each base layer from the three-dimensional profile developed in step a).

Specifically, in step b), the computer-aided design software selects the thickness of the composite sheet to be used according to the maximum thickness and the minimum thickness of the three-dimensional profile developed in step a) and the thickness of the composite sheet available, and slits the three-dimensional profile developed in step a) using the selected thickness of the composite sheet as a slit thickness to obtain the number, thickness, shape and size of each base layer.

In this application, a base layer refers to a structural layer of maximum and minimum thickness that achieves an expanded three-dimensional profile. The base layers may have the same or different thicknesses.

For example, when the maximum thickness of the expanded three-dimensional profile is 8mm and the minimum thickness is 4mm, the expanded three-dimensional profile may be divided into 8 base layers having a thickness of 1mm, 4 base layers having a thickness of 2mm, 4 base layers having a thickness of 1mm, and 2 base layers having a thickness of 2 mm.

The thickness of the available continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet material can be entered as a parameter into computer aided design software, and the computer can design alternative basic layer combinations based on the entered composite sheet thickness, maximum thickness and minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile.

And, in step b), the computer-aided design software determines the shape and size of each base layer from the three-dimensional contour developed in step a).

The following describes, with reference to fig. 1 and by way of example of a toe cap, steps a) and b) of the method according to the invention.

The three-dimensional profile of the toe cap shown in fig. 1-a is first developed into the three-dimensional profile shown in fig. 1-b using computer-aided design software, then the three-dimensional profile shown in fig. 1-b is cut into several base layers as shown in fig. 1-c according to the maximum and minimum thicknesses of the developed three-dimensional profile and the thickness of the available composite sheet, and finally the base layers are optimized to have the shape and size shown in fig. 1-d.

For example, when the expanded toe cap has a three-dimensional profile with a maximum thickness of 8mm and a minimum thickness of 4mm and the thickness of the composite sheet available is 1.025mm, the expanded toe cap can be cut into 8 base layers, each base layer having a thickness of 1.025 mm.

For example, when the expanded toe cap has a maximum thickness of 8mm and a minimum thickness of 2.5mm in a three-dimensional profile and the available composite sheet has a thickness of 1.23mm and 1.025mm, the expanded toe cap may be cut into 7 base layers, each independently having a thickness of 1.23mm and 1.025 mm.

For example, when the expanded toe cap has a maximum thickness of 8mm and a minimum thickness of 2.5mm in a three-dimensional profile and the thickness of the available composite sheet is 1.025mm and 0.25mm, the expanded toe cap may be cut into 10 base layers, each independently having a thickness of 1.025mm and 0.25 mm.

For example, when the expanded toe cap has a maximum thickness of 8mm and a minimum thickness of 2.5mm in three-dimensional profile and the thickness of the obtainable composite sheet is 1.05mm and 1.225mm, the expanded toe cap may be cut into 7 base layers, each independently having a thickness of 1.05mm and 1.225 mm.

The above designs are provided as examples only.

The computer aided design software may be, for example, FiberSIM, ESAComp, SYSPLY, ProE, Catia.

The computer aided design software may be developed in a specific direction based on the input product configuration information.

The computer aided design software can cut the expanded three-dimensional contour in the thickness direction according to the selected cutting thickness to obtain the number, thickness, shape and size of each basic layer.

In step c), the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet having a corresponding thickness is cut to have a corresponding shape according to the thickness, shape and size of the base layer determined in step b).

The continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet having a corresponding thickness may be obtained commercially or prepared by itself.

In step d), the cut composite sheets are stacked according to the three-dimensional outline unfolded in step a) according to the position of the base layer corresponding to the shape and size of the composite sheets in the unfolded three-dimensional outline to obtain a stack.

In an optional step e), the prelaminate is performed under heat and pressure conditions.

The temperature at which the prelaminate is performed is determined according to the resin used in the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet.

In some embodiments, the resin used is a polycarbonate resin, and the prelaminate is performed at a temperature of 180-250 ℃.

Preferably, the heating means for the prelaminate may be infrared heating, hot air heating, electromagnetic heating, water heating, steam heating, oil heating or electric heating.

The pressure of the prelaminate can be set according to the resin used.

In some embodiments, the resin used is a polycarbonate resin, and the prelaminate is performed at a pressure in the range of 5bar to 50 bar.

In the case of prelaminates, the prelaminates are typically cooled after prelaminate to facilitate the prelaminate to a subsequent processing step.

In an optional step f), the preforming is preferably carried out under heat and pressure.

The preforming may be performed manually or automatically.

In some embodiments, the pre-forming is performed by hand after the stack is heated.

In the case of hand preforming, the stack may be heated using heating means known in the art, such as infrared lamps or ovens.

In the case of manual preforming, the skilled person can apply a certain pressure to perform the preforming depending on the hardness of the heated stack.

In some embodiments, the preforming is performed using a press.

In step g), the shaping is preferably carried out under heat and pressure.

Preferably, the heating means for the molding may be infrared heating, hot air heating, electromagnetic heating, water heating, steam heating, oil heating, or electric heating.

The temperature at which the molding is performed is determined in accordance with the resin used in the continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet.

In some embodiments, the resin used is a polycarbonate resin and the molding is carried out at a temperature of 180-250 ℃.

The pressure at which the molding is carried out can be set according to the resin used, and the molding is usually carried out at a pressure in the range of 50bar to 200 bar.

In some embodiments, the resin used is a polycarbonate resin, and the molding is performed at a pressure in the range of 50bar to 150 bar.

In step g), the forming may be performed for a time ranging from 5 to 300 s.

In step g), cooling demolding and optionally cutting are carried out after shaping.

Cooling may be performed in a manner known in the art, such as water cooling, oil cooling, and the like.

Preferably, the temperature is reduced to below the vicat softening temperature of the resin used after molding.

The cutting may be performed by means known in the art, such as water cutting, numerically controlled machine (CNC) cutting, die cutting or laser cutting.

The continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet material can be a single-layer unidirectional fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based prepreg tape or a woven mesh reinforced thermoplastic resin-based prepreg tape.

The continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet material may also be a laminate of two or more layers, each layer being independently selected from a unidirectional fibre-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based prepreg tape or a woven mesh-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based prepreg tape.

Preferably, the fibers are selected from the group consisting of glass fibers, carbon fibers and aramid fibers.

Preferably, the woven mesh is selected from meshes woven from glass, carbon or aramid fibres.

Preferably, the thermoplastic resin is selected from the group consisting of polypropylene (PP), Polyoxymethylene (POM), Polyamide (PA), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyurethane (PU) and polycarbonate blends.

Mention may be made, as examples of polycarbonate blends, of blends of polycarbonate with acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PC/ABS), of blends of polycarbonate with polyethylene terephthalate (PC/PET) and of blends of polycarbonate with polybutylene terephthalate (PC/PBT).

In the case of unidirectional fibre reinforced thermoplastic resin based prepreg tapes, the ply angle may be any angle within the range of 0 to 90 degrees, preferably 0, 45 or 90 degrees.

The continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet may be prepared by itself or obtained by purchase.

Some embodiments of the method according to the invention are further described below with reference to fig. 1-3, in which a safety shoe toe cap is used as an example of a three-dimensional article.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a method of making a three-dimensional shaped article that is a safety shoe toe cap, the method comprising the steps of:

a) unfolding the three-dimensional outline of the safety shoe toe cap by computer aided design software (fig. 1-a, fig. 1-b);

b) cutting the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) into a plurality of base layers by computer aided design software, wherein each base layer independently has certain thickness, shape and size (figure 1-c, figure 1-d);

c) cutting the continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin based composite sheet material into a corresponding shape and size according to the shape and size of the base layer obtained in step b);

d) stacking the cut composite sheets according to the size of the composite sheets to obtain a stacked object (figure 2);

f) preforming the stack obtained in step d) into a semi-finished product (3-a, 3-b); and

g) shaping the semi-finished product obtained in step f) to have the shape of a toe (3-c), then cooling and demoulding (3-d) and optionally cutting (3-e) to obtain said safety toe.

As shown in fig. 1, in step b), the unfolded three-dimensional profile obtained in step a) is cut into a number of basic layers including an upper layer, a middle layer and a lower layer by computer-aided design software.

The upper layer may include 1 or more basic layers.

The intermediate layer may include 1 or more basic layers.

The lower layer may include 1 or more basic layers.

It should be understood that each base layer independently has its thickness, shape and size.

Preferably, the overall thickness of the lower layer and the minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile are the same.

Preferably, the total thickness of the upper, intermediate and lower layers and the maximum thickness of the developed three-dimensional profile are the same.

Preferably, the upper, intermediate and lower layers are arranged according to an expanded three-dimensional profile.

Preferably, the shape and size of the upper layer are the same as the shape and size of the maximum thickness area of the unfolded three-dimensional profile.

Preferably, the shape and size of the lower layer is the same as the shape and size of the top view of the expanded three-dimensional profile.

Preferably, the shape and size of the intermediate layer is between the shape and size of the upper and lower layers.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional shaped article prepared by the above method.

The three-dimensional shaped article may be an article having a three-dimensional shape that can be produced using a continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet.

For example, the three-dimensional shaped article may be a toe cap, a toe cape, a helmet, a knee guard, a curved panel, a curved blade, or the like.

More specifically, the toe cap may be a safety toe cap.

The descriptions of the various features in this application may be combined without contradiction, and the resulting solutions fall within the scope of the claims of this application.

The terms "comprising" and "including" as used herein encompass the case where other elements not explicitly mentioned are also included or included and the case where they consist of the mentioned elements.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. To the extent that the definitions of terms in this application conflict with meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, the definitions set forth in this application control.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing thicknesses, sizes, processing conditions, and so forth, used in the present application are to be understood as being modified by the term "about". Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical values set forth in this application are approximations that can vary depending upon the desired properties to be obtained.

Examples

The concept and the technical effects of the present invention will be further described in conjunction with the embodiments and the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can fully understand the objects, features and effects of the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein are for illustrative purposes only and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

The raw materials used are as follows:

a prepreg tape I: the unidirectional continuous carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape is 0.175mm in thickness and 44% in volume of carbon fibers.

And (3) prepreg tape II: the unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape is 0.205mm thick and has a glass fiber volume content of 44%.

Prepreg tape III: the glass fiber woven cloth reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape is 0.25mm in thickness and 55% in weight of glass fiber.

The equipment used was:

ceramic infrared heating oven: supplied by Nanjing Heyang company.

A water cutting machine: ProtoMax type, offered by Aomax.

100 ton static press vulcanizer: model BL-6170-B-50T, available from Baocho corporation.

100 ton vertical press: model THP32-100W, supplied by Tiansha corporation.

Ultra-cold and ultra-hot equipment: single ATT H2-200-48, available from SINGLE Inc.

The numerical control machine tool: model 60S, offered by saiva corporation.

The used mould is as follows:

toe cap hot pressing mold: and a high-pressure hot water heating pipeline and a cold water cooling pipeline are arranged.

The test method comprises the following steps:

impact and compression resistance tests were performed according to ASTM F2413 and EN 12568S.

Example 1: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface structure with thickness between 4-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet

A unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape II) is adopted, and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.025mm is pressed on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing machine in a layering mode of 0/90/0/90/0, wherein the pressing temperature is 240 ℃, the pressing pressure is 10bar, the pressing time is 5min, and the cooling temperature is 50 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

The preparation of the safety shoe toe cap is carried out with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Referring to fig. 1, the three-dimensional outline of the toe cap (U.S. size, size 8) is expanded using FiberSIM software.

Referring to fig. 1, the unfolded three-dimensional profile is cut into 8 basic layers according to the maximum thickness and the minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile (the maximum thickness of the toe cap is 8mm, and the minimum thickness is 4mm) using FiberSIM software. Wherein 2 basic layers with a thickness of 1.025mm constitute the upper layer, 2 basic layers with a thickness of 1.025mm constitute the intermediate layer, and 4 basic layers with a thickness of 1.025mm constitute the lower layer.

Referring to fig. 2, a composite material plate having a thickness of 1.025mm is cut using a water cutter to obtain 2 composite sheets (201) having a shape and size close to a maximum thickness (8mm) area of a toe cap, 4 composite sheets (203) having a shape and size close to a plan view of an unfolded three-dimensional profile, and 2 composite sheets (202) having a shape and size between the maximum thickness area and the plan view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile and decreasing in an equal ratio.

Referring to fig. 2, the 8 cut composite sheets are stacked in order of size to obtain a stack (200).

Referring to fig. 3, the stack is preheated (3-a) by a ceramic infrared heating oven, and after the stack is preheated to 240 ℃, the stack is preformed manually to obtain a semi-finished product (3-b).

Referring to fig. 3, the semi-finished product is placed into a toe cap mold, and hot press molding and cooling demolding are performed on the semi-finished product by using a 100-ton vertical press and an ultra-cold and ultra-hot device, wherein the hot press temperature is 240 ℃, the hot press pressure is 120bar, the hot press time is 30s, the cooling temperature is 80 ℃, the heating mode is high-pressure hot water, and the cooling mode is high-pressure cold water. And finally, cutting the formed toe cap by using a numerical control machine tool to obtain the toe cap.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The prepared safety shoe toe cap was subjected to an impact resistance test of 102J according to ASTM F2413, and the test results are shown in table 1 below.

Comparative example 1: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface structure with thickness between 4-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet

A unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape II) is adopted, and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.025mm is pressed on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing machine in a layering mode of 0/90/0/90/0, wherein the pressing temperature is 240 ℃, the pressing pressure is 10bar, the pressing time is 5min, and the cooling temperature is 50 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

Reference is made to example 1, except that this example does not employ computer aided design, but instead 5 layers of 1.025mm thick composite material panels are cut to the same shape and size as the developed view of the toe cap, and the toe cap formation results are shown in table 1 below.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The prepared safety shoe toe cap was subjected to an impact resistance test of 102J according to ASTM F2413, and the test results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 2: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface structure with thickness between 2.5-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet

Adopting a unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape II), pressing on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing press in a layering mode of 0/90/0/0/90/0 and 0/90/0/90/0 to obtain a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.23mm and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.025mm, wherein the pressing temperature is 240 ℃, the pressing pressure is 10bar, the pressing time is 5min, and the cooling temperature is 50 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

The preparation of the safety shoe toe cap is carried out with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Referring to fig. 1, the three-dimensional outline of the toe cap (U.S. size, size 8) is expanded using FiberSIM software.

Referring to fig. 1, the unfolded three-dimensional profile was cut into 7 basic layers according to the maximum thickness and the minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile (the maximum thickness of the toe cap is 8mm, and the minimum thickness is 2.5mm) using FiberSIM software. Wherein 2 basic layers with the thickness of 1.23mm form an upper layer, 3 basic layers with the thickness of 1.025mm form an intermediate layer, and 2 basic layers with the thickness of 1.23mm form a lower layer.

Referring to fig. 2, cutting the composite sheet having a thickness of 1.23mm using a water cutter resulted in 2 pieces of composite sheet (201) having a shape and size close to the area of maximum thickness (8mm) of the toe cap, and 2 pieces of composite sheet (203) having a shape and size close to the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile. And cutting the composite sheet of thickness 1.025mm to give 3 composite sheets (202) of reduced shape and size in equal proportion between the area of maximum thickness and the top view of the expanded three-dimensional profile.

Referring to fig. 2, the 7 composite boards obtained by cutting are stacked in order of size to obtain a stack (200).

Referring to fig. 3, the stack is preheated (3-a) by a ceramic infrared heating oven, and after the stack is preheated to 240 ℃, the stack is preformed manually to obtain a semi-finished product (3-b).

Referring to fig. 3, the semi-finished product is placed into a toe cap mold, and hot press molding and cooling demolding are performed on the semi-finished product by using a 100-ton vertical press and an ultra-cold and ultra-hot device, wherein the hot press temperature is 240 ℃, the hot press pressure is 120bar, the hot press time is 30s, the cooling temperature is 80 ℃, the heating mode is high-pressure hot water, and the cooling mode is high-pressure cold water. And finally, cutting the formed toe cap by using a numerical control machine tool to obtain the toe cap.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The safety shoe toe cap prepared was subjected to an impact resistance test of 200J according to EN12568S, and the test results are shown in table 1 below.

Comparative example 2: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface structure with thickness between 2.5-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet

A unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape II) is adopted, and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.025mm is obtained by pressing on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing machine in a layering mode of 0/90/0/90/0, wherein the pressing temperature is 240 ℃, the pressing pressure is 10bar, the pressing time is 5min, and the cooling temperature is 50 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

Reference is made to example 2, except that this example does not employ computer aided design, but instead 5 layers of 1.025mm thick composite material panels are cut to the same shape and size as the toe box expansion, and the toe box shaping results are shown in table 1 below.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The safety shoe toe cap prepared was subjected to an impact resistance test of 200J according to EN12568S, and the test results are shown in table 1 below.

Example 3: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface modeling with thickness between 2.5-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite material plate

The method comprises the steps of pressing a unidirectional continuous carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape I) on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing press in a layering mode of 0/90/0/0/90/0 and 0/90/0/90/0/90/0 to obtain a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.05mm and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.225mm, wherein the pressing temperature is 220 ℃, the pressing pressure is 20bar, the pressing time is 3min, and the cooling temperature is 40 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

The preparation of the safety shoe toe cap is carried out with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Referring to fig. 1, the three-dimensional outline of the toe cap (U.S. size, size 8) is expanded using FiberSIM software.

Referring to fig. 1, the base layer was cut into 7 pieces according to the maximum thickness and minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile (the maximum thickness of the toe cap was 8mm, and the minimum thickness was 2.5mm) using FiberSIM software. Wherein 2 basic layers with a thickness of 1.225mm constitute the upper layer, 3 basic layers with a thickness of 1.05mm constitute the intermediate layer, and 2 basic layers with a thickness of 1.225mm constitute the lower layer.

Referring to fig. 2, the composite sheet having a thickness of 1.225mm was cut by a waterjet cutter to obtain 2 composite sheets (201) having a shape and size close to the maximum thickness (8mm) area of the toe cap, 2 composite sheets (203) having a shape and size close to the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile, and the composite sheet having a thickness of 1.05mm was cut by a waterjet cutter to obtain 3 composite sheets (202) having a shape and size between the maximum thickness area and the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile and decreasing in an equal ratio.

Referring to fig. 2, the 7 cut composite sheets are stacked in order of size to obtain a stack (200).

Referring to fig. 3, the stack is preheated (3-a) by a ceramic infrared heating oven, and after the stack is preheated to 230 ℃, the stack is preformed manually to obtain a semi-finished product (3-b).

Referring to fig. 3, the semi-finished product is placed into a toe cap mold, and hot press molding and cooling demolding are performed on the semi-finished product by using a 100-ton vertical press and an ultra-cold and ultra-hot device, wherein the hot press temperature is 230 ℃, the hot press pressure is 150bar, the hot press time is 60s, the cooling temperature is 70 ℃, the heating mode is high-pressure hot water, and the cooling mode is high-pressure cold water. And finally, cutting the formed toe cap by using a numerical control machine tool to obtain the toe cap.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The safety shoe toe prepared was subjected to an impact test of 200J according to european standard EN12568S, the test results of which are shown in table 1 below.

Comparative example 3: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface modeling with thickness between 2.5-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite material plate

A unidirectional continuous carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape I) is adopted, and a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.05mm is obtained by pressing on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing machine in a 0/90/0/0/90/0-layer mode, wherein the pressing temperature is 220 ℃, the pressing pressure is 20bar, the pressing time is 3min, and the cooling temperature is 40 ℃.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

Reference was made to example 3, except that this example did not employ computer aided design, but instead cut 5 layers of 1.05mm thick uniform composite material into the same shape and size as the developed toe cap, the toe cap formation results are shown in table 1 below.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The safety shoe toe prepared was subjected to an impact test of 200J according to european standard EN12568S, the test results of which are shown in table 1 below.

Example 4: preparation of safety shoe toe cap with 3D curved surface structure with thickness between 2.5-8mm

I. Preparation of continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin-based composite sheet

Adopting a unidirectional continuous glass fiber reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape II), pressing on a 100-ton static flat vulcanizing press in an 0/90/0/90/0 layering mode to obtain a composite sheet with the thickness of 1.025mm, wherein the pressing temperature is 240 ℃, the pressing pressure is 10bar, the pressing time is 5min, and the cooling temperature is 50 ℃.

Meanwhile, a glass fiber woven fabric reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape (prepreg tape III) with a thickness of 0.25mm was prepared for standby.

Preparation of safety shoe toe caps

The preparation of the safety shoe toe cap is carried out with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Referring to fig. 1, the three-dimensional outline of the toe cap (U.S. size, size 8) is expanded using FiberSIM software.

Referring to fig. 1, the unfolded three-dimensional profile was cut into 10 basic layers according to the maximum thickness and the minimum thickness of the unfolded three-dimensional profile (the maximum thickness of the toe cap is 8mm, and the minimum thickness is 2.5mm) using FiberSIM software. Wherein 2 layers of the base layer having a thickness of 1.025mm constitute the upper layer, 3 layers of the base layer having a thickness of 1.025mm and 3 layers of the base layer having a thickness of 0.25mm constitute the intermediate layer, and 2 layers of the base layer having a thickness of 1.025mm constitute the lower layer.

Referring to fig. 2, the composite material plate of 1.025mm thickness is cut using a water cutter to obtain 2 composite sheets (201) having a shape and size close to the area of maximum thickness (8mm) of the toe cap, 2 composite sheets (203) having a shape and size close to the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile, and 3 composite sheets (202) having a shape and size between the area of maximum thickness and the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional profile and decreasing in an equal ratio. And cutting the glass fiber woven cloth reinforced polycarbonate prepreg tape with the thickness of 0.25mm to obtain 3 composite sheets (202) with the shape and the size between the maximum thickness area and the top view of the unfolded three-dimensional contour and with the reduced equal ratio.

Referring to fig. 2, the 10 composite boards obtained by cutting are stacked in order of size to obtain a stack (200).

Referring to fig. 3, the stack is preheated (3-a) by a ceramic infrared heating oven, and after the stack is preheated to 240 ℃, the stack is preformed manually to obtain a semi-finished product (3-b).

Referring to fig. 3, the semi-finished product is placed into a toe cap mold, and hot press molding and cooling demolding are performed on the semi-finished product by using a 100-ton vertical press and an ultra-cold and ultra-hot device, wherein the hot press temperature is 240 ℃, the hot press pressure is 120bar, the hot press time is 30s, the cooling temperature is 80 ℃, the heating mode is high-pressure hot water, and the cooling mode is high-pressure cold water. And finally, cutting the formed toe cap by using a numerical control machine tool to obtain the toe cap.

Impact testing of safety shoe toe

The prepared safety shoe toe cap was subjected to a compression test of 4000 according to ASTM F2413, the test results are shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1 toe cap formation and test results

A, a: minimum clearance requirements or actual clearances in the toe cap after impact or compression testing according to test standards.

The foregoing describes only exemplary embodiments or examples of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified and varied by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are included in the scope of the claims of the present application.