Recycled Carbon Fiber Nonwoven Fabric Manufacturing System Including Chute Carding Machine

The present invention relates to technology for very efficiently manufacturing carbon fiber nonwoven fabric using recycled carbon fiber obtained from waste of aircraft, vehicles, hydrogen fuel tanks, etc.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system including a chute carding machine capable of efficiently opening carbon fiber lumps into very fine carbon fiber at a faster production speed than a conventional carding method and a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing method using the same.

In addition, the present invention relates to a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system including a first weighing hopper, a second weighing hopper, a scutcher, a door opener, a mixing tank, a chute carding machine, an upper punching machine, and a lower punching machine.

Since the system according to the present invention is a system including an assembly of a plurality of unit apparatuses, such as a scutcher, as described above, the system according to the present invention is expressed as a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system.

However, since all of the plurality of unit apparatuses of the present invention can also be regarded as a nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus, the present invention may also be expressed as a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus.

Accordingly, the recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system described in the following description of the present invention may be expressed or defined as a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus.

Consequently, the present invention relates to a recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing apparatus including a first weighing hopper, a second weighing hopper, a scutcher, a door opener, a mixing tank, a chute carding machine, an upper punching machine, and a lower punching machine.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) containing carbon fiber is widely used for parts of aircraft and vehicles due to high strength, high stiffness, and light weight thereof. Since carbon fiber contained in the carbon fiber reinforced material is expensive, a method of manufacturing recycled carbon fiber by extracting carbon fiber contained in used CFRP is proposed.

In addition, a method of producing nonwoven fabric using carbon fiber, such as recycled carbon fiber (RCF), is known.

Conventionally, however, a method and process of manufacturing nonwoven fabric using carbon fiber is complicated, which makes it expensive to manufacture and highly inefficient, as in prior inventions disclosed in the following prior art documents.

That is, Prior Art Document 1 discloses a method of manufacturing nonwoven fabric from carbon fiber, the method including a dispersion preparation process in which a dispersion containing a resin and a pitch is prepared, an electrostatic spinning process in which nonwoven fabric made of a carbon fiber precursor is manufactured from the dispersion by electrostatic spinning, and a transformation process in which the carbon fiber precursor of the nonwoven fabric obtained in the electrostatic spinning process is transformed into carbon fiber, wherein the transformation process includes a process in which the nonwoven fabric obtained in the electrostatic spinning process is heated to 50 to 4,000° C.

As described above, Prior Art Document 1 has the drawbacks that the dispersion preparation process, the electrostatic spinning process, the transformation process, and the heating process are required, resulting in a complicated manufacturing process, high manufacturing costs, and poor quality of the nonwoven fabric.

Meanwhile, Prior Art Document 2, which was filed as a patent application by the applicant of the present application and registered as a patent, discloses a carding machine.

Prior Art Document 2 has the problem that a web that is opened by the carding machine is moved to a horizontal shaping machine so as to be shaped thereby, which reduces production efficiency.

In addition, Prior Art Document 2 has the problem that a mixed raw material is transferred into a feeding tankFT and is then carded while being transferred to a cylinder roller-SS, whereby the mixed raw material stagnate in the feeding tank or the feeding and processing speed of the mixed raw material opened while being moved in a transverse direction toward the cylinder roller is slow, resulting in a decrease in production efficiency. Furthermore, in order to produce 100% recycled carbon fiber, the raw material, such as carbon fiber, must be carded with a high degree of accuracy, but there are also some issues with the precision of the carding being a bit off.

An object of the present invention is to more precisely perform carding of a mixed raw material and shaping of nonwoven fabric and to increase the processing and production speed of mixed raw material, thereby improving processing efficiency and production efficiency.

A second embodiment of the present invention is capable of producing 100% recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric without mixing of a resin by precise processing of the mixed raw material.

Conventionally, two separate apparatuses, i.e., a carding machine and a horizontal shaping machine, are used, whereby processing is inefficient, but the present invention is configured such that a single chute carding machine efficiently performs the role (function) of the conventional carding machine and the conventional horizontal shaping machine.

In addition, the present invention is configured such that the position of one first carding roller is precisely adjusted by adjusting the position of a first die spring and then carding is performed, whereby it is possible to adjust the degree of carding of the mixed raw material or recycled carbon fiber (RCF) and to card the mixed raw material or the recycled carbon fiber (RCF) with required precision.

In addition, the present invention is configured such that air is discharged to the outside by a blower at the bottom of a mesh net, and a drafter roller disposed above an initial nonwoven fabric, which is a web laminate WEBL laminated on the mesh net, presses the initial nonwoven fabric while rotating, whereby it is possible to greatly increase the strength of the initial nonwoven fabric.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for efficiently manufacturing recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric with excellent quality and performance using the simplest method and the simplest process.

In particular, the present invention provides a chute carding machine that is very efficiently created and improved.

In the present invention, a second carding unit is installed vertically under a first carding unit, and gravity is used to transfer a nonwoven material raw material that is processed, thereby improving processing efficiency.

A recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system according to the present invention to accomplish the above objects is configured such that:

The mixed raw material transferred to the chute carding machine may be carded into a web in an upper part of a main chamber of the chute carding machine;

The main chamber of the chute carding machine may have a height of 5 M to 6 M;

Meanwhile, the chute carding machine may include a main chamber oriented in a vertical direction and having an inner space formed therein;

An outer auxiliary frame on which a manager can ride to maintain and manage the main chamber may be installed on the outer periphery of the main chamber.

The mixed raw material introduction unit may include a mixed raw material feeding pipe having an inlet into which the mixed raw material transferred from the mixing tank is fed;

A first embodiment of the present invention relates to a carding machine including a base, a feeding tank unit, a roller and cylinder unit, and a conveyor unit.

In order to accomplish the above objects, the recycled carbon fiber nonwoven fabric manufacturing system of the present invention may be configured such that:

Meanwhile, the first carding unit may include:

An imaginary vertical line passing through the center axis of rotation of the first large-diameter main roller may pass through a contact point where outer circumferences of the pair of first carding rollers contact each other and may also pass through a contact point where outer circumferences of the pair of first feed rollers contact each other.

The first large-diameter main roller may rotate in the state in which an outer circumference of the first large-diameter main roller is in contact with the outer circumferences of the pair of first carding rollers.

The mixed raw material may be carded between the outer circumference of the first large-diameter main roller and the outer circumferences of the first carding rollers by frictional force.

One end of a first die spring may be coupled to a bracket coupled to one of the pair of first carding rollers to support the first carding rollers.

The other end of the first die spring may be coupled to a mixed raw material transfer duct.

The mixed raw material transfer duct may be coupled to the main chamber.

The pair of first feed rollers and the pair of first carding rollers may be operated by power from a first feed carding roller motor.

The first large-diameter main roller may be operated by power from a first large-diameter main roller motor.

Spike bodies, each having a plurality of spikes formed thereon, may be implanted on an outer circumferential surface of the first large-diameter main roller at certain intervals.

The pair of first feed rollers may have the same diameter.

The pair of first carding rollers may have the same diameter.

The diameter ratio of the first carding roller to the first feed roller to the first large-diameter main roller may be 1:1.2:3.5.

In the present invention, the second carding unit may be installed under the first carding unit.

The second carding unit may include:

An imaginary vertical line passing through the center axis of rotation of the second large-diameter main roller may pass through a contact point where outer circumferences of the pair of second carding rollers contact each other and may also pass through a contact point where outer circumferences of the pair of second feed rollers contact each other.

The second large-diameter main roller may rotate in the state in which an outer circumference of the second large-diameter main roller is in contact with outer circumferences of the pair of second carding rollers, and the raw material may be carded between the outer circumference of the second large-diameter main roller and the outer circumferences of the second carding rollers by frictional force.

One end of a second die spring may be coupled to a bracket coupled to one of the pair of second carding rollers to support the second carding rollers.