Edge stability
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsHauke SEEGEL, Dominic BLOOM
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for cutting a Non-Crimp Fabric for improving edge stability and reducing stitch retraction is disclosed. The part of the NCF to be cut is treated with a binder and heated to activate the binder and therefore bind the tows and stitches together. By treating only the cutting path the drapability of the wider fabric is maintained. This may be achieved by heating only the part of the NCF to be cut, or applying binder to only the part of the NCF to be cut. The NCF may be compressed and cooled before cutting to improve binding action. A ply cutter may be adapted to carry out the invention by including a heat source and optionally a binder dispenser, compressor and cooler.
Claims15
A method of cutting a fabric, the fabric comprising a binder, the method comprising:
- identifying a cutting path on the fabric;
- activating the binder along the cutting path by heating the fabric;
- and
- cutting the fabric along the cutting path.
A ply cutter for cutting a Non-Crimp Fabric (NCF) sheet;
- the ply cutter comprising:
- a bed for supporting a NCF sheet comprising a matrix of resistive heating elements for heating at least a region of a NCF sheet disposed on the bed;
- a knife unit comprising a cutter, moveable over the bed along a cutting path for cutting a NCF sheet disposed thereon;
- and
- a roller coupled to the knife unit for compressing a region of a NCF sheet disposed on the bed along the cutting path.
A ply cutter for cutting a Non-Crimp Fabric (NCF) sheet, the ply cutter comprising:
- a bed for supporting a NCF sheet;
- and
- a knife unit, moveable over the NCF sheet disposed on the bed for cutting the NCF sheet along a cutting path;
- the knife unit comprising:
- a cutter for cutting the NCF sheet;
- an infra-red light source arranged in front of the cutter for heating the NCF sheet prior to it being cut by the cutter;
- and
- a foot arranged in front of the cutter for compressing the NCF sheet prior to it being cut by the cutter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.