Pressure application roller unit for the laying down of pre-impregnated fibre strips on a surface, and also a laying down device

Abstract

The invention concerns a pressure application roller unit 2 for the laying down of fiber strips 80 on a surface 82, with a pressure application roller 7 mounted in a mounting unit 35 such that it can rotate about a shaft 10. In accordance with the invention the pressure application roller 7 is subdivided into a multiplicity of roller segments 4, 6 arranged next to one another, which in each case are mounted in the mounting unit 35 such that they can be displaced. As a consequence of this configuration an optimal adaptability of the pressure application roller unit 2 to a surface 82 of a molding tool 84 that is curved in one or two dimensions is provided. By this means the pressure application roller unit 2 can be guided by means of a robot arm 102, even over molding tool surfaces that are more highly spherically curved in some sections. The individual mounting of the individual roller segments 4, 6, embodied such that they can be displaced vertically in a sprung manner, allows a height compensation of up to 10 mm, which enables any immediate track correction of the robot arm 102 that would otherwise be necessary to be dispensed with. In addition the pressure application roller unit 2 generates a defined pressure application force with which the fiber strip 80 is pressed onto the surface 82 of the molding tool 84. The pressure application roller unit 2 is equally suitable for the processing of pre-impregnated fiber strips (so-called pre-preg strips) with a thermoplastic or a thermosetting plastic matrix, since a resistance to temperatures of up to 450° C. is provided.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.