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Figure 10: Robot loading AOI machine.
Figure 11: AOI verification station.
Figure 12: Lay-up station with pin-less registration.
Prepreg was stored in a fully-automated clean-room at 6°C to maximise its shelf-life and avoid wastage. The material management system drew the required material from cold storage 24 hours in advance, to allow it to condition to ambient temperature before lay-up, and again all the handling was by robot. The whole lay-up operation was carried out in Class 1000 cleanroom enclosures.
Housed in their own enclosure were eight laminating presses—five heating and three cooling. One of the hot presses was capable of 400°C operation to enable fusion bonding of PTFE when required.
Figure 13: Press area.
From the automated breakdown stations, the press plates returned through a surface-brushing machine for re-use, and the bonded panels proceeded to a trimming and edge-dressing station. This machine attracted a lot of spectators as its robot presented each panel four times to the trimming guillotine, once for each edge, then placed it on a table and swivelled to present a milling head that polished the edges and rounded the corners—fun to watch!
Figure 14: Robot panel trimming and edge dressing.
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