Bending center
A bending center bends sheets fully automatically. A frequently used bending process is swivel bending .
Loading the blanks
A bending center is loaded manually or automatically with punched or lasered blanks . With manual loading , an operator places the sheet on an alignment table in the bending center. With automatic loading, there are different processes depending on the integration of the bending center in the production flow: loading with portal suction systems, loading with robots, loading by lifting the front edge of the blank and then pulling in the sheet using grippers (blank feeder). The blanks can be made available, for example, as a punched sheet metal pack, as individual sheets or from a shelf storage system.
Align the boards
The sheet metal is aligned parallel to production on the alignment table so that it can be fed to the bending cell in the correct position. One uses for aligning valve systems or non-contact optical measuring sensors which detect the position of the board. With optical measurement, the positional misalignment is compensated for when the blank is transported to the bending center.
Tool construction
An automatic tool change system sets up the tools to match the geometry of the bent part. Modern bending centers use calculation algorithms for this in order to determine the change strategies independently and without programming effort. In some bending centers, in addition to the length of the upper beam tools, the bending beam tools can also be adjusted to the required length. This is necessary when bending sheet metal cut-outs, with blanks that run at an angle and with bends that are offset inwards.
Main manipulator
A main manipulator moves the measured sheet metal onto the bending line. He shifts the sheet metal in order to achieve the exact side dimensions and turns the sheet metal onto the side of the sheet metal to be bent.
Bending cell
In the bending cell, the upper beam tools that were set up automatically by the tool changer clamp the sheet metal against the lower beam. The bending beam swivels to the programmed angle and bends the sheet metal into the desired shape. Some bending centers use the swivel bending process , others use the technically more sophisticated roll bending process . The bending beam of bending centers can form the sheet metal upwards (positive) or downwards (negative). This eliminates the need to turn the sheet metal when changing the bending direction. The complete bending cycle of all bends on the sheet can thus run automatically and without operator intervention.
Curved prefabricated parts
The bending center automatically ejects the bent sheet metal part. This discharge can be carried out back to the infeed station (in the case of manual loading, back to the operator) or using the continuous flow principle to the other side of the machine. There the finished part can be made available on a buffer table for manual removal or can be further conveyed by a downstream system (robot, transport system, etc.).
Bending forms
A bending center can create the following bending shapes fully automatically:
- bend up and down
- Form sheets with sensitive surfaces without scratching
- Bend closed profiles
- make bends offset inwards
- Make bends in window openings
- Bend radii of any size
- manufacture closed or open envelopes
- Bend welding flaps
- create small deposits
- Bend extremely short legs
- make small hat profiles
- Create bends near the center of the sheet
- Make bent parts with a negative bend on one side
- Form oblique bent parts