Bending machine and bending method for rod-shaped workpieces made from solid or tubular materials.

Abstract

The present invention provides a bending machine for rod-shaped workpieces made from solid or tubular materials. [Solution] The bending machine comprises a bending head 4 for forming bends in a workpiece 6 located within a bending plane, a workpiece guide 10 positioned upstream of the bending head 4 which feeds the workpiece 6 into the bending head 4 along the feed axis to position the section to be bent within the bending head 4 and supports the workpiece 6 during the bending operation of the bending head 4, and a clamp 8 positioned upstream of the workpiece guide 10 on the feed axis which holds the workpiece 6 and feeds it along the feed axis. The workpiece guide 10 and the clamp 8 are mounted on a support arm 12 attached to a base frame 20 so as to be rotatable around the feed axis, so that when the support arm 12 rotates, the clamp 8 and the workpiece guide 10 rotate simultaneously around the feed axis to adjust the bending plane.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a bending machine for a bar-shaped workpiece made of a solid material or a tubular material. The bending machine includes a base frame, a bending head disposed at one end of the base frame for forming a bend in a bending plane on the workpiece, and a workpiece guide disposed upstream of the bending head. The workpiece guide feeds the workpiece into the bending head along a feed axis to dispose a bending target section within the bending head and supports the workpiece during the bending operation of the bending head. The bending machine further includes a clamp disposed upstream of the workpiece guide on the feed axis, attached to the base frame, holding the workpiece, and feeding the workpiece along the feed axis.

[0002] The present invention also relates to a bending method for a bar-shaped workpiece made of a solid material or a tubular material. In this method, bending operations respectively located in a bending plane are performed on the workpiece using a bending head disposed at one end of a base frame. The workpiece is fed into the bending head along a feed axis by a workpiece guide disposed in front of the bending head to position a bending target section within the bending head. The workpiece is supported during the bending operation of the bending head. The workpiece is held by a clamp disposed upstream of the workpiece guide on the feed axis and attached to the base frame, and advanced along the feed axis.

Background Art

[0003] Such bending machines and bending methods are known from Patent Document 1. These bending machines and bending methods are used to bend wires at different positions, and these bends can be located in different bending planes. The wire is held by a double clamp. To allow adjustment of the bending plane, for example, to adjust from a first bend in a first bending plane to a second bend in a second bending plane, the double clamp is held on an arm rotatable around a feed axis, and this rotation allows the clamp to rotate with the wire, thereby adjusting the bending plane. The double clamp is held on an arm that can rotate around a feed axis, and this rotation allows the clamp to rotate with the wire, thereby adjusting the bending plane. For this rotation of the wire, the tool guide upstream of the bending head has some play, thereby allowing the wire to rotate within the guide around its longitudinal axis. This makes it possible to machine long workpieces, but if a bent portion has already been formed, this support may cause problems during rotation. This is because, in that case, the weight of those parts acts like a lever, causing the workpiece to move within the unsecured workpiece guide, and in some cases, deforming or damaging the workpiece.

[0004] A bending machine with a somewhat more complex structure is known from Patent Document 2. In this machine, the clamp is attached to a multi-joint arm, so that the entire clamp held on the arm can rotate around its gripping center that holds the workpiece.

[0005] The general-purpose Patent Documents 1 and 2 both describe a method for optimally supporting the workpiece in front of the bending head during rotation, but only when processing circular materials. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] European Patent Application Publication No. 1849536 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2022 / 234608 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] Therefore, the present invention is based on the problem of creating an improved, and in particular more universally applicable, work holder for bending machines or bending processes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present invention is defined in the independent claims. The dependent claims relate to preferred further developments.

[0009] The design features of the bending machine or the configuration of the bending process described in the independent claim solve the problems described above. To the extent that embodiments and / or advantages of the bending machine are described below, this description applies equally, and in particular, to the advantages that can be achieved and the means used in the bending method. This is also true, and inversely, applies to embodiments described in relation to the bending method.

[0010] Bending machines for rod-shaped workpieces made from solid or tubular materials, particularly those with a non-circular, e.g., rectangular outer cross-section, generally comprise a single-piece or multi-piece base frame, with a bending head positioned at one end for forming the bends. These bends are each located within a bending plane, and it is usually necessary to adjust the bending plane during machining of the workpiece to enable bending in different bending planes. A workpiece guide is located upstream of the bending head. The term "upstream" refers to the direction of workpiece feeding between individual bends. The workpiece is fed into the bending head along the feed axis, passing through the workpiece guide, to position the section to be bent within the bending head. The workpiece guide supports the workpiece during the feeding motion and, optionally, during the bending motion of the bending head. A clamp is positioned upstream of the workpiece guide on the feed axis, thereby holding the workpiece. The clamp pushes the workpiece forward along the feed axis, passing through the workpiece guide. The workpiece guide and clamp are mounted on a support arm, which is further mounted on the base frame so that it can rotate around the feed axis. In other words, the clamp and tool guide are also attached to the base frame via support arms. This allows the support arms to rotate the clamp and work guide simultaneously around the feed axis when adjusting the bending plane. This has proven to be very advantageous (see below).

[0011] Similarly, a bending method is provided for rod-shaped workpieces made from solid or tubular materials, particularly those having a non-circular, e.g., rectangular outer cross-section. Here, for example, a bending head positioned on a base frame is used to form bends in the workpiece, each located within a bending plane. The workpiece is fed into the bending head along a feed axis by a workpiece guide positioned in front of the bending head to position the next section to be bent within the bending head. The workpiece guide optionally supports the workpiece even during the bending operation of the bending head. A clamp pushes the workpiece forward along the feed axis. The clamp is positioned upstream of the workpiece guide on the feed axis. The workpiece guide and clamp are supported by a support arm mounted on the base frame so as to be rotatable around the feed axis. By rotating the support arm to set the bending plane, the workpiece guide and clamp rotate simultaneously around the feed axis. This design means that the rotation mechanism of the support arm is designed to rotate around an axis of rotation defined by the gripping center of the clamp and the stabilizing center of the workpiece guide. Thus, the support arm rotates to rotate around the feed axis.

[0012] Using a support arm offers advantages for both the bending machine and the bending process, as the clamp and work guide remain locked during rotation, regardless of the workpiece's external cross-section. Thus, the workpiece is fully supported by both the work guide and clamp at multiple positions spaced apart in the feed direction during rotation. This eliminates the need for double clamps to provide support at multiple positions during rotation, and allows for the processing of non-circular materials, as the material rotates with the support arm and clamp rather than within the clamp. The bending machine is equipped with a corresponding control device that maintains the locked state of the clamp and work guide and controls the drive unit that rotates the support arm. Furthermore, because the work guide rotates synchronously with the workpiece, the workpiece no longer needs to rotate within the work guide, thus eliminating the limitation to a circular cross-section. In addition, machining time is reduced because the clamp within the work guide does not need to be opened and closed for rotation. Using a support arm that holds both the clamp and work guide makes it remarkably easy to adjust the bending plane while optimally holding the workpiece during rotation. This is particularly advantageous when bending workpieces where particularly large leverage forces are generated during rotation. This is true, for example, in the case of very long workpieces.

[0013] Using a support arm also has the advantage that the support arm can be attached to an extendable or rotatable auxiliary arm. The auxiliary arm is extended or swiveled and deployed before rotating the workpiece. In this way, especially in the case of very long workpieces, the necessary working space can be formed so that the workpiece, which may already be bent in part and protrude significantly to the side, can be rotated to set the bending plane for the next bend. Such an auxiliary arm is known, for example, from Patent Document 1, in which case it was used to receive the workpiece from a feeding device and support it during bending.

[0014] The support arm preferably includes a clamp drive unit that moves a clamp along the support arm relative to a work guide in order to advance the workpiece along the feed axis. The clamp drive unit may include, for example, a slide that holds the clamp, and the slide is movable along the support arm. In embodiments, the slide is moved by a spindle, in particular by a ball screw drive unit mounted on the support arm. During the feed operation, the work guide can correspondingly be opened / released or have play suitable for feed movement, thereby allowing the workpiece to be fed in the feed direction by the work guide.

[0015] Alternatively or additionally, to achieve a larger feed stroke, it is preferable to mount the support arm on the base frame via a carriage that can move along the base frame. Since this movement is usually along the feed direction, the carriage provides a structure that allows the workpiece to move in the feed direction.

[0016] Various options exist for receiving a workpiece in the clamp, and these can be used individually or in combination. For example, the support arm can be attached to a swing arm or guide carriage, thereby allowing the support arm to move transversely to the feed axis. Alternatively, the support arm can be attached to a swivel joint, allowing it to swivel away from the feed axis and / or rotate perpendicular to the feed axis. In this way, the support arm moves to a position where it can receive a new workpiece in the clamp and make it available for machining.

[0017] It is understood that the features described above and those described below can be used in other combinations or individually without departing from the scope of the present invention, and are not limited to the combinations shown.

[0018] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to embodiments and the accompanying drawings. These embodiments and the accompanying drawings also disclose the essential features of the present invention. These embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting. For example, the description of an embodiment including a plurality of elements or components should not be construed as meaning that all of these elements or components are necessary for implementation. Rather, other embodiments may include alternative elements and components, fewer elements or components, or additional elements or components. The elements or components of different embodiments can be combined with each other unless otherwise specified. The modifications and variations described with respect to one of the embodiments may be applicable to other embodiments. To avoid repetition, the same or corresponding elements in different figures are given the same reference numerals and will not be described repeatedly.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] [Figure 1] It is a schematic perspective view of a bending machine. [Figure 2] It is an enlarged detailed view of the bending machine shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] It is a view similar to FIG. 1, but with the support arm of the bending machine placed at different rotational positions. [Figure 4] It is a view similar to FIG. 2, but with the support arm of the bending machine placed at different rotational positions. [Figure 5] It is an enlarged view of the work clamp and work guide of the bending machine of FIG. 1 when the tool clamp is in a certain position. [Figure 6] It is an enlarged view of the work clamp and work guide of the bending machine of FIG. 1 when the tool clamp is in another position. [Figure 7] It is a schematic view of two bending machines according to FIG. 1 cooperating with each other. [Figure 8] It is a view showing a modified embodiment of the bending machine of FIG. 1. [Figure 9] It is a view showing a modified embodiment of the bending machine of FIG. 1.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] Figure 1 shows a bending machine 2 having a bending head 4 for bending an elongated workpiece 6. In an embodiment, the workpiece 6 is made of a solid material having a non-circular, here rectangular cross-section. This is provided as an example in all embodiments. Here, a conductor rail is being bent. The workpiece 6 is held by a clamp 8 and fed to the bending head 4 by a workpiece guide 10. The workpiece guide 10 is also referred to as a guide hereinafter. The guide 10 is located upstream of the bending head 4, guides the busbar along the feed axis to the bending head during the feeding operation, and stabilizes the workpiece when the bending head 4 bends the workpiece. The guide 10 guides the workpiece when the workpiece is not yet engaged with the bending head, for example, when the workpiece is safely reinserted into the bending tool after being moved by the bending head, or when the workpiece is pushed forward with the bending head moved downward.

[0021] The guide 10 and the clamp 8 are attached to a support arm 12, and the support arm 12 can rotate about an axis defined by the longitudinally extending workpiece 6 in the clamp 8 and the guide 10. The clamp 8 can be displaced longitudinally along the support arm 12 by a slide via a ball screw 14. This displacement is indicated by double-headed arrows, and the rotation of the support arm 12 is also indicated by corresponding double-headed arrows. The support arm 12 is held by a rotation holder 16 for this rotation and is preferably designed to be located only below the workpiece 6 held by the clamp 8 (in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2). The significance of this design is clearly shown in FIGS. 5, 8, and 9, in that the workpiece 6 extending between the clamp 8 and the rotation holder 16 is not necessarily straight as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and can also have a bend in this section. For this purpose, the support arm 12 opens the upper half space (with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0022] A rotary drive unit 18 is provided to rotate the support arm 12 around the longitudinal axis of the workpiece 6, that is, the feed axis from which the clamp 8 moves the workpiece 6 onto the bending head 4. The rotary drive unit 18 rotates the support arm 12, which is located in the rotary holder 16, around the aforementioned axis.

[0023] The support arm 12 is positioned on the frame 20 together with the clamp 8 and guide 10, and the bending head 4 is located at the end of the frame 20. On the frame 20, the support arm 12 is attached to the guide carriage 22, which can move along the frame 20 via the rail 24. The support arm 12 is attached to the auxiliary arm 26 via the swivel mount 16, which can pivot on the guide carriage 22 around an axis (not shown), thus enabling two-axis adjustment. In this way, the support arm 12 can move transversely with respect to the feed axis (the longitudinal axis of the workpiece 6 in Figures 1 and 2).

[0024] The bending head 4 can be retracted relative to the table 28 by rotation of the support arm 12, allowing the workpiece 6 to be oriented in different ways corresponding to the desired bending plane. The table 28 can also be lowered, for example, to provide support at a lower position when the workpiece 6 already has at least one bend. For this purpose, a bending head drive unit 30 is designed.

[0025] The bending machine 2 also includes a control device 32 equipped with a processor, which controls the operation of the bending machine 2, and in particular controls the drive units 18, 30, and 14.

[0026] Figures 3 and 4 show the bending machine of Figure 1, except that the support arm 12 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise compared to its appearance in Figure 1.

[0027] As can be seen, the support arm 12 rotates the clamp 8 and the workpiece guide 10 in synchronous motion. This ensures that the workpiece 6 is held stably in both the clamp 8 and the guide 10 during this rotation process necessary to set a new bending plane. In this case, neither of these elements needs to have a rotatable part, particularly a rotatable gripping part. A rotatable part would normally be essential for the guide 10 in the illustrated example where the cross-section of the workpiece 6 is not rotationally symmetrical.

[0028] Figures 5 and 6 show further features of the clamp 8 that may be advantageous in the embodiment. The clamp 8 comprises two gripping sections 34a, 34b spaced apart along the feed direction. In this way, the clamp 8 holds the workpiece 6 in two spaced-apart portions in the feed direction, and thus the feed direction is already determined, i.e., without cooperation with the guide 10. The guide 10 comprises two holding jaws 10a, 10b that normally lock around the workpiece 6. This is the state shown in Figure 6. However, when bending that requires the clamp to be advanced a great distance, the control unit 32 can release the guide 10 and push the forward gripping section 34b, whose cross-sectional shape is correspondingly tapered, through the released guide 10. In this way, the clamp 8 can be moved a great distance forward by the drive unit 14, and the bent portion can be positioned near the bending head end of the clamp 8 without reinsertion or the like.

[0029] Figure 7 shows how two bending machines, namely bending machine 2 and a further bending machine 36, can cooperate to bend a workpiece according to Figure 1. The workpiece is drawn from a coil source in the form of a coil 38 and straightened by a straightening device 40, thereby obtaining a corresponding elongated workpiece for processing. This workpiece 6 has a front end 6a and a rear end 6b. Bending machine 2 bends the rear end 6b, and bending machine 36 bends the front end 6a. A transport robot 42 transports the finally bent workpiece 6. The workpiece is transferred between bending machines 2 and 36 by corresponding drive units of auxiliary arms 12 and 26. The auxiliary arms 12 and 26 are rotated or positioned so that bending machine 36 can receive the workpiece previously bent in bending machine 2 by its clamp.

[0030] Figures 8 and 9 show an alternative design that allows a workpiece to be transferred from one bending machine 2 to another. In the example in Figure 8, the support arm 12 is located on a rotatable platform rather than on a carriage. This allows the workpiece to be received from the bending machine with its front end 6a already bent, so that the rear end 6b can then be bent.

[0031] The same effect can also be achieved when the support arm 12 is able to move in two axes and is therefore held on a table that allows movement in the x and y directions.

Claims

1. A bending machine for rod-shaped workpieces (6) made from solid or tubular material, particularly those having a non-circular, for example, rectangular outer cross-section, A bending head (4) for forming bends in the workpiece (6) that are each located within the bending plane, A work guide (10) positioned upstream of the bending head (4), the work guide (10) advances the workpiece (6) along the feed axis into the bending head (4) in order to position the section to be bent within the bending head (4), A clamp (8) positioned upstream of the work guide (10) on the feed axis, which holds the workpiece (6) and feeds it along the feed axis, Equipped with, A bending machine characterized in that the work guide (10) and the clamp (8) are mounted on a support arm (12) which is mounted so as to be rotatable around the feed axis, so that when the support arm (12) rotates, the clamp (8) and the work guide (10) rotate simultaneously around the feed axis to adjust the bending plane.

2. The bending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the support arm (12) is provided with a clamp drive unit (14) that displaces the clamp (8) along the support arm (12) relative to the work guide (10).

3. The bending machine according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the auxiliary arm (26) is mounted on a carriage (22) that is movable on a base frame (20).

4. The bending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the support arm (12) is attached to a swing arm or a guide carriage (22), thereby allowing it to move transversely with respect to the feed axis in order to receive the workpiece (6) into the clamp (8).

5. The bending machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the support arm (12) is attached to a swivel joint and can thereby swivel away from the feed axis in order to receive the workpiece (6) in the clamp (8).

6. A bending method for a rod-shaped workpiece (6) made from a solid or tubular material, particularly having a non-circular, for example, rectangular outer cross-section, wherein a bending head (4) forms bends in the workpiece (6) that are each located in the bending plane, and in the method, the workpiece (6) is advanced into the bending head (4) along a feed axis by a workpiece guide (10) positioned upstream of the bending head (4) so ​​that the section to be bent is positioned within the bending head (4), the workpiece (6) is held by the workpiece guide (10) and a clamp (8) positioned in front of the workpiece guide (10) on the feed axis, and the clamp (8) advances the workpiece (6) along the feed axis, A bending method characterized in that the work guide (10) and the clamp (8) are supported by a support arm (12) mounted so as to be rotatable around the feed axis, and the support arm (12) rotates simultaneously around the feed axis to set the bending plane.

7. The bending method according to claim 6, characterized in that the support arm (12) is provided with a clamp drive unit (14) that displaces the clamp (8) along the support arm (12) relative to the work guide (10).

8. The bending method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the support arm (12) is mounted on a carriage (22) that is movable on a base frame (20).

9. The bending method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the support arm (12) is attached to a swing arm or guide carriage (22), thereby allowing it to move transversely with respect to the feed axis in order to receive the workpiece (6) into the clamp (8).

10. The bending method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the support arm (12) is attached to a swivel joint and can thereby swivel away from the feed axis in order to receive the workpiece (6) in the clamp (8).

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