Modular Sheet Support and Feed for Precise Cone Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for bending metal sheets into cylindrical or truncated cone structures face challenges such as difficulty in precise initial positioning, laborious and dangerous manual handling, poor precision, and increased risk of damage due to sliding friction and concentrated pressures, especially for large and thin sheets, leading to inefficiencies and safety concerns.
Innovation Solution
A modular apparatus with a structural frame and adjustable conveying modules that create a customizable support and advancement plane, allowing for controlled and automatic positioning and repositioning of metal sheets during the bending process, ensuring uniform support and precise alignment, and enabling the bending of sheets with varying geometries and dimensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual intervention or overhead cranes are used to position and advance large metal sheets, then the sheets can be handled and inserted into the bending machine, but the operation becomes laborious, dangerous, and imprecise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling (overhead cranes, chains, hooks) with an automated mechanical conveying system consisting of synchronized rollers and positioning devices. This system automatically feeds metal sheets into the bending machine with precise control, eliminating manual intervention while achieving high positioning accuracy through controlled roller rotation and positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveying system is designed to automatically position and feed sheets without external assistance. The synchronized rollers self-adjust to maintain proper sheet alignment, and the positioning devices automatically correct sheet position, enabling the system to serve itself in maintaining precision throughout the feeding process.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed horizontal resting plane is used to support metal sheets, then the sheet can be positioned, but precise initial squaring and controlled advancement during bending is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static fixed horizontal resting plane into a dynamic adjustable support system. The resting plane can change its inclination angle and horizontal/vertical position to adapt to different sheet geometries (cylindrical, conical, truncated cone). This dynamic adjustment capability enables precise initial squaring and maintains accurate sheet positioning throughout the bending process for various structural forms.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable resting plane serves multiple functions: it acts as a support surface, a positioning device, and an alignment mechanism. By being able to adjust its angle and position, the same structure can handle different sheet types and bending operations, providing universal adaptability while maintaining manufacturing precision across various applications.
3Speed
If pin elements or wheels are used to rotate the advancing sheet metal, then rotation can be achieved, but sliding friction causes surface damage and concentrated pressures damage the sheet edges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the harmful pin element or wheel rotation mechanism from the system. Instead of using a separate rotating element that creates concentrated pressure and sliding friction, the invention integrates rotation control directly into the conveying roller system, distributing the rotational action across the entire roller surface to avoid localized damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different local qualities to the conveying system: the rollers have a larger contact area with the sheet compared to pin elements, distributing pressure evenly. The roller surface properties are optimized to minimize friction while maintaining grip, creating a localized interaction that protects the sheet surface and edges from damage during rotation and advancement.
4Manufacturing precision
If discontinuous advancement with frequent repositioning is used, then sheet position can be corrected, but the process becomes drastically long and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous advancement of the sheet through the bending machine, eliminating the need for frequent stopping and repositioning. The synchronized conveying rollers maintain continuous sheet feed, and the resting plane adjusts continuously to keep the sheet on the correct trajectory, allowing the bending process to proceed without interruption and maximizing productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor sheet position and trajectory during advancement. Based on this feedback, the conveying rollers and resting plane make real-time adjustments to correct any deviations, ensuring precision is maintained throughout continuous operation without requiring discontinuous intervention.
5Length of moving object
If the bending machine processes sheets of large dimensions, then larger structures can be produced, but the risk of damage increases due to sliding friction and concentrated pressures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the interaction between the conveying system and the sheet into multiple distributed contact points along the sheet length, rather than concentrated points. The conveying rollers are arranged to provide support and rotation control at multiple locations, distributing the mechanical interaction across the entire sheet surface to minimize localized stress and damage risk for large-dimensional sheets.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for the support and the controlled advancement of a sheet in a bending machine for forming a cylindrical or conical structure, in particular of a truncated cone structure, comprises a base structural frame adapted to be positioned upstream of said bending machine, with respect to an advancement direction of the sheet, a plurality of conveying modules which can be mounted, removable, on the structural frame so as to generate a plan of modular support and advancement which can be configured geometrically according to the shape and dimensions of the sheet to be produced; the modular support and advancement plane is geometrically configured to keep the sheet metal part supported by the plane in a flat condition; an lifting and tilting device configured to vary the position of the structural frame, supporting the conveying modules, from a horizontal lying position to an inclined lying position in which the support and advancement plane is inclined downwards towards the bending machine; repositioning and position correcting members configured to orient and arrange the sheet in a correct position before starting a bending cycle and configured to correct, during the bending cycle, the position of the sheet to impose it a predetermined advancement trajectory towards and through the bending machine. The relative method is also envisaged.