Visual Tool Cabinet Layout for Faster Press Brake Die Changes
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Solution Overview
Problem
In industrial settings, press brake tools require frequent identification and exchange, leading to increased machine setup time and costs due to the difficulty in locating and matching male and female forming dies during sheet metal bending operations.
Innovation Solution
A movable cabinet with visual tool identification system, featuring a sheet attached to the exterior with full-scale, cross-sectional tool profiles aligned with the drawers, allowing quick identification and location of tools, using attachment methods like magnets or hook and loop fasteners for easy access and recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If tools are stored in a cabinet without visual identification, then the cabinet structure remains simple, but the time to locate and identify tools increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the copying principle by attaching visual representations (photographs, drawings, or diagrams) of tools to the exterior of the cabinet and drawer fronts. These visual copies allow operators to identify tool locations and characteristics without opening drawers, directly reducing tool location time while adding minimal structural complexity through adhesive or magnetic attachment methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the identification function from the interior space (inside drawers) to the exterior surface of the cabinet. By placing visual tool representations on the outer cabinet surface and drawer fronts, the system allows identification without accessing the three-dimensional interior space, effectively adding a two-dimensional information layer that reduces search time.
2Productivity
If full-scale visual tool profiles are attached to the cabinet exterior, then tool identification speed increases, but the material cost and attachment complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses visual copies (photographs, drawings, or diagrams) of tools attached to the cabinet exterior. These copies provide full-scale or scaled representations that enable rapid tool identification and matching, directly increasing tool exchange speed while avoiding the need for physical tool duplication or complex mechanical systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows flexibility in the visual representation format (photographs, drawings, or diagrams) and scale (full-scale or reduced), enabling adaptation to different implementation contexts. This parameter flexibility optimizes the balance between identification effectiveness and implementation complexity based on specific operational needs.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool identification and location system for a tool containing cabinet. The system includes a plastic sheet having a surface with cross sectional outlines of the cabinet drawers as well as multiple, parallel tool receiving compartments in each of the drawers. The sheet is connected to a sidewall of the cabinet so that the outlines of each drawer are in horizontal alignment with corresponding drawers of the cabinet, and tool cross sections, called profiles, are mounted to the sheet, such as by magnets or hook and loop fasteners, for indicating to an operator the exact location, drawer and compartment, of each tool in the cabinet.