Page 26 - MetalForming December 2016

Press Brakes
Loaded with Bottleneck- Buster Technology
High-speed cutting equipment challenges downstream fab-shop operations to keep up. Stepping up the pace at press-brake cells are new features such as automated tool changes with on-board tool storage and on-screen setup instructions for operators.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
If your shop hasn’t acquired a new press brake in the last few years, odds are that the sheet and plate forming area of the shop is on its way to becoming a bottleneck. With the pace of material movement through shops quickening each and every day, thanks in large part to the unreal pro- ductivity from new laser- and plasma- cutting machines, shops cannot afford to face throughput hurdles thrown up by old, slow and inaccurate press brakes.
Have no fear—there is no shortage of new press-brake offerings equipped to handle the rapidly increasing pace of material flow. Operators can view setup sheets on the CNC screen, rather than mess with clumsy and perhaps out-of- date part drawings. And many manu- facturers have devised clever onboard aids also designed to quicken setups. Tooling can be staged right on the press brake, and can be changed automati- cally. In-process bend-angle measure- ment and adjustment can eliminate extra hits and minimize scrap.
Here’s a sample of what’s become available to metalformers in the last year or two.
Salvagnini: www.salvagnini.com/en/product/press-brakes/b3
Lean manufacturing comes to press-brake operations with the introduction of Salvagnini’s B3.ATA press brake, which automatically adjusts tool length, V-die opening and backgauges to accommodate the next operation or the next part in a kit-production sequence. Automatic tool adjustment, via the proprietary
SiX controller, frees operators from deci- sions about which tooling and which tool station to use.
Bending
accuracy is ±2
microns, due
to the built-in
angle-mea-
surement sys-
tem that per-
forms real-
time checks on
parts during
bending—without
increasing cycle time.
Measurements are communicated to the controller which, using previously recorded springback values for the workpiece material, signals the necessary adjustments.
Other key machine features:
• Upper tooling that automatically resets, in 8 sec., for the next piece;
• A CNC-controlled lower V-die that opens and closes depending on the
material type and thickness; and
• First-bend accuracy to within ±0.5 deg.
24 MetalForming/December 2016
www.metalformingmagazine.com