Page 34 - MetalForming May 2011
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Digitizing the Press-Brake Bending Process
part information in a digital database, it can easily reprogram parts to run on different brakes in the shop when pro- duction-scheduling changes become necessary.
New Generation of Controls
In the past five years, the capabilities of press-brake controls have risen to take full advantage of the latest gener- ation of bending CAM programs. This new generation of PC-based controls has Ethernet capability, allowing them to join a shop’s existing network struc- ture to take full advantage of the ben- efits offered by offline programming.
Virtual bending externalizes the intellectual process of creating a bend- ing solution for a part. The program generated includes useful information that can streamline setup and produc- tion. Then, when an operator opens the program on the control, he imme- diately sees a tooling setup sheet, dis- playing complete information regard- ing tool type and layout. Quite often,
this information is represented graph- ically. Further, some controls offer interactive touchscreens, which also will interact with a press brake’s back- gauge or LED lights that indicate for the operator exact tool placement. This reduces setup time at the machine.
With tool setup complete, the oper- ator now turns his focus to bending. The 3D simulation generated by a vir- tual bending program displays on the machine’s control, providing a bend- by-bend graphical representation of part placement along the machine. This reduces cycle time and minimizes the risk of misformed parts due to incorrect part placement or sequence errors. With the bend program down- loaded to the control, all of the time previously spent entering data into the control is eliminated.
The next setup issue to address: test bend/inspection. Many factors affect a shop’s ability to achieve the target bend angle when forming on a press brake, including variation in the workpiece
material’s thickness, hardness and grain direction. Many press-brake builders offer systems engineered to correct bend angle in-process for these material variations—probes, sensors or laser devices that measure and adjust bend angle on-the-fly. These systems will eliminate the time and material demands of test bending, and also can be used to monitor and adjust the bend process, reducing the need for in-process inspection.
A Final Word
By capitalizing on the skill of the best operators in the shop by leverag- ing the capabilities of offline-pro- gramming software, fabricators can gain a more consistent and repeatable process with fewer mistakes and better- quality parts, all while keeping costs down. The programs generated by this process remain the intellectual property of the company, ensuring that future runs can be processed even if skilled operators become hard to find. MF
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