In a tool storing device handling a tool mounting stocker in which a punch and a die of a press brake are mounted in one stocker with rear surfaces facing each other, each of the stockers is supported on both sides by endless belts having one driving shaft, and the endless belts are circulated so that each of the supported stockers does not protrude to a worker side, whereby a position of a path line of the appropriate one of the stockers can be freely positioned at a position of the path line PL of a tool holder on the press brake side. This enables rapid and easy tool replacement by a bending robot by storing not only the tool made of the punch and the die but also the hand for the robot together.

The present disclosure generally relates to material processing of a two-dimensional sheet like material into a desired three-dimensional shape object. In more detail, this disclosure presents a system, a computer device and an industrial robot for use in material processing of a two-dimensional sheet like material. The system may comprise one or more computer devices and one or more industrial robots in a distributed computing environment. A two-dimensional sheet like material may be provided to the industrial robot. Also, a digital instruction for the spreading and subsequent folding of the provided two-dimensional sheet by means of the industrial robot may be received from a computer device. The industrial robot may execute a thus received digital instruction to produce, or otherwise create, a desired design of a three-dimensional object from the provided two-dimensional sheet like material.

The invention relates to a method for operating a bending press (10), wherein the bending press (10) comprises a first platform (1) with a first tool mount (11) and a second platform (2) with a second tool mount (12), wherein one of the platforms (1) is movable relative to the other platform (2) for performing a working movement, a safety device (20) for creating a light barrier (27), in particular laser light barrier, extending between the tool mounts (11, 12) transversely to the working movement of the movable platform (1), which light barrier (27), in a cross-section, forms a light field (7), wherein the safety device (20) has a first mount (21), which carries a light emitter (25) for creating the light barrier (27), and a second mount (22), which carries a light receiver (26) for receiving the light of the light barrier (27), and wherein the first mount (21) is arranged on a first side of the first platform (1) and is adjustable relative to the first platform (1) by a first adjustment drive (23), such that the position of the light barrier (27) relative to the first tool mount (11) can be changed in the direction of the working movement of the movable platform (1), a controller (9) that is connected to the first adjustment drive (23), characterized in that
before a bending operation or a series of bending operations, the controller (9) brings the first mount (21) into a working position by controlling the first adjustment drive (23), in which working position the tool tip (4) of a bending tool (8) held by the first tool mount (11) lies within the light field (7) formed by the light barrier (27).

In a tool storing device handling a tool mounting stocker in which a punch and a die of a press brake are mounted in one stocker with rear surfaces facing each other, each of the stockers is supported on both sides by endless belts having one driving shaft, and the endless belts are circulated so that each of the supported stockers does not protrude to a worker side, whereby a position of a path line of the appropriate one of the stockers can be freely positioned at a position of the path line PL of a tool holder on the press brake side. This enables rapid and easy tool replacement by a bending robot by storing not only the tool made of the punch and the die but also the hand for the robot together.

A hydraulic roll bending machine includes a frame and a hydraulic cylinder supporting a bending roll such that extension or retraction of the rod changes a height of the bending roll relative to the frame. A hydraulic system includes a valve disposed to provide pressurized hydraulic fluid on at least one side of the hydraulic cylinder, and a controller operates to provide a command signal to a valve channeling hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic system to the cylinder. A sensor is integrated with the hydraulic cylinder, within the bore of the housing, and is disposed to sense a distance of the plunger relative to one end of the housing and provide a signal indicative of the distance to the controller.

A hydraulic roll bending machine and method includes loading a plate between top and bottom rollers, receiving a user input indicative of a desired plate radius, calculating a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database, providing a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius, providing a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller, determining an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate, and calculating an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius.

Two press brake machines each using a single, central hydraulic actuator are provided. The press brake machines are configured to operate separately or in tandem, depending upon a size of a sheet metal workpiece to be deformed. A locking device that may include an upper connecting block and a lower connecting block is provided on each of the at least two press brake machines to allow the machines to interlock when the machines are adjacent to one another and are operating in tandem. The upper connecting block may be L shaped to help provide the interlocking. Interlocking of the press brake machines during tandem operation helps prevent distortion that can occur in the upper and lower portions of the ram due to the press brake machine's use of a single, central hydraulic actuator.

A first tool retention member of a first tool exchange unit retains a first tool to be exchanged in a state of being engaged in an engagement hole of the first tool. A second tool retention member of a second tool exchange unit retains a second tool not to be exchanged in a state of being engaged in an engagement hole of the second tool. Subsequently, the first tool exchange unit moves in a left-right direction in a state in which a movement of the second tool exchange unit in the left-right direction is stopped.

A pattern matching unit carries out a pattern matching between a photographed image obtained by photographing a workpiece with a monocular camera and a first plurality of models having a plurality of sizes and a plurality of angles, and selects a model having a size and an angle with the highest degree of matching. A primary detection unit detects a position and an angle of an uppermost workpiece based on the selected model. An actual load height calculation unit calculates an actual load height of the uppermost workpiece based on a hand height. A secondary detection unit re-detects the position and the angle of the uppermost workpiece based on a model having a size and an angle with the highest degree of matching selected by carrying out a pattern matching between the photographed image and a second plurality of models selected or newly created based on the actual load height.

A gathering operation includes a restraint operation of moving forward a left lower tool retention member so as to restrain a reference lower tool with the left lower tool retention member, an inserting operation of moving forward a right lower tool retention member so as to insert the right lower tool retention member into an insertion hole of a target lower tool, and an execution operation of moving the left and right lower tool retention members along a left-right direction so as to come close with each other. If a failure of the inserting operation is determined, a control device performs a retry operation of moving forward the right lower tool retention member again so as to insert the right lower tool retention member into the insertion hole (141) of the target lower tool after moving backward the left lower tool retention member.