An industrial installation having an automated sheet metal bending cell and an automated magazine, having a spatial and functional organization for automating flows of materials entering and leaving the cell, aimed at increasing, in a reduced enclosure, autonomy of operation of the cell without human assistance, as well as flexibility and productivity of the cell, the installation including: a press brake; a bending robot; a rail, generally called a track, on which a carriage supporting the robot moves; a system for dropping off and retrieving parts during operation; a mechanical or optical system for controlling indexing of parts to be bent; a magazine or a set of racks for bending tools comprising punches and dies; at least one attachment device for grippers; a programming and monitoring system for the press brake; a control console; an automated magazine; and a supply area for parts to be bent.

An information processing apparatus is capable of reducing a burden on an operator to process data exchanged between systems. An information processing apparatus processes data including a data structure defining a plurality of machining processes selected from a laser cutting process, a punch cutting process, and a non-cutting process and implemented on a plate workpiece. The data structure includes shape information defining positions of machining lines that serve as targets of the machining processes, and machining information defining a type of each machining process corresponding to each machining line among the machining processes.

A tool to be used for bending a sheet metal is selected and tool layout data is generated in advance that includes a tool ID of the selected tool, mounting position information, and information on a place where each tool is housed in a tool stocker. A display controller controls a display to display information on a place where a tool is housed. A tool collation unit collates a tool ID read by a reader of a tool retrieved by an operator from a tool stocker with a tool ID of a tool included in tool layout data. In a case where the read tool ID matches a tool ID of none of tools included in the tool layout data, the display controller controls the display to display a message indicating that the tool retrieved by the operator is an incorrect tool.

A press brake assembly including a gauge system and press brake machine for processing a workpiece. The gauge system having gauge with a clamp configured to handle the workpiece. The gauge is also capable of changing the tool of the press brake machine. A tool rack is disposed at the ends of a gauge rail for storage of the tools. The control system of the press brake machine may control the gauge, to allow an autonomous unmanned operation

A press brake assembly including a crane system and press brake machine for processing a workpiece. The crane system having a workpiece handling mechanism configured to pick and store the workpiece. The crane system allows the crane to move along a plane via longitudinal and lateral rails. The crane also includes multiple swivel points to allow mobility to handle workpieces efficiently. The control system of the press brake machine may control the crane, allowing a single control system to control the press brake assembly.

An apparatus for forming a round or oval shaped duct for all AC systems in one continuous operation where two driving rolls advance a flat metal sheet to at least one multi-positioning bending roll, where the at least one bending roll is moveable to a bending position for different curvatures and a non-bending position. The driving rolls advance the sheet through while the bending roll bends the sheet to form the curved sides, and the bending roll in the non-bending position form the flat sides of the oval shaped duct. A position sensor detects the position of the flat metal sheet in the rolls to control the location along the sheet where the bending roll is moved to either of the bending or non-bending positions while the driving rolls are stopped. An adhesive dispenser joins both ends of the sheet, resulting in a complete duct.

An automatically adjusting auto gauge system comprises a servo motor that provides rotational motion; at least one of a gearbox and linear actuator driven by the one or more servo motors to transfer the rotational motor of the servo motor to linear motion; a group of roll former passes, each including a cam arm, an eccentric cam, a push rod, a top set of roll tooling, a bottom set of roll tooling; a bar operably coupled to the gearbox and the cam arms of the group of roll former passes, the bar driven by the gearbox to impart linear motion to the cam arms, which in turn imparts rotational motion to each eccentric cam, which in turn imparts linear motion, raising or lowering the top set of roll tooling via the push rod, adjusting a gap between the top and bottom sets of roll tooling.

A system for generating rules inserted into at least one pattern board including: a controller configured to generate at least one shape diagram, the controller also configured to determine number and measurement of crease rules to be generated based on the at least one shape diagram; a cutting station configured to receive and cut a first crease rule into the number and measurement of the crease rules; and a sorter configured to receive the crease rules from the cutting station and sort the crease rules according to the measurement of the crease rules, wherein the sorted crease rules are inserted into each of the at least one pattern board along with a cutting rule shaped by each of at least one bender.

The invention relates to a bending tool (1) comprising a tool body (2) having an upper (3) and an opposite lower end region (4), wherein an attachment extension (5) is configured in the upper end region (3), and a working tip (6) is configured in the lower end region (4). A tool identification marker (11) is disposed in the tool body (2), and a communication interface (9) is disposed in the attachment extension (5) on at least one side surface (8) and not projecting beyond it, which interface is connected with the tool identification marker (11) by way of a connection line (10). An electronics unit (12) is disposed in the tool body (2). A voltage supply contact (14) that is electrically insulated relative to the tool body (2) is is disposed on the attachment extension (5), which contact is connected with a voltage supply module (15) of the electronics unit (12). Furthermore, a change-over switch (16) is disposed in the connection line (10), wherein in a first switching position, the tool identification marker (11) is connected with the communication interface (9), and in a second switching position of the change-over switch (16), the electronics unit (12) is connected with the communication interface (9).

The invention relates to a bending machine (10) for bending a workpiece (12) out of a flat material, such as a sheet for example. A section (14) to be bent may be reshaped relative to a clamped section (16) of the workpiece (12) about at least one bending axis (18), wherein the bending machine (10) comprises: a machine frame (20); a first side clamping wall (22); a second side clamping wall (24) which can be moved relative to the first side clamping wall (22); and at least one bending unit (26, 28) comprising at least one bending tool (30). The first side clamping wall (22) and the second side clamping wall (24) are designed to clamp the workpiece (12) on a clamping plane (32). Furthermore, the bending unit (26, 28) is arranged on at least one of the first and second side clamping walls (22, 24) and is designed to bend the workpiece (12) section (14) to be bent relative to the clamped workpiece (12) section (16) about the at least one bending axis (18). According to the invention, the bending unit (26) has at least one linear guide (34-46), by means of which the bending tool (30) is linearly guided in order to be moved on an advancement plane (48).