A bending robot takes out a workpiece stored on a stacker while contacting its end face with a storage reference flat plane of the stacker, and then supplies it to a bending machine. The bending robot includes a main body movable parallel to the storage reference flat plane, an arm portion supported by the main body and capable of positioning above the stacker, and a distance sensor provided in the arm portion for measuring a distance to the workpiece stored on the stacker in a contactless manner. According to the bending robot, bending can be done with high efficiency.

A method for removing a plate-shaped first workpiece from an upper side of a stack of plate-shaped further workpieces in a sequential direction of the further workpieces includes lifting the first workpiece using a gripper, and inserting a separating layer between a raised corner of the first workpiece and a second workpiece from the stack of further workpieces. The second workpiece is adjacent to the first workpiece. The method further includes holding down the stack of further workpieces by the separating layer, removing the first workpiece from the stack of further workpieces, and measuring a thickness of the first workpiece.

A method for removing a plate-shaped first workpiece from an upper side of a stack of plate-shaped further workpieces in a sequential direction of the further workpieces includes lifting the first workpiece using a gripper, and inserting a separating layer between a raised corner of the first workpiece and a second workpiece from the stack of further workpieces. The second workpiece is adjacent to the first workpiece. The method further includes holding down the stack of further workpieces by the separating layer, removing the first workpiece from the stack of further workpieces, and measuring a thickness of the first workpiece.

A plate material conveyance apparatus, disposed next to a plate processing machine, includes an unprocessed plate material placement unit, a processed plate material placement unit, a loader, an unloader and a temporary placement table. The loader reciprocally moves between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine to deliver an unprocessed plate material onto the plate processing machine. The unloader reciprocally moves in parallel to and below the loader between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine, and delivers a processed plate material from the plate processing machine to the temporary placement table positioned above the unprocessed plate material placement unit. The temporary placement table slides between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine, and transfers the processed plate material, received from the unloader, to the processed plate material placement unit.

A plate material conveyance apparatus, disposed next to a plate processing machine, includes an unprocessed plate material placement unit, a processed plate material placement unit, a loader, an unloader and a temporary placement table. The loader reciprocally moves between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine to deliver an unprocessed plate material onto the plate processing machine. The unloader reciprocally moves in parallel to and below the loader between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine, and delivers a processed plate material from the plate processing machine to the temporary placement table positioned above the unprocessed plate material placement unit. The temporary placement table slides between the unprocessed plate material placement unit and the plate processing machine, and transfers the processed plate material, received from the unloader, to the processed plate material placement unit.

Described herein is a novel process for separating individual lubricated aluminum sheets from a stack of lubricated aluminum sheets as they enter a stamping press for fabrication. The process involves placing a lift underneath a stack of aluminum sheets and lifting the center upwards. This in turn causes the edges of the stack to bend downwards, creating a concave bending curvature facing the lift. The induced curvature is sufficient to provide the inter-sheet shear necessary to break the adhesion caused by the lubricant.

Described herein is a novel process for separating individual lubricated aluminum sheets from a stack of lubricated aluminum sheets as they enter a stamping press for fabrication. The process involves placing a lift underneath a stack of aluminum sheets and lifting the center upwards. This in turn causes the edges of the stack to bend downwards, creating a concave bending curvature facing the lift. The induced curvature is sufficient to provide the inter-sheet shear necessary to break the adhesion caused by the lubricant.

A single-sheet lifter includes a base frame arranged in a vicinity of a loading area and extending vertically, a separation unit configured to separate an uppermost workpiece from a plurality of the workpieces loaded in the loading area by means of at least one of an injection pressure of air and a suction force, and a counter balancer configured to reduce a weight acting on the separation unit. The separation unit is provided to the base frame so as to be able to move up and down. The separation unit includes a contact member that comes into contact with a surface of the uppermost workpiece. The separation unit is configured to go up following a lifting operation of a workpiece suction lifter and be retracted from above the loading area when the workpiece suction lifter sucks the surface of the uppermost workpiece to lift the workpiece.

A method for automatically forming bundles of metal laminations, adapted for armatures of electrical machines or the like, by automatic precision dosing of a lamination bundle produced by picking up and separating a preset number of laminations, includes grabbing, at one end of a lamination stack, a preset number of laminations; separating the number of laminations of the bundle from the lamination stack by axially moving the bundle away from the lamination stack by a preset distance; detaching one or more laminations, if any, at the end of the lamination bundle facing the lamination stack, which may have remained adherent to a last intended lamination by being clamped by a part of their thickness or glued to the lowest lamination of the lamination bundle; and collecting the lamination or laminations, if any, detached from the lamination stack end in a position axially aligned with the laminations of the stack.

A method for automatically forming bundles of metal laminations, adapted for armatures of electrical machines or the like, by automatic precision dosing of a lamination bundle produced by picking up and separating a preset number of laminations, includes grabbing, at one end of a lamination stack, a preset number of laminations; separating the number of laminations of the bundle from the lamination stack by axially moving the bundle away from the lamination stack by a preset distance; detaching one or more laminations, if any, at the end of the lamination bundle facing the lamination stack, which may have remained adherent to a last intended lamination by being clamped by a part of their thickness or glued to the lowest lamination of the lamination bundle; and collecting the lamination or laminations, if any, detached from the lamination stack end in a position axially aligned with the laminations of the stack.