A smart active control hemming device is provided. The device includes a robot arm and a hemming roller unit that is disposed at a front end portion of the robot arm. The hemming roller unit includes a plurality of hemming rollers, a control motor that is driven with an electric motor to adjust a hemming pressure or position of at least one of the hemming rollers, and a pressure detection sensor that detects a hemming pressure of the hemming roller in which a hemming pressure is adjusted by the control motor.

A hemming device includes an anvil for placing a work, a presser material handling portion, a conveyance robot, and a roller hemming robot. The anvil includes an anvil main body portion, a positioning device, a gripping device, and a device-side ATC device to be attached to and detached from a conveyance-robot side ATC device. The presser material handling portion includes a frame portion having a shape corresponding to a shape of the work, a positioning device, a gripping device, a presser provided to press the inner panel at a position at which the presser does not interfere with a final shape, and a device-side ATC device to be attached to and detached from the conveyance-robot side ATC device. With this configuration, processing time is reduced and replacement operation of the anvil is simplified, and therefore productivity is improved.

A machining device for an element to be machined includes a moving unit, a machining unit and a control element. The moving unit is provided with an acceleration unit. The control element and the acceleration unit are designed so that a movement of at least one part of the acceleration unit with at least one component of movement transverse to the direction of movement of the moving unit is mechanically associated with a movement of the moving unit relative to the control element. The acceleration unit is designed so that producing a relative acceleration of the machining unit in relation to the moving unit in the direction of movement of the moving unit is mechanically associated with the movement of at least said part of the acceleration unit.

A steering roller head for hemming or seaming metal sheets includes a mounting flange that couples to an arm of a robot. The mounting flange is offset from a longitudinal axis of the steering roller head to reduce an operating envelope of the robot arm during a roller hemming process. The mounting flange can also be offset by a mounting angle from the longitudinal axis which allows for a further reduction in an operating envelope of the robot arm during a roller hemming process. Reducing the operating envelope of the robot arm can allow for additional robots or automated tooling to access the work piece during a roller hemming process. In addition, reducing the operating envelope of the robot arm allows for improved access to the work piece during a roller hemming process.

The present invention relates to methods of working sheet metal, and sheet metal working apparatus for performing such methods. Such methods include steps of providing a sheet metal workpiece having first and second surfaces opposed to each other and at least one edge, bending the workpiece to form at least a first sidewall portion defined between the edge and a basal region, the first sidewall portion thereby defining a curved fold region in the sheet metal workpiece adjacent the first sidewall portion. Following this, first anvil tool and a first forming tool are provided for contact with and constraint of the first and second surfaces of the sheet metal workpiece respectively. The forming tool and/or the anvil tool are then progressively slid along the curved fold region to cause shear material transfer in the curved fold region to further deform the curved fold region. Such methods can allow for formation of components of similar shape as made at present by deep drawing methods, but with less wastage of the starting material.

A cross edge rolling process for increasing a thickness of a strip in longitudinal edge strips on both longitudinal sides of the strip. According to the invention, this is achieved in that firstly a step extending in the longitudinal direction of the strip is produced by means of a roll profiling process, wherein the strip is supported during the cross edge rolling process on said step against a compression force acting transversely to the strip, so that the strip is not compressed outside the longitudinal edge strip. After the edging process for increasing the thickness of the longitudinal edge strips, the strip is bent by means of a roll profiling process to form a C-profile rail.

An arrangement for connecting different parts includes two vehicle components. The vehicle body components include a first vehicle body component taking the form of a sheet metal component with a joining flange and being connected at this joining flange to the second vehicle body component via a welded connection. The joining flange on the first vehicle body component has a turned-over rim and is thereby formed with a doubled sheet metal thickness.

A roller hemming apparatus is disclosed. A roller hemming apparatus for hemming an outer panel with respect to an inner panel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a tool body mounted at a front end of an arm of a robot, a pre-hemming roller mounted to a front side of a mounting block, which is disposed at a lower portion of the tool body, through a first mounting bracket, a main hemming roller mounted to a rear side of the mounting block through a second mounting bracket, and at least one heater mounted at a lateral side of the mounting block and configured to heat a flange portion of the outer panel.

A hemming device wherein a processing tool is equipped with a base part moved by a robot, a processing unit having a hemming roller and a guide roller, and a floating mechanism that is attached to the base part and elastically supports the processing unit with six degrees of freedom.

A robot system includes an end effector, a robot arm, and a controller. The end effector includes a pressure roller and a linear motion mechanism. The linear motion mechanism is configured to move the pressure roller with respect to a pressed surface. The robot arm is configured to support the end effector. The controller is configured to control the linear motion mechanism to move the pressure roller to make a pressing force of the pressure roller against the pressed surface approximately uniform.