A circular sheet metal duct having a sealant applied across the longitudinal seam. The sealant will improve the efficiency and will reduce or eliminate air leakage from the longitudinal seam. The sealant is applied during the manufacturing processes so that an installer does not have to seal the duct work. The method of manufacturing the sealant is provided.

A roller hemming processing device that has first to fifth processing surfaces and that rolls the respective processing surfaces while pressing the respective processing surfaces against a hemming flange in such a posture that an axis of a roller is parallel to an outer panel is used. A pre-processed portion obtained by bending the hemming flange to form a right angle with an inner flange is molded by using the third, fifth and fourth processing surfaces in a stepwise manner such that the angle of inclination with respect to the axis decreases. The pre-processed portion is inclined toward an inner panel side by using the second processing surface. An inclined wall portion that is inclined to contact the inner panel, and a hem portion that is in close contact with the inner panel are molded by simultaneously using the first and second processing surfaces.

The present disclosure relates to crowder assemblies, hemming apparatus, and related components for manufacturing operations. In one or more embodiments, crowder assemblies are used to retain panels that are hemmed together using a hemming apparatus. In one or more embodiments, a crowder assembly for manufacturing operations includes a base, a first support bar coupled to the base and extending relative to an outer face of the base, and a second support bar coupled to the first support bar and oriented at an angle relative to the first support bar. The second support bar includes an opening. The crowder assembly includes a crowder block positioned in the opening of the second support bar, and a flat spring. The flat spring includes a first end segment coupled to the base, and a second end segment coupled to the crowder block.

The flat spring biases the crowder block in response to movement of the crowder block.

A hemming path planning method and a hemming system are provided. The hemming path planning method includes the following steps. An initial contour data of a target is scanned to obtain. A first segment of the hemming path is planned according to the initial contour data. The first segment corresponds to a first bending angle. A second segment of the hemming path is planned according to the initial contour data and an expected springback amount related to the first bending angle. The second segment corresponds to a second bending angle. The first segment and the second segment are combined to obtain a continuous hemming path.

A method of hemming a low ductile material includes providing a first sheet made from the low ductile material and providing an integrated hemming device having at least one laser head and a roll forming assembly comprising a roller. The first sheet is hemmed by moving the roll forming assembly relative to the first sheet along a hemming direction, wherein the roll forming assembly is arranged relative to the first sheet to form a bending region in front of the roll forming assembly. The at least one laser head directs laser light along two optical paths to form two irradiation spots. One of the irradiation spots irradiates a localized portion of the first sheet along the hemming direction at a substantially constant predetermined distance in front of the roll forming assembly and within the bending region, and the other of the irradiation spots irradiates a portion of the roller.

The present disclosure provides a roller hemming apparatus including a hemming bed including a frame and a die, wherein the hemming bed is detachably coupled to a workpiece, and a roller head including a plurality of hemming rollers that is configured to hem an edge of the workpiece by stages. A press force that presses the edge of the workpiece is adjusted by moving the plurality of the hemming rollers along a first direction with a first cylinder when each hemming roller of the plurality of hemming rollers hems the edge of the workpiece.

A circular sheet metal duct having a sealant applied across the longitudinal seam. The sealant will improve the efficiency and will reduce or eliminate air leakage from the longitudinal seam. The sealant is applied during the manufacturing processes so that an installer does not have to seal the duct work. The method of manufacturing the sealant is provided.

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 vertical Pittsburgh Seam closing apparatus having a base supporting surface, a track mechanism for moving a carriage assembly which holds seam forming members used to close a Pittsburgh Seam, a pair of upper and lower guide members for guiding the duct section into a proper vertical position, and upper and lower clamping members positioned inside the duct section and adjacent the inside portion of the Pittsburgh Seam to be closed, the upper guide members and clamping member being selectively movable and adjustable for accommodating different duct section lengths. In one embodiment, the seam forming assembly includes a plurality of members mounted in vertical arrangement, at least one of the plurality of seam forming members being shaped to initially bend the overhanging edge portion and at least one of the plurality of seam forming members having a substantially V-shaped configuration for closing the Pittsburgh Seam.

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.