BENDING BEAM FOR A SWIVEL BENDING MACHINE
20190126335 ยท 2019-05-02
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
G01B11/26
PHYSICS
B21D5/006
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21D5/04
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
G01B21/22
PHYSICS
International classification
B21D5/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21D5/04
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
An elongated bending beam for a swivel bending machine has an approximately C-shaped beam cross section and two bending tools, which are opposite one another relative to a preferably horizontal central plane), and which run facing one another in the longitudinal direction of the bending beam, between which a workpiece portion of a workpiece to be bent can be introduced. An angle-measuring system for contactlessly measuring a bending angle is arranged inside the C-shape beam cross section, with which a bending angle can be measured relative to a reference plane at a workpiece section bent by one of the bending tools. The angle-measuring system also includes a first angle-measuring unit arranged below the central plane and having a first measuring region positioned substantially above the central plane, and a second angle-measuring unit arranged above the central plane and having a second measuring region positioned substantially below the central plane.
Claims
1. A bending beam (1) for a swivel bending machine, wherein the elongated bending beam (1) has an approximately C-shaped beam cross section (2) and two bending dies (6, 7), which are disposed oppositely relative to a preferably horizontal central plane (8), which are turned toward one another and which extend in longitudinal direction (24) of the bending beam (1), and between which a workpiece portion (11) of a workpiece (9) to be bent can be introduced, and wherein, within the interior (10) of the bending beam (1) enclosed by the C-shaped beam cross section (2), an angle-measuring system (17) for contactless measurement of a bending angle (13) is disposed, with which a bending angle (13) can be measured relative to a reference plane (12) on a workpiece portion (11) being bent by one of the bending dies (6, 7), wherein the angle-measuring system (17) comprises a first angle-measuring unit (18), which is disposed underneath the central plane (8) and has a first measuring region (20), which is situated for the most part above the central plane (8), and comprises a second angle-measuring unit (19), which is disposed above the central plane (8) and has a second measuring region (21), which is situated for the most part underneath the central plane (8).
2. The bending beam (1) according to claim 1, wherein both the first measuring region (20) and the second measuring region (21) include the central plane (8) between the bending dies (6, 7).
3. The bending beam (1) according to claim 1, wherein the angle-measuring units (18, 19) respectively comprise a light-section sensor with a line laser (22) and an image-sensing unit (23) spaced apart from it.
4. The bending beam (1) according to claim 1, wherein the inside width (28) between the angle-measuring units (18, 19) corresponds to at least 75% of a die spacing (29) that exists between the bending dies (6, 7).
5. The bending beam (1) according to claim 1, wherein the angle-measuring units (18, 19) are positionable by means of a guide arrangement (25) in longitudinal direction (24) of the bending beam (1), in particular are positionable beyond one end of the bending dies (6, 7).
6. The bending beam (1) according to claim 5, wherein the angle-measuring units (18, 19) are fastened on a common carriage (27).
7. The bending beam (1) according to claim 6, wherein the carriage (27) is guided on two guide rails (26) spaced apart from one another on a base (3) of the bending beam (1) spaced apart from the bending dies (6, 7).
8. The bending beam (1) according to claim 6, wherein a stop face (34) at right angles to the central plane (8) is formed on the carriage (27) at the height of the lower bending die (6).
9. The bending beam (1) according to claim 1, wherein a cambering device (37) for influencing the curvature (36) along the longitudinal direction (24) of a bending die (6, 7) is formed on the bending beam (1).
10. A swivel bending machine, comprising a machine frame, a workpiece-holding unit (30) with a first clamping tool (31) joined to the machine frame, and a positionable second clamping tool (32) interacting therewith for fixation of a workpiece (9) in a working plane, which in particular is horizontal, so that a workpiece portion (11) to be bent protrudes relative to the workpiece-holding unit (30), and a bending beam (1) mounted positionably on the machine frame and joined to a positioning drive (16) for bending the workpiece portion (11), wherein the bending beam (1) is formed according to claim 1.
11. A method for measuring a bending angle (13) on a workpiece (9) in a swivel bending machine with an elongated bending beam (1), wherein this has an approximately C-shaped beam cross section (2) and two bending dies (6, 7), which are disposed oppositely relative to a preferably horizontal central plane (8), which are turned toward one another and which extend in longitudinal direction (24) of the bending beam (1), and between which a workpiece portion (11) of a workpiece (9) to be bent is introduced and, by means of an angle-measuring system (17) disposed within the interior (10) of the bending beam (1) enclosed by the C-shaped beam cross section (2), the bending angle (13) is measured relative to a reference plane (12) on a workpiece portion (11) to be gauged, wherein, especially after automatic definition by a programmable control device of the angle-measuring system (17), the bending angle (13) of a workpiece portion (11) is measured by means of a first angle-measuring unit (18), which is disposed underneath the central plane (8) or by means of a second angle-measuring unit (19), which is disposed above the central plane (8), or by means of first angle-measuring unit (18) and second angle-measuring unit (19).
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the measurement of the bending angle (13) takes place after removal of the bending die (6, 7) from the workpiece (9) and subsequent deactivation or reduction of the workpiece clamping of a workpiece-holding device (30).
13. The method according to claim 11, wherein that the measurement of the bending angle (13) takes place on a workpiece portion (39) that was obtained by two or more preceding bending processes on the workpiece (9).
14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the bending angle (13) on the workpiece portion (11) after a bending process is measured at several positions spaced apart from one another in longitudinal direction (24) of the bending beam (1).
15. The method according to claim 14 wherein, based on the measurements after a preceding bending process, a subsequent bending process is adapted, and in particular a curvature (36) of a bending die (6, 7) along its longitudinal direction (24) is actively influenced before or during the subsequent bending process.
Description
[0025] Therein, respectively in greatly simplified schematic diagrams:
[0026]
[0027]
[0028]
[0029]
[0030]
[0031]
[0032] By way of introduction, it is pointed out that like parts in the differently described embodiments are denoted with like reference symbols or like structural part designations, wherein the disclosures contained in the entire description can be carried over logically to like parts with like reference symbols or like structural-part designations. The position indications chosen in the description, such as top, bottom, side, etc., for example, are also relative to the figure being directly described as well as illustrated, and these position indications are to be logically carried over to the new position upon a position change.
[0033]
[0034] A workpiece portion 11 to be bent that is protruding from the workpiece-holding device is bent either upward by means of the first bending tool 6 or downward by means of the second bending tool 7, whereby a certain bending angle 13 relative to a reference plane 12 is produced on the workpiece 9. If a workpiece portion 11 is bent upward by means of a first working edge 14 formed on the first bending tool 6, this is also referred to as a positive bending, whereas a bending downward by means of a second working edge 15 on the second bending tool 7 is referred to as a negative bending.
[0035] The movements of the bending beam 1, relative to a fixed machine frame of the swivel bending machine, necessary for execution of bending processes, are brought about by means of a positioning drive 16, wherein positioning movements in both vertical Y direction and in horizontal X direction can be executed, as can also combined movements.
[0036] The positioning movements are advantageously controlled by means of a programmed control device of the swivel bending machine, whereby a high repeat accuracy of the bending processes can be achieved. However, since the achievable bending angle 13 on a bent workpiece portion 11 depends not only on the executed positioning movement of the bending beam 1 but also on workpiece properties, such as, for example, workpiece thickness and workpiece strength, the bending angle 13 achievable by a bending process is always subject to certain fluctuations. In the case of high accuracy requirements applicable to the achieved bending angle, it is therefore prior art to apply a two-stage bending method, which is composed of pre-bending and post-bending or finish-bending. During this pre-bending, the workpiece portion 11 is bent to a pre-bending angle that is smaller than the desired final bending angle and, after execution of the pre-bending, the forming behavior of the workpiece 9 is assessed and, during finish-bending the bending portion is bent to the final bending angle while taking the forming behavior into consideration.
[0037] The most important factor for the bending accuracy is then the individual springback of the workpiece portion 11 during load relaxation after the bending process. For example, if a springback to a bending angle of 77 is found in the unloaded workpiece 9 during a pre-bending to an angle of 80, this springback of 3 is considered in a subsequent post-bending process or finish-bending process by applying an angle of 93 during the post-bending to a desired final bending angle of 90 in the unloaded state, in order to compensate for the expected springback of 3.
[0038] In order to be able to apply such a two-stage bending method, the bending beam 1 is provided in the interior 10 with an angle-measuring system 17. In the bending beam 1 according to the invention, the contactlessly operating angle-measuring system 17 comprises a first angle-measuring unit 18, which is disposed underneath the central plane 8 and is oriented upward, and furthermore a second angle-measuring unit 19, which is disposed above the central lane 8 and is oriented downward. The first measuring region 20, which can be sensed by the first angle-measuring unit 18, is illustrated with dashed lines in
[0039] In this arrangement of the angle-measuring units 18, 19, workpiece portions 11 bent upwardly during positive bendings are measured mainly by the upwardly oriented first angle-measuring unit 18, which is disposed underneath the central plane 8, and workpiece portions 11 bent downwardly during negative bendings are measured mainly with the downwardly oriented second angle-measuring unit 19, which is disposed above the central plane 8.
[0040] The entire measuring region that can be sensed by this angle-measuring system 17 is composed of the first measuring region 20 and the second measuring region 21 and thereby a comparatively large fraction of the interior 10 of the bending beam 1 can be instrumentally sensed on the whole.
[0041] In this connection, it is of advantage when the first measuring region 20 and the second measuring region 21 overlap in the region of the central plane 8 between the bending tools 6 and 7, i.e. both measuring regions 20, 21 also include the central plane 8 between the bending tools 6, 7. Due to the arrangement according to the invention of the angle-measuring units 18, 19, a great flexibility exists with respect to the position of a workpiece portion 11 to be gauged, whereby an exact measurement of bending angles 13 can be achieved even for complicated workpiece geometries with several bending edges.
[0042] The angle-measuring units 18, 19 may be advantageously designed respectively as a light-section sensor, which comprises a line laser 22 or another light source that is able to emit a plane light beam, and furthermore an image-sensing unit 23 spaced apart therefrom, e.g. a camera with suitable optics and an image sensor with sufficient resolution. Alternatively thereto, however, other contactlessly operating angle-measuring systems may also be used, such as a laser scanner or time-of-flight camera, for example.
[0043] During the use of a light-section sensor, the line laser 22 emits laser light, preferably in a plane that is disposed at right angles to the bending edges to be produced, whereby clearly visible laser-light segments are produced on the workpiece 11 to be gauged. The image-sensing unit 23, which is spaced apart from the line laser 22, views these laser-light segments from the side, and the respective bending angle of the laser-light segment being viewed relative to a reference plane can be calculated by triangulation from the sensed images of the laser-light segments. The measuring region of such a light-section sensor is obtained from the surface of intersection between the plane of the line laser and the sensing region determined by the imaging optics and the image sensor of the image-sensing unit 23. The measuring regions 20, 21 illustrated in rectangular form for simplicity in
[0044]
[0045] In
[0046] Since the angle-measuring units 18, 19 in the interior 10 of the bending beam 1 represent an interference contour, which may prevent machining of certain workpiece geometries, it may be of advantage when the angle-measuring units 18, 19 can be positioned laterally beyond the axial ends of the bending tools 6, 7 by means of the guide arrangement 25, since thereby a greater free space for bending is provided in the interior 10 of the bending beam 1. The first angle-measuring unit 18 and the second angle-measuring unit 19 may then be positionable independently of one another, as indicated by solid lines in
[0047] Since the space requirement of the angle-measuring system 17 also limits the maximum dimensions of the workpieces that are suitable for a gauging of the bending angle, it is of advantage when, as illustrated in
[0048]
[0049] The workpiece portion 11 illustrated in
[0050] The respectively determined bending angle 13 can now be used for the purpose of executing subsequent bending processes on the same workpiece 9 in such a way that the forming behavior of the workpiece 9, especially the springback, is considered and that more accurate bending angles 13 are achieved thereby. Furthermore, the measured bending angle can be used in the course of the two-stage bending method described in the foregoing for finish-bending of the same bending edge, or else the forming behavior recorded on a first workpiece 9 may be transferred to another identical workpiece 9, without this having to need its own bending-angle measurement.
[0051] The angle-measuring units 18 and 19 as already described on the basis of
[0052] Optionally, a stop element, which forms a stop face 34 oriented at right angles to the central plane 8, may be formed on this carriage 27. This stop face 34 may be brought to the height of the stop face of the first clamping element 31 by positioning of the bending beam 1 and thereby, during introduction of a workpiece 9, a defined starting position of the workpiece 9 for subsequent positioning movements can be established, which are executed, for example, by means of a programmable manipulator.
[0053]
[0054] In this case, the first angle-measuring unit 18 is situated approximately in a middle position relative to the longitudinal direction 34 of the bending beam 1, and a dashed line starting from the line laser 22 indicates the measuring region 20 or 21 in which a measurement of a bending angle 13 takes place. To the left and right thereof, further measuring positions on the workpiece 9 are indicated by dashed lines, whereby fluctuations of the bending angle 13 along a bending edge can be observed. This may occur in particular by the fact that deviations from the straight ideal shape occur on the holding device 30 or else on the bending beam 1 due to the forming forces being applied. In
[0055]
[0056]
[0057] The selection of the respective angle-measuring instrument 18, 19 to be used or of the suitable positioning of the bending beam 1 and/or of the workpiece 9 for the performance of bending-angle measurements may also be achieved advantageously by a programmable control device of the swivel bending machine.
[0058]
[0059] In the course of the image evaluation, it is also possible to sense a sequence of several sensed laser-light segments as a whole and to compare the actual profile of a workpiece calculated therefrom with a nominal profile, e.g. for control of a radius bend composed of a large number of individual bends.
[0060] For accurate performance of bending-angle measurements, it may be further advantageous to cancel the clamping of the workpiece 9 at least partly or completely prior to performance of the angle measurement, whereby not only the springback due to the cancellation of the forming force takes effect due to the removal of the bending tool 6, 7, but also angle changes, that are present due to the springback in the workpiece holding jig and that could falsify the measured bending angle 13, can become free.
[0061] The method steps described hereinabove for the bending-angle measurement as well as the other workflow steps during the bending processes are advantageously also executed or initiated automatically by a programmable control device of a swivel bending machine.
[0062] The exemplary embodiments show possible embodiment variants, wherein it must be noted at this place that the invention is not restricted to the specially illustrated embodiment variants of the same, but to the contrary diverse combinations of the individual embodiment variants with one another are also possible and, on the basis of the teaching of the technical handling by the subject invention, this variation possibility lies within the know-how of the person skilled in the art and active in this technical field.
[0063] The scope of protection is defined by the claims. However, the description and the drawings are to be used for interpretation of the claims. Individual features or combinations of features from the shown and described different exemplary embodiments may represent inventive solutions that are independent in themselves. The task underlying the independent inventive solutions may be inferred from the description.
[0064] All statements about value ranges in the description of the subject matter are to be understood to the effect that they jointly comprise any desired and all sub-ranges therefrom, e.g. the statement 1 to 10 is to be understood to the effect that all sub-ranges, starting from the lower limit 1 and the upper limit 10 are jointly comprised, i.e. all sub-ranges begin with a lower range of 1 or greater and end at an upper limit of 10 or smaller, e.g. 1 to1.7, or 3.2 to 8.1, or 5.5 to 10.
[0065] Finally, it must be pointed out, as a matter of form, that some elements have been illustrated not to scale and/or enlarged and/or reduced for better understanding of the structure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0066] 1 Bending beam [0067] 2 Beam cross section [0068] 3 Base [0069] 4 Limb [0070] 5 Limb [0071] 6 First bending tool [0072] 7 Second bending tool [0073] 8 Central plane [0074] 9 Workpiece [0075] 10 Interior [0076] 11 Workpiece portion [0077] 12 Reference plane [0078] 13 Bending angle [0079] 14 First working edge [0080] 15 Second working edge [0081] 16 Positioning drive [0082] 17 Angle-measuring system [0083] 18 First angle-measuring unit [0084] 19 Second angle-measuring unit [0085] 20 First measuring region [0086] 21 Second measuring region [0087] 22 Line laser [0088] 23 Image-sensing unit [0089] 24 Longitudinal direction [0090] 25 Guide arrangement [0091] 26 Guide rail [0092] 27 Carriage [0093] 28 Inside width [0094] 29 Tool spacing [0095] 30 Workpiece holding device [0096] 31 First clamping tool [0097] 32 Second clamping tool [0098] 33 Evaluation region [0099] 34 Stop face [0100] 35 Curvature [0101] 36 Curvature [0102] 37 Cambering device [0103] 38 Carriage [0104] 39 Workpiece portion