seconds has a definite effect on the production
efficiency. The resource time, together with the
material input, plays a decisive role in large-scale
production. The central question for mechanical
engineers therefore is:
to be produced, it is recommended to equip tube
bending machines with multi-radius bending tools.
With these, set-up times can be reduced by up to
70 percent and at the same time the utilization of
the machines increased. Such time advantages
pay off to a particular degree in the production of
large-scale series. Thus also in the fast-cycle vehicle
construction, more precisely in the production
of complex bend in bend systems for exhaust
systems. Especially suitable for this purpose are,
for example, the CNC MR series bending machines
from Schwarze-Robitec fitted with stacked tooling.
They enable production of exhaust pipes with a
bending radius of 1 x D without bending straight
intermediate lengths between two bends.
At which point can technical improvements be
conducted, to save time in addition to material?
For faster tool change, Schwarze-Robitec has,
for example, developed the rapid clamping
system “Quick Tool Unlock.”
It consists of a split tension rod with clamping
lever as well as a swivel device. Whereas in the
case of standard market models, the continuous
tension rod to the swivel arm crossbeam needs
to be unscrewed at the top on the bend former
for tool change, the procedure is much simpler
with the Quick Tool Unlock: In this case only the
clamping lever is actuated and the connection to
the swivel arm crossbeam is separated. Then the
swivel device can be opened, so that the bend
former is exposed to the top. In interaction with
the automatic tool clamping, the bend former
can be removed without difficulty and without
unscrewing anything. Long machine downtimes,
due to complicated conversions, can therefore be
reduced significantly. A relief which is of benefit
to the operator because he can attend to his core
tasks. If different radii or whole tube systems are
Thanks to the stacked tooling, the set-up times are
minimal.
Time-efficient design of work steps
CNC controls, which can run individual procedures
simultaneously where possible, have been available
on the market for some time already and help to
save valuable seconds per production process.
While developing its new machine control, the
bending specialist from Cologne took this concept
a decisive step further. It prepares the respectively
following work step already while still carrying
out the current procedure. An example: While the
tube is fed to the tool, the clamping functions
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TN MAY 2016