CA2020259C - Method and apparatus for bending manufacturing of long workpiece - Google Patents
Method and apparatus for bending manufacturing of long workpieceInfo
- Publication number
- CA2020259C CA2020259C CA002020259A CA2020259A CA2020259C CA 2020259 C CA2020259 C CA 2020259C CA 002020259 A CA002020259 A CA 002020259A CA 2020259 A CA2020259 A CA 2020259A CA 2020259 C CA2020259 C CA 2020259C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- bending
- workpiece
- speed
- section
- amount
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D11/00—Bending not restricted to forms of material mentioned in only one of groups B21D5/00, B21D7/00, B21D9/00; Bending not provided for in groups B21D5/00 - B21D9/00; Twisting
- B21D11/10—Bending specially adapted to produce specific articles, e.g. leaf springs
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D11/00—Bending not restricted to forms of material mentioned in only one of groups B21D5/00, B21D7/00, B21D9/00; Bending not provided for in groups B21D5/00 - B21D9/00; Twisting
- B21D11/14—Twisting
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B21—MECHANICAL METAL-WORKING WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D—WORKING OR PROCESSING OF SHEET METAL OR METAL TUBES, RODS OR PROFILES WITHOUT ESSENTIALLY REMOVING MATERIAL; PUNCHING METAL
- B21D7/00—Bending rods, profiles, or tubes
- B21D7/08—Bending rods, profiles, or tubes by passing between rollers or through a curved die
Abstract
A method and an apparatus for the manufacture of a long workpiece capable of bending different sections of the workpiece at different bending radii, while preventing buckling deformation during bending of small bending radius sections and a lowering of a productivity. The speed of travel of the workpiece is controlled to be lower for sections requiring a larger degree of bending per unit length, so as to prevent the buckling deformation, and to be higher for sections requiring smaller bending per unit length, so as to prevent the lowering of the productivity.
Description
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING MANUFACTURING
OF LONG WORKPIECE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the manufacture of a long workpiece in which the workpiece is bent while being moved along its length direction, hereafter referred to as "bending manufacture".
Descri~tion of the Background Art An example of a conventional apparatus for bending manufacture of a long workpiece can be found in U.S.
Patent Serial No. 4,367,641.
A long workpiece to be manufactured in such an apparatus can be utilized as a seat belt guide for a passive seat belt of a car, for instance. The passive seat belt is a type of seat belt which automatically hold a passenger in a restraint posture when the sitter sits down and closes a door. This is achieved by fixing one end of the seat belt to a console box side of the seat, while attaching another end to a cable side which is slidable in forward and backward direction along the seat belt guide such as that shown in Fig. 1 which is provided in a vicinity of a window sash. The seat belt guide of Fig. 1 has five sections L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of different curvatures Rl, R2, R3, R4, and R5, respectively, along its length direction, in accordance with a shape of the window sash. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, this seat belt guide has a curvature R6 on its side face, in accordance with a car body shape.
This seat belt guide is manufactured from a workpiece W shown in Fig. 3 which is made of aluminum alloy and which is to be manufactured by extrusion into a form of U-shaped bar having a groove 1 along its length direction along which the cable side of the seat belt is to slide.
This workpiece W of Fig. 2 is then bending manufactured in X and Y directions to make the seat belt guide in a form shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. In addition, for some car body shapes, it is necessary to give a twist in a direction .
An apparatus for performing such bending manufacture of a long workpiece generally comprises a carrier device equipped with carrier rollers for moving the workpiece along its length direction; a supporting device located in front of the carrier device in the direction in which the workpiece is moved which is equipped with supporting rollers corresponding to points of support in the bending operation, and a bending device located further in front of the supporting device which is equipped with bending rollers to function as points of pressing in bending operation. The bending device is capable of moving the bending rollers about vertical and horizontal axes, so that a three-dimensional bending manufacturing can be applied to a workpiece.
In such a conventional apparatus for bending manufacture, the speed of travel of the workpiece is constant throughout an entire process of bending manufacture. This fact causes no problem in the manufacturing of large bending radius sections such as L1 and L3 of the workpiece of Fig. 1 which have relatively large bending radii R1 and R3, respectively. However, in the manufacture of small bending radius sections such as L2 and L4 of the workpiece of Fig. 1 which have relatively small bending radii R2 and R4, respectively, movement cf the workpiece at the same speed as is used in the manufacture of large bending radius sections could give rise to a potential danger of buckling deformation of the workpiece. If the speed of travel of the workpiece is lowered to suit the manufacturing of small bending radius sections, the travel speed is unnecessarily slow for the manufacturing of the large bending radius sections, which causes a lowering of the productivity rate.
-- 202025g SU~IARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for bending manufacture of a long workpiece capable of bending different sections of the workpiece to different bending radii, while preventing buckling deformation while producing small bending radius sections and a lowering of a productivity.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising the steps of: moving the workpiece along the length direction of the workpiece into a bending position; bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising: means for moving the workpiece in its lengthwise direction into a bending position; means for bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and means for controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece by the moving means such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located at a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than ,~;
.~
-requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located at the bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a front view of a seat belt guide to be manufactured from a workpiece by an apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 2 is a side view seat belt guide of Fig. 1 seen from the II direction indicated in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a workpiece to be manufactured into the seat belt guide of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a side view of one embodiment of an apparatus for bending manufacture according to the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a top view of the apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 6 is a front view of a bending device of the - apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 7 is a table specifying amounts of bending and a speed of travel of the workpiece for each segment of the workpiece, according to which the apparatus of Fig. 4 operates.
Fig. 8 is a diagram of a speed of travel of the workpiece and an amount of rotational motion at a bending device of the apparatus of Fig. 4 in the Y direction for each position on the workpiece, which shows the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 4 operated according to the table of Fig. 7.
A
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to Fig. 4 to Fig. 6, there is shown one embodiment of an apparatus for bending manufacturing according to the present invention.
In this embodiment, the apparatus is adapted to shape the workpiece W of Fig. 3 into a seat belt guide for a passive seat belt of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 which is made of aluminum alloy and which is to be manufactured by extrusion into a form of U-shaped bar having a groove 1 along its length direction. This workpiece is sent to the bending apparatus with the groove 1 facing upwards.
The apparatus generally comprises a carrier device 3 for moving the workpiece W lengthwise, a bending device located in front of the carrier device 3 for applying bending force onto the workpiece W, and a supporting device 7 located between the carrier device 3 and the bending device for supporting the workpiece W.
The carrier device 3 has two pairs of carrier rollers 9 which are rotated by a controllable motor (not shown).
Each pair of carrier rollers 9 pinches the workpiece W in the vertical direction, and these pairs of carrier rollers 9 are provided along the direction of the length of the workpiece W, such that the workpiece W is moved lengthwise toward the supporting device 7.
The supporting device 7 has a pair of vertically spaced supporting rollers 11 for supporting the workpiece W in the vertical direction, and a pair of horizontally spaced supporting rollers 13 for supporting the workpiece W in the horizontal direction. These vertical and horizontal supporting rollers 11 and 13 are provided near an end of the supporting device 7 closer to the bending device 5, so that they can also function as points of support in bending operation. The supporting device 7 also has a pair of rear rollers for supporting the workpiece W
provide near another end of the supporting device 7 closer to the carrier device 3. Along with the upper one of the vertical supporting rollers 11, there is also provided a -supporting die D which is to be inserted into the groove 1 of the workpiece W during the bending, in order to prevent deformation of the Workpiece W. This supporting die D is made of steel which had been quench hardened in order to improve its anti-abrasion property.
The bending device comprises a device body 17, a base 19 located on the device body 17, an outer frame 21 placed over the base 19, and an inner frame 23 supported by the outer frame 21.
As can be seen in a front view of the bending device shown in Fig. 6, the device body 17 has a concave upper surface of a semi-circular transverse cross section with a center at a position of the workpiece W, and a semi-circular U-shaped groove 25 is provided along this concave 15 upper surface.
On the other hand, the base 19 has a convex lower surface in correspondence to the concave upper surface of the device body 17, and a gear rail 27 which fits in and rolls along the U-shaped groove 25 of the device body 17.
20 The ear rail 27 iS engaged with a driving gear 29 attached to the device body 17. Thus, when the driving gear 29 is driven by a power source (not shown), the base 19 can be swayed with respect to the device body 17 in a direction of Fig. 6, as the gear rail 27 rolls along the U-shaped 25 groove 25. Since the center of this swaying coincides with a central axis of the workpiece W, a twisting can be applied to the workpiece W by means of this swaying of the base 19.
The outer frame 21 is in a form of a hollow box, and 30 can be rotated around a vertical axis 31 with respect to the base 19. On a lower side of this outer frame 21, there is provided a worm wheel 33 which is engaged with a worm gear 35 connected to a power source (not shown). Thus, when the worm gear 35 iS driven, the outer frame 21 35 rotates around the vertical axis 31 in an X direction in Fig. 5, by means of which the workpiece W can be bent in the X direction.
,~--The inner frame 23 is also in a form of a hollow box, and can be rotated around a horizontal axis 37 with respect to the outer frame 21. One end of the horizontal axis 37 is extended outside of the outer frame 21 and attached to a worm wheel 39 which is engaged with a worm gear 41 connected to a power source (not shown). Thus, when the worm gear 41 is driven, the inner frame 23 rotates around the horizontal axis 37 in a Y direction in Fig. 4, by means of which the workpiece W can be bent in the Y direction.
The inner frame 23 iS equipped with a pair of vertically spaced bending rollers 43 which pinch the workpiece W in the vertical direction and function as points of pressing in the bending operation in the 15 vertical direction (Y direction); and a pair of horizontally spaced bending rollers 45 which pinch the workpiece W in the horizontal direction and function as points of pressing in the bending operation in the horizontal direction (X direction). The Inner frame 23 is 20 further equipped with an auxiliary roller 47 for rotatably contacting with a lower side of the workpiece W.
Now, in this embodiment, the controllable motor (not shown) for driving the carrier rollers 9 is controlled by a control device 49 equipped with a control circuit in a 25 form of a micro-computer, such that a speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 can be varied under this control by the control device 49.
In addition, a first sensor 51 for detecting a front end of the workpiece W being sent out from the carrier 30 device 3 iS attached to a front end of the supporting device 7 which is closer to the bending device 5; and a second sensor 53 for detecting an amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 after the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51 iS attached to the 35 carrier device 3. The sensor outputs of these first and second sensors 51 and 53 are supplied to the control device 49, such that the control device 49 can control the -speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 in accordance with the amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 detected by the second sensor 53 after the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51.
The amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 is proportional to a length of the workpiece W being sent out, so that this amount can indicate which section of the workpiece W is located at a bending position in the bending device 5. Accordingly, the speed of the rotation of the carrier rollers 9 is determined in accordance with the amount of bending required by a section currently being located at the bending position.
The workpiece W is to be manufactured into a seat belt guide of a form shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, which has five sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of different bending radii Rl, R2, R3, R4, and R5, respectively, along its length direction, and a bending radius R6 on its side face. In this embodiment, the sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are manufactured in this order, so that these sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are sequentially thrust into the bending position inside the bending device 5 by the carrier device 3.
The speed of travel (sending out) of the workpiece W
is controlled according to the table of Fig. 7. Here, an entire workpiece of 1200 mm is divided into 12 segments of 10 mm each, and the speed of travel of the workpiece W is specified for each segment in terms of four different speeds Vl, V2, V3, and V4, where V4 ~ Vl ~ V2 ~ V3. Also, in Fig. 7, amounts of bending in the X, Y, and directions, as well as a sum total of these amounts are specified for the segments corresponding to the sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of the seat belt guide of Fig. 1, in terms of a bending index taking a value within a range of O to 10.
Next, the bending manufacturing of this workpiece W
by this apparatus will be described in an actual order of operations.
-First, the workpiece W is sent out from the carrier device 3 toward the supporting device 7 at a relatively fast speed of V1.
Then, the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51 attached to the supporting device 7, and in response to this detection by the first sensor 51, the control device 49 determines an amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 by using the second sensor 53, so as to control the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 in accordance with this amount of rotation.
When the section L1 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is unchanged from relatively high speed of V1, because only relatively small amounts of bending up to 5 are required in this section L1.
When the section L2 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a speed of V2 relatively lower than the speed V1, because relatively larger amounts of bending of 6 to 7 are required in this section L2.
When the section L3 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed back to the relatively high speed of V1, because only relatively small amounts~of bending of 3 to 4 are required in this section L3.
When the section L4 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a rather low speed of V3 lower than the speed V2, because rather larger amounts of bending of 9.5 to 10 are required in this section L4.
Finally, when the section L5 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a rather high speed of V4 higher than the speed V1, because rather small amounts of bending of 5 to 0 are required in this section L5.
Fig. 8 shows a relationships between the speed of travel or sending out of the workpiece W and the amount of 20~0259 -rotational motion at the bending device 5 in the Y
direction for each position on the workpiece W. As can be seen in Fig. 8, the speed of travel is controlled to be lower for segments requiring larger amounts of bending, and to be higher for segments requiring smaller amounts of bending. It is to be noted that the speed of travel is lowered not only for the segments requiring large amount of bending themselves, such as those corresponding to the sections L2 and L4, but also for other segments adjacent these segments requiring large amount of bending. It is also to be noted that although a discussion presented above can explain the relationships of Fig. 8 qualitatively, in reality, contributions from the bending occurring in the X and directions also have to be taken into account.
As described, according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform the bending manufacture of a long workpiece with different sections of the workpiece having different bending radii, while preventing buckling deformation during manufacture of small bending radius sections by lowering the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers, and at the same time preventing a lowering of productivity by speeding up the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers during manufacture of large bending radius sections.
It is to be noted that, in order to further improve the productivity, the control of the speed of travel of the workpiece may be limited only to particularly large bending sections, instead of using the very thorough or close control as described in the above embodiment, within the limits required for quality of the product.
Besides this, many modifications and variations of the above embodiments may be made without departing from the novel and advantageous features of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
OF LONG WORKPIECE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the manufacture of a long workpiece in which the workpiece is bent while being moved along its length direction, hereafter referred to as "bending manufacture".
Descri~tion of the Background Art An example of a conventional apparatus for bending manufacture of a long workpiece can be found in U.S.
Patent Serial No. 4,367,641.
A long workpiece to be manufactured in such an apparatus can be utilized as a seat belt guide for a passive seat belt of a car, for instance. The passive seat belt is a type of seat belt which automatically hold a passenger in a restraint posture when the sitter sits down and closes a door. This is achieved by fixing one end of the seat belt to a console box side of the seat, while attaching another end to a cable side which is slidable in forward and backward direction along the seat belt guide such as that shown in Fig. 1 which is provided in a vicinity of a window sash. The seat belt guide of Fig. 1 has five sections L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of different curvatures Rl, R2, R3, R4, and R5, respectively, along its length direction, in accordance with a shape of the window sash. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, this seat belt guide has a curvature R6 on its side face, in accordance with a car body shape.
This seat belt guide is manufactured from a workpiece W shown in Fig. 3 which is made of aluminum alloy and which is to be manufactured by extrusion into a form of U-shaped bar having a groove 1 along its length direction along which the cable side of the seat belt is to slide.
This workpiece W of Fig. 2 is then bending manufactured in X and Y directions to make the seat belt guide in a form shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. In addition, for some car body shapes, it is necessary to give a twist in a direction .
An apparatus for performing such bending manufacture of a long workpiece generally comprises a carrier device equipped with carrier rollers for moving the workpiece along its length direction; a supporting device located in front of the carrier device in the direction in which the workpiece is moved which is equipped with supporting rollers corresponding to points of support in the bending operation, and a bending device located further in front of the supporting device which is equipped with bending rollers to function as points of pressing in bending operation. The bending device is capable of moving the bending rollers about vertical and horizontal axes, so that a three-dimensional bending manufacturing can be applied to a workpiece.
In such a conventional apparatus for bending manufacture, the speed of travel of the workpiece is constant throughout an entire process of bending manufacture. This fact causes no problem in the manufacturing of large bending radius sections such as L1 and L3 of the workpiece of Fig. 1 which have relatively large bending radii R1 and R3, respectively. However, in the manufacture of small bending radius sections such as L2 and L4 of the workpiece of Fig. 1 which have relatively small bending radii R2 and R4, respectively, movement cf the workpiece at the same speed as is used in the manufacture of large bending radius sections could give rise to a potential danger of buckling deformation of the workpiece. If the speed of travel of the workpiece is lowered to suit the manufacturing of small bending radius sections, the travel speed is unnecessarily slow for the manufacturing of the large bending radius sections, which causes a lowering of the productivity rate.
-- 202025g SU~IARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for bending manufacture of a long workpiece capable of bending different sections of the workpiece to different bending radii, while preventing buckling deformation while producing small bending radius sections and a lowering of a productivity.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising the steps of: moving the workpiece along the length direction of the workpiece into a bending position; bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising: means for moving the workpiece in its lengthwise direction into a bending position; means for bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and means for controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece by the moving means such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located at a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than ,~;
.~
-requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located at the bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a front view of a seat belt guide to be manufactured from a workpiece by an apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 2 is a side view seat belt guide of Fig. 1 seen from the II direction indicated in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a workpiece to be manufactured into the seat belt guide of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a side view of one embodiment of an apparatus for bending manufacture according to the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a top view of the apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 6 is a front view of a bending device of the - apparatus for bending manufacture;
Fig. 7 is a table specifying amounts of bending and a speed of travel of the workpiece for each segment of the workpiece, according to which the apparatus of Fig. 4 operates.
Fig. 8 is a diagram of a speed of travel of the workpiece and an amount of rotational motion at a bending device of the apparatus of Fig. 4 in the Y direction for each position on the workpiece, which shows the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 4 operated according to the table of Fig. 7.
A
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to Fig. 4 to Fig. 6, there is shown one embodiment of an apparatus for bending manufacturing according to the present invention.
In this embodiment, the apparatus is adapted to shape the workpiece W of Fig. 3 into a seat belt guide for a passive seat belt of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 which is made of aluminum alloy and which is to be manufactured by extrusion into a form of U-shaped bar having a groove 1 along its length direction. This workpiece is sent to the bending apparatus with the groove 1 facing upwards.
The apparatus generally comprises a carrier device 3 for moving the workpiece W lengthwise, a bending device located in front of the carrier device 3 for applying bending force onto the workpiece W, and a supporting device 7 located between the carrier device 3 and the bending device for supporting the workpiece W.
The carrier device 3 has two pairs of carrier rollers 9 which are rotated by a controllable motor (not shown).
Each pair of carrier rollers 9 pinches the workpiece W in the vertical direction, and these pairs of carrier rollers 9 are provided along the direction of the length of the workpiece W, such that the workpiece W is moved lengthwise toward the supporting device 7.
The supporting device 7 has a pair of vertically spaced supporting rollers 11 for supporting the workpiece W in the vertical direction, and a pair of horizontally spaced supporting rollers 13 for supporting the workpiece W in the horizontal direction. These vertical and horizontal supporting rollers 11 and 13 are provided near an end of the supporting device 7 closer to the bending device 5, so that they can also function as points of support in bending operation. The supporting device 7 also has a pair of rear rollers for supporting the workpiece W
provide near another end of the supporting device 7 closer to the carrier device 3. Along with the upper one of the vertical supporting rollers 11, there is also provided a -supporting die D which is to be inserted into the groove 1 of the workpiece W during the bending, in order to prevent deformation of the Workpiece W. This supporting die D is made of steel which had been quench hardened in order to improve its anti-abrasion property.
The bending device comprises a device body 17, a base 19 located on the device body 17, an outer frame 21 placed over the base 19, and an inner frame 23 supported by the outer frame 21.
As can be seen in a front view of the bending device shown in Fig. 6, the device body 17 has a concave upper surface of a semi-circular transverse cross section with a center at a position of the workpiece W, and a semi-circular U-shaped groove 25 is provided along this concave 15 upper surface.
On the other hand, the base 19 has a convex lower surface in correspondence to the concave upper surface of the device body 17, and a gear rail 27 which fits in and rolls along the U-shaped groove 25 of the device body 17.
20 The ear rail 27 iS engaged with a driving gear 29 attached to the device body 17. Thus, when the driving gear 29 is driven by a power source (not shown), the base 19 can be swayed with respect to the device body 17 in a direction of Fig. 6, as the gear rail 27 rolls along the U-shaped 25 groove 25. Since the center of this swaying coincides with a central axis of the workpiece W, a twisting can be applied to the workpiece W by means of this swaying of the base 19.
The outer frame 21 is in a form of a hollow box, and 30 can be rotated around a vertical axis 31 with respect to the base 19. On a lower side of this outer frame 21, there is provided a worm wheel 33 which is engaged with a worm gear 35 connected to a power source (not shown). Thus, when the worm gear 35 iS driven, the outer frame 21 35 rotates around the vertical axis 31 in an X direction in Fig. 5, by means of which the workpiece W can be bent in the X direction.
,~--The inner frame 23 is also in a form of a hollow box, and can be rotated around a horizontal axis 37 with respect to the outer frame 21. One end of the horizontal axis 37 is extended outside of the outer frame 21 and attached to a worm wheel 39 which is engaged with a worm gear 41 connected to a power source (not shown). Thus, when the worm gear 41 is driven, the inner frame 23 rotates around the horizontal axis 37 in a Y direction in Fig. 4, by means of which the workpiece W can be bent in the Y direction.
The inner frame 23 iS equipped with a pair of vertically spaced bending rollers 43 which pinch the workpiece W in the vertical direction and function as points of pressing in the bending operation in the 15 vertical direction (Y direction); and a pair of horizontally spaced bending rollers 45 which pinch the workpiece W in the horizontal direction and function as points of pressing in the bending operation in the horizontal direction (X direction). The Inner frame 23 is 20 further equipped with an auxiliary roller 47 for rotatably contacting with a lower side of the workpiece W.
Now, in this embodiment, the controllable motor (not shown) for driving the carrier rollers 9 is controlled by a control device 49 equipped with a control circuit in a 25 form of a micro-computer, such that a speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 can be varied under this control by the control device 49.
In addition, a first sensor 51 for detecting a front end of the workpiece W being sent out from the carrier 30 device 3 iS attached to a front end of the supporting device 7 which is closer to the bending device 5; and a second sensor 53 for detecting an amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 after the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51 iS attached to the 35 carrier device 3. The sensor outputs of these first and second sensors 51 and 53 are supplied to the control device 49, such that the control device 49 can control the -speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 in accordance with the amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 detected by the second sensor 53 after the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51.
The amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 is proportional to a length of the workpiece W being sent out, so that this amount can indicate which section of the workpiece W is located at a bending position in the bending device 5. Accordingly, the speed of the rotation of the carrier rollers 9 is determined in accordance with the amount of bending required by a section currently being located at the bending position.
The workpiece W is to be manufactured into a seat belt guide of a form shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, which has five sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of different bending radii Rl, R2, R3, R4, and R5, respectively, along its length direction, and a bending radius R6 on its side face. In this embodiment, the sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are manufactured in this order, so that these sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 are sequentially thrust into the bending position inside the bending device 5 by the carrier device 3.
The speed of travel (sending out) of the workpiece W
is controlled according to the table of Fig. 7. Here, an entire workpiece of 1200 mm is divided into 12 segments of 10 mm each, and the speed of travel of the workpiece W is specified for each segment in terms of four different speeds Vl, V2, V3, and V4, where V4 ~ Vl ~ V2 ~ V3. Also, in Fig. 7, amounts of bending in the X, Y, and directions, as well as a sum total of these amounts are specified for the segments corresponding to the sections Ll, L2, L3, L4, and L5 of the seat belt guide of Fig. 1, in terms of a bending index taking a value within a range of O to 10.
Next, the bending manufacturing of this workpiece W
by this apparatus will be described in an actual order of operations.
-First, the workpiece W is sent out from the carrier device 3 toward the supporting device 7 at a relatively fast speed of V1.
Then, the front end of the workpiece W is detected by the first sensor 51 attached to the supporting device 7, and in response to this detection by the first sensor 51, the control device 49 determines an amount of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 by using the second sensor 53, so as to control the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers 9 in accordance with this amount of rotation.
When the section L1 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is unchanged from relatively high speed of V1, because only relatively small amounts of bending up to 5 are required in this section L1.
When the section L2 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a speed of V2 relatively lower than the speed V1, because relatively larger amounts of bending of 6 to 7 are required in this section L2.
When the section L3 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed back to the relatively high speed of V1, because only relatively small amounts~of bending of 3 to 4 are required in this section L3.
When the section L4 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a rather low speed of V3 lower than the speed V2, because rather larger amounts of bending of 9.5 to 10 are required in this section L4.
Finally, when the section L5 is at a bending position in the bending device 5, the speed of the rotation is changed to a rather high speed of V4 higher than the speed V1, because rather small amounts of bending of 5 to 0 are required in this section L5.
Fig. 8 shows a relationships between the speed of travel or sending out of the workpiece W and the amount of 20~0259 -rotational motion at the bending device 5 in the Y
direction for each position on the workpiece W. As can be seen in Fig. 8, the speed of travel is controlled to be lower for segments requiring larger amounts of bending, and to be higher for segments requiring smaller amounts of bending. It is to be noted that the speed of travel is lowered not only for the segments requiring large amount of bending themselves, such as those corresponding to the sections L2 and L4, but also for other segments adjacent these segments requiring large amount of bending. It is also to be noted that although a discussion presented above can explain the relationships of Fig. 8 qualitatively, in reality, contributions from the bending occurring in the X and directions also have to be taken into account.
As described, according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform the bending manufacture of a long workpiece with different sections of the workpiece having different bending radii, while preventing buckling deformation during manufacture of small bending radius sections by lowering the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers, and at the same time preventing a lowering of productivity by speeding up the speed of rotation of the carrier rollers during manufacture of large bending radius sections.
It is to be noted that, in order to further improve the productivity, the control of the speed of travel of the workpiece may be limited only to particularly large bending sections, instead of using the very thorough or close control as described in the above embodiment, within the limits required for quality of the product.
Besides this, many modifications and variations of the above embodiments may be made without departing from the novel and advantageous features of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims (4)
1. A method for bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising the steps of:
moving the workpiece along the length direction of the workpiece into a bending position;
bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
moving the workpiece along the length direction of the workpiece into a bending position;
bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located in the vicinity of a bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein at the controlling step, the speed is controlled by detecting the position of one end of the workpiece, determining the amount of lengthwise movement of the workpiece since the position of the end of the workpiece was detected, determining the section of the workpiece currently located at the bending position in accordance with the determined amount of movement, and controlling the speed in accordance with the amount of bending required by the determined section.
3. An apparatus for bending manufacture of an elongated workpiece, comprising:
means for moving the workpiece in its lengthwise direction into a bending position;
means for bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and means for controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece by the moving means such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located at a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located at the bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
means for moving the workpiece in its lengthwise direction into a bending position;
means for bending each section of the workpiece by a desired amount, as each section reaches the bending position sequentially, due to said movement; and means for controlling the speed of movement of the workpiece by the moving means such that the speed is made lower for a workpiece section located at a bending position which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a workpiece section which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length, and that the speed of movement is made higher for a workpiece section located at the bending position which requires a smaller amount of bending per unit length than the speed for a section which requires a larger amount of bending per unit length.
4, The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the controlling means includes means for detecting the position of an end of the workpiece, means for determining the amount of movement of the workpiece since the position of the end of the workpiece was detected, means for determining the section of the workpiece currently located at the bending position in accordance with the determined amount of movement, and means for controlling the speed in accordance with the amount of bending required by the determined section.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPP1-166974 | 1989-06-30 | ||
| JP1166974A JPH0335822A (en) | 1989-06-30 | 1989-06-30 | Working method for bending long size work |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2020259A1 CA2020259A1 (en) | 1990-12-31 |
| CA2020259C true CA2020259C (en) | 1997-07-15 |
Family
ID=15841067
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002020259A Expired - Lifetime CA2020259C (en) | 1989-06-30 | 1990-06-29 | Method and apparatus for bending manufacturing of long workpiece |
Country Status (4)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US5425257A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0405600A1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPH0335822A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2020259C (en) |
Families Citing this family (19)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GR1001322B (en) * | 1990-04-06 | 1993-08-31 | Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos | Mechanism for wire bending machines |
| US5595093A (en) * | 1994-05-12 | 1997-01-21 | Western Printing Machinery Company | Method of forming a rotary cutting die |
| JP3733176B2 (en) * | 1996-07-10 | 2006-01-11 | 株式会社オプトン | Bending machine |
| IT1308472B1 (en) | 1999-05-04 | 2001-12-17 | Tauring S P A | BENDING MACHINE FOR PIPES, PROFILES OR SIMILAR |
| FR2806946B1 (en) * | 2000-04-04 | 2002-06-07 | Latour Et Fils | MACHINE FOR BENDING AND TURNING FLAT METAL WIRE |
| DE10214275A1 (en) * | 2002-03-28 | 2003-10-16 | Palima W Ludwig & Co | Bending machine for profiles and round tubes |
| US8919171B2 (en) * | 2005-03-03 | 2014-12-30 | Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation | Method for three-dimensionally bending workpiece and bent product |
| US7337642B2 (en) * | 2005-06-13 | 2008-03-04 | Shape Corporation | Roll-former apparatus with rapid-adjust sweep box |
| US7882718B2 (en) * | 2005-06-13 | 2011-02-08 | Shape Corp. | Roll-former apparatus with rapid-adjust sweep box |
| DE102007013902A1 (en) * | 2007-03-20 | 2008-09-25 | Universität Dortmund | Device for profile bending |
| US8307685B2 (en) * | 2008-04-09 | 2012-11-13 | Shape Corp. | Multi-directionally swept beam, roll former, and method |
| DE102008050366B4 (en) * | 2008-10-02 | 2010-06-17 | Data M Sheet Metal Solutions Gmbh | System for cold rolling profiling of profiles with variable cross section |
| WO2011007810A1 (en) * | 2009-07-14 | 2011-01-20 | 住友金属工業株式会社 | Device and method for manufacturing bent member |
| US8333096B2 (en) * | 2009-09-21 | 2012-12-18 | Shape Corp. | Method of forming three-dimensional multi-plane beam |
| IT1396456B1 (en) * | 2009-11-24 | 2012-11-23 | Piegatrici Macch Elettr | EQUIPMENT FOR BENDING OBLUNG METAL PRODUCTS, SUCH AS BARS, ROUNDS, OR METAL WIRES, AND RELATIVE BENDING PROCEDURE |
| DE102012219639A1 (en) * | 2012-05-31 | 2013-12-05 | Kunststoff-Technik Scherer & Trier Gmbh & Co. Kg | Method for roll bending a profile, profile, method for producing curved profile workpieces, curved profile workpiece, device for roll bending a profile and extrusion and roll bending line |
| CN106077202B (en) * | 2016-06-16 | 2018-07-31 | 百安力钢结构应用科技有限公司 | Metal Roof former |
| CN111730350B (en) * | 2020-06-20 | 2021-11-23 | 山东博莱特汽车零部件有限公司 | Leaf spring production line |
| CN114603012A (en) * | 2022-03-10 | 2022-06-10 | 姚京杰 | Curved arc type mould of aluminium type material |
Family Cites Families (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US4080815A (en) * | 1975-06-09 | 1978-03-28 | The Boeing Company | Pinch and forming roll assembly for numerically controlled contour forming machines |
| JPS5938048B2 (en) * | 1975-09-18 | 1984-09-13 | 第一高周波工業 （株） | Continuous bending method and device for long materials |
| US4391116A (en) * | 1979-12-03 | 1983-07-05 | Teruaki Yogo | Lace bending apparatus |
| JPS56102319A (en) * | 1980-01-21 | 1981-08-15 | Inoue Mtp Co Ltd | Method and apparatus for bending long sized material |
| US4624121A (en) * | 1984-01-30 | 1986-11-25 | Hashimoto Forming Industry Co., Ltd. | Method of, and apparatus for producing multi-dimensionally bent elongate articles |
| GB8407712D0 (en) * | 1984-03-24 | 1984-05-02 | Ae Plc | Piston rings for ic engines |
| GB8607806D0 (en) * | 1986-03-27 | 1986-04-30 | Caledonian Mining Co Ltd | Drive system |
-
1989
- 1989-06-30 JP JP1166974A patent/JPH0335822A/en active Granted
-
1990
- 1990-06-29 CA CA002020259A patent/CA2020259C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1990-06-29 EP EP90112496A patent/EP0405600A1/en not_active Withdrawn
-
1993
- 1993-11-19 US US08/156,864 patent/US5425257A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| US5425257A (en) | 1995-06-20 |
| JPH0512051B2 (en) | 1993-02-17 |
| EP0405600A1 (en) | 1991-01-02 |
| JPH0335822A (en) | 1991-02-15 |
| CA2020259A1 (en) | 1990-12-31 |
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