EP0332049A2 - Method of and device for bending hollow distance profiles - Google Patents

Abstract

For bending hollow distance profiles (2), in particular those filled with a desiccant, preferably for panes of insulating glass, the profile (2) can be advanced during bending and a bending tool (4) can be moved towards and away from it, oscillating with respect to the abutment (3), the profile (2) expediently being advanced during the moving away of the bending tool (4) and a point on the profile (2) adjacent to the previously bent point being acted upon and bent during the next movement of the bending tool (4) towards the abutment. A very wide variety of arcs and radii of curvature can thereby be produced depending on the speed of advance of the profile and the bending frequency or also bending stroke of the bending tool. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method for bending hollow spacer profiles, in particular filled with desiccant, for glass panes to be kept at a distance, preferably insulating glass panes, the profile being pushed forward and pressed against an abutment during bending and bent behind this abutment with a bending tool or a bending jaw.

The invention further relates to a device for bending hollow spacer profiles, preferably filled with desiccant, for glass panes to be kept at a distance, preferably insulating glass panes, with an abutment and a pivotable bending tool or the like which bends the profile relative to the abutment.

Such a method and such a device is known from DE-OS 33 12 764. This previously known solution is about being able to carry out the bend with the smallest possible radius of curvature. For this purpose, the known method and the known solution have proven themselves.

On the other hand, however, it may be necessary to bend such profiles with different and also with large radii of curvature in order to be able to take into account the most varied shapes of such glass panes and insulating glass panes. For example, it may be necessary to produce insulating glass panes which should have an arcuately curved edge in their upper region. Variations are also conceivable in which a relatively narrow curvature merges into one with a large radius of curvature.

The object is therefore to create a method and a device of the type mentioned at the outset by means of which any bends with different radii of curvature and possibly also radii of curvature which change in the course of an arc can be produced.

The procedural solution to this task consists essentially in that the profile is advanced during the bending and the bending tool is moved oscillatingly towards and away from the abutment, and in particular during its movement away the profile is moved and with the next movement towards the abutment opposite a neighboring point of the profile the previously bent point is acted upon and bent. In this way it is possible, by choosing the feed and the amplitude of the movement of the bending tool or the bending jaw, to obtain an arbitrarily large or relatively small curvature on such a spacer profile. Since this is always shifted a little further during such a bending process, such a bend is practically composed of numerous immediately adjacent bending points. If these are very close to each other, there is a narrower arc than if these bending points with greater advance of the profile during the bending process further apart. Variations in the feed and also the amplitude of the movement of the bending tool can thus influence the curvature and the bending that occurs, and even change its course.

This also opens up the possibility of still bending sharp edges, namely if the advance of the profile is made very small or even interrupted when bending a kink or a tight bend. In this way, for example, ogival-like shapes can be created, as are known from Gothic windows. However, a kink or a sharp-edged bend can also be generated at the beginning of a bend in an arcuate region, the further course of which is then made arcuate. This results in numerous possible variations, so that architects have greater design options in the window area without causing intolerable increases in construction costs. In addition, however, corresponding window solutions can also be found for a wide variety of vehicles, and thus these inexpensive insulating glass panes with spacing hollow profiles can also be used for vehicles.

It should also be mentioned that in order to change the bending radius in the course of the bend, the feed rate and / or the frequency of the back and forth movement of the bending tool and / or the respective swivel path or the amplitude of the bending tool can be changed, preferably computer-controlled. It is possible that the frequency of the back and forth movement is chosen between 1 Hertz and about 30 Hertz.

Experiments have shown that good, rational and fast operation can be achieved in that in the continuous oscillation range of the bending tool, after a start-up phase, it can be moved back and forth expediently, its two end positions advantageously being between about 10 ° and about 30 °, in particular about 20 ° or 25 °, for example At the beginning, the bending movements of the bending tool can be selected to be smaller than in the further course of the bending process, so that such a bending process begins gradually until it is completely in motion, until a corresponding curvature or a corresponding arc are generated.

The device for bending such spacer profiles with large, but also small or changing radii of curvature to solve the problem mentioned above is characterized in particular in that a feed drive for the profile - in particular in the feed direction in front of the abutment - is provided and that the bending tool an oscillating , reversible swivel drive for a back and forth bending swivel movement. This practically results in the fact that the profile, which is constantly pushed forward again and again, is bent a little further during the application of the bending force and is moved further in the feed direction during the return movement of the bending tool, so that the next bending point then comes to lie at a distance from the previous one in accordance with the feed speed. The individual bending steps and bending movements are chosen so small that a practically uniform curvature also arises with regard to the bending behavior of the profiles.

For an exact transmission and implementation of bending movements of the bending tool on the profile in relation to the abutment, it is advantageous if that Bending tool has a reversible drive acting on the geometrical bending axis above or below the abutment for the stepwise forward and backward stroke.

The shaft arranged in the bending axis or its extension for the back and forth swiveling movement of the bending tool can be controlled and reversed by a rotary encoder connected to a microprocessor or computer. This also allows arcs and bends to be selected and preprogrammed that deviate from simple circular arcs in any way, which deviation could be regular if such an arc shape is to be a piece of a spiral, or it can also be uneven if it is within one Arc areas with smaller or larger radii of curvature should be provided or even alternated. This measure of control and reversal via a rotary encoder and a microprocessor or computer interacting therewith allows very efficient production even for the most varied bends and arch shapes of such spacer profiles, so that this measure has a special and increased significance in connection with the device according to the invention.

The rotary encoder is expediently arranged coaxially with the shaft for the back and forth movement. As a result, transmission means from the rotary encoder to this flexible shaft can be avoided.

Between the encoder and the like or the bending jaw. A preferably pneumatic swivel drive can be arranged in particular via a shaft which acts on a lever arm and is arranged in the bending axis. Such pneumatic rotary actuators are commercially available per se and for Such a reciprocating movement of the bending tool is particularly simple and inexpensive.

In order to be able to carry out the feed of the profile and in particular the feed regularly and undisturbed between two successive bending processes, it is advantageous if a play is provided for the profile in its profile guide to the bending tool. It is useful if the profile guide rollers or the like. to bridge their play and to reduce friction - especially with little play - compared to the profile. This allows the profile to be guided precisely and precisely despite the play and a smooth movement of the profile.
In order to be able to process profiles of different dimensions in the same way and without problems, the profile guide and in particular its width can be adjustable.

Overall, especially when combining one or more of the features and measures described above, there is a method and also a device which is relatively simple in its construction and yet allows a wide range of bends with spacing profiles for insulating glass panes, so that in a rational and inexpensive manner such glass panes, and in particular their spacer frames, can be produced with practically any bends and with a wide variety of radii of curvature, which until now has only been possible in complex one-off production. Even series production of such spacer frames is possible in such a way that the successive frames can have different shapes and bends if a microprocessor or computer with the appropriate programming is used Bending device is combined.

The invention is described in more detail below with its details that are essential to it, using the drawing.

• Fig. 1 ein Draufsicht einer erfindungsgemäßen Vor­richtung zum Biegen von hohlen Profilen mit kleinem und/oder großem Krümmungsradius,
• Fig. 2 eine teilweise im Schnitt gehaltene Seitenan­sicht einer Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1 für ein außenseitig vorsprungfreies Hohlprofil,
• Fig. 3 eine der Fig. 2 entsprechende Darstellung einer Vorrichtung zum Biegen eines Hohlprofiles mit stegförmigen Verlängerungen seiner Seiten­wandungen,
• Fig. 4 ein Beispiel eines zu einem Rahmen gebogenen und verbundenen Hohlprofiles, bei welchem zwei scharfen Ecken ein Bogen mit tangentialem Über­gang gegenüberliegt,
• Fig. 5 ein Beispiel eines Rahmens, bei welchem der Übergang von zwei parallelen Holmen in einen bogenförmigen Bereich eine Ecke ist,
• Fig. 6 ein Zeit-Hubdiagramm, bei welchem die Hin- und Herbewegungen des Biegewerkzeuges über die Zeit aufgetragen sind, wenn der Übergang von einem geraden Rahmenholm tangential in einen bogenförmigen Bereich sowie dieser bogenförmige Bereich gebogen werden sollen, sowie
• Fig. 7 ein Zeit-Hubdiagramm mit der Darstellung der Hin- und Herbewegungen des Biegewerkzeuges über die Zeit, wobei eine erste Biegung eine scharfe Ecke bewirkt, an welche sich ein bogenförmiger Bereich anschließt gemäß Fig. 5.

It shows in a partially schematic representation:

• 1 is a plan view of a device according to the invention for bending hollow profiles with a small and / or large radius of curvature,
• FIG. 2 shows a side view, partly in section, of a device according to FIG. 1 for a hollow profile that is free of protrusions on the outside, FIG.
• 3 a representation corresponding to FIG. 2 of a device for bending a hollow profile with web-like extensions of its side walls,
• 4 shows an example of a hollow profile bent and connected to form a frame, in which two sharp corners lie opposite an arc with a tangential transition,
• 5 shows an example of a frame in which the transition from two parallel bars into an arcuate region is a corner,
• Fig. 6 is a time-stroke diagram in which the back and forth movements of the bending tool are plotted over time when the transition from a straight frame spar tangentially into an arcuate area and this arcuate Area to be bent, as well
• 7 shows a time-stroke diagram with the representation of the back and forth movements of the bending tool over time, a first bend causing a sharp corner, which is followed by an arcuate region according to FIG. 5.

A device, designated as a whole by 1 and shown schematically in FIGS. 1 to 3, is used to bend hollow spacer profiles 2, possibly filled with desiccant, for glass panes to be kept at a distance, in particular insulating glass panes. This device 1 has in the bending area of the profile 2 an abutment 3, opposite the contact area 3a, the profile 2 is bent in a manner to be described.

Furthermore, the device includes a pivotable bending tool 4 which bends the profile 2 relative to the abutment 3 in the form of a bending jaw.

This bending tool 4 is in the starting position with its contact surface 4a, which acts on the profile 2 during bending, in alignment with one side of a profile guide 5, through which the profile 2 is fed to the bending tool 4 according to the arrow Pf1.

This arrow Pf 1 also indicates that the device 1 has a feed drive, not shown, for the profile 2, which is preferably arranged in the feed direction in front of the abutment 3. The bending tool 4 in turn has an oscillating, reversible swivel drive 6 for a back and forth bending swivel movement according to the double arrows Pf2 and Pf3 in Fig. 3. This oscillating back and forth The movement of the bending tool 4 is also shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 for different cases over time in a diagram.

With this device 1, the profile 2 can thus be advanced during the bending and the bending tool 4 can be moved oscillatingly towards and away from the abutment 3, the profile 2 especially during the movement of the bending tool 4 away from the abutment 3 in the direction of arrow Pf1, that is, in the direction of advance, moved further, and with the next movement of the bending tool 4 towards the abutment 3, a neighboring point of the profile is acted upon and bent relative to the previously bent point.

In FIGS. 2 and 3 it is indicated that the bending tool 4 has a reversible drive 6, which acts on the geometric bending axis 7 above or below the abutment, in this case below the abutment, for the stepwise forward and backward stroke. In the exemplary embodiment, a commercially available pneumatic swivel drive is indicated as drive 7. When viewing FIGS. 2 and 3 and 1 together, it can be seen that the shaft 8 arranged in the bending axis 7 or its extension for the back and forth pivoting movement of the bending tool 4 is coupled by a rotary travel encoder 10 connected to a microprocessor 9 or computer and is thus controllable and reversible on a pulse basis. Thus, the back and forth movement can be changed in any way, both in terms of amplitude and frequency, so that in cooperation with a possible simultaneous adjustment or modification of the feed speed, almost any arc shapes and bends can be connected to each other in any order, but of course constant large or small bends can be put.

The rotary encoder 10 is in this case arranged coaxially to the shaft 8 for the reciprocating movement, so that a direct coupling can be achieved without intermediate transmission elements, whereby the device is simple in construction. The pneumatic swivel drive 6, which is pneumatic in the exemplary embodiment, is arranged between the rotary encoder 10 and the shaft 8 which acts on the bending jaw or the bending tool 4, in particular via a lever arm 11 and is arranged in the bending axis 7.

In Fig. 1 it can be seen that the profile guide 5 is provided for fixing the position of the profile 2 during its feed in the feed direction in front of the abutment 3. This profile guide 5 for the profile 2 has a game 12 and 13 as shown in FIG. 1 compared to the profile itself. Thus, the profile 2 can be advanced practically without resistance through this profile guide 5, so that the bending process which is also dependent on this feed is not impaired The game 12 and 13 is exaggerated for clarity.
In order to nevertheless achieve an exact feeding and orientation of the profile 2 in a constantly constant position within this profile guide 5 and the least possible friction, rollers 14 are provided according to FIG. 1 for bridging the play 13 relative to the profile 2.

When comparing FIGS. 2 and 3, it is clear that the device 1 can take into account different profile cross sections. FIG. 2 shows an arrangement for a profile 2 that is closed on all sides and has a protrusion free in its cross section, while in the profile according to FIG. 3 the side webs 2a are somewhat extended via a crossbar 2b. In addition or instead, a further adaptation possibility can consist in the fact that the profile guide 5 and in particular its width can be adjustable to adapt to profiles of different dimensions.

The manner in which the device 1 according to the invention can be used to bend a profile 2 has already been explained above. The device 1 also allows the following configurations of this method:
Initially, the bending movements of the bending tool 4 can be chosen to be smaller than in the further course of the bending process. This can also be seen, for example, from FIG. 6, according to which smaller strokes can be seen at the start of the time axis than if the bending tool can then oscillate back and forth according to the arrow Pf3 in FIG. 1 after a certain starting range. The double arrow in FIG. 1, on the other hand, illustrates a start-up area within which the bending jaw 4 initially carries out smaller strokes until it has finally reached the outermost end of the arrow Pf3 in the bending direction, from where it then only ever moves up to swinging back to the opposite end. In Fig. 6, five start-up strokes are shown purely schematically and then continuously high-speed constant-lift strokes with constant amplitude.

5 shows a spacing frame made of a curved profile 2, in which the transition 15 from a straight frame side 16 into a curved or curved frame side 17 takes place via a sharp bend or corner or almost via a kink.
In this case, the method according to the invention can be designed such that the arc 17 of the profile 2 by means of the reciprocating bending tool 4 during the feed of the profile 2 is bent and that to form the sharp bending edge at point 15 the feed of the profile is reduced or even interrupted and the bending tool is actuated when the profile 2 is stationary or almost stationary.

The corresponding time-stroke diagram is shown in FIG. 7. At the beginning of the course of time, a higher stroke can be seen, which serves to form the sharper corner in the area 15, while then, when the bending tool 4 swings back and forth uniformly, the arches 17 are produced with corresponding strokes.

5 already shows that in order to change the bending radius in the course of the bend, the feed rate for the profile and / or the frequency of the back and forth movement of the bending tool 4 and / or the respective pivoting path or stroke of the bending tool 4 changed, preferably computer-controlled. The frequency of the back and forth movement can be selected between 1 Hertz and about 30 Hertz and - as already mentioned - can also be varied within this range under certain circumstances.

Regarding the double arrows Pf2 and Pf3 in FIG. 1, it should also be pointed out that in the continuous oscillation range of the bending tool 4 according to the double arrow Pf3, after a start-up phase with the starting position shown in broken lines, it can be moved back and forth by approximately 10 °, its two end positions, thus the two ends of the double arrow Pf3, for example can be selected between about 10 ° and about 20 ° compared to the starting position shown in dashed lines at the beginning of the bending process.

It should be briefly mentioned that FIG. 4 is one compared to FIG. 5 shows somewhat modified spacing frame, in which the arcuate transition 17 tangentially merges from a straight frame part 16, the first part of this transition possibly also being a part of a gradually narrowing curve until the radius of curvature of the arc 17 is then reached. There would then be a short piece of a spiral arch at the transition between the frame part 16 and the arch 17.

Of course, the device 1 according to the invention and the method according to the invention also allow the production of completely round or oval spacing frames or also all conceivable variations in between, so that a correspondingly diverse design of insulating glass panes is made possible without this becoming unaffordable with regard to frame production.

Claims (14)

1. A method for bending hollow spacer profiles, in particular filled with desiccant, for glass panes to be kept at a distance, preferably insulating glass panes, the profile being pushed forward and pressed against an abutment during bending and bent behind this abutment with a bending tool or a bending jaw, characterized in that that the profile (2) is advanced during the bending and the bending tool (4) is oscillated towards the abutment (3) and moved away from it, and in particular during its movement away the profile (2) is moved and with the next movement towards the abutment a neighboring location of the profile (2) opposite the previously bent point and is bent. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that initially the bending movements of the bending tool (4) are chosen smaller than in the further course of the bending process. 3. Method of making a spacing frame from a curved profile, in which the transition from a frame side into a curved frame side or the like via a kink. sharp bending takes place, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the arc (17) of the profile (2) by means of the reciprocating bending tool (4) is bent during the advance of the profile (2) and that to form the sharp Bending edge (15) the feed of the profile is reduced or interrupted and the bending tool is actuated when the profile (2) is at a standstill or almost at a standstill. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that to change the bending radius in the course of the bend, the feed rate and / or the frequency of the reciprocating movement of the bending tool and / or the respective pivot path of the bending tool is changed, preferably computer-controlled . 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the frequency of the back and forth movement of the bending tool (4) is chosen between about 1 Hertz and about 30 Hertz. 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that in the permanent vibration range (Pf3) of the bending tool (4) this is moved back and forth after a start-up phase (Pf2) by about 10 °, its two end positions e.g. preferably between about 10 ° and about 30 °, in particular about 20 ° or 25 °, compared to the starting position at the beginning of the bending process. 7. Device for bending hollow, preferably filled with desiccant spacer profiles for Glass panes to be kept at a distance, preferably insulating glass panes, with an abutment and a pivotable bending device or the like which bends the profile relative to the abutment, characterized in that a feed drive for the profile (2) - in particular in the feed direction in front of the abutment (3) - is provided and that the bending tool (4) has an oscillating, reversible swivel drive (6) for a to-and-fro bending swivel movement. 8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that the bending tool (4) has a on the geometric bending axis (7) above or below the abutment shaft (8) acting reversible drive (6) for the stepwise forward and reverse stroke. 9. Apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the arranged in the bending axis (7) or the Ver extension shaft (8) for the reciprocating movement of the bending tool (4) by a with a microprocessor (9) or computer connected three way encoder (10) can be controlled and reversed in pulses. 10. Device according to one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the rotary encoder (10) is arranged coaxially to the shaft (8) for the reciprocating movement of the bending tool (4). 11. The device according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that between the rotary encoder (10) and the bending jaw (4) or the like. A preferably pneumatic swivel drive (6) is arranged, in particular, via a lever arm (11) or the like which acts on the shaft (8) arranged in the bending axis (7) or its extension. 12. Device according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that for the supply and alignment of the profile (2) a profile guide (5) is arranged in front of the bending area and the abutment (3) and the profile (2) in a profile guide (5) preferably has a game (13). 13. Device according to one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that the profile guide (5) rollers (14) or the like. to bridge their play (13) and to reduce the frictional resistance compared to the profile (2). 14. Device according to one of claims 7 to 13, characterized in that the profile guide (5) and in particular its width is adjustable.

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