Truly Lean Press Brake Automation

How would you like to be able to form kits on a press brake with a total kit cycle time that is the simple sum of the cycle times of the various parts? In Booth S-1731, Salvagnini America, Inc. (Hamilton, OH) shows attendees how to do it with their new B3.ATA press brake that automatically adjusts tool length, V-die opening and back gauges to accommodate the next operation or the next part in a kit production sequence. All an operator has to do is to place the sheet metal against the back gauge and support it, when necessary, during bending. The press brake does the rest. The Automatic Tool Adjustment system frees operators from decisions about which tooling and which tool station to use. Instead, the proprietary SiX controller automatically manages changeover of tool length in a mere 2 to 10 seconds – typically, ready to perform the next bend before an operator is prepared to present the blank to the press. For the first time, lean manufacturing comes to press brake operations with cycle times that no press brake with a robotic tool changer can match.

The B3.ATA achieves a bending accuracy of ± 2 microns through an Angle Measurement System (AMS) that performs real-time checks on parts during bending without increasing cycle time. It works with different height dies, communicating back and forth with the SiX controller to obtain previously recorded springback values of the material being processed, and making any necessary adjustments on the fly. Using a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) developed for Formula 1 race cars, together with direct-drive transmissions and brushless motors, these press brakes are setting new standards in high performance with low energy consumption. Energy usage during non-production periods has been eliminated, ensuring that energy consumption is directly proportional to actual intensity of use.

Salvagnini has re-thought, reimagined, and created a new category of press brakes with this product. Infinitely more flexible and measurably more efficient than press brakes promoting robotic tool changers, this press brake is just the latest example of the precise, advanced automation that defines the Salvagnini brand.

Also on display is an ideal batch production machine, the brand new stand-alone P2lean panel bender with the capacity to seamlessly switch from batch, to kit, or to single piece part production whenever required. This is undoubtedly one versatile machine no shop should be without. A flexible production dynamo, the panel bender performs according to a shop’s definition of lean manufacturing: batch, kit, or single piece part flow, and it produces quality parts with easy, automatic precision. The universal bending tool and automatic blankholder adjustment (ABA) provide hands-free setup in zero (masked) time. MAC 2.0 bending technology routinely measures sheet thickness and tensile strength of each blank to predict deviations in spring-back and automatically modifies the program to compensate for those variations. The payoff of this technology is that if an operator can simply choose a bending program from the on-board computer, load a blank into the machine and remove a finished part, he can produce consistently high quality parts in very short cycle times.

The new P2lean features increased bending depth up to 6.5 in high and accommodates sheets up to 85.75 in long, with thicknesses up to 1/8 in. Because sheet clamping and part manipulation remain constant throughout the bending cycle, blanks need to be centered only once to achieve an angle resolution of at least 0.01 deg for all part bends. Within its parameters of bend height, length and material thickness, it provides a level of flexibility, productivity, repeatable part quality, and profitability unattainable by any press brake.

For more than 35 years, Salvagnini has served the global metalworking industry by designing, manufacturing, marketing and servicing flexible sheet metal processing systems, machines, process software and tooling for factory integration with more than 4,400 punching and shearing, automatic panel bending and fiber laser cutting systems in operation in more than 75 countries around the world. As the originator of automation in the sheet metal fabricating sector, the company offers complete material handling capabilities, including ASRS, robotic loading/unloading, conveying and parts manipulation.

Salvagnini America Inc., 27 Bicentennial Court, Hamilton, OH 45015-1382, 513-874-8284,www.salvagnini.com.