In the modern metal processing industry, bending operations have been largely upgraded from traditional press brakes to more automated bending robots and bending follower carts that can adapt to more complex processing environments.
The main function of a press brake is to bend metal sheets into semi-finished products of a certain shape, achieving relatively complex cross-sectional shapes through the use of different molds and multiple bending processes.
The current mainstream automatic bending solutions on the market involve a combination of robotic arms and press brakes or an automatic clamping system with molds. This combination is suitable for most large-scale production with fewer mold changes. Once the molds are clamped, the robotic arm holds or suctions the metal sheets for processing.
However, when dealing with small batches and frequent mold changes, manual mold replacement becomes time-consuming and labor-intensive, making it difficult to meet the requirements of efficiency and high quality. In such cases, a bending follower cart is an excellent choice.
Advantages of bending robots:
1. They can achieve flexible combinations with multiple CNC machine tools, automatic loading and unloading with multiple degrees of freedom, and meet the requirements of complex production processes.
2. They can be equipped with industrial CCD vision inspection systems to enable free grabbing of complex workpieces.
3. They can achieve continuous production of large quantities for a single workpiece and automatically switch programs for small batches of multiple varieties.
4. They have high adjustability and can communicate with other equipment such as CNC machine tools, PLCs, and external sensors, enabling safe and reliable sequential control through programming.
5. They offer multifunctionality, including high-performance collision avoidance, product inspection, external axes, stacking, and other optional features.
6. They can easily achieve multi-machine automated production lines and the "digitalization" layout of the factory, maximizing labor savings and enhancing the technical image of the factory's production.
Advantages of bending follower carts:
1. Saves labor costs.
2. Improves the machining efficiency of the machine tool.
3. The follower device and the bending action of the sheet metal are fully synchronized.
4. Suitable for matching with various brands and models of press brakes.
5. Independent control system, no need to modify the press brake or take any signals from the press brake control box, avoiding unnecessary disputes with customers.
6. Can be moved and matched with different press brakes at any time.
This method can be used for production with various varieties and batch sizes, and it shows significant advantages in bending large workpieces and thick plates. It reduces the need for auxiliary personnel, reduces labor intensity, and offers strong flexibility. One follower cart can be used in conjunction with multiple press brakes, resulting in relatively low investment costs. The disadvantage is that it requires manual coordination for loading and unloading operations and cannot achieve fully automated production.
Currently, most factories rely on manual material handling, where a single operator can handle a small press brake. However, when dealing with large-scale sheet metal, it often requires 4 to 6 people to operate a press brake. This not only consumes a significant amount of labor but also leads to instability in manual material handling, which can result in product quality issues and hinder production control.
By combining a bending forming machine, semi-automation can be achieved, saving labor costs while enabling rapid and flexible prototyping and batch production, resulting in significant economic benefits.
