JP7538501B2 - Metal processing device and metal processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a metal processing device and a metal processing method for forming metal plate materials.

Patent Document 1 discloses a bending method in which a workpiece is supported by support members that have been moved and positioned in advance to predetermined positions in front of or behind a die, and at least one of an upper table to which a punch is attached and a lower table to which the die is attached is raised or lowered to clamp the workpiece with the punch and die, applying a predetermined preload, and while this preload is maintained, raising or lowering the front and rear support members and the upper or lower table relative motions are applied to bend the workpiece in cooperation with the punch, die, and front and rear support members.

Patent document 2 discloses a bending device having a relative relational equation calculation means for calculating a relative relational equation between the punch stroke and the die V-width dimension based on the processing conditions for each bending process, and a V-width dimension variable control means for variably controlling the V-width dimension of the die during processing based on the relative relational equation and the punch stroke detection value.

Patent document 3 discloses a metal plate bending device that includes a main body having a pair of arc-shaped grooves formed on the upper surface thereof symmetrically about a center line, a lower die having a pair of oscillating members each housed in the pair of grooves so as to be able to oscillate, and an upper die that is arranged above the lower die and movable along the center line, and that is configured to bend the metal plate along the center line while oscillating the pair of oscillating members by moving the upper die against the metal plate placed on the lower die and applying a pressing force to the metal plate, the device includes a movable plate having an upper surface portion that is placed unfixed on the upper surface of the oscillating member and provides a metal plate placement surface, support means that detachably supports the side portion of the movable plate, and spring means that constantly applies a biasing force to move the movable plate in directions away from each other and allows the movable plate to move toward each other relative to the oscillating members in response to the elongation of the metal plate during bending, against the biasing force.

Patent document 4 describes a metal processing device that performs forming processing on metal plate material, and includes a pressing unit that applies pressure to the held plate material to bend the plate material in the pressing direction, and a position changing unit that changes the relative position between the pressing unit and the plate material held by the pressing unit, and the pressing unit includes a first pressing unit that applies pressure to the plate material, and a second pressing unit that holds the plate material that is subjected to pressure from the first pressing unit. The second pressing section includes a second pressing section side opposing section that faces the first pressing section, a second pressing section side contact section that is provided on both sides of the second pressing section side opposing section and contacts the plate material together with the second pressing section side opposing section, and a second pressing section side moving section that moves the second pressing section side contact section toward the first pressing section as the first pressing section presses the plate material. The metal processing device disclosed is such that the pressing force in the pressing direction applied to the plate material by the pressing section, or the pressing amount of the pressing section in the pressing direction against the plate material, is adjusted as the pressing position of the plate material held by the pressing section is changed.

JP 2002-239631 A JP 2005-297028 A Utility Model Registration No. 3205619 Patent No. 6452874

The invention in Patent Document 1 is an apparatus or method for bending metal sheets, and rollers that come into contact with the metal sheet are arranged on both sides near a narrow punch and a narrow die. However, this is only suitable for bending processes with straight bending lines, and there is a problem that it is not suitable for bending processes with curved bending lines.

The invention in Patent Document 2 is an apparatus or method for bending metal sheets, and a moving die is disposed on either side of a narrow punch and a narrow die that follows and contacts the metal sheet being bent. However, this is only suitable for bending a straight bending line, and there is a problem that it is not suitable for bending a curved bending line.

The invention in Patent Document 3 is a device or method for bending metal sheets, in which a narrow lower die is separated into left and right halves, and as the narrow upper die descends and presses, the separated narrow lower die abuts against the metal sheet in accordance with the bending deformation of the metal sheet. However, this is only applicable to bending processes in which the bending line is linear, and there is a problem that it is not suitable for bending processes in which the bending line is curved.

The invention in Patent Document 4 is a processing device or method capable of forming straight and curved bending lines, but there is a problem with the part that holds the plate material and the contact part on the second pressing part side having broken shoulders or scratches.

The present invention was devised in consideration of these problems, and aims to provide a metal processing device and a metal processing method that prevent shoulder breaks and scratches from occurring in metal plate materials when bending the metal plate materials. Metal processing devices include dedicated processing devices and processing robots.

In the present invention, pressing is used to mean that, when a component on the metal processing device side moves, the component on the metal processing device side moves toward the plate material and presses against the plate material, whereas, when a component on the metal processing device side does not move, the plate material is moved by another component and pressed against the component, thereby applying pressure to the plate material.

The metal processing device according to claim 1 is a metal processing device for bending a metal plate material by applying pressure in opposite directions on its front and back, the metal processing device comprising: a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape, which applies pressure to a processing point that is a position of a bend line of the plate material; or a combination of a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central section disposed opposite to the first pressing section; two second pressing side sections, which are on both sides of the first pressing section in the bending direction and which press a surface of the plate material that is different from the surface of the plate material that is pressed by the first pressing section, in a direction opposite to the pressing direction of the first pressing section; and a position of a means for applying deformation to the plate material, for moving the processing point along a predetermined trajectory so that the tip end of the first pressing section is located at the position of a preset bend line of the plate material, in other words, and/or the bending machine includes a position changing means for changing the position of the plate material side, a pressing means capable of varying the pressing force in the pressing direction at the processing point, at least one holding portion for holding the plate material, and a control portion, and is characterized in that the bending machine is provided with a gripping portion following means for causing the posture and position of the surface of the gripping portion that abuts against the plate material during bending to follow the movement of the surface that changes when the plate material is bent and deformed around the gripping portion by using a bouncing force of the plate material , and/or a pre-bending means for bending the plate material in the same direction as the bouncing direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material, before bending.

The metal processing device according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, the gripper follow-up means comprises at least one of the following: an inclined portion to which the gripper is fixed at the tip end, which can be inclined by the bending deformation force of the plate material; a rotation portion which can rotate the gripper and inclined portion about the central axis of the gripper by the bending deformation force of the plate material; a sliding portion which can slide the gripper, inclined portion and rotating portion in a direction intersecting the central axis by the bending deformation force of the plate material; and a revolution portion which can rotate the sliding portion only in the jumping direction of the plate material by the bending deformation force of the plate material around one end side of the sliding portion as the revolution center, thereby allowing the gripper to revolve freely only in the jumping direction of the plate material.

The metal processing device described in claim 3 is characterized in that, in claim 2, the arrangement of the gripper tracking means is a single arrangement in which one gripper tracking means is arranged, and/or an arrangement in which the gripper tracking means are arranged on both sides of the center of revolution of the gripper, and are connected so that they can freely revolve only on the side in the direction in which the plate material bounces up.

The metal processing device according to claim 4 is a metal processing device according to claim 1, wherein the pre-bending means is a plate material gripping type pre-bending means in which a gripping portion gripping the plate material lifts the plate material, thereby bending the plate material in a direction that causes it to jump up due to bending deformation, and a plate material both end edge abutment type pre-bending means in which the outer circumferential surface of a rotating cylinder that can rotate freely about an axis in a direction intersecting the plate surface of the plate material is abutted against the edges of both ends of the plate material, and the gap between the rotating cylinders on both sides abutting against the edges of both ends is reduced by a sliding means, thereby bending the plate material in a direction that causes it to jump up due to bending deformation. The preliminary bending means or the plate surface abutment type preliminary bending means is characterized in that the plate surface is bent in a different direction relative to the position where the plate surface is pressed by the tip of the first pressing part of the plate material by abutting the outer surface of a rotating cylinder that is approximately parallel to the plate surface and can rotate about an axis that intersects with the direction in which the bending process proceeds, and rotating the rotating cylinder in a direction that presses the plate surface upward with one end side provided near the position that becomes the processing point as the rotation center axis, thereby bending the plate material in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation.

The metal processing method according to claim 5 is a metal processing method for bending a metal plate material by applying pressure in opposite directions on its front and back, the method including: a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape, which applies pressure to a processing point that is a position of a bend line of the plate material; or a combination of a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central section disposed opposite to the first pressing section; two second pressing side sections, which are on both sides of the first pressing section in the bending direction and press a surface of the plate material that is different from the surface of the plate material that is pressed by the first pressing section, in a direction opposite to the pressing direction of the first pressing section; and a bending section that deforms the plate material so that the tip end of the first pressing section is located at the position of a preset bend line of the plate material, in other words, to move the processing point along a predetermined trajectory. the pressing means being capable of varying the position of the pressing means side and/or the position of the plate material side, pressing means capable of varying the pressing force in the pressing direction at the processing point, at least one holding portion for holding the plate material, and a control portion, the bending processing of the plate material being enabled by setting three portions, namely, the tip portion of the first pressing portion located in the center and the portions of the two second pressing side portions located on both sides that can press against the plate material, in a substantially V-shaped relative positional relationship, the posture and position of the surface of the holding portion that abuts against the plate material during bending processing is made to follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending deformation around the holding portions of the plate material by the bounce force of the plate material , and/or the plate material is bent in the same direction as the bounce direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material, before bending processing.

The metal processing device according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 5 can complete bending in one operation or repeat bending multiple times to form different bending angles for different parts of a single bending line, and can perform bending of multiple bending lines with different bending angles on the same plate material. In addition, by providing a gripper tracking means, shoulder bending would occur in the plate material that contacts the peripheral part of the gripper due to the bending deformation force during bending, but the posture and position of the gripper's surface that contacts the plate material when gripped can be adjusted to follow the change in the surface of the plate material when the plate material jumps up due to the jumping force of the plate material, so that shoulder bending that occurred in the part of the metal plate material that contacts the peripheral part of the gripper can be eliminated.

In addition, the metal processing device described in claim 1, 4 or 5 is equipped with a preliminary bending means, which allows the surface of the plate to bend slightly in the bending direction, i.e., the spring-up direction, before bending. This reduces the force required to bend the plate during bending around the boundary between the surface that has not yet been bent and the surface that has been bent, thereby eliminating the occurrence of shoulder breaks and scratches that occurred in the part of the metal plate that contacts the peripheral edge of the gripped gripping part and the part that contacts the peripheral edge of the second pressing side part.

By performing pre-bending, it is possible to reduce the pressing force required by the first pressing part, the second pressing center part, and the second pressing side part to cause bending deformation, and it is possible to reduce the size of the machine part of the processing area, resulting in a low-output machine.

In addition, when the plate material is held by the gripping portion and moved so as to form a bend line in the plate material, the bent shape of the plate material sandwiched between the first pressing portion and the second pressing central portion due to the preliminary bending is similar to the shape of the boundary formed by the convex shape of the first pressing portion and the second pressing central portion, so the force required to move the plate material can be reduced compared to when the plate material is flat.

1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an arrangement of components of a metal processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, seen from a side; FIG. 1 is a schematic front view illustrating the arrangement of components of an example of a metal processing apparatus according to the present invention that is provided with a plate-holding type pre-bending means. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view illustrating the arrangement of components of an example of a metal processing apparatus according to the present invention that is provided with a pre-bending means that abuts on both edges of a plate material; FIG. 1 is a simplified explanatory diagram of the arrangement of components as viewed from the front of an example of a metal processing apparatus according to the present invention having a plate surface contact type pre-bending means. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an example of a metal processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is an enlarged explanatory diagram of part E in FIG. 5 , where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration around the first pressing part and the second pressing central part before bending, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration around the first pressing part and the second pressing central part as bending progresses. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the second pressing central portion, the second pressing side portion, and the second pressing side moving portion, where FIG. 11A is an explanatory diagram of the state before operation, and FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the processing point height varying means, where (a) is an explanatory diagram when the processing point height is in a low position, (b) is an explanatory diagram when the processing point height is in a high position, and (c) is an explanatory diagram showing the pressing means of the drive source that varies the processing point height. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a metal plate material being bent along a curved bend line by the metal processing device of the present invention, where (a) is a diagram showing the trajectory of the processing points for bending, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a product having a curved bend line. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a metal plate material to be bent along a straight bend line by the metal processing device of the present invention, where (a) is a diagram showing the trajectory of the processing points for bending, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a product having a straight bend line. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of components when a spherical bearing portion is used as a component of the gripper following means. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining components when the gripper following means is configured to oscillate without using a spherical bearing, where (a) is an explanatory oblique view of a state in which the slide guide portion is omitted and there is no oscillating operation, (b) is an explanatory oblique view of a state in which the slide guide portion is omitted and there is a downward oscillating operation, and (c) is an explanatory oblique view of the slide guide portion. 12(a) is an explanatory diagram of a vertical cross section cut in the front-to-back direction at K3 in FIG. 12(a); FIG. 12(b) is an explanatory diagram of a vertical cross section cut in the front-to-back direction at K1 in FIG. 12(b); and FIG. 12(c) is an explanatory diagram of a vertical cross section cut in the front-to-back direction at K2 in FIG. 12(b). 1A is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which the gripper revolution direction is clockwise, and FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which the gripper revolution direction is counterclockwise. 1A is an oblique view of an example of a configuration in which the gripper tracking means is provided, in which (a) shows the state in which each part has returned to its original position, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the state in which the right gripper has rotated around the central axis of the gripper. 1A is an oblique view of an example of a gripping portion tracking means in which (a) shows the right gripping portion in a state where it is swung downward, and (b) is an explanatory diagram showing the right gripping portion in a state where it is swung upward. 1A and 1B are perspective views of an example of a configuration in which a gripper follow-up means is provided, in which (a) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the right gripper revolves, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the right gripper slides. 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing how the gripping portion follows the deformation of the plate material caused by bending processing due to the combined gripping portion following means, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the state before bending processing, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the state after bending processing. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of one form of a gripping portion orientation changing means having a gripping portion following means attached thereto, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the gripping portion is oriented to the right in a plan view, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the gripping portion is oriented to the left in a plan view. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a pre-bending means for abutting both edges of a plate material; FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a pre-bending means that abuts both edges of a plate material, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration before pre-bending, (b) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration after pre-bending, and (c) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the pre-bending means in an operating state during bending processing. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a plate surface abutment type pre-bending means when it is arranged further back on the unprocessed side than the first pressing portion and the second pressing center portion, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration before pre-bending, (b) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration after pre-bending, and (c) is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the pre-bending means in an operating state during bending processing. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the plate surface abutment type pre-bending means, in which (a) is an explanatory diagram of the state of the left and right rotating cylinders during pre-bending, (b) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which damage is avoided when some kind of impact force is applied to the right rotating cylinder, and (c) is an explanatory diagram of the state of the left and right rotating cylinders in the initial state. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example in which a plate material gripping type pre-bending means is provided on a position changing means. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the effect of pre-bending, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of a model for simulating the reaction force generated in a plate material when bending after pre-bending, and (b) is a graph showing the reaction forces of each model generated in the plate material when simulating bending after pre-bending. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a shoulder break that occurs in a plate material after bending processing using a conventional metal processing device. 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams of scratches that occurred on a plate material after bending processing using a conventional metal processing device, where (a) is an enlarged view of the scratches in (b), and (b) is an explanatory diagram of the scratches that occurred on the plate material. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the state of a plate material during bending processing. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the effect of pre-bending; (a) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which a shoulder bend occurs at one corner of the second pressing side portion when the peripheral portion of the second pressing side portion pushes up the plate material, (b) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which a shoulder bend occurs at the other corner of the second pressing side portion when the peripheral portion of the second pressing side portion pushes up the plate material, and (c) is an explanatory diagram of the state in which a shoulder bend does not occur even when the plate material is pushed up after the peripheral portion of the second pressing side portion is pre-bent. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the attachment location of the gripping parts that grip the plate material, (a) being an explanatory diagram showing a configuration in which one edge of the plate material on the bending side is gripped by one gripping part following means having two gripping parts, (b) being an explanatory diagram showing a configuration in which two gripping part following means having two gripping parts grip each of two opposing edges of the plate material on the bending side by separate gripping part following means, (c) being an explanatory diagram showing a configuration in which two gripping part following means having two gripping parts grip both sides of the plate material on either side of the bending line by gripping parts of separate gripping part following means, and (d) being an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of conventional gripping parts. 1A is an explanatory schematic diagram of the range of configurations in which bending processing can be performed at three points in an approximately V-shape when the first pressing portion moves, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion, a second pressing central portion, a second pressing side portion, and a second pressing side moving portion, (b) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion, a second pressing side portion, and a second pressing side moving portion, (c) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion and a fixed integrated second pressing side portion, (d) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion and a fixed separate type second pressing side portion, and (e) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion, a second pressing central portion, and a fixed separate type second pressing side portion. 1A is an explanatory schematic diagram of a range of configurations in which bending processing can be performed at three points in an approximately V-shape when the first pressing portion does not move, where (a) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion, a second pressing central portion, a second pressing side portion, and a second pressing side moving portion, and (b) is an explanatory diagram of a configuration having a first pressing portion, a second pressing side portion, and a second pressing side moving portion.

The metal processing device 1 of the present invention is a device that applies pressure to a metal plate 40 at a point at any position on the plate, and moves the plate 40 while forming any bending angle by varying the pressure in the pressing direction or the height of the processing point 6 by the first pressing unit 2 according to settings based on the results of previous calculations, or moves the means for deforming the plate 40, thereby bending the plate 40 while forming a bending line 41 as set, for example, as shown in Figures 30(a) to (d). Note that the metal processing device 1 includes dedicated processing devices and robots.

The metal processing device 1 of the present invention is a metal processing device 1 that performs bending processing by applying pressure to a metal plate material 40 in opposite directions on the front and back as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5, and includes a first pressing section 2 whose tip portion forms a substantially convex shape, which applies pressure to a processing point 6 that is the position of a bending line 41 of the plate material 40, or a combination of a first pressing section 2 whose tip portion forms a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central section 3 arranged opposite to the first pressing section 2, two second pressing side sections 4 that press a surface of the plate material 40 that is different from the surface of the plate material 40 that the first pressing section 2 applies pressure to in the opposite direction to the pressing direction of the first pressing section 2 on both sides of the first pressing section 2 in the bending direction, and a pressing section 1 for pressing the surface of the plate material 40 that is different from the surface of the plate material 40 that the first pressing section 2 applies pressure to in the opposite direction to the pressing direction of the first pressing section 2, and a pressing section 1 for pressing the surface of the plate material 40 so that the tip portion of the first pressing section 2 is located at the position of a preset bending line 41 of the plate material 40, in other words, to move the processing point 6 along a predetermined trajectory. The bending machine includes a position changing means 8 for changing the position of the means for deforming the plate material 40 and/or the position of the plate material 40, a pressing means 11 for varying the pressing force in the pressing direction at the processing point 6, at least one holding portion 7 for holding the plate material 40, and a control unit 9. The bending machine is provided with a holding portion following means 20 for making the posture and position of the surface of the holding portion 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending deformation around the holding portion 7 of the plate material 40, and/or a preliminary bending means 30 for bending the plate material 40 in the same direction as the jumping direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material 40, before bending.

The metal processing device 1 is a device that bends the plate material 40 by positioning three parts, the tip part of the first pressing part 2 located in the center and the parts of the two second pressing side parts 4 located on both sides that can press against the plate material 40, in a generally V-shaped relative positional relationship when the first pressing part moves, as shown in, for example, Figures 31(a) to (e), and when the first pressing part does not move, as shown in, for example, Figures 32(a) and (b). The metal processing device 1 is also equipped with the gripper following means 20 and the preliminary bending means 30.

The components required to make the relative positional relationship formed by the line connecting the three parts approximately V-shaped are at least the tip part of the first pressing part 2 and the two second pressing side parts 4.

The pressing form at the processing point 6 may be a form in which pressing is applied from one direction only by the first pressing portion 2, as shown in Figs. 31(b), (c) and (d); a form in which pressing is applied from both directions by the first pressing portion 2 and a second pressing central portion 3 arranged in a position opposite the first pressing portion 2, as shown in Figs. 31(a) and (e); a form in which the second pressing central portion 3 presses the first pressing portion 2 from one direction, as shown in Fig. 32(a); or a form in which pressing is applied by pressing the plate material 40 against the first pressing portion 2 by the second pressing side portion 4, as shown in Fig. 32(b).

Here, the first pressing part 2 is moved by the pressing means 11 as shown in FIG. 1, and the second pressing central part 3, the second pressing side part 4 and the second pressing side moving part 5 are moved by the operation of the pressing means 14 via the processing point height variable means as shown in FIG. 8(c).

As shown in Figs. 31(a) and (b) and Figs. 32(a) and (b), the second pressing side portion 4 may be provided with a second pressing side moving portion 5 that moves the second pressing side portion 4 toward the first pressing portion 2, and the second pressing side portion 4 may be moved in the opposite direction to the pressing direction of the first pressing portion 2, or as shown in Figs. 31(c) to (d), the second pressing side portion 4 may not be moved. Furthermore, the second pressing side portion 4 that is not moved may be in a form in which two of the second pressing side portions 4 are integrated as shown in Fig. 31(c), or in a form in which two of the second pressing side portions 4 are separated as shown in Figs. 31(d) and (e).

As shown in Figures 31(a)-(e) and 32(a) and (b), there are seven basic configurations of metal processing devices 1 for bending. Below, we will explain a typical configuration as shown in Figure 31(a) that has a first pressing section, a second pressing central section, a second pressing side section, and a second pressing side moving section.

As shown in FIG. 6 or 7, the first pressing part 2 is a circular body with an outer circumferential edge part that rotates around an axis that is approximately perpendicular to the bending direction, and the outer circumferential edge part of the approximately convex shape forms a tip part that contacts the plate material 40 in an approximately point contact and applies pressure in the direction of the second pressing center part 3. The circular body of the first pressing part 2 is, for example, a roller body or a sphere.

As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5, the first pressing unit 2 applies pressure by a pressing means 11 of a cylinder 34, such as an electric cylinder, an air cylinder, or a hydraulic cylinder. The pressing means 11 is capable of adjusting the pressing force as the pressing height into the plate material 40 is changed, and the pressing force in the pressing direction by the first pressing unit 2 is variable. The pressing means 11 is fixed to a frame 80.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, the second pressing central portion 3 is a circular body that faces the first pressing portion 2, receives the pressing force, and rotates about an axis that is approximately perpendicular to the bending direction. An example of the circular body of the second pressing central portion 3 is a roller body. The pressing force in the pressing direction can be varied by combining the pressing forces in both directions of the first pressing portion 2 and the second pressing central portion 3.

The second pressing side parts 4 are cylindrical bodies, such as roller bodies, that are provided close to both sides of the second pressing central part 3 and rotate around an axis that is approximately parallel to the plate material 40. The second pressing side parts 4 are rotatable in the direction in which the plate material 40 bounces up, with the second pressing central part 3 side as the center of rotation. The second pressing side parts 4 are brought into contact with the second pressing central part 3 side of the plate material 40 that is being bent and deformed, and the second pressing side parts 4 are rotated by a second pressing side moving part 5 such as a cylinder mechanism, for example, so that the plate material 40 is pushed upward in synchronization with the action of applying pressure by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3.

The instruction to rotate the second pressing side part 4 by the second pressing side moving part 5 in the direction of the jumping up of the plate material 40 with the second pressing center part 3 side, i.e., the processing point side, as the center of rotation is calculated by the calculation processing part 9a of the control part 9 based on various parameters such as the shape of the molded product, the characteristics of the plate material 40, and the characteristics of each part of the metal processing device 1, and the calculation result is sent from the drive instruction part 9b to the second pressing side moving part 5 equipped with a cylinder mechanism, etc.

As shown in FIG. 6(b), the plate material 40 is sandwiched between the first pressing portion 2 and the second pressing central portion 3, and in accordance with the action of the first pressing portion 2 pushing it towards the second pressing central portion 3, the second pressing side moving portion 5, which has received an operation command from the control portion 9 to optimize its posture, pushes up the plate material 40, causing the plate material 40 to bend due to the intended plastic deformation.

As shown in FIG. 7(a) or (b), when the pressing force of the first pressing portion 2 is released, the second pressing central portion 3 is returned to the state before the pressing force was applied by a return mechanism 13 of the cylinders 34, such as a compression spring (not shown) or an electric cylinder, air cylinder, or hydraulic cylinder, and the second pressing side portion 4 is returned to the state before the pressing force was applied by the second side moving portion 5.

The position changing means 8 includes a position changing means 8b (not shown) for changing the position of the means for applying deformation to the plate material 40 so that the tip of the first pressing portion 2 is located at the position of a preset bending line 41 of the plate material 40, in other words, for moving the processing point 6 along a predetermined trajectory, and/or a position changing means 8a for changing the position of the plate material 40, as shown in Fig. 1 or 5. The means for applying deformation to the plate material 40 includes means involved in processing the plate material 40, such as the first pressing portion 2, the second pressing central portion 3, the second pressing side portion 4, the pressing side moving portion 5, the preliminary bending means 30 , the pressing means 11, the pressing means 14, and the processing point height varying means 10.

The gripping unit 7 grips the plate material 40. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, the gripping unit 7 uses the position changing means 8a to move the plate material 40 so that the processing point 6, which is the processing point during which the bending line 41 of the plate material 40 is being formed, is in the set bending line formation direction of the plate material 40, for example, as shown in FIG. 28.

For example, as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 or Fig. 30(d), the gripping portion 7 may be of type A, in which a single gripping portion 7 grips the vicinity of the bending start point or the vicinity of the bending end point of the plate material 40, or of type B, in which opposing edges of the plate material 40 are gripped by a pair of gripping portions 7, as shown in Fig. 30(b) or (c). In the case of type B, the gripping portion 7 provided on the position changing means 8 may also function as the plate material gripping pre-bending means 30a, as shown in Fig. 24, for example.

As shown in FIG. 30(a), there is a configuration C in which the gripper follower means 20 equipped with two grippers 7 grips the same side of the plate material 40 on both sides as viewed from the bending line 41. In the case of the above-mentioned configuration C, it is used in a configuration in which the same side is gripped on both sides of the bending line as shown in, for example, FIG. 18(a) and (b). The type of gripper 7 that grips which part of the plate material 40 is gripped is set individually for each bending product depending on the design specifications for the bending process of the plate material 40, the material of the plate material 40, and the shape and size of the plate material 40.

As shown in Figures 1, 5 or 19, the means for moving the plate material 40 includes a left-right movement means 62 that reciprocates in the X-axis direction X, i.e., in the left-right direction, a front-back movement means 63 on which the left-right movement means 62 is mounted and that reciprocates in the Y-axis direction Y, i.e., in the front-back direction, and a gripping portion following means 20a or 20b based on the left-right movement means 62 and the front-back movement means 63, and a rotation means 65 that changes the orientation of the gripping portion 7. The rotating means 65 includes a left-right rotating means 65a and a front-rear rotating means 65b, and a protruding portion 65a2 is provided on a slider 65a1 of the left-right rotating means 65a so as to protrude forward. A rotating shaft portion 61 with a sliding through hole is fixed to the tip of the protruding portion 65a2 so as to be vertically rotatable. A sliding bar portion 64 capable of reciprocating relative to the rotating shaft portion 61 with a sliding through hole is attached to the rotating shaft portion 61 with a sliding through hole. The gripper follower means 20 is rotatably attached via a rotation center 60 provided at the tip of the sliding bar portion 64. A gripper 7 is fixed in front of the gripper follower means 20. At least one gripper 7 that moves the plate material 40 within the gripper 7 that grips the plate material 40 includes only a revolving portion of the gripper follower means 20 in order to move the plate material 40 as set. In addition, the operation of the various actuators of the position change means 8a, including the left-right movement means 62, the front-back movement means 63, and the rotation means 65, is controlled by movement instructions from the control unit 9.

The rotating means 65 includes a rotating means 65a for left-right movement and a rotating means 65b for front-rear movement, and changes the orientation of the gripper tracking means 20a or 20b and the gripper 7 based on the left-right movement means 62 and the front-rear movement means 63.

As shown in Figures 5, 19(a) and (b), the orientation of the gripper follower 20a or 20b and the orientation of the gripper 7 can be freely changed by changing the relative position between the position of the slider 62a, which can be changed by the movement of the left-right moving means 62 and the front-back moving means 63, respectively, and the position of the slider 65a1, which can be changed by the movement of the rotation means 65a, which moves left-right, and the rotation means 65b, which moves front-back, respectively. The control of these relative positions is performed by the calculation processing unit 9a, which calculates the operation related to the bending process, and the operation of each actuator of the position changing means 8a is controlled by instructions from the drive instruction unit 9b, which outputs the calculation results.

The processing point height varying means 10, which varies the processing point height when the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3 apply pressure, is fixed to the frame 80 in the metal processing device 1, or is fixed on the position changing means 8b that moves the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3. The position changing means 8b may not be required when the position changing means 8a that moves the plate material 40 is installed. The pressing direction by the first pressing part 2 and the pressing direction by the second pressing central part 3 are opposite to each other, but the pressing direction by the combined force of the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3 is, for example, the direction of the arrow 12 as shown in FIG. 8, but may be the opposite direction. There is also a form in which the processing point height varying means 10 is not provided and the processing point height is fixed without moving the second pressing central part 3.

The processing point height variable means 10 can adjust the height of the upper surface 72a of the inclined sliding part 72 by raising and lowering the inclined sliding part 72 on the inclined base 71 that forms a slope by the operation of the pressing means 14 as shown in FIG. 8 (c). For example, the inclined sliding part 72 can be lowered as shown in FIG. 8 (a), or raised as shown in FIG. 8 (b). Since the second pressing center part 3, the second pressing side part 4, and the second pressing side moving part 5 are fixed to the upper surface 72a, the processing point height by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing center part 3 with respect to the plate material 40 can be changed by changing the lift height of the inclined sliding part 72. The control of the lift height of the inclined sliding part 72 by pressing with the inclined base 71 that moves by the pressing means 14 is performed by an instruction from the drive instruction unit 9b, which calculates the operation related to the bending process by the calculation processing unit 9a and outputs the calculation result.

The pressing means 11, which can vary the pressing force in the pressing direction by the first pressing part 2, can lower the first pressing part 2 by using cylinders 34, such as an electric cylinder, air cylinder, or hydraulic cylinder, to apply it to the second pressing center part 3, and can raise it to remove the load, and can vary the pressing force to be applied, as shown in Figures 1 and 5. The pressing force is controlled by calculating the direction and depth of the bending operation in the calculation processing unit 9a, and controlling the pressing height by the cylinders 34, such as an electric cylinder, air cylinder, or hydraulic cylinder, in response to instructions from the drive instruction unit 9b, which outputs the calculation results. Similarly, the pressing means 14 can raise the second pressing center part 3 to apply it to the first pressing part 2.

The control unit 9 includes a calculation processing unit 9a that calculates the direction, position, height, or force of the operation based on various parameters such as the shape of the bent product, the characteristics of the plate material 40, and the characteristics of each part of the metal processing device 1, and a drive instruction unit 9b that receives the calculation results and sends instructions to each actuator related to the drive of the cylinders 34 of the metal processing device 1, such as an electric cylinder, an air cylinder, or a hydraulic cylinder. The control unit 9 and each actuator related to the drive are connected by wiring 81.

Next, a bent product by the metal processing device 1 of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 9(a), the movement of the plate material 40 is controlled so that the processing point 6 for the plate material 40 is moved toward the traveling direction 42 so that the plate material 40 is gradually bent along the traveling direction 42 to form a set curved bending line 41, and a bent product having a deflection surface can be produced as shown in FIG. 9(b). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10(a), the movement of the plate material 40 is controlled so that the processing point 6 for the plate material 40 is moved toward the traveling direction 42 so that the plate material 40 is gradually bent along the traveling direction 42 to form a set linear bending line 41, and a bent product having a linear bending line 41 can be produced as shown in FIG. 10(b). From this, the metal processing device 1 of the present invention can bend a curved or linear bending line of any trajectory, bend a single bending line that combines curved and linear shapes, or bend a plurality of bending lines that combine curved and linear shapes.

Next, as shown in FIG. 28, when processing point 6 is in progress, the surfaces of areas B1 and B2 where bending has been completed from processing point 6 are bent at a predetermined bending angle, but the surface of area A on the far side from processing point 6, where bending will soon begin, is bent at a different bending angle from the aforementioned bending angle, and in many cases the bending angle is small.

Therefore, when the preliminary bending means 30 is not provided, as shown in FIG. 29(a) or (b), when the second pressing side portion 4 pushes up the plate material 40 in accordance with the timing of the pressing process of the first pressing portion 2, the surfaces with small bending angles in the ranges C1 and C2, or the surfaces with small bending angles in the ranges C3 and C4 are suddenly pushed up, resulting in a shoulder bend 45 as shown in FIG. 26 or a scratch 46 as shown in FIG. 27 at the position D1 or D2, which is the peripheral portion of the second pressing side portion 4.

Furthermore, conventional gripping parts have no tracking means, and as an example, as shown in Figure 30 (d), are attached in one location on the front side. The surface of the peripheral edge of the gripping part of the plate material 40 gripped by the gripping part is bent in three dimensions by bending the plate material 40, but the posture and position of the surface of the conventional gripping part that abuts against the plate material do not follow the three-dimensional changes in the movement of the plate material, so there is a problem that a shoulder bend occurs at the boundary S between the flat surface sandwiched by the gripping part and the bent surface at the peripheral edge of the gripping part.

Next, the gripper tracking means 20 will be described. As an example of the gripper tracking means 20, there is a gripper tracking means 20a equipped with a spherical bearing portion 26 as shown in FIG. 11. As another example, there is a gripper tracking means 20b that does not have a spherical bearing portion 26 and performs a swiveling motion using an inclined portion 24 as shown in FIGS. 12 to 19. The gripper tracking means 20 of the present invention is not limited to these, and any configuration may be used as long as it is configured to allow the posture and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending to follow the movement of the surface that changes when the plate material 40 is bent around the gripper 7 by the spring force during bending of the plate material 40.

The gripper tracking means 20 includes at least one of the following: an inclined portion 24 to which the gripper 7 is fixed at the tip end, which is operable by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent; a rotation portion that allows the gripper 7 and the inclined portion 24 to rotate about the central axis of the gripper 7 by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent; a slide portion that allows the gripper 7, the inclined portion 24, and the rotation portion to slide in a direction intersecting the central axis by the spring force generated when the plate material is bent; and a revolution portion that rotates the slide portion only in the spring direction of the plate material 40 by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent, with one end of the slide portion as the revolution center, so that the gripper 7 can revolve only in the spring direction of the plate material 40. Each of the tracking means may be provided with a return mechanism that returns to the initial state when the spring force is eliminated.

The combination of the components of the gripper tracking means 20 can be appropriately selected depending on the intended use of the gripper 7. For example, in the case of a gripper 7 intended to grip in order to move the processing point 6 along a predetermined trajectory, a combination of only the revolution part may be used; in the case of a gripper 7 intended to be used for preliminary bending, a combination of components capable of bending the plate material 40 may be used; or in the case of a gripper 7 intended to support the plate material 40, a combination of all components may be used.

The gripper tracking means 20 is a device that adjusts the posture and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that holds the plate material 40 to follow the changes in the shape of the surface that bounces up due to the force of the plate material 40 bouncing up during bending.

First, the gripper follower means 20a will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, the gripper follower means 20a includes a gripper 7 and a spherical bearing 26 fixed to the tip of the gripper 7 as a rotating part that allows the gripper 7 to rotate freely on its own axis due to the spring-up force during bending of the plate material 40, and as a tilting part that allows the gripper 7 to tilt freely due to the spring-up force during bending of the plate material 40, and a sliding part that allows the mounting side of the spherical bearing 26 to slide in a direction intersecting the center line direction T1 of the gripper 7 due to the spring-up force during bending of the plate material 40. The slide shaft portion 21a and the slide guide portion 22 are provided as a revolving portion, and the slide guide portion 22 is rotated by the spring force during bending of the plate material 40 only in the spring direction of the plate material 40 by providing a regulating means (not shown) for regulating the rotation direction with one end side of the slide guide portion 22 as the revolving center 23, so that the gripper portion 7 can freely revolve only in the spring direction of the plate material 40. The structure has the revolving center 23, the slide guide portion 22, and the regulating means. Here, the slide portion and the revolving portion have the same configuration in the gripper portion following means 20a and the gripper portion following means 20b. Therefore, the slide portion slides in the direction of the arrow N as shown, for example, in the right gripper following means 20b in FIG. 17(b), and the revolving portion revolves only in the spring direction of the plate material as shown, for example, in the right gripper following means 20b in FIG. 17(a).

The gripper tracking means 20a allows the gripper 7 to rotate, tilt, slide and revolve on its axis due to the upward force generated when the plate material 40 is bent, and the posture and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending of the plate material 40 can be made to follow the movement of the surface that changes when the plate material 40 is bent around the gripper 7 due to the upward force generated when the plate material 40 is bent.

Next, the gripper follower means 20b will be described. As shown in Figures 12 to 17, the gripper follower means 20b includes a gripper 7 that grips the plate material 40, a rotation section that allows the rotation shaft/slide shaft section 21, which is inserted into the slide guide section 22 by rolling friction such as a bearing and is connected to the gripper 7, to rotate by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent, a tilt section 24 that can tilt in two directions by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent and returns to its original position by the force of a spring 24a, a slide section that allows the gripper 7 to slide by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent, a revolution section that revolves the slide section by the spring force generated when the plate material 40 is bent, and a restriction section that restricts the revolution direction to only the spring direction of the plate material 40.

The operation of the inclined portion 24 returning to its original position by the force of the spring 24a when the gripping portion 7 is in a swiveling state and goes from a loaded state to an unloaded state will be described with reference to Figures 13(a) to (c). The base portion 83 abuts against the front end of the spring 24a as shown in Figure 13(b), and the spring pressing portion 82 is integrally constructed with guide pins 84a and 84b and abuts against the rear end of the spring 24a. The guide pins 84a and 84b are assembled so that they can be inserted through the through holes of the base portion 83. The rear ends of the guide pins 84a and 84b are attached at approximately the same position as the rear end of the spring pressing portion 82 as shown in Figure 13(c).

When the gripping portion 7 is not swung as shown in FIG. 12(a) or FIG. 13(a), the substantially L-shaped spring pressing portion 82, which is a component of the tilting portion 24, is not tilted relative to the slide guide clamping portion 22a. However, when the gripping portion 7 is swung as shown in FIG. 12(b) or FIG. 13(b), the tilting portion 24 tilts around the rotation center axis 85 in the direction perpendicular to the center line direction T2 of the tilting portion 24 having the gripping portion 7, which is fitted into the bearing provided on the slide guide clamping portion 22a side, as shown in FIG. 13(c), and the spring pressing portion 82 also tilts relative to the slide guide clamping portion 22a. Then, as shown in FIG. 13(c), the lower side of the spring pressing portion 82 abuts against the slide guide clamping portion 22a, and the upper side of the spring pressing portion 82 separates from the slide guide clamping portion 22a, increasing the distance.

As shown in FIG. 13(a), when the gripping portion 7 is not pivoted, the distance M between the front ends of the guide pins 84a and 84b and the front surface of the base portion 83 is narrow, but as shown in FIG. 13(c), when the gripping portion 7 is pivoted, the distance M becomes larger and the front ends of the guide pins 84a and 84b both protrude significantly from the front surface of the base portion 83. This means that the distance between the base portion 83, which is the contact portion on the front end side of the spring 24a, and the spring pressing portion 82, which is the contact portion on the rear end side of the spring 24a, becomes narrower, which compresses the spring 24a and indicates that the narrower the distance, the greater the biasing force that is generated in the extension direction of the spring 24a.

Therefore, when the plate material 40 is removed from the gripping portion 7 and the spring force is released, the force of the spring 24a in the extension direction quickly returns the gripping portion 7 to its non-pivoting state.

When the gripping part 7 is not pivoting, as shown in Figures 12(a) and 13(a), the spring 24a maintains a biasing force in the extension direction. When the gripping part 7 pivots due to the bending deformation force of the plate material 40, the spring 24a enters a compressed state as shown in Figures 12(b) and 13(b). When the upward force of the plate material 40 is released, the spring 24a returns to its original state due to the increased biasing force in the extension direction of the spring 24a.

As shown in FIG. 17(b), the gripper follower means 20b includes a slide guide clamping portion 22a, a slide guide portion 22, and the rotation axis/slide shaft portion 21 (hidden by other parts in FIG. 17(b) and shown in FIG. 12(b)) that can slide in a direction N intersecting the center line direction T2 of the gripper 7 by the bending deformation force of the plate material 40, and the rotation axis/slide shaft portion 21 is inserted into the guide hole portion 22b of the slide guide portion 22 as shown in FIG. 12(c), and the rotation axis/slide shaft portion 21 can slide along the slide guide portion 22 by the slide guide clamping portion 22a. The rotation axis/slide shaft portion 21 has a rolling shaft structure such as a bearing, and the rolling friction with the slide guide portion 22 makes it easy to slide even with a small force. The gripping part 7 is connected to the rotation axis/slide axis part 21, so that the gripping part 7 can slide even when subjected to a small force.

Furthermore, the revolving part as the gripper follower means 20b is a mechanism for revolving the gripper 7 by revolving the slide part, and as shown in FIG. 14, one end side of the slide part is the revolving center 23, i.e., one end side of the slide guide part 22, which is a component part of the slide part, is the revolving center 23, and the slide guide part 22 is rotated only in the revolving direction of the plate material 40 by the jumping force during bending processing of the plate material 40, as shown in FIG. 17(a) by providing a restricting means (not shown) for restricting the rotation direction. The revolving part includes the revolving center 23, the slide guide part 22, and the restricting means that allow the gripper 7 to revolve freely only in the jumping direction of the plate material 40. The revolving center 23 on one end side of the slide guide part 22 is a rolling bearing structure such as a bearing, making it easy to rotate even with a small force.

The gripper tracking means 20b allows the gripper 7 to rotate, swivel, slide and revolve due to the spring force generated during bending of the plate material 40, even if the spring force is very small, and can cause the attitude and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending of the plate material 40 to follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending of the plate material 40 around the gripper 7 due to the spring force generated during bending of the plate material 40.

The gripper tracking means 20b makes it possible for the gripper 7 to rotate on its axis as a first movement, the gripper 7 to swivel as a second movement, the gripper 7 to slide as a third movement, and the gripper 7 to revolve as a fourth movement, by the spring-up force of the plate material 40 when bending the plate material 40. Therefore, as shown in Figures 18(a) and (b), for example, the posture and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that contacts the plate material 7 can be made to follow the change in movement of the plate material 40 when bending the plate material 40.

The arrangement of the gripper tracking means 20b may be a single arrangement in which one gripper tracking means 20 is provided, as shown in Figures 14(a) and (b), and/or an arrangement in which the gripper tracking means 20 is provided on both sides of the center of revolution 23 of the gripper 7, and connected so as to be capable of revolving freely only on the side in the direction in which the plate material 40 bounces up, as shown in Figures 15 to 17.

The movements of the gripper follower means 20b are all caused by the spring force generated during bending of the plate material 40, and the movements are as follows: the gripper 7 rotates on its axis as shown by the right gripper follower means 20b in FIG. 15(b) from the original position of the gripper 7 as shown in FIG. 15(a), the gripper 7 swings as shown by the right gripper follower means 20b in FIG. 16(a) or (b), the gripper 7 revolves as shown by the right gripper follower means 20b in FIG. 17(a), and the gripper 7 slides as shown by the right gripper follower means 20b in FIG. 17(b). This allows the posture and position of the surface of the gripper 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending to follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending around the gripper 7 of the plate material 40 due to the spring force generated during bending of the plate material 40.

Next, the preliminary bending means 30 will be described. The preliminary bending means 30 includes a plate material gripping type preliminary bending means 30a, which lifts the plate material 40 with a gripping portion 7 gripping the plate material 40, thereby bending the plate material 40 in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation, and a plate material both end edge abutment type preliminary bending means, which abuts the outer peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder 31 that can rotate about an axis in a direction intersecting the plate surface of the plate material 40 against the edges of both ends of the plate material 40, and reduces the gap between the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides that abut against the edges of both ends by a sliding means 33, thereby bending the plate material 40 in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation. The step 30b, or the surface of the second pressing side portion 4 of the plate surface that is bent in a different direction relative to the position where the tip of the first pressing portion 2 of the plate material 40 is pressed, is contacted with the outer peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder 32 that is approximately parallel to the plate surface 40 and can rotate about an axis that intersects with the direction in which the bending process proceeds, and the plate surface contact type preliminary bending means 30c is rotated in a direction that pushes the plate surface upward with one end side provided near the position that becomes the processing point as the rotation center axis, thereby bending the plate material 40 in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation.

First, the plate material gripping type pre-bending means 30a will be described. The metal processing device 1 equipped with the plate material gripping type pre-bending means 30a bends the plate material 40 by lifting the plate material 40 with the gripping part 7 attached to the position changing means 8a that can move in the vertical and horizontal directions. For example, the metal processing device 1 has a form in which the pre-bending means 30a equipped with the gripping part 7 is provided on the position changing means 8a as shown in FIG. 2, and another example has a form in which the pre-bending means 30a equipped with the gripping part 7 is attached to the position changing means 8a as shown in FIG. 24. The gripping part 7 performs pre-bending in advance in the direction of jumping up by bending deformation of the end of the plate material 40. The movement of the gripping part 7 at this time is controlled by instructions from the drive instruction unit 9b, which receives the calculation results of the calculation processing unit 9a that calculates the direction, speed, and force of the operation based on various parameters such as the shape of the molded product, the characteristics of the plate material 40, and the characteristics of each part of the metal processing device 1, and transmits instructions to each actuator related to the driving of the cylinder mechanism of the metal processing device 1, as shown in FIG.

Next, the plate material end edge abutting type preliminary bending means 30b will be described. The left and right rotating cylinders 31, which are components of the plate material end edge abutting type preliminary bending means 30b, are installed in the Y-axis direction Y, which is the direction of bending, so that the rotating cylinders 31 can come into contact with the plate material 40 at a position slightly on the unprocessed side from a position almost directly to the side of the processing point 6 by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3, at the position directly to the side, or at a position slightly to the bent side from the position directly to the side. At this time, the left and right rotating cylinders 31 are each arranged at a position on the opposite side of the processing point 6.

As shown in Figures 20 and 21, the plate material end edge abutting type preliminary bending means 30b abuts the outer peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder 31 that can rotate freely by means of a rolling bearing or the like, against the edges of both ends of the plate material 40, centered on an axis 31a that intersects with the plate surface of the plate material 40. By making it rotatable, even if it abuts against the edge of the plate material 40 when the plate material 40 is moved by the position changing means 8a, it is in contact with the edge by rolling friction, so it does not get caught on the edge of the plate material 40 and does not cause deformation.

As shown in FIG. 20, the plate material both edge abutting type pre-bending means 30b can perform pre-bending even if the pressing position by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3 is at the center of the X-axis direction X of the plate material 40, and as shown in FIG. 21, pre-bending can be performed even if the pressing position by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3 is at a position shifted to one side from the center of the X-axis direction X of the plate material 40.

The rotating cylinder 31 is installed on the sliding means 33, and when the rotating cylinders 31a on both sides sandwich both ends of the plate material 40, the sliding means 33 automatically moves in the X-axis direction X relative to the frame body 80 so that the center position of the plate material 40 in the X-axis direction X coincides with the center position of the sliding means 33 in the X-axis direction X. For example, when the center position of the plate material 40 in the X-axis direction X coincides with the positions of the first pressing portion 2 and the second pressing central portion 3 in the X-axis direction X, the sliding means 33 does not move, and the springs 51a and 51b have the same length as shown in FIG. 20. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 21, if the center position of the X-axis direction X of the plate material 40 and the X-axis direction X positions of the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3 are misaligned and do not match, the slide means 33 automatically moves in the direction of arrow G so that the center position of the X-axis direction X of the plate material 40 matches the center position of the X-axis direction X of the slide means 33, and the spring 51a expands and the spring 51b compresses.

The control unit 9 controls the sliding means 33 to reduce or increase the gap between the rotating cylinders 31a on both sides that are in contact with the edges of both ends, and controls the closing force of the sliding means 33 so that the strength of the pre-bending, that is, the amount of bending of the plate material 40, can be adjusted. The sliding means 33 has the configuration of a generally known parallel opening and closing type electric chuck or parallel opening and closing type air chuck, and the parallel opening and closing type electric chuck or parallel opening and closing type air chuck is operated in response to an instruction to tighten the chuck from the control unit 9, and the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides are simultaneously moved the same distance in a direction approaching each other, so that the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides slide in a direction to reduce the gap, while the parallel opening and closing type electric chuck or parallel opening and closing type air chuck is operated in response to an instruction to expand the chuck, so that the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides slide in a direction to simultaneously expand the gap.

As shown in FIG. 21(a), from the state before preliminary bending, the distance between the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides is reduced as shown in FIG. 21(b), and the plate material 40 is bent in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation. After that, the bending process progresses by the first pressing portion 2 and the second pressing central portion 3, etc., and the distance between the rotating cylinders 31 on both sides is narrowed so that the plate material 40 is bent by the sliding means 33 even during the bending process. In this way, the plate material 40 is moved according to the progress of the bending process. In other words, the plate material 40 is pre-bent while being moved.

In addition, the processing point 6, where the tip of the first pressing portion 2 and the tip of the second pressing central portion 3 press against each other, is not limited to the center in the left-right direction of the plate material 40, and as shown in FIG. 21, bending with a preliminary bend can be performed even in a portion other than the center.

The movement of the slide means 33 is controlled by instructions from a drive instruction unit 9b, which receives the results of calculations from a calculation processing unit 9a that calculates the direction, speed, and force of the bending operation based on various parameters such as the shape of the formed product, the characteristics of the plate material 40, and the characteristics of each part of the metal processing device 1, and transmits instructions to each actuator related to the driving of the cylinder mechanism, etc. of the metal processing device 1, as shown in FIG. 3.

Next, the plate surface contact type preliminary bending means 30c will be described. The left and right rotating cylinders 32, which are components of the plate surface contact type preliminary bending means 30c, are positioned in the Y-axis direction Y, which is the direction of progression of the bending process, so that the rotating cylinders 32 can come into contact with the plate material 40 at a position almost directly to the side of the processing point 6 by the first pressing part 2 and the second pressing central part 3, a position slightly forward of directly to the side, or a position slightly behind directly to the side. At this time, the left and right rotating cylinders 32R and 32L are positioned on opposite sides of the processing point 6.

As shown in FIG. 23, the plate surface contact type pre-bending means 30c is configured with rotating cylinders 32R and 32L that contact the back surface of the plate material 40, cylinders 34 such as electric cylinders, air cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders, auxiliary device 35, and springs 36a and 36b. First, the rotating cylinders 32R and 32L have a rolling bearing structure that allows them to rotate freely with bearings. Then, the force point 38 rises and falls due to the operation of the cylinders 34 such as electric cylinders, air cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders, and the rotating cylinders 32R and 32L tilt around the fulcrums 37a and 37b. In other words, when the cylinders 34 such as electric cylinders, air cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders descend, the force point 38 descends, and the force point 38 descends around the fulcrum 37, so the rotating cylinders 32R and 32L tilt upward to perform pre-bending of the plate material 40. At this time, the range of the outer circumferential surface of the rotating cylinders 32R, 32L that comes into contact with the surface of the plate material 40 only needs to be at least a partial range of the rotating cylinders 32R, 32L. By controlling the strength of the upward pressure of the cylinders 34, which may be an electric cylinder, an air cylinder, or a hydraulic cylinder, the strength of the pre-bending, that is, the amount by which the plate material 40 is bent, can be adjusted.

By performing the pre-bending, the force required for bending can be reduced, and therefore the pressing force required for the actual bending can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 23(b), assuming that an unexpected large load is applied to the rotating cylinder 32 of the plate surface contact type preliminary bending means 30c, the springs 36a and 36b are compressed when the load is applied, lowering the rotating cylinder 32 downward. This is a measure to prevent damage when an unexpected large load is applied.

The rotating cylinder 32, auxiliary device 35, spring 36, etc. are installed on the top, and the outer surface of the base 39 on which the electric cylinder, air cylinder, or hydraulic cylinder 34 is vertically installed is supported by a mounting bracket (not shown) with bearings, allowing the base 39 to rotate horizontally. This is also a damage prevention measure that makes it difficult for the rotating cylinder 32 to break when an unexpected large load is applied.

The height of the force point 38 corresponding to the bending line 41 caused by the bending process of the plate material 40 is controlled by the cylinders 34, which are electric cylinders, air cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders, to a height calculated by the calculation processing unit 9a of the control unit 9. Then, as shown in FIG. 23(b), the spring 36 is compressed by the bending deformation force of the plastically deformed plate material 40 and abuts against the back surface of the plate material 40, and for plate material 40 with a large bending angle, the spring 36 is expanded by the biasing force in the expansion direction to abut against the back surface of the plate material 40.

As shown in FIG. 22 or 23, the plate surface contact type pre-bending means 30c contacts the outer peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder 32 that can rotate about an axis 32a that is approximately parallel to the plate surface and intersects with the bending direction with the surface of the second pressing side portion 4 of the plate surface on both sides in the bending direction with respect to the position where the plate material 40 is pressed by the tip of the first pressing portion 2, and from the state before the pre-bending as shown in FIG. 22(a) or FIG. 23(c), the cylinders 34 of an electric cylinder, air cylinder, or hydraulic cylinder are operated with one end side provided near the position that will be the processing point as the rotation center axis to rotate the rotating cylinder 32 in the direction of pushing up the plate surface, and the plate material 40 is bent in the direction of jumping up due to bending deformation before bending deformation, as shown in FIG. 22(b) and FIG. 23(a), to perform pre-bending.

Then, the bending process proceeds by the first pressing section 2 and the second pressing central section 3, etc., but as shown in FIG. 22(c), even during the bending process, the rotating cylinders 32 on both sides are controlled to push up the plate material 40 so as to bend the plate material 40 by operating the cylinders 34, which may be electric cylinders, air cylinders, or hydraulic cylinders. Since the bending point 6 moves along the bending line 41, the preliminary bending means is sequentially performed so that the bending point 6 is always included in the area where the effect of the preliminary bending is produced.

In addition, by making the rotating cylinder 33 rotatable, scratches will be generated on the surface of the plate material 40 if it is brought into contact with the plate surface of the plate material 40 by sliding friction when the plate material 40 is moved by the position changing means 8a, but since it is brought into contact with the plate surface while rolling, scratches will not be generated on the surface of the plate material 40.

The control of the cylinders 34 of the plate surface contact type pre-bending means 30c, which may be an electric cylinder, air cylinder or hydraulic cylinder, is performed by instructions from the control unit 9 via the drive instruction unit 9b, which receives the calculation results of the calculation processing unit 9a, which calculates the direction, speed and force of the operation based on various parameters such as the shape of the formed product, the characteristics of the plate material 40, and the characteristics of each part of the metal processing device 1, and transmits instructions to each actuator of the metal processing device 1, as shown in FIG. 4.

Next, the effects of the gripper follower means 20 and/or pre-bending means 30 of the gripper 7 will be described. By the operation of these two means, quality defects such as shoulder breaks as shown in FIG. 26 and scratches as shown in FIG. 27, which conventionally occurred in the plate material 40 after bending due to causes such as those shown in FIG. 29(a) and (b), no longer occur. The gripper follower means 20 eradicates the occurrence of quality defects such as shoulder breaks, and the pre-bending means 30 eradicates the occurrence of quality defects such as shoulder breaks and scratches by preventing the corners of the second pressing side portion 4 from colliding with the plate material 40 as shown in FIG. 29(c), for example.

Furthermore, the effect of pre-bending, which was simulated and analyzed using the finite element method, will be explained. As shown in Figure 25, the load required for the first pressing section 2 (number 2 in Figure 25) is reduced by about half when pre-bending is performed compared to when pre-bending is not performed, and the load on the rollers of the second pressing side section 4 (number 4 in Figure 25) is reduced to about two-thirds. As a result, pre-bending has the effect of reducing the conveying force when bending the plate material 40 to form a bending line, and reducing the pressing force of the first pressing section 2 required for bending.

Next, a metal processing method will be described. This is a metal processing method for bending a metal plate material 40 by applying pressure in opposite directions on the front and back, comprising a first pressing section 2 whose tip forms a substantially convex shape, which applies pressure to a processing point 6 that is the position of a bending line 41 of the plate material 40, or a combination of a first pressing section 2 whose tip forms a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central section 3 disposed opposite to the first pressing section 2, two second pressing side sections 4 that press a surface of the plate material 40 that is different from the surface of the plate material 40 that the first pressing section 2 applies pressure to in the opposite direction to the pressing direction of the first pressing section 2 on both sides of the first pressing section 2 in the bending direction, and a second pressing section 5 that applies a deformation to the plate material 40 so that the tip of the first pressing section 2 is located at the position of a preset bending line 41 of the plate material 40, in other words, to move the processing point 6 along a predetermined trajectory. The method includes a position change means 8 for changing the position of the holding means side and/or the position of the plate material 40 side, a pressing means 11 capable of varying the pressing force in the pressing direction at the processing point 6, at least one holding portion 7 for holding the plate material 40, and a control unit 9, and enables bending of the plate material 40 by setting three portions, the tip portion of the first pressing portion 2 located in the center and the portions of the two second pressing side portions 4 located on both sides that can press against the plate material 40, in a generally V-shaped relative positional relationship, and makes the posture and position of the surface of the holding portion 7 that contacts the plate material 40 during bending follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending deformation around the holding portion 7 of the plate material 40, and/or bends the plate material 40 in the same direction as the jumping direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material 40, before bending.

In addition, in the metal processing method, the pressing form at the processing point 6 may be a form in which pressing is applied from one direction only by the first pressing portion 2, or a form in which pressing is applied from two directions by the first pressing portion 2 and a second pressing central portion 3 arranged in a position opposite to the first pressing portion 2, and the form of the second pressing side portion 4 may be a form in which a second pressing side moving portion 5 is provided to move the second pressing side portion 4 toward the first pressing portion 2, and the second pressing side portion 4 is moved in the opposite direction to the pressing direction of the first pressing portion 2, or a form in which the second pressing side portion 4 is not moved.

In addition, there is a form in which a processing point height variable means 10 is provided that can vary the height of the position that becomes the processing point 6, or a form in which the height of the position that becomes the processing point 6 is fixed.

LIST OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal processing device 2 First pressing section 3 Second pressing central section 4 Second pressing side section 5 Second pressing side moving section 6 Processing point 7 Grip section 8 Position change means 9 Control section 9a Calculation processing section 9b Drive instruction section 10 Processing point height variable means 11 Pressing means 12 Arrow 13 Return mechanism 14 Pressing means 20 Grip section follow-up means 21 Rotation axis/slide axis section 21a Slide axis section 22 Slide guide section 22a Slide guide clamping section 23 Revolution center 24 Inclined section 24a Spring 26 Spherical bearing section 30 Preliminary bending means 31 Rotation cylinder 32 Rotation cylinder 33 Slide means 34 Cylinders 35 Auxiliary body 36 Spring 37 Support 38 Force point 39 Base 40 Plate material 41 Bending line 42 Direction of travel 45 Shoulder bend 46 Scratch 60 Rotation center 61 Rotating shaft portion 62 with sliding through hole Left-right direction moving means 62a Slider portion 63 Front-rear direction moving means 64 Sliding rod portion 65 Rotating means 65a1 Slider portion 66a2 Projecting portion 71 Inclined base 72 Inclined sliding portion 72a Upper surface 80 Frame body 81 Wiring 82 Spring pressing portion 83 Base portion 84 Guide pin 85 Rotation center point A Area
B Area S Sakai X X-axis direction Y Y-axis direction

Claims (5)

A metal processing device that performs bending processing by applying pressure to a metal plate material so that the front and back of the material are bent in opposite directions,
A first pressing part having a tip end that forms a substantially convex shape and presses a processing point that is a position of a bending line of the plate material, or a combination of a first pressing part having a tip end that forms a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central part disposed opposite to the first pressing part;
Two second pressing side parts that press a surface of the plate material that is different from the surface of the plate material pressed by the first pressing part on both sides of the first pressing part in the bending direction in a direction opposite to the pressing direction of the first pressing part;
a position changing means for changing a position of a means for deforming the plate material and/or a position of the plate material so that a tip end of the first pressing portion is located at a position of a preset bending line of the plate material, in other words, so that the processing point is moved along a predetermined trajectory;
a pressing means capable of varying a pressing force in a pressing direction at the processing point;
The apparatus includes at least one gripping unit that grips the plate material, and a control unit.
a tip portion of the first pressing portion located in the center and portions of the two second pressing side portions located on both sides that can be pressed against the plate material are in a generally V-shaped relative positional relationship, thereby enabling bending of the plate material;
A metal processing device characterized in that it is provided with a gripping portion following means for causing the posture and position of the surface of the gripping portion that abuts against the plate material during bending processing to follow the movement of the surface that changes when the plate material is bent and deformed around the gripping portion by the bouncing force of the plate material , and/or a pre-bending means for bending the plate material in the same direction as the bouncing direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material, before bending processing.
The gripper tracking means includes an inclined portion to which the gripper is fixed at a tip end, the inclined portion being inclined by the bending deformation force of the plate material, a rotating portion which allows the gripper and the inclined portion to rotate about a central axis of the gripper by the bending deformation force of the plate material, and a sliding portion which allows the gripper, the inclined portion and the rotating portion to slide in a direction intersecting with the central axis by the bending deformation force of the plate material.
and a revolving part which rotates the sliding part only in the jump-up direction of the plate material by the bending deformation force of the plate material, with one end side of the sliding part as the center of revolution, thereby allowing the gripping part to revolve freely only in the jump-up direction of the plate material. The metal processing device according to claim 2, characterized in that the arrangement of the gripper tracking means is a single arrangement in which one gripper tracking means is arranged, and/or an arrangement in which the gripper tracking means are arranged on both sides of the center of revolution of the gripper, and are connected so that they can freely revolve only on the side in the direction in which the plate material jumps up. the pre-bending means being a plate material gripping pre-bending means in which a gripping portion gripping the plate material lifts the plate material, thereby bending the plate material in a direction in which the plate material jumps up due to bending deformation;
A plate material end edge abutment type preliminary bending means for abutting the outer peripheral surface of a rotating cylinder that can rotate about an axis in a direction intersecting with the plate surface of the plate material against the edges of both ends of the plate material, and reducing the gap between the rotating cylinders on both sides abutting against the edges of both ends by a sliding means, thereby bending the plate material in a direction that jumps up due to bending deformation, or
2. The metal processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the pre-bending means is a plate surface abutment type pre-bending means which abuts the outer surface of a rotating cylinder which is approximately parallel to the plate surface and can rotate about an axis which intersects with the direction of progression of the bending process against the surfaces of the second pressing side portions of the plate surface which are in a different bending direction relative to the position where the plate surface is pressed by the tip portion of the first pressing portion, and rotates the rotating cylinder in a direction which presses the plate surface upward with one end side provided in the vicinity of the position which becomes the processing point as the rotation center axis, thereby bending the plate material in a direction which jumps up due to bending deformation. A metal processing method for bending a metal plate by applying pressure in opposite directions on its front and back, comprising: a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape, which applies pressure to a processing point that is a position of a bending line of the plate; or a combination of a first pressing section having a tip end forming a substantially convex shape and a second pressing central section disposed opposite to the first pressing section; two second pressing side sections, which are located on both sides of the first pressing section in the bending direction and press a surface of the plate that is different from the surface of the plate that is pressed by the first pressing section, in a direction opposite to the pressing direction of the first pressing section; and a position of a means for applying deformation to the plate so that the tip end of the first pressing section is located at the position of a preset bending line of the plate, in other words, to move the processing point along a predetermined trajectory, and/or a metal processing method comprising: a position changing means for changing the position of the plate material side; a pressing means capable of varying the pressing force in the pressing direction at the processing point; at least one holding portion for holding the plate material; and a control portion, wherein three portions, namely, a tip portion of the first pressing portion located in the center and portions of the two second pressing side portions located on both sides that can press against the plate material, are set in a generally V-shaped relative positional relationship to enable bending of the plate material; and wherein the attitude and position of the surface of the holding portion that abuts against the plate material during bending is made to follow the movement of the surface that changes during bending deformation around the holding portions of the plate material by the jumping force of the plate material ; and/or wherein the plate material is bent in the same direction as the jumping direction, which is the bending direction of the plate material, before bending.