High-speed tube bender bends up to six components at once

AddisonMckee has designed an EB28HS4 electrically powered and hydraulically operated, CNC tube bending machine for a manufacturer of flow control products. The high-speed machine accepts tubing up to 1.10 in. dia. bending up to six components at a time.

The setup incorporates four or six sets of mandrel bend tooling. To meet the customer’s production volumes, the machine was designed to form no less than six 90-degree or 45-degree elbow joints every 7 sec. Maximum tool changeover time is 25 min. The machine is programmed to inform the operator if the elbow collection box is full.

The customer's specified maximum hydraulic leakage rate of 1.7 fl. oz. per valve group over 528 hours of operation was achieved. The hydraulic fluid tank forms an integral part of the freestanding structure. The bending motion is provided by a servomotor driving through a reduction gear head, which in turn drives a pinion and helical ring gear to provide a 100-degree maximum bending angle.

The control system is based on a Siemens 840 D controller, and all electrical control gear and axis drives are integral to the machine, mounted in an electrical cabinet secured to the base frame.

The cut-to-length parts are presented in a large tote bin, and a system lifts and tips the components into a step feeder that feeds the loading device via a small conveyor. Before loading, an inline mechanism inserts rams to ensure components are round.