All-electric tube bender features multistack tooling

Horn Machine Tools offers an all-electric tube bending machine from Unison that features multistack tooling and can bend tubing of up to 6 in. OD.

According to the company, the Breeze 150 is optimized for high-precision applications and includes operating software that nearly eliminates the high costs normally associated with machine configuration for small-batch and JIT parts production.

The bender offers programmable control over the rotary draw bending process, with a maximum bending torque of 814,269 lb.-in. Bends of up to 180 degrees can be made, with &#plusmin;0.1-degree repeatability of both bend angle and plane of bend.

Features include a swing-away wiper die system to simplify tight-radius bending applications and split tooling for bending square tubing. Stack height for tooling is 24.8 in., allowing users to store multiple toolsets on the machine for rapid changeover between batches.

The Unibend control software features automatic setup; it senses and clamps the tube, making it ready for bending and reducing the time for initial setup. Users have complete control over the bend operation and can modify the bend speed, clamping pressure, pressure die position and force, and mandrel positioning parameters applied to achieve the ideal bend. Following setup, all the operating parameters are stored, allowing the machine to be configured for further batches of parts in a few minutes.

The control software runs on a standard Windows® PC. It includes diagnostic aids so the manufacturer's engineering team can help customers immediately with bending problems or machine performance issues.

Tube bending programs can be generated automatically by transferring data from CAD software. A simple programming template also is available, allowing users to create a program by entering the distance between bends, the angle of bend required, and rotation of the tube. Another option is copying or reverse engineering by using a tube measuring system to re-create the coordinates from a sample or prototype.