Modernize Your Old Press Brake Considering These Steps

Having an old press brake machine is like a headache for owners. You go into the dilemma of whether to keep it or sell it. However, replacing the old machine can be a costly deal and logistics can be an added challenge.

But how about retrofitting your existing press brake with parts like LVD press brake or Mazak used parts with increased efficiency? This will help reduce setup time, scrap and even your operator or you will not be skeptical about learning a new press brake machine.

Here are five steps to transform your old machines and make them brand new.

1. Evaluate the Machine’s Condition:

Before performing anything to your machines, you need to study the current condition and know the ins and outs of it.

Make sure you are considering the following things before making any changes.

• Accuracy:

Check the current bending accuracy of your sheets. This depends on the bending method you are using. Are you using coining, bottom bending or air bending for sheet metal?

While checking the accuracy, if you find out that your sheet is bending accurately maintaining all the standards, then there is no need to replace your machines.

In such scenarios, some changes here and there will make all the difference.

• Pedestal Control:

Having proper pedestal control is important. For many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), having proper pedestal control is important because without these having programmable logic boards are difficult.

Researching the availability of these components can be a perfect solution rather than investing in a new pedestal control.

• Press Brake Control:

Having control over the press brake machine is important. There are various ways to control the press brake. You can either control it manually or with a programmable control head.

In such scenarios, it is important to understand that retrofitting your machine can be difficult and may turn out to be an expensive solution.

But, if the machine is running properly without the need for any digital control then a basic change in it will work for you.

2. Know your machine:

There are various types of press brake machines, parts like LVD press brake, Mazak used parts available in the market. Each of them has different functionalities and features. In such scenarios, you need to understand your machine thoroughly.

3. Understand the pain points:

As the press brake owner or the operator, you need to understand the obstacles you come across while using it. For example, if you frequently move the tool, then you will need to keep adjusting the height of your gauging surface.

In such cases, you need to understand what can be a better option when it comes to working with its tools.

• Depth/ Angles:

Are you manually adjusting the ram depth or angle often? If so, you can increase the productivity by adding the ram axis or Y axis to the back gauge or front gauge.

4. Proper Approach:

If you opt for retrofitting your press brake machine, then, then there are companies doing the same work. They may ask you the overall length of the press brake machine, the distance between the side frame, usage, type of sheet metal are you bending, etc.

They would also ask if is it a single or multiple operated supporting sheets, the control capabilities, and many such things.

Many companies have different controls for different applications. You can use them for things like go-to-positions-style control, make one-off parts or PC based control like networking, offline programming or unlimited storage.

It says that sophisticated control offers great benefits, but in reality, they require more front-end planning. Because these companies require accurate measurements of your tooling.

Wrapping it up:

Having a press brake and maintaining should not be a headache. Before taking any major steps, it is better to rethink, reuse for increased efficiency.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/03/17/Modernize-Your-Old-Press-Brake-Considering-These-Steps

A Detailed Overview About Achieving Better Bend Accuracy on A Press Brake

Compensation of the Deflection in the table of the press break and the beam is an essential thing in press brakes which guarantees proper repeatable results when you implement the load on it. Without compensation of deflection, it's likely that a workpiece would have some form of deformation on its center when bent along the full length of the press brake. In order to keep the bend angle uniform over the full length of the press brake part, it needs a crowning system.

In this age of complex parts, quick turnaround, and short batches, crowning helps to maintain efficiency and repeatability. Let's see how in high-tonnage applications crowning helps to produce straight bends in high-tensile materials.

What is Crowning?

New age modern press brakes like Amada Press Brakes use a servo-hydraulic system in which a closed-loop system controls the position of the ram. At the corner of the beam, a position measuring system monitors the movement and accuracy of the beam. It does this by activating the left and right valves at the top of the position.

During the bending period, the servo-hydraulic system makes sure that the piston at the ends of the beam reaches the programmed position in the machine control and finally resulting in the correct bend angle. Because press brakes tend to deflect under load, especially in the center of the machine between the pistons. It is an angle in the center of the press brake. Without intervention, it would cause the bend angle to vary over the length of the press brake.

For the best results from crowning, it is advisable to use quality and modern press brakes. You can get them at cheaper rates as well by searching for "Amada Press Brake for Sale."

The Origin

In order to enhance the bending accuracy, it is important to have a crowning system which forms an opposite force to offset the deflection of the beam and the table. With the crowning system, you can ensure that the ram and table are parallel during bending.

Plus, crowning is not something new in the business. It has been in the market since the 1970s. Each day its demand is increasing with high-tensile-strength steels. Before its existence, manufacturers had to pregrind the curve into the press brake table to offset about 75% of the deflection. In the present scenario, systems are more advanced. Operators can enter the sheet thickness, die opening, and material tensile strength data into the machine using crowning systems. By using the press brake's hydraulic system and crowning together, it can provide an accurate bend angle with minimum operator intervention.

The Process

You can utilize Crowning with the press brakes of 80-ton in weight, 8 ft or larger in size. You can apply it to lower-tonnage press brakes as well. However, it depends on the length of the press brake table and its application. If the distance is longer between the uprights, the higher the machine deflection. Simultaneously, the higher the tonnage of the machine, the more the need for deflection compensation arises. To bend the thick and thin materials, a crowning system is the best option always.

There are two types of crowning available. Hydraulic and CNC mechanical wedge-style. You can purchase a CNC mechanical wedge-style crowning system as an add-on to a press brake through a manufacturer or tooling supplier. The CNC mechanical wedge-style crowning system can also be treated as one of the LVD press break parts. Hydraulic crowning is based in the machine. At the time of selecting between these two types, keep the cost comparison in mind but give more weightage to accuracy and efficiency.

You can apply the hydraulic crowning to the cylinders which adds pressure on them during the process to maintain the machine deflection. These systems do not apply the crowning process across the entire bed of the machine. Instead, the deflection amount for which the crowning system adjusts for is dependent on the cylinder location. Some of the hydraulic systems use only a central cylinder or a three-cylinder system. It provides crowning over 60 percent of the bed.

The hydraulic cylinders use the same line. As a result of it, no cylinder receives the full crowning force. All the hydraulic cylinders experience this force regardless of the numbers.

Critical for Accuracy

Crowning systems are more precise and capable these days. They can place more crowning in certain areas of the press brakes. As the manufacturing landscape changes, the crowning system has become a critical element to have in order to achieve accuracy and operations.

Learn how you can achieve the high tensile and accurate bending results with the help of the different type of crowning processes with the press brakes. The crowning process is more critical for the LVD press brake parts , tridem, quadem which combines various press brakes of similar or dissimilar tonnage in a synchronized configuration. They synchronize the cylinders to ensure that there is a constant straight- line movement in the machine.

Source: https://www.sooperarticles.com/business-articles/industrial-mechanical-articles/detailed-overview-about-achieving-better-bend-accuracy-press-brake-1723677.html