Intelligent bending techniques: 47 bends, 140 seconds
transfluid develops robot-assisted tube bending system that does not require complex programming
Isometric data can be simply uploaded online from a CAD system
The production of lines for braking systems, air conditioning units and similar devices with a length of 1500 mm and tiny diameters of as little as 18 mm represents a real challenge when it comes to bending technology, specifically with regard to handling. After all, to be economical, production processes also need to be swift. And precision and quality are factors that are just as important.
As part of a recent project, the team at transfluid developed a tube processing system that involves robot handling of the material and that can bend tubing in lengths of up to 4500 mm – 47 bends in a time of circa 140 seconds. Another specification that the team had to meet when developing their solution was that the tubing would be already shaped or fitted with flanges.
Thanks to the combination of a tube bending system with robot handling, tubes with a length of up to 4500 mm can be processed
Source:
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
Both robots have 7 axes with drive systems and can bend right/left
Source:
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
Even already shaped tubing can be processed using the transfluid bending device
Source:
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
Isometric data can be simply uploaded online from a CAD system
Source:
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
The spanning device allows the robots to process the tubes on one or even on two sides in parallel
Source:
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
Isometric data uploaded directly online
The process involves first inserting a bundle of tubes into a feeder which are then individually orientated by symmetrical rotation according to the positioning of the flanges. Each tube is then picked up by one of the two robots and this transfers it to a moveable spanning device with an appropriate high retaining system designed for longer tubing.
The spanning device allows the robots to process the tubes on one or even on two sides in parallel. This also speeds up the procedure; the time required for processing each tube, even at this length, is constantly less than an impressive 3 seconds. Both robots have 7 axes with drive systems and can bend right/left.
Another advantage of this transfluid tube bending concept is that isometric data can be uploaded directly online from a CAD system, meaning that complex programming of the robots is not necessary.