Tube Bender features all-electric design.
Press Release Summary:
Offering 5-axis solution for bending symmetrical parts, Unison CNC Bending Machine features left and right bending heads situated on twin carriages plus central rotation control axis. Machine bends tubes, rod, flat stock, and aluminum profiles with diameters from 0.62-2 in. to angles up to 180°. Radius of bends ranges from 1-5 in. and minimum center distance is 11 in. With monitoring facility, HMI software helps users deal with variations in material quality.
Original Press Release:
Unison Extends Application Versatility of Its Unique Power-Saving Twin-Head Tube Bender
September 8, 2008 - At FABTECH, Unison is announcing a new version of its unique all-electric twin-head CNC bending machinery offering much broader application versatility. Among the new features is the ability to bend to smaller radii, a shorter distance between bends, and enhanced control and HMI software with features including a monitoring facility to help users deal with variations in material quality.
These additions greatly enhance the value of a unique bending machine concept that has helped manufacturers of symmetrical parts such as furniture frames and shopping trolleys to slash energy costs. Most twin-head benders in use today are powered hydraulically. Unison has pioneered the use of all-electric machines in this sector and in tests with a major furniture frame maker, it has demonstrated comparative power consumption reductions of 90%.
"Twin-head machines tend to be used in highly cost sensitive applications such as producing shopping trolleys, automobile seat frames, and furniture parts. These sectors are being hit hard by the rises in material costs," says Unison's Alan Pickering. "Switching to all electric machines, combined with higher degrees of automation such as integrated loading and unloading, can really help such manufacturers to remain competitive and retain profit margins."
The latest version of the Unison Twin Head machine offers a five-axis solution for bending symmetrical parts, with left and right bending heads situated on twin carriages, plus a central rotation control axis. The machine range can bend tubes (and other materials such as rod, flat stock, aluminium profiles) with diameters from 16 to 50 mm (0.63 to 2 inches) and to angles of up to 180 degrees. On the new machine the radius of bends that are possible has been extended to a range from one to five inches (25.4-127 mm). The minimum centre distance has also been reduced to 11 inches (279 mm) with a special version having the ability to get down to 8 inches (203 mm) - extending the versatility of parts that can be fabricated.
New machine control and Windows human-machine interface software has also been produced for the bender. Among many new facilities is a utility that captures data on torque values that each machine axis applies during a programmed bending operation. By comparing the torque required to bend new material batches against stored references, users can quickly identify any changes in the quality of material, to track the ongoing performance of a manufacturer's materials suppliers. Alternatively, the data can be used to adjust the parameters during bending operations, to overcome differences in the amount of spring back, etc.
Another update includes 'black box' software which automatically stores instructions entered by the operator, along with details of machinery positions from the servo motor sensors. This allows Unison to help users to optimize their processes, as well as provide remote and preventative maintenance.
For very high throughput applications, Unison can provide automated twin head bending cells complete with features such as robot arm loaders and unloaders, weld seam detection units, end formers, tube marking equipment, bar code readers, etc. Unison has earned a considerable reputation in this area for its fully automated solutions and can provide many references.
Unison's tube bending machines are available in North America exclusively from Horn Machine Tools.
More information is available at: www.unisonltd.com/products.htm and www.hornmachinetools.com/
Unison, Olympian Trading Est., Cayton Low Road, Scarborough, YO11 3BT, UK
t: +44( 0) 1723 582868; enquiries@unisonltd.com; www.unisonltd.com
Horn Machine Tools, 40473 Brickyard Drive, Madera, CA 93638, USA
t: 559-431-4131; sales@hornmachinetools.com; www.hornmachinetools.com
(also located in St. Paul MN and Indianapolis IN)
