Hurco Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Burton A Rolland

A controller for a press brake, which provides for the accurate sequential bending of sheet metal by a press brake. The controller includes a microprocessor arrangement for operating a press brake in response to manually entered input to control a gauge stop and to produce output control signals relating to the relative positioning of the ram and die which positioning causes an angle of bend in a workpiece. Included is a sensing device for sensing the actual angle of bend in the workpiece and means for comparing the actual angle of bend to a desired angle. By such a comparison, the manual inputting of complex variables which are required to predetermine the precise relative positioning of the ram and die are made unnecessary. Further, feedback relating to the springback of the workpiece material causes sequential re-cycling of the press brake thereby improving the accuracy of the resulting angles produced. Also provided in conjunction with the optical digitizer is a safety zone detection arrangement which automatically shuts off the operation of the press brake in the event that either a worker or an undesired object comes within a predetermined range of the operational area.

Apparatus for controlling a press brake

A pair of arms having mounting pads affixed at one end of each arm, is mounted to a press brake bed. Gauge support members are guidingly received on the arms to support a gauge bar or other gauge mounting surface for workpiece locating stops. The gauge is to be moved and maintained with the gauging edge parallel to the press brake mounting faces of the pads, and thereby, parallel to the tooling of the press brake. One of the gauge support members is driven by a motor and drive screw, and connected through flexible non-extensible tensile members to drive the other gauge support in synchronism, and thereby position the two gauge support members simultaneously and at equal distances from the press brake tooling.

Growing community of inventors

Zionsville, IN, United States of America

Burton A Rolland