EP1199114B1

EP1199114B1 - Method for automatically bending sections and the like and apparatus for performing the method

Info

Publication number: EP1199114B1
Application number: EP01124501A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Simone Rupoli
Original assignee: Schnell SpA
Current assignee: Schnell SpA
Priority date: 2000-10-16
Filing date: 2001-10-12
Publication date: 2006-03-29
Anticipated expiration: 2021-10-12
Also published as: EP1199114A2; ATE321616T1; ITBO20000603A1; ITBO20000603A0; DE60118287D1; EP1199114A3

Abstract

A method applied to ordinary stirrup bending machines in which there is a tray (10) with an openable bottom (11) for forming bars and shaped parts of considerable length. The method includes opening of the openable bottom (11) of the tray (10), during the advancement of the sections (2), so as to allow the passage of bent portions (2a) of the sections (2) whose length (h') exceeds the height (H) of the guiding tray (10). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a method for automatically bending sections and the like, particularly iron rods for reinforced concrete, and to an apparatus for performing the method, as per the preambles of claims 1 and 2. Such a method and apparatus are known from EP-A-865842.
It is known that the shaped rods used for example to produce frames for reinforced concrete are generally obtained by means of apparatuses that subject the iron rod, in coils or bars, to a plurality of bending operations. These apparatuses usually have a bending assembly provided with a bending head equipped with a central post and with an eccentric bending post.
More particularly, bending machines are currently known which allow to produce many different products, such as open or closed stirrups, circular or polygonal spirals, straight bars and the like.
As shown schematically in Figure 1, these bending machines have a plurality of feeders for the iron rod, an assembly 5 for cropping the rods 2 to be bent, and one or more bending assemblies 6 of the cited type, arranged in series.
Downstream of the bending assembly 6, along the iron rod feeding line 3, the bending machine has a guiding tray 10 that, during a step of operation, receives the portion of the rods that protrudes forward from the bending assembly. The tray 10 has a bottom 11 that can be opened by a lever system actuated by an actuation means. The opening of the bottom of the guiding tray allows to unload the formed sections onto an underlying collection means.
A specific problem that occurs in the field being considered is that the guiding tray limits the length of the bent portions 2a that can be provided at the end of the iron rods. In practice, this length, designated by h in Figure 1, has to be less than the height H of the channel formed inside the guiding tray, in order to avoid the interference of the bent portion with the upper part of the tray. It should be noted that, since the bottom of the tray can be opened, the upper part of the tray is at least partially closed at the top, because it has to act as a support for the side walls.
The aim of the present invention is to solve the described problem, by providing a method that allows to perform, in a programmed manner, the bending of the end of sections and the like with relatively long bent portions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that provides the automatic bending of sections and the like with a structure that is simple and functional, is safely reliable in operation, and highly flexible in use.
The above aim and object are achieved, according to the invention, by a method for automatically bending sections and the like, and by an apparatus for performing such method, as claimed in the appended claims 1 and 2.
Details of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus for automatically bending sections and the like, illustrated by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of the apparatus for automatically bending sections according to the invention, operating in a conventional manner;
Figure 2 is a similar schematic side view of the apparatus for automatically bending sections, operating according to the method of the invention;
Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 are similar schematic side views of different embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention.

With particular reference to the above figures, the reference numeral 1 generally designates the machine for automatically bending sections 2, for example iron rods to be used in reinforced concrete and the like, hereinafter termed simply "rods" for the sake of simplicity.
The machine has a line 3 for feeding the rods 2 to be bent, along which there are feeders, whose housing 4 is visible. At the output of the feeders, along the feeder line 3, there is a cropping assembly 5, they be of a conventional type.
The bending machine has, downstream of the cropping assembly 5, a bending assembly 6 provided with a bending head 7 that is suitable to bend the end of the rods 2. The bending head 7 has a central post 8 and an eccentric bending post 9 in a per se known manner.
Downstream of the bending assembly 6, along the feeder line 3 of the rods 2, the bending machine has a guiding tray 10 that receives, during a suitable working step, the portion of the rods 2 that protrudes forward from the bending assembly 6.
The guiding tray 10 has a bottom 11 that can open, for example by means of a lever system actuated by an adapted actuation means. The openable bottom 11 forms a longitudinal opening in order to allow the free passage of the bent rod 2.
The method according to the present invention comprises actuating the opening of the openable bottom 11 of the guiding tray 10 during the advancement of the rods 2 so as to allow the passage of bent portions 2a of the rods whose length h' exceeds the height H of the guiding tray 10.
As shown in Figure 2, the portion of the rod 2 that protrudes forward from the bending assembly 6, not supported by the bottom 11 of the guiding tray 10, flexes downward, thus causing the inclination of the bent portion 2a, which in this configuration can pass freely through the guiding tray 10.
The opening of the bottom 11 of the guiding tray 10 during the advancement of the rods 2 is actuated automatically in a manner that is appropriately programmed by an electronic processing means, or even manually, if it is necessary to provide, at the end of the rods, bent portions 2a whose length h' exceeds the height H of the guiding tray 10.
In order to prevent the part being worked from flexing excessively due to gravity, and for safety reasons, it is convenient to provide a retractable support 12 on which the rod can rest (see Figure 3).
Figure 4 illustrates a different embodiment of the apparatus, in which the bending head 7 of the bending assembly 6 can move between a first upper bending station, arranged at the feeder line 3, and a second lower bending station, as described in detail in Italian Patent No. 1292692, in the name of this same Applicant.
In this case also, the apparatus is provided with a removable support 12 that is arranged under the guiding tray 10, at the lower bending station.
In this case, the rods 2 to be bent, fed along the line 3, initially engage with their front end the bending head 7, which in this step is arranged at the upper bending station. The bending head 7 provides, according to conventional methods, the desired bending of the front end 2a of the rods. Then the advancement of the rods 2 is actuated, and if the length h' of the bent portion 2a exceeds the height H of the guiding tray 10, the opening of the bottom 11 of the tray is also actuated. The bent portion 2a can thus pass freely through the guiding tray 10 and, by flexing, rests with its front part on the underlying support 12, as shown in Figure 4.
Once the intended extension, i.e. the linear dimension of the finished shaped item, has been reached, the rods 2 are cropped to size by the cropping assembly 5. Then the bending head 7 is moved at the lower bending station in order to provide any bending of the rear end of the rods 2, assisting the rear end of the rods by the actuation of a means constituted for example by a movable clamp means 13.
Once the bending of the rods 2 has ended, the support 12 is moved in order to unload the rods.
Figure 5 illustrates another embodiment of the apparatus, provided with a first bending assembly 61, which is arranged in an upper position at the first bending station, and a second bending assembly 62, which is arranged in a downward region in the second bending station. In this case, as is clearly understandable, the first bending assembly 61 bends the front end 2a of the rods fed along the line 3, in the upper position, and the second bending assembly 62 bends the rear end of the rods after they have been cut to size and transferred to the lower position.
The transfer of the rods 2 to the lower position is actuated by a transfer means 14 constituted by a clamp, as shown in detail in the above cited Italian Patent No. 1292692. The transfer clamp 14 can move, under the actuation of appropriate actuators, not only between the above cited upper and lower positions but also between a position that is retracted with respect to the working surface, a working position that coincides with the surface, and a position that protrudes outward with respect to the working surface in order to unload the sections.
A traction means 15, adapted to advance the rods 2, preferably constituted by pairs of contrarotating rollers, operates at the bending station.
In this case, the removable support 12 is conveniently arranged in a lower position with respect to the advancement line of the rods 2 at the exit of the lower bending station, so as to cause the resting of only the front part to bent rods due to the flexing of the rods.
In this case also, the opening of the bottom 11 of the guiding tray 10 allows the free passage of the bent portion 2a of the rods if the length h' of the bent portion 2a exceeds the height H of the guiding tray 10.
In a further embodiment shown in Figure 6, the apparatus includes, at the lower position, a retractable roller 16 that acts as a support for the portion of the rods 2 that protrudes forward with respect to the traction means 15. The roller 16 supports the rods 2 in order to facilitate their insertion between the traction wheels 15, since the removable support 12 is at a lower height than the lower bending assembly 62 and the traction wheels 15.
The above described method and apparatus provide, in a programmed manner, the automatic bending of the end of rods and the like, with relatively long folded portions, according to any preset profile.
This is determined in particular by the programmed opening of the openable bottom 11 of the guiding tray 10, during the advancement of the rods 2, so as to allow the passage of bent portions 2a of the rods whose length h' exceeds the height H of the guiding tray 10.
The present invention provides a method that allows to use, in a different manner, the already-known openable bottom of the tray, whose cycle normally entails that it remains always closed during the operation of the machine and opens only after the section has been cropped. The different cycle essentially consists in that the bottom opens directly after the beginning of traction or directly after bending, in any case substantially before the bent part 2a reaches the tray and certainly before cropping.
In the practical embodiment of the invention, the materials used, as well as the shape and the dimensions, may be any according to requirements.

Claims

A method for automatically bending sections and the like, in a machine that comprises a line (3) for feeding the sections (2) to be bent, along which there is a cropping assembly (5), at least one bending assembly (6), and a guiding tray (10) that receives, during a step of operation, the portion of the sections (2) that protrudes forward from said bending assembly (6), characterized in that it comprises opening an openable bottom (11) of said guiding tray, during the advancement of the sections (2), so as to allow the passage of bent portions (2a) of said sections (2) whose length (h') exceeds the height (H) of said guiding tray (10).
An apparatus for automatically bending sections and the like, comprising a line (3) for feeding the sections (2) to be bent, along which there is a cropping assembly (5), at least one bending assembly (6), and a guiding tray (10) that is suitable to receive, during a step of operation, the portion of the sections (2) that protrudes forward from said bending assembly (6), characterized in that said guiding tray (10) has an openable bottom (11) that is opened automatically, in a manner that is programmed by an electronic processing means, during the advancement of the sections (2), so as to allow the passage of bent portions (2a) of said sections (2) whose length (h') exceeds the height (H) of said guiding tray (10).
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a removable support (12) that is arranged below said guiding tray (10) and supports the front part of said sections (2) during the advancement of said sections (2).
The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said removable support (12) is arranged in a position that is substantially in line with respect to a traction means (15) that acts at the advancement line of said sections (2) at the exit of said lower bending station.
The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that said removable support (12) is arranged in a lower position with respect to a traction means (15) that acts at the advancement line of said sections (2) at the exit of said lower bending station.
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that a retractable supporting means (16) is arranged between said traction means (15) and said removable support (12), at said lower bending station, and is suitable to act as a support for the portion of said sections (2) that protrudes forward with respect to said traction means (15).