GB1306550A - Bending - Google Patents

Abstract

1306550 Angular bending R E BENTON 19 April 1971 [25 Dec 1970] 61297/70 Heading B3E A workpiece 17, such as a wire, is located in a first position and bent in two places by a pair of bending members 26, 27, and thereafter the workpiece is moved to a second position and bent in two further places by the same bending members. The wire may be thus bent to a rectangular shape. A bending machine comprises a pair of adjustably spaced rotatable bending heads 26 and 27 each mounted on rails (not shown) and having a centre former 13, 14 about which a wire workpiece 17 is bent by a bending centre former 13, 14 about which a wire workpiece 17 is bent by a bending former 23, 24. These formers may be adjustable radially. The wire is clamped by a block 15, 16 slidable in a guide 21, 22 and the travel of the block is limited by stops 19, 20. The block is operated manually or by a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 28, 29 and can accommodate several wires for simultaneous bending. In operation, one or more wires are placed in the pair of blocks 15 and 16 adjusted to the same position in slideways 21, 22 and bent by simultaneous rotation of both heads 26, 27 in opposite directions to form a "U" bend in the wire. The heads are returned to their initial positions, e.g. by a rack and pinion or by a ratchet or lost-motion mechanism, and the blocks carrying the bent wire or wires are moved along their slideways until they engage the stops 19, 20. The bending heads are again rotated to form the wire or wires into a complete rectangle. In the second bending operation the wires bear against auxiliary L-shaped members 25. The extent of rotation of the heads may be controlled by limit switches and mechanical stops. Instead of having two different degrees of rotation of the bending heads for the first and second bending operations, a duplicate of each of formers 23, 24 are provided and spaced 90 degrees in advance of the formers 23, 24 and would normally be retracted within the heads and extended and used only for the second bending operation. The two heads 26, 27 may be linked together and operated from a common source. A single common clamping block may be used instead of the blocks 15, 16. The upstanding part of blocks 15, 16 may be curved and used as the inner bending former. In another embodiment a non-rectangular parallelogram is formed by bending the wire to an obtuse angle at one head and an acute angle at the other head the slideways being angled or the blocks staggered and the heads operated successively. The sequence of operations may be controlled by a pneumatic circuit.