Metal deforming – With means to drive tool – With means to permit tool positioning
Patent
1992-11-19
1995-05-02
Jones, David
Metal deforming
With means to drive tool
With means to permit tool positioning
72389, 72461, 483 28, 483 29, B21J 1308
Patent
active
054109043
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a metal sheet processing apparatus such as a press brake for bending a metal sheet and a shearing machine for shearing a plate material.
BACKGROUND ART
A conventional metal sheet processing apparatus such as a press brake comprises left and right side frames and upper and lower tables supported by the side frames. The upper and lower tables are disposed one above another and face each other. One of the upper and lower tables serves as a vertically movable ram. An upper die is removably attached to the bottom of the upper table, and a lower die is removably attached to the top of the lower table.
The upper and lower dies are replaced with others depending on bending conditions of metal sheets.
The upper and lower dies are usually manually removed and replaced. Since the upper and lower dies are generally long (there are divided dies comprising divided short parts), it is quite troublesome to remove and attach the upper and lower dies from and to the upper and lower tables.
Accordingly, techniques for automatically attaching, detaching, and replacing the upper and lower dies have been developed. For example, there are such related arts as Japanese Examined Patent Publication Nos. 55-45288 and 57-37408 and Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 63-21932.
In this way, various techniques have been developed for automatically attaching, detaching, and replacing upper and lower dies to and from upper and lower tables of a press brake. One of such techniques arranges, beside the press brake, a storage unit for storing upper and lower dies. This technique takes a large space. Another technique defines a storage section in the frame of a press brake. This technique must have a structure of preventing a back gauge unit from interfering with upper and lower dies when replacing the dies with others, and does not utilize the back gauge unit for replacing the dies.
An object of the invention is to provide a plate material processing apparatus that utilizes a back gauge unit not only for positioning a metal sheet in longitudinal directions but also for replacing upper and lower dies. Namely, the invention utilizes the back gauge unit both for replacing upper and lower dies and positioning a metal sheet.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
To achieve the object, the invention provides a metal sheet processing apparatus comprising left and right side frames, upper and lower tables supported by the side tables, one of the upper and lower tables serving as a vertically movable ram, dies disposed in a processing zone between the upper and lower tables, for processing a plate material, a back gauge unit to be moved in longitudinal directions to position the metal sheet in the longitudinal directions, and a die storage section defined behind the upper table. Part of the back gauge unit is vertically movable and able to support and replace a die between the die storage-section and the processing zone.
With this arrangement, the back gauge unit is moved to a die stored in the die storage section behind the upper table, and part of the back gauge unit is vertically moved to support the die stored in the die storage section. While the part of the back gauge unit is supporting the die, the back gauge unit is moved in longitudinal directions to transport the die to the processing zone between the upper and lower tables.
In this way, the die is replaced between the die storage section and the processing zone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a sectional side view showing an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a partly broken front view showing the apparatus of first embodiment;
FIG. 3 shows a sectional side view and a partial front view of a die assembly;
FIG. 4 is a view showing part of a modified back gauge unit;
FIG. 5 sectional side view showing an apparatus according to a second embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along a line VI--VI of FIG. 5;
FIG. 7 is a sectional side view showing an apparatus according to a third embodime
REFERENCES:
patent: 3938416 (1976-02-01), Beauplat
patent: 4188815 (1980-02-01), Mizushima
patent: 4510789 (1985-04-01), Tomioka et al.
patent: 4587830 (1986-05-01), Mills
patent: 5134873 (1992-08-01), Miyagawa et al.
patent: 5168745 (1992-12-01), Miyagawa et al.
John T. Winship, P. E., "Bending the Wright Way", Aug. 1989, pp. 20-25.
Hirata Tadashi
Yanagisawa Masayoshi
Amada Company Limited
Jones David
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