U.S. patent application number 15/053799 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-16 for punch holder with replaceable radius tips.
This patent application is currently assigned to Amada America, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Amada America, Inc.. Invention is credited to Scott Bowerman, Hidekatsu Kawasaki, Brian Rojas, Mamoru Sugimoto.
Application Number | 20170326608 15/053799 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60297352 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170326608 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bowerman; Scott ; et
al. |
November 16, 2017 |
PUNCH HOLDER WITH REPLACEABLE RADIUS TIPS
Abstract
A press brake system that utilizes a punch holder adapted to be
used with punch chips of various radii to achieve the desired bend
on a part. The system maintains a common shut height enabling the
press brake operator to be able to put different radius tip punches
next to each other in a single press brake tooling setup.
Inventors: |
Bowerman; Scott; (Spring
Grove, IL) ; Rojas; Brian; (San Pedro, CA) ;
Kawasaki; Hidekatsu; (Kanagawa, JP) ; Sugimoto;
Mamoru; (Kanagawa, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Amada America, Inc. |
Buena Park |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Amada America, Inc.
Buena Park
CA
|
Family ID: |
60297352 |
Appl. No.: |
15/053799 |
Filed: |
February 25, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B21D 5/0254 20130101;
B21D 5/0236 20130101; B21D 5/0209 20130101; B21D 5/002
20130101 |
International
Class: |
B21D 5/02 20060101
B21D005/02; B21D 5/02 20060101 B21D005/02; B21D 5/00 20060101
B21D005/00 |
Claims
1. A press brake system using a first punch tool for bending a
workpiece, the workpiece requiring several bends with different
radii, said first punch tool comprising: a punch holder having an
upper portion of a first shape; a first punch tip having a first
radius formed on the lower portion of said punch holder; and means
for removably securing said first punch tip to said punch
holder.
2. The press brake system of claim 1 wherein said first punch tip
is removed from said punch holder and replaced by a second punch
tip having a second radius, said first radius being different from
said second radius.
3. The press brake system of claim 1 further including a second
punch tool, said first and second punch tools extending along a
longitudinal axis of said press brake system, each of said second
tools having an upper portion of a shape substantially identical to
said first shape.
4. The press brake system of claim 3 wherein said first and second
punch tools have punch tips of a different radii.
5. The punch brake system of claim 4 wherein the shut height of
said first and second punch tools are substantially the same.
6. A punch tool for use in a brake press system, said punch tool
having upper and lower portions comprising: a punch holder
extending along a horizontal axis, said upper portion of said punch
holder having a notch adapted to be engaged by a component within
said press brake system; and a punch tip that is removably secured
to said lower portion of said punch holder.
7. The punch tool of claim 6 wherein said punch tip is secured to
said punch holder by a plurality of fasteners extending along said
horizontal axis.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates to an improved punch bending
system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[0002] A press brake tool typically includes a punch and a die that
defines a groove to receive a punch.
[0003] Examples of prior art patents that relate to press brake
tools are as follows:
[0004] 1. U.S. Pat. No. 7,584,640 to Yi-Hua Liu et al, issued on
Sep. 8, 2009 describes a press brake tool for bending a workpiece
and includes a punch having a punch tip, a press brake die and a
die holder fixing the die thereto. The press brake die includes a
pair or rotary members and at least one elastic member. The press
brake die further defines an elongated lateral groove facing the
punch tip and at least one longitudinal through hole communicating
with the lateral groove. The pair of rotary members is spaced from
each other and rotatably received in the elongated lateral
groove.
[0005] 2. U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,763 to Chebbi, issued on Apr. 1,
2003, describes a control device for a bending machine including
apparatus for inputting, as input data, a desired bend angle and
bending conditions or criteria, means for storing groups of data,
each containing bending conditions, a bend angle and a penetration
depth, and means for searching whether the input data is stored in
the memory means, in the same group of data. Moreover, means are
provided for transmitting a signal representative of a penetration
depth included in the group of data stored in the memory means, or
for transmitting a signal for controlling the bending machine
according to this penetration depth.
[0006] The aforementioned patents have at least one component in
common; the punch used to bend the workpiece has a fixed radius and
typically a single punch is used for each bend, a different punch
being required for a different bend. In essence, manual press brake
setups normally requires the machine operator to use
multiple/different machine tool setups in order to complete all the
bends on certain parts. This, in turn, increases the amount of
setup time required thus decreasing part bending efficiency,
increasing the part fabrication costs which, in turn, increases
customer cost.
[0007] What is thus desired is to provide a press brake tooling
operator the ability to perform many different types of bends in
one machine setup thus lowering the fabrication cost of a part.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] The replaceable radius tips of the present invention are
designed to be removed from the radius tip punch holder, but still
maintain "common shut height" properties. No matter what different
radius tip is used, the punch tips bottoms out equally into the
common shut height dies. This allows the press brake operator to be
able to put different radius tip punches next to each other in a
single press brake tooling setup.
[0009] The newly designed punch bending system uses a common punch
holder and offers various replacement punch chips to achieve the
desired radius on a part that is being bent on a press brake.
Regardless of the radius punch bolted to end of the punch holder, a
unified common tool shut height is maintained. This allows the
press brake operator to achieve a unified machine shut height using
multiple different radii in one press brake setup alongside other
common shut height tooling without the need for manually added
shims to get proper common bending height.
[0010] This stage bending system of the present invention provides
the press brake tooling operator the ability to do different types
of bends in one machine setup, thus greatly reducing the amount of
setup time and increasing part bending efficiently, thus lowering
the cost of the fabricated part.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] For a better understanding of the present invention as well
as other objects and further features thereof, reference is made to
the following description which is to be read in conjunction with
the accompanying drawing therein:
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified version of a press brake
machine illustrating the shut height measurement;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates the press brake tooling in accordance
with the teachings of the present invention;
[0014] FIGS. 3A-3B illustrates how different radius tips can be
used in conjunction with the press brake tooling shown in FIG. 2;
and
[0015] FIG. 4A illustrates a partial front view of the press brake
showing the tooling extending along the horizontal axis of the
machine and FIG. 4B is a side view along lines 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 and
4-4 of FIG. 4A, respectively.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The present invention provides a punch holder having
replaceable radius tips. The replaceable radius tips can be removed
from the universal radius tip punch holder, but still maintain a
common shut height. No matter what different radius tip is used,
the punch tips bottoms out equally into the common shut height
dies. This allows the press brake operator to be able to put
different radius tip punches along a horizontal axis next to each
other in a single press brake tooling setup.
[0017] The punch bending system of the present invention uses a
common punch holder and offers various replacement punch chips to
achieve the desired radius on a part that is being bent on a press
brake. Regardless of the radius punch bolted to end of the punch
holder, a unified common tool shut height is maintained. This
allows the press brake operator/user to achieve a unified machine
shut height using multiple different radii in a single press brake
setup which enables the user to stage multiple part bends in one
machine setup. The stage bending replacement chip tooling of the
invention can be setup in a press brake machine alongside other
common shut height tooling without the need to manually shim it up
to provide a common bending height.
[0018] As noted hereinabove, manual press brake setup normally
requires the operator to use multiple/different machine tool setups
in order to complete all the bends required on certain parts. The
stage bending system of the present invention allows the press
brake tooling operator the ability to do many different types of
bends in one machine setup greatly reducing the amount of setup
time and increasing part bending efficiency, lowering the cost of
the part being fabricated and, as a result, saving customer
money.
[0019] The tooling system of the present invention allows all
punches to penetrate to the bottom of the V opening on the dies
equally, but the overall die heights at the top of the V may vary
in overall size. This requires the press brake machine backgauge to
be able to move up or down from one die to the other die in order
to properly gauge the part over the die when bending.
[0020] The "shut height" as used in conjunction with brake presses
is typically defined as the distance between the die and the anvil
at the end of the working stroke.
[0021] As will be set forth hereinafter, a plurality of
interchangeable radius tips (tools) are fastened to a universal
holder by a plurality of bolts.
[0022] Common shut height radius chip type tools have a
common/unified shut height to allow for staged bending with other
common shut height tooling that have the same common/unified shut
height without the necessity of shimming. Common shut height radius
chips are used interchangeably in a common shut height set-up
wherein the shut height remains the same.
[0023] In a simplified representation of a press machine 8
illustrated in FIG. 1, there is a maximum height of the die that
can be installed. If the maximum height is exceeded, it is not
possible to install the die in the press machine. There are two
methods of expressing this height, namely, die height and shut
height.
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, when the punch slide 10 is at the
bottom dead center position and the slide adjustment screw 12 has
been raised to the topmost position, the distance from the bottom
surface of the slide to the surface of the bolster plate 14 is
called the "die height", a distance represented by the reference
letter A. When the bolster plate 14 is removed from the press
machine, the surface on which the bolster plate was is called the
"head surface", and the "shut height", represented by the reference
letter B, is the distance from this head surface to the bottom
surface of the slide.
[0025] When a die lower than the maximum adjustable height is
installed, it is easily installed if the die height is within the
adjustment range of the slide adjustment screw. In the case of a
die with a height smaller than the adjustment range of the slide
adjustment screw the height is adjusted using spacers or shims. The
work of installing a die in the press machine is called "die
setting up", and the height adjustment is a significant factor that
affects the time taken for this die setting up.
[0026] Bolster plate (or bed) 14 is a large block of metal upon
which the bottom portion of a die is clamped; the bolster place is
stationary. The slide 10 is also a solid piece of metal that is
clamped to the top portion of a stamping die and provides the
stroke (up and down movement) that causes the die to produce parts
from the metal being fed through it.
[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates the press brake tooling 20 of the present
invention which can be adapted for use in commercially available
press brake devices.
[0028] Tooling 20 comprises punch holder 22, punch chip 24 and four
draw bolts 26. Punch holder 22 is attached to punch chip 24 by
aligning bolts 26, which pass through holes 28, with holes 30
formed in punch chip 24.
[0029] FIG. 3A illustrates punch chips having different radii (from
left to right, 10 mm, 8 mm, 6 mm, 5 mm, 4 mm and 3 mm). The radius
tips 24 are interchangeable and are fastened to holder 22 by draw
bolts 26 (FIG. 2).
[0030] Punch holder 22 is structured to be universal in the sense
that the upper portion 32 has a common design so that it easily
attaches to the corresponding structure in the press brake
apparatus.
[0031] Common shut height radius chip type tools have a
common/unified shut height B to allow for stage bending with other
common shut height tooling that have this same common/unified shut
height; this enables common shut height radius chip type tooling
can be used for staged bending alongside other common shut height
style tooling without shimming.
[0032] Common shut height radius chips can be used interchangeably
in a common shut height set-up and shut height will remain the same
as shown in FIG. 3B.
[0033] The operator set up procedure is as follows:
[0034] Operators set up different lengths of tooling including
different replacement radius tip punches and common shut height
dies and other common shut height tooling punches in a single
set-up. The common shut height dies 25 can vary in V-opening width
and angle. Also, different radii for replaceable radius tip punches
can be set up alongside each other.
[0035] This setup of different radii for replaceable radius tip
punches, common shut height dies, and other common shut height
tooling is designed to be able to process a part or multiple parts
in a single set-up without having to remove or add any tools.
[0036] The operator sets the punches and dies in the brake system.
The longitudinal position of the tooling is based on factors such
as product shape, length and material thickness. The setup also
varies based on application requirements. The number of individual
setups (single mating punch and die) that comprise the entire setup
along the entire length of the brake also varies by part.
[0037] The ram of the brake is lowered by the operator to bend a
part that is held into position by a back gauge (not shown). The
ram lowers with the tool setups and is able to bend a single bend
on the part on the individual setup that the back gage supports at
this time. After the bend in the part is fully processed, the ram
retracts to an open position and the operator removes the part from
this individual setup.
[0038] Next, the back gage moves to support the part at a different
tool setup and the process of lowering the ram, bending and
retracting is repeated. This process is repeated at other
individual setups until multiple/all bends on the part are bent.
The ability to process multiple bends using different replaceable
radius tip punches, moving from individual setup to individual
setup is what makes the replaceable radius tip punches is the key
feature of the present invention.
[0039] For of various different size replacement radius tip
punches, the shape of the punch allows for the common shut height.
The geometry of the punch chip is designed with a solid straight
portion of the profile above the bending radius of the punch chip.
This solid straight area of the chip allows for height adjustment
at time of manufacturing based on differing chip radii and angles
for each punch chip.
[0040] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate the multiple punch tools that can
be installed in the press brake apparatus to enable multiple bends
to be formed on a part. Alternately, multiple bends can be formed
on a part using a single tool set-up. In particular, the first bend
is formed by the punch chip indicated at 4-1; the second bend is
formed by the punch chip indicated at 4-2; the third bend is formed
by the punch chip indicated at 4-3; and the fourth bend is formed
by the punch chip indicated at 4-4.
[0041] Note that Figure A is a partial front view of the press
brake of the present invention illustrating a multiple tool
arrangement and FIG. 4B is a side view of the press brake shown in
FIG. 4A illustrating different tools 50, 52, 54 and 56 with common
shut heights represented by reference letters C and D.
[0042] FIG. 4B shows in more detail how a hook shaped portion 60 of
the press brake system engages notched shape portion 33 of punch
holder 22 such that the shut heights C and D are substantially
identical and thus provide the novel features of the invention as
noted hereinabove.
[0043] While the invention has been described with reference to its
preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in
the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be
substituted for elements thereof without departing from the true
spirit and scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications
may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the
teachings of the invention without departing from its essential
teachings.
* * * * *