Apparatus and method for bending

An electric conductor bending apparatus for bending an elongated electric conductor on a longitudinal lateral surface, comprising:

• an upper die provided to move in a direction parallel to an upper surface of the electric conductor above the electric conductor,
• a lower die provided to move in an up-and-down direction parallel to the lateral surface below the electric conductor and configured to hold the electric conductor between the upper die and itself to bend the electric conductor,
• an upper moving mechanism configured to move the upper die in the direction parallel to the upper surface between a corresponding position where the upper die corresponds in position to the lower die and a first withdrawal position where the upper die does not correspond in position to the lower die;
• a lower moving mechanism configured to move the lower die in the up-and-down direction between a bending position where the lower die holds the electric conductor between the upper die located in the corresponding position and itself to bend the electric conductor and a second withdrawal position where the lower die is withdrawn downwards from the bending position;
• and
• a control unit configured to control to drive the upper moving mechanism and the lower moving mechanism,
• wherein the control unit executes a bending control in which with the upper die located in the corresponding position, the control unit drives the lower moving mechanism to move the lower die from the second withdrawal position to the bending position where the electric conductor is held between the upper die and the lower die to be bent.