Process for bending metal hollow sections and apparatus for carrying out the process

Abstract

A roller-mandrel thrust bending process (RDSB process) is described, serving to bend metal hollow sections. Starting from the known rolling-bending process, where the hollow section to be bent is filled in its interior and is run into a bending station consisting of several bending rollers, the bending of the hollow section is produced by the movement of the bending rollers in the bending plane. To preserve the advantages of core stretching and bending while avoiding the high costs of this process, it is provided according to the invention that the hollow section of the workpiece is filled by a base mandrel and that the workpiece is pushed into the bending station under thrust. Thus the workpiece to be bent is displaced under thrust and under the friction force of the profile rollers over the mandrel stationary in the bending zone and bent in XYZ direction by the bending station.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.