Method of bending operations and bending system using the same

A method of manufacturing a part by bending a workpiece along a plurality of bending lines with a bending press that has a detachable tool, said method comprising:

• storing data for a shape of said part;
• storing data indicating a bending order for manufacturing said part from said workpiece;
• selecting tools for performing each of the bending operations in said bending order;
• storing data for specifying the selected tools;
• mounting said selected tools on said bending press;
• storing bending press control data for controlling the operation of said bending press for performing each of the bending operations;
• bending said workpiece in said bending order in accordance with the bending press control data for each of the bending operations;
• and
• storing bending operation support information for supporting an operator for performing the bending operations,
• said storing of said bending operation support information comprising storing support information regarding operation of at least one of the following:
• attaching a protective tape on a shoulder of a die;
• arranging small tools on said bending press so that a punch and a die are laterally shifted from each other;
• attaching a small die on a ram with a fixing tape;
• aligning a punch and a die relative to each other in a longitudinal direction;
• determining an original point of a punch or a die relative to the other;
• positioning the workpiece relative to a punch and a die;
• positioning the workpiece relative to a backgauge device;
• and
• checking a dimension of a shape of the workpiece after performing a bending operation.

A system for generating data for manufacturing a part by bending a workpiece along a plurality of bending lines with a bending press that has detachable tools, said system comprising:

• a section that stores data for a shape of said part;
• a section that stores data indicating a bending order for manufacturing said part from said workpiece;
• a section that stores data for specifying the selected dies for each bending operation;
• a section that stores bending press control data for controlling the operation of said bending press to perform the bending operations in said bending order;
• and
• a section that stores bending operation support information for supporting an operator to perform the bending operations by using said bending press,
• said storing of said bending operation support information comprising storing support information regarding the operation of at least one of the following:
• attaching a protective tape on a shoulder of a die;
• arranging small tools on said bending press so that a punch and a die are laterally shifted from each other;
• attaching a small die on a ram with a fixing tape;
• aligning a punch and a die relative to each other in a longitudinal direction;
• determining an original point of a punch or a die relative to the other;
• positioning the workpiece relative to a punch and a die;
• positioning the workpiece relative to a backgauge device;
• and
• checking a dimension of a shape of the workpiece after performing a bending operation.

A method for generating data for manufacturing a part by bending a workpiece with a bending press, said method comprising:

• storing data that specifies a shape of said part;
• storing data indicating an order of performing bending operations on the workpiece with said bending press;
• storing data that specifies tools for performing each of the bending operations, said tools comprising a punch and a die;
• performing an original-point adjustment operation to adjust an original point of the die with respect to the punch, and storing bending operation support information regarding an execution of the original-point adjustment operation;
• and
• performing a trial bending operation for each of the bending operations to be performed on the workpiece, and storing bending operation support information regarding a frequency of checking an accuracy of dimensions of the workpiece.

A method for generating data for manufacturing a part by bending a workpiece with a bending press, said method comprising:

• storing data that specifies a shape of said part;
• storing data indicating an order of performing bending operations on the workpiece with said bending press;
• storing data that specifies tools for performing each of the bending operations, said tools comprising a punch and a die;
• determining an arrangement of said tools on said bending press;
• mounting said tools on said bending press in accordance with said determined arrangement;
• performing an original-point adjustment operation to adjust an original point of the die with respect to the punch, and storing bending operation support information regarding an execution of the original-point adjustment operation;
• performing a trial bending operation for each of the bending operations to be performed on the workpiece;
• and
• storing control data D, L and Yz for performing the bending operations with said bending press, wherein D specifies a vertical position of the die relative to the original point of the die, L specifies a position of a backgauge device in a lateral direction relative to a central position of the die, and Yz specifies a vertical position of the backgauge device relative to a top end position of the die.