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US 5,983,688 AGranted
Method and apparatus for displaying die layout in press brake and for checking interference
OwnerTetsuya Anzai, Sunao Haga +3inventors
InventorsTetsuya Anzai, Sunao Haga, Takara Kibe, Katsumi Koyama, Takahiro Shibata
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A press brake is provided for performing one or more bending operations on a product, such as a sheet metal part, whereby the selection and laying out the clues necessary for bending the product is facilitated by detecting the kinds and layout of the dies loaded in the press brake. A display device is also provided for displaying the layout of the dies, checking interferences between the product and the dies, and displaying the details and features of the product.
Claims20
A press brake comprising:
- at least one bending tool loaded in said press brake, said bending tool comprising reference data provided on a surface of said bending tool, said reference data including a reference number relating to said bending tool;
- a scanner for reading said reference data provided on said at least one bending tool, said scanner being movable relative to said at least one bending tool;
- and
- a position detecting device for detecting position data, said position data relating to a position at which said scanner reads said reference data, said position data is compared with position data detected during a previous scanning operation and determining whether it is possible to replace previously registered dies with new dies if it is determined that the bending operation cannot be performed with registered dies.
1 more element
A method for displaying a die layout in a press brake, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) displaying, on a display device, at least one pair of dies corresponding to a maximum bend line length of a product to be bent;
- (b) displaying, on said display device, a diagram and a bend line portion of said product in an order of bending corresponding to said displayed dies;
- (c) determining, based on said displayed diagram, said displayed bend line portion and said displayed dies, whether it is possible to perform a bending operation on said product;
- (d) registering said displayed dies if it is determined that said bending operation can be performd;
- (e) further displaying new dies corresponding to a bend line length of said displayed bend line portion if it is determined that said bending operation cannot be performed, and registering said displayed new dies;
- (f) determining whether it is possible to replace previously registered dies by said displayed new dies for bending said product;
- (g) changing the registration by erasing said previously registered dies if it is determined that it is possible to replace the previously registered dies with said displayed new dies;
- and
- (h) displaying a next diagram and bend line portion of said product for a next bending operation within said order of bending by returning to step (b) and repeating the process of steps (b) through (h) until all bending operations within said order of bending have been analyzed.
6 more elements
An apparatus for displaying a die layout in a press brake comprising:
- a first storage part for storing product processing data, said product processing data relating to bend line lengths, a bending order and bent shapes and dimensions relating to a product;
- a second storage part for storing data relating to die lengths and dimensions;
- a display device controller for displaying, on a display device, a representation of said product at each stage in said bending order by fetching data from said first storage part and for displaying, on said display device, dies corresponding to bend line lengths of said product displayed in said display device by fetching data regarding die dimensions from said second storage part, and displaying new dies corresponding to a bend line length of a displayed bend line being displayed if it is determined that the bending operation cannot be performed;
- and
- a movement instructing device for selectively providing, to said display device controller, an instruction to move said product displayed on said display device.
2 more elements
A method for checking die interference for use in a system comprising a first memory for storing stereoscopic graphic data regarding a product, a second memory for storing cross-sectional shape data regarding dies necessary for bending said product, a display device for displaying data, and a display device controller for controlling the display of data on said display device, said method comprising:
- transferring, from said first and second memories to said display device controller, edge shape data regarding a designated cross-sectional position of a stereoscopic shape of said product and cross-sectional shape data regarding said dies at a bending position;
- displaying, in combination on said display device, an edge shape of the designated cross-sectional position of said product and cross-sectional shapes of said dies;
- and
- displaying new dies corresponding to a bend line length of a displayed bend line of the product if it is determined that a bending operation cannot be performed.
1 more element
A method for checking die interferences, said method comprising the steps of:
- displaying, on a display device, three-dimensional shape data regarding dies and a workpiece;
- indicating, on said display device, a position for checking interferences with said workpiece and a sight line direction;
- displaying shapes of said workpiece and said dies in the indicated sight line direction;
- performing virtual bending of said workpiece on said display screen;
- determining whether a sum of a cross-sectional area of said workpiece in a designated position and a cross-sectional area of said die is smaller than a fixed amount;
- continuing the virtual bending process if it is determined that the sum is not smaller than the fixed amount;
- stopping the virtual bending process and displaying three-dimensional shape data regarding a new die if it is determined that the sum is smaller than the fixed amount and checking interferences;
- determining whether a sum of a cross-sectional area of said workpiece in the designated position and a cross-sectional area of the new die is smaller than a fixed amount;
- and
- performing the virtual bending process if it is determined that the sum is not smaller than the fixed amount.
7 more elements
A method for checking press brake interferences, said method comprising the steps of:
- displaying, on a display device, three-dimensional data regarding an object to be interfered with and an object to be observed;
- indicating, on the display screen, a position for checking interferences for the observed object and a sight line direction;
- displaying shapes of the interfered object and the observed object in the indicated sight line direction;
- moving the observed object toward the interfered object on the display screen;
- determining whether a sum of a cross-sectional area of the interfered object and a cross-sectional area of a designated portion of the observed object is smaller than a fixed amount;
- continuing the movement of the observed object if it is determined that the sum is not smaller than the fixed amount;
- stopping the movement, and displaying a shape of a new observed object if it is determined that the sum is smaller than the fixed amount and checking interferences;
- determining whether a sum of a cross-sectional area of the interfered object and a cross-sectional area of a designated portion of the new observed object is smaller than the fixed amount;
- and
- moving the new observed object toward the interfered object on the display screen if it is determined that the sum is not smaller than the fixed amount.
7 more elements
A method for displaying long parts of a product in reduced sizes, said method comprising the steps of:
- storing, in a memory device, product data relating to a representation of said product with the long parts;
- scanning said product data in a scanning direction with specified pitches, said scanning direction extending in a longitudinal direction of the representation of said product;
- determining whether current coordinate data in a position orthogonal to said scanning direction is identical to coordinate data detected during a previous scanning operation;
- omitting the current coordinate data if it is determined that the current coordinate data is identical to the previous coordinate data;
- registering the current coordinate data if it is determined that the current coordinate data is not identical to the previous coordinate data;
- and
- displaying, after scanning said product data, the long parts of said product based on the registered coordinate data.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.