Method of bending operations and bending system using the same

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

• storing data for a shape of said part in a computer memory;
• storing data indicating an order of bending operations in which the workpiece is bent along the bending lines in the computer memory;
• selecting tools for performing each of said bending operations along the bending lines;
• storing data for the selected tools in the computer memory;
• storing bending press control data in the computer memory for controlling said bending press to perform said bending operations in said bending order;
• and
• storing bending operation support information in the computer memory, after successfully completing bending operations, to support an operator later performing said bending operations with the bending press, wherein said storing of said bending operation support information comprises storing support information regarding operation of at least one of the following:
• attaching 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 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 said workpiece relative to a punch and a die;
• positioning said workpiece relative to a backgauge device;
• and
• inspecting dimensions of a shape of said workpiece after performing one of said bending operations.

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

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

A method of manufacturing a part by bending a workpiece along a plurality of bending lines with a bending system, said method comprising:

• determining a bending order and tools to manufacture said part in accordance with a shape of said part;
• storing the determined bending order and the tools in a computer memory;
• selecting the determined tools from a tool storage;
• determining an arrangement of the tools on said bending press;
• storing the determined arrangement of said tools in the computer memory;
• mounting said tools on said bending press in accordance with said determined arrangement;
• determining an attitude of the workpiece to be fed into said bending press at each bending step;
• storing the determined attitude of the workpiece for each bending step in a computer memory;
• and
• feeding the workpiece into said bending press with said attitude for each bending step and bending the workpiece along the bending lines with said bending press.

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, the system including a computer memory, the system comprising:

• a memory section that stores data relating to a shape of said part;
• a memory section that stores data indicating a bending order for manufacturing said part from said workpiece;
• a memory section that stores data for specifying the selected dies for each bending operation;
• a memory section that stores bending press control data for controlling said bending press to perform each bending operations in said bending order;
• and
• a memory section that stores bending operation support information for supporting an operator to perform each bending operation by using said bending press, wherein said storing of said bending operation support information occurs after successfully completing bending operations and comprises storing support information regarding the operation of at least one of the following:
• attaching 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 fixing tape;
• aligning a punch and a die relative to each other in a longitudinal direction;
• determining an original point of a punch and a die relative to the other;
• positioning said workpiece relative to a punch and a die;
• positioning said workpiece relative to a backgauge device;
• and
• checking a dimension of a shape of said 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 in a computer memory;
• storing data indicating an order of performing bending operations on said workpiece with said bending press in the computer memory;
• storing data that specifies tools for performing each of said bending operations in the computer memory, 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 in the computer memory after successfully executing the original-point adjustment operation;
• and
• performing a trial bending operation for each of said bending operations to be performed on said workpiece, and storing bending operation support information regarding a frequency of checking an accuracy of dimensions of said workpiece in the computer memory after successfully executing the trial 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 in a computer memory;
• storing data indicating an order for performing bending operations on said workpiece with said bending press in the computer memory;
• storing data that specifies tools for performing each of said bending operations in the computer memory, 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 in the computer memory;
• performing a trial bending operation for each of the bending operations to be performed on said workpiece;
• and
• storing control data D, L and Yz for performing the bending operations with said bending press in the computer memory, 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.