Intelligent system for generating and executing a sheet metal bending plan

In a computer having at least one processor and a memory, an apparatus adapted to determine a gripper location, which is a location on a malleable sheet workpiece at which a gripper is adapted to hold the workpiece while a bending apparatus performs an operation on the workpiece, the bending apparatus adapted to perform a sequence of operations, including said operation on the workpiece in accordance with a bending plan, said sequence of operations comprising a sequence of bends from a first bend through an Nth bend, the shape of the workpiece adapted to change to at least one intermediate shape as said bending apparatus progresses through said sequence of bends, said apparatus adapted to determine a gripper location comprising:

• a former;
• and
• a determiner;
• wherein said former is adapted to form a set of topographic representations by repeatedly generating, along edges of the workpiece, a graphic representation of areas on the workpiece within which the gripper can be located without hindering performance of a plurality of operations in said sequence of operations, taking into consideration the intermediate shapes of the workpiece when each of said plurality of operations is performed, and said determiner is adapted to determine the intersection of all the graphic representations within said set to thereby determine the areas common to said plurality of operations in said sequence of operations.

In a computer having at least one processor and a memory, an apparatus adapted to select tooling to be used in a bending apparatus for bending a workpiece comprising a sheet of malleable material, the tooling including at least a die and a punch, the bending apparatus adapted to perform, utilizing the selected tooling, a sequence of operations comprising a sequence of bends from a first bend through an Nth bend, said apparatus adapted to determine a gripper location comprising:

• a reader;
• a former;
• a chooser;
• and
• a proposed subplan generator;
• wherein said reader is adapted to read information describing geometry of a library of dies and punches, said former is adapted to form sets of feasible dies and punches excluding dies and punches that have insufficient force capacity to bend the workpiece and that are incapable of forming bends in the workpiece resulting in desired bend angles and desired inside radii, said chooser is adapted to choose an appropriate die and appropriate punch that most closely satisfies force, bend angle, and inside radii requirements by excluding punches that will likely collide with the workpiece as determined by failure of a geometric collision test, and said proposed subplan generator is adapted to generate a proposed subplan to accompany each proposed bend in the sequence of bends, said proposed subplan comprising setup and control information for said bending apparatus.

In a computer having at least one processor and a memory, an apparatus for determining a layout of tooling stages along a die rail of a bending apparatus, said bending apparatus adapted to bend workpieces comprising sheets of malleable material, by performing a sequence of operations comprising a sequence of bends from a first bend through an Nth, said apparatus adapted to determine a gripper location comprising:

• a decider;
• a calculator;
• a determiner;
• and
• a spacer;
• wherein said decider is adapted to decide on an arrangement of a plurality of tooling stages along said die rail, said calculator is adapted to calculate lateral limits based upon the amount by which the workpiece extends beyond a side edge of a tooling stage for the bends of said sequence of bends, said determiner is adapted to determine a largest lateral limit for each side of each tooling stage, and said spacer is adapted to space adjacently arranged tooling stages to have a gap between adjacent side edges that is greater than or equal to the larger of the determined largest lateral limits of adjacent side edges.