Method and an apparatus for determining the bending angle of a work piece to be bent

A method for determining the bending angle of a work piece that is going to be or has been bent by means of a bending apparatus comprising a punch means and a die means cooperating with said punch means and having two bending edge means, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing directly operating detection means in at least two different locations on said die means;
• operating said detection means to detect the position of at least one leg of the work piece to be bent with regard to the position of said die means and to output position data representing the detected position;
• and
• calculating the bending angle in response to said position data and on the basis of previously stored reference data,
• the position of said at least one leg of the work piece to be bent being detected both above and below said bending edge means of said die means.

An apparatus for determining the bending angle of a work piece that is going to be or has been bent by means of a bending apparatus comprising a punch means and a die means cooperating with said punch means and having two bending edge means, said apparatus for determining the bending angle comprising:

• means for indirectly detecting the position of at least one leg means of said work piece relative to said die means and for outputting measurement signals;
• means for generating position data on the basis of the measurement signals provided by said detecting means;
• and
• a control and analyzing means for calculating the bending angle in response to said position data and on the basis of previously store reference data;
• at least one of said means for indirectly detecting the position being located above at least one of said bending edge means of said die means, at least one other of said means for indirectly detecting the position being located below at least one of said bending edge means of said die means.

An apparatus for determining the bending angle of a work piece that is going to be or has been bent by means of a bending apparatus comprising a punch means and a die means cooperating with said punch means and having two bending edge means, said apparatus for determining the bending angle comprising:

• means for directly detecting the position of at least one leg means of said work piece relative to said die means and for outputting measurement signals;
• means for generating position data on the basis of the measurement signals provided by detecting means;
• and
• a control and analyzing means for calculating the bending angle in response to said position data and on the basis of previously store reference data;
• at least one of said means for directly detecting the position being located above at least one of said bending edge means of said die means, at least one other of said means for directly detecting the position being located below at least one of said bending edge means of said die means.