Sheet Metal Bending Equipment Selection Guide - Comparison of CNC Bending Machines and Servo Panel Bender
Sheet Metal Bending Equipment Selection Guide - Comparison of CNC Bending Machines and Servo Panel Bender
In the sheet metal processing industry, the choice of bending equipment is crucial, which directly affects production efficiency, product quality and cost control. Today, there are mainly traditional CNC bending machines and emerging servo flexible folding centers (also known as intelligent flexible bending centers) on the market. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The following is a detailed analysis for everyone.
Current status of traditional CNC bending machines
Domestic metal cutting machine tools have basically achieved automation in the process of sheet metal processing, but the bending field is quite different. At present, most of the bending equipment in the sheet metal field is still traditional CNC bending machines. This type of equipment has a low degree of automation, low production efficiency, and high technical requirements for practitioners. During operation, traditional CNC bending machines require skilled workers to hold the workpiece for positioning and bending, and each folding edge must be repositioned, which undoubtedly slows down the pace of production, especially when facing complex workpieces, the efficiency problem becomes more and more prominent. Moreover, the programming of traditional CNC bending machines is complicated, and workers need to master cumbersome programming skills. During the bending process, they must remember the bending order of each folding edge, which is difficult and has a high error rate. In terms of positioning accuracy, it also has shortcomings. Multiple positioning is prone to dimensional errors, and it is difficult to cope with some high-precision mass production tasks. In terms of molds, traditional CNC bending machines usually have one mold for each fold, and each shape must be customized with a special mold, and the cost remains high.
The advantages of intelligent flexible Panel Bender are fully demonstrated
1. Speed: The intelligent flexible bending center is fully automated during bending, with the fastest speed reaching 0.2 seconds/knife. The cycle time of multi-edge and multi-pass bending is greatly shortened, which is more than 3 times the speed of traditional CNC bending machines. In the face of complex workpieces, its speed advantage is more significant, greatly improving production efficiency.
Labor: The technical requirements for workers are low. Ordinary workers can take up the job after training. There is no need to hire experienced skilled workers. The entire bending process is automated, which not only saves labor but also reduces the labor intensity of workers. Like the processing of large workpieces, traditional CNC bending machines often require the cooperation of multiple people, but the intelligent flexible bending center only requires workers to place the workpiece on the workbench, and the equipment automatically completes the positioning, saving time and effort.
2. Safety: There is no need to manually clamp the workpiece, and the bending process is automated, which greatly reduces the safety hazards caused by workers' misoperation and provides a more reliable guarantee for the production environment.
Easy to use: Using graphic visual programming, workers only need to input bending data according to the workpiece, and the system automatically generates bending instructions without coding. It can be mastered by ordinary workers in 2 hours. The operation convenience is far superior to traditional CNC bending machines.
3. Consistency: It can realize automatic positioning of plates, and the system positioning accuracy reaches 0.001mm. The products after molding have high consistency, which perfectly meets the needs of mass production and effectively avoids the problem of dimensional errors caused by insufficient positioning accuracy of traditional CNC bending machines.
4. Automation: Taking the Primapress brand as an example, its flexible bending center reserves a wealth of interfaces to facilitate docking with upstream and downstream production lines, and can be connected to robotic arms to achieve automated and integrated loading and unloading. The equipped Lanhao self-propelled manipulator and the bending center have the same control system, with high synergy and efficiency. When changing workpieces, you only need to change the bending center program, and the manipulator program is automatically generated, with outstanding flexibility.
5. System upgrade: The Primapress brand flexible bending center is independently developed, holds a number of core technology patents, and has free lifetime upgrades. It is based on the Industry 4.0 architecture and has rich interfaces. It can keep up with the trend of technological development and continuously improve equipment performance.
6. Mold: Using a universal bending mold, with the help of multi-axis parallel linkage full servo control, various shapes of bending can be realized. There is no need to customize special molds for each shape like traditional CNC bending machines, which reduces costs.
Parts adaptability analysis
1. Box-shaped workpieces: The servo flexible hemming center is extremely fast in producing traditional box-shaped parts. It can quickly and accurately produce boxes, lids and other similar shapes. It can bend the entire side of the box at one time, and it is also easy to handle the return flange on the box. However, it is limited by the depth of the box. Because the throat depth and opening height of the panel bending center are limited, CNC bending machines are a better choice when the box is too deep. Although CNC bending machines can also produce boxes, the operation process requires highly intensive operator participation, and tool setting and part operation are cumbersome.
Large panels: Jiangsu Shengchi servo flexible hemming center is ideal for large parts, especially large panels. Processing such parts on CNC bending machines often requires multiple operators or auxiliary cranes to assist in forming, while the hemming center can directly load the raw materials into the workbench, and a single operator can complete the processing in the simplest steps. Its automatic setting of sheet material clamping function has obvious advantages.
2. Small complex profiles: Parts with particularly small and complex geometric structures are safe to process on CNC bending machines, and the operator's fingers are easy to get close to the tools. This is not a concern with a hemming center, and semi-automatic hemming centers are more advantageous when bending complex geometries, as the operator can manipulate the part during the process, allowing the machine to produce a narrower profile.
3. Internal bends: Hemming centers have limitations when it comes to internal bends, and parts with internal bends, such as frames, are difficult to accomplish on a panel bender due to the location of the grippers and bend blades. In this case, a custom high-end multi-axis, high-precision CNC press brake is more appropriate.
conclusion
When choosing bending equipment, sheet metal processing companies need to comprehensively consider their own production needs, part types, budget and other factors, weigh the pros and cons of CNC bending machines and servo flexible folding centers, and select the machine that best suits the workshop, thereby improving production efficiency and standing out in the fierce market competition.
