TPi January 2017

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46 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL January 2017
products & developments
Portable pipe bevelling solution from
Exact Tools in Finland
Exact Tools has launched a new
portable pipe bevelling machine to bevel
steel, stainless steel and aluminium
pipe materials. The PipeBevel 220E
will bevel pipe material from 25 to
220mm in diameter with a maximum
wall thickness of 10mm.
Currently available in a 220-240V
version, the PipeBevel 220E will
produce bevel angles of 30°, 37.5°
or 45°. The fast, accurate, lightweight
and easy-to-use equipment is suitable
for site bevelling applications. The
company will later launch the same
bevelling machine in a 360E version.
Exact Tools Oy – Finland
Benefits of tube processing system
As part of its ongoing programme of
replacing machines deemed to have
reached a natural end of life, Worcester,
Bosch Group, has introduced its first
BLM 4-Runner tube processing system.
The new machine is designed to deliver
cycle time savings of between 25 and
30 per cent compared to the machine
it replaced, as well as delivering
environmental benefits to the company.
As a manufacturer of domestic
heating and hot water appliances, one
of Worcester’s key targets is energy
efficiency, as demanded by its customers.
The company has a corporate policy of
ensuring that any machine tool purchases
reflect this energy/environmental remit.
Previously, tube processing at Worcester
had been carried out by hydraulic-
powered machinery. The switch to the
BLM 4-Runner, with its all-electric,
servo-controlled operation, provided a
step forward in environmental terms,
with the added advantages of improved
quality and consistency and reduced
cycle times.
“It is part of our long-term vision to
replace all of our old hydraulic BLM
Planet machines with modern all-
electric, servo-driven tube processing
systems,” said Chris Packer, group
leader – manufacturing. “The 4-Runner’s
servo control is important for a number
of reasons, such as improved accuracy
of bends, consistency and cycle times,
but of equal, if not greater, importance
was the fact that they are far more
energy efficient compared to hydraulic
machines, and this was key to our
purchasing decision.”
The BLM 4-Runner is a modular-
based machine that can be configured
to include de-coiling, straightening,
end-forming, bending, cutting off and
unloading. The machine at Worcester
is fully configured in this way, delivering
finished components from coiled copper
tube up to 22mm in diameter.
The bending capability of the 4-Runner
allows left- and right-hand bends
to be formed, as well as fixed and
variable radii bends in single and 3D
planes. The machine is also capable
of completing compression and draw
bending techniques. For end-forming,
the BLM 4-Runner features a multi-
station end-forming unit with either four
or six ram-type forming stations or four
ram stations and one rotary station. A
variety of cutting devices can also be
specified; depending on the material
being processed, these include internal
or external orbital swarfless cutters, or
conventional saw blades.
A key benefit of the BLM 4-Runner’s
all-electric system is its consistency
of bend. With servo-driven positioning
every bend is the same. “The variations
that we find on our hydraulic benders
have been totally eliminated since the
switch to the 4-Runner,” said Rob
Crane, production engineer.
Commenting on the environmental
gains of switching from hydraulic to all-
electric, production leader Adam Timms
said, “The total lack of hydraulic oil
makes it much easier to maintain the
quality of the working environment. The
cleaner working environment also makes
it much easier to maintain our Five S,
total productive maintenance (TPM) and
planned maintenance initiatives (PMI).”
BLM Group UK Ltd – UK