TPT May 2007

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Tube B ending, Hydroforming & End-Fo rming
140 May/June 2007
The 15 machines supplied to Team
Precision Pipework by BLM Group UK Ltd
are designed for bending and end-forming
straight length tubing and coil material.
Working from coil, for example, a BLM
Planet T3 planetary five-axis CNC tube
bending machine – installed recently as
part of a four-machine order – straightens,
end-forms, deburrs, bends and cuts-off
tube components in a single cycle.
Controlled by a Siemens
810Di control, the Planet
T3 is ideally suited
to producing the
complex shapes
typical of small diameter automotive air
conditioning, fuel or hydraulic pipes.
Components are bent using either
conventional draw bending or compression
bending, depending on the complexity of
the form.
Based in Wales, UK, Team Precision
Pipework manufactures bespoke
manipulated tubing products
according to virtually any
specification in copper,
aluminium, steel or
stainless steel in sizes
ranging from 6-65mm
diameter.
The company’s recently
extended 45,000ft2 factory
is dedicated solely to tube
manipulation. This expertise
means that Team’s US
parent company can now
deliver cost-effective tubing solutions for
a wide variety of applications, in addition
to the manufacture of valves, gauges,
backflow protection devices and other
related products.
Along with the Planet T3, Team’s latest
order includes a BLM AST Tubeform ELE
‘all-electric’ CNC end forming machine with
five ramforming and two rotary forming
stations. Other machines in the order were a
BLM coil-fed swarfless cutting machine with
inline end forming unit, and a BLM Dynamo
MR200E five-axis CNC tube bending
machine with integral load/unload facility.
This facility eliminates wasteful non-
production time, an important consideration
for a business serving customers on a just-
in-time basis. The machine’s loader and
bender accepts pre-end formed tube lengths,
resulting in components that are complete
and ready for assembly or packing.
BLM’s innovative VPG 3D programming
software provides ‘real time’ bend
simulation, automatically selecting the
shortest and most efficient bending
cycle. The VPG software also carries
out a feasibility check that highlights any
possibility of collision
BLM Group UK Ltd – UK
Fax: +44 1525 402 312
Email:
Website :
BLM SpA – Italy
Fax: +39 031 715911
Email:
Website :
Tube bending machines for larger dimensions
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH, Germany, has extended its product range for large tube
bending machines from 170mm up to 220mm and 273mm. The company’s machines
are used in applications and industries including shipyards, plant construction, chemical
industries, profile manufacturers and exhausts.
One example of the
company’s work is a
tube bending machine
constructed for a Spanish
ship subcontractor. This
machine can bend tubes
up to 220mm x 12mm
with a smallest radius of
1xD.
The machine is modified
with a special boosting
system in the pressure
die area, which can boost
tubes with a power of
150kN. Pressure, direction
and speed are adjustable via hydraulic servo-axis.
The machine can bend radii up to 1,250mm, and the weight of the machine body
(without tools) is 52,000kg. The machine is operated via touchscreen panel, while
tube administration is carried out using isometric software and collision testing,
providing exact bending data and high repeatability. A complete tool change can be
completed in 20 minutes.
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH – Germany
Fax: +49 2972 971 511
Email:
Website:
Teamwork the name of the game for
tube manipulation specialist
› The working area of the BLM Dynamo MR200E
five-axis CNC tube bending machine, recently
installed in Team Precision Pipework’s South
Wales factory
› Completed components are delivered by Team
Precision Pipework, fully inspected, direct to
the customer’s assembly line
› The tube bending machine constructed by transfluid Maschinenbau
for a Spanish ship subcontractor