TPT May 2007

T ube B ending, H ydroforming & E nd- Fo rming

Teamwork the name of the game for tube manipulation specialist

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.

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 45,000ft 2 factory is dedicated solely to tube manipulation. This expertise means that Team’s US parent company can now

Controlled by a Siemens 810Di control, the Planet T3 is ideally suited to producing the complex shapes

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 › 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

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 tube bending machine constructed by transfluid Maschinenbau for a Spanish ship subcontractor

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.

Email : sales@blmgroup.uk.com Website : www.blmgroup.uk.com BLM SpA – Italy Fax : +39 031 715911 Email : export@blm.it Website : www.blmgroup.com

transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH – Germany Fax : +49 2972 971 511 Email : info@transfluid.de Website : www.transfluid.de

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M ay /J une 2007