Corner Fabrication

Key Benefits

• Fast cost efficient folding of corners.
• Excellent repeatability ensuring maximum accuracy for your corners.
• 0.1mm accuracy.
• High quality European tooling used to ensure quality and accuracy for your folded parts.

At Actco Pickering Metal Industries (APMI) we use corner formers which provide the ultimate in flexible automation and advanced production techniques. Servo-controlled with state-of-the-art hydraulics and electronics, the PPEB press brake is built on a rigid frame design to ensure precision and maximum accuracy and throughput for your folded parts.

Most enclosures made by the company include doors constructed similarly to a shoebox lid. When analyzing where the next investment would be made, APMI noted the labor-intensive fabrication of these doors.

The old way:

The metal for the lid is sheared, the corners are notched, and the four sides are bent. The next two steps, manually welding and sanding the seams, were time-consuming. Welding and grinding are an art; there are inconsistencies in these steps. Corners were labor-intensive and results acceptable but inconsistent.

The new way:

In the new process, operators form a part using standard press brake procedures, except for the bottom V die. They machine a relief on the bottom V die for the left side and the right side of the part. This relief produces a flare at the corner, instead of a 90-degree angle. They then take the part to the corner former and place it on top of a base block that has the same radius as the press brake and the expected corner.

In its turn, the corner former pulls extra material below the edge of the panel side. This material, which the machine shears off immediately after forming, is the difference between the maximum bend-up height and the minimum bend-up height. The machine then repeats this process for the remaining three corners.

The corner former has substantially reduced labor costs associated with fabricating doors. The same operator does the bending and the corner forming in about one minute per part. Now we can shift employees to ease welding and grinding bottlenecks in other areas of the company." In addition, corner forming eliminates the need for stacking to weld and restacking to grind. The part does not need to be transported to the welding department and then again to the grinding department. Operators move the part once to the corner former.

The sheets for doors and tops of metal junction boxes can be very large. Material handling is a big issue. Increasing throughput and controlling labor costs have resulted from moving parts as little as possible. Using a corner former has also reduced material costs since there are no abrasives or welding supplies needed.

While the corner former increases production, it is also safer than the traditional welding and grinding processes. A safety door on the forming mechanism protects operators using the machine. A foot pedal controls the machine (see Figure 1), which will not work unless the door is shut completely. In addition, corner forming eliminates welding fumes, grinding dust, and the noise from grinding.

Figure 1: A safety door on the forming mechanism protects operators using the machine. A foot pedal controls the machine, which will not work unless the door is shut completely.

Forming Options

Austin's former can produce corners with radii of up to 4 in. The thickness of the materials can range from 8 to 22 ga. Bend-up heights depend on material thickness and bend radii (see Figure 2). The machine can handle corners with multiple bend heights, reverse or return flanges, and bull noses.

Figure 2: APMI's former can produce corners with radii of up to 4 in. The thickness of the materials can range from 8 to 22 ga. Bend-up height depends on material thickness and bend radius.

The corner former has no limitations on the size of the panels it can accept, because only the corner is placed into the machine.

Using a corner former has given APMI flexibility in operating our production line. With one set of tooling, our operators can form four different thicknesses of material in all alloys and in all bend-up heights. Changing tooling to accommodate different radii takes five minutes. This technology has streamlined our door fabricating process.