Patent Publication Number: US-2005138983-A1

Title: Apparatus for bending individual and grouped pipes

Description:
The invention relates to an apparatus for bending individual and grouped pipes.  
      Many different apparatuses for bending pipes have been disclosed, but all of them have the disadvantage that the production of numerous bends in a lengthy pipe causes a considerable amount of work and is therefore very time-consuming.  
      The purpose of the invention is to propose an apparatus for bending pipes that saves time compared with conventional machines, particularly when producing numerous bends in lengthy pipes.  
      In the solution to this problem proposed by the invention, several bending stations in succession and at least one transfer unit are provided.  
      As a result of this, the pipes that are to be bent can be provided with different bends in the first bending station and can then be transferred to the next bending station for further bending operations. While the next bending station is processing a first pipe, the previous bending station can already be processing a further pipe.  
      It has proved to be very advantageous in this context if the bending stations are preceded by an infeed unit.  
      It is also very advantageous in this context if the infeed unit is designed in such a way that different pipes can be fed in on a cycled basis.  
      Operation of the apparatus can be automated with the help of the infeed unit.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous in accordance with a further development of the invention if every bending station has one or more bending units, which are capable of providing the pipes with bends preferably from the outside to the inside.  
      Bends on pipes are not in general distributed uniformly along the length of the pipes. The requirements for bending long pipes in particular can be satisfied particularly well by a flexible arrangement of bending units per bending station.  
      It has proved to be very advantageous in this context if in the case of multiple bending units the bending units are able to provide the pipes with bends alternately.  
      Undesirable oscillations are avoided to a very large extent as a result.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous if the bending unit is designed so that it can move at least in the longitudinal direction of the pipe.  
      This means that every position of the pipe can be reached with the bending unit.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, the bending unit and/or its bending fingers are designed to rotate and/or pivot, preferably around the pipe axis.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous if the bending unit is designed to permit free, three-dimensional movement.  
      It is also very advantageous in this context if the bending unit is provided on a robot arm or similar device.  
      Bends in every three-dimensional direction can be made as a result. Deviations of the pipe from a zero position—for example due to previous bending operations—can be compensated for too.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, the transfer unit is provided between the bending stations.  
      This means that the pipes can be transferred automatically from one bending station to the next.  
      It is also very advantageous if the transfer unit is designed to permit movement in the longitudinal direction of the pipe in particular.  
      Then the transfer unit can, for example, always be moved to the pipe position where the centre of gravity of the pipe is.  
      It has also proved to be extremely advantageous if a transfer beam is provided as the transfer unit.  
      It is very advantageous in this context if the transfer beam is located above or below.  
      The pipes can be passed on from one bending station to the next in a simple way with a transfer beam.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, the transfer unit has at least one swivelling gripper to take hold of and/or turn the pipes.  
      This makes it possible to transfer the pipes that are to be processed from one bending station to the next while turning them at the same time when necessary.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous if at least one and preferably two support units, which support and stabilise the pipes preferably close to the ends of the pipes and/or the pieces of the pipes that have not been bent yet, are provided in addition to the transfer unit.  
      This means that the bending operation can be accelerated considerably, because undesirable oscillations and movements of the pipes are suppressed to a large extent.  
      In another very advantageous further development, the transfer unit has a transfer arm, which can be supported in such a way that the pipe which is to be bent is transferred in a preferably horizontal plane.  
      Unnecessary vertical movements, which can lead to oscillations of the pipes too and would thus delay the processing operations, are avoided in this way.  
      It has proved to be very advantageous in this context if one end of the transfer arm is designed to move along a preferably vertical axis.  
      It is also very advantageous if the transfer arm is supported in such a way that it can project in relation to its bearing when it is adjusted.  
      This guarantees a horizontal movement of the end of the transfer arm that takes hold of the pipe.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, a control system is provided which allows alternate bending of many different pipes.  
      It is particularly necessary to bend individual pipes when many different pipes are being combined in the production of grouped pipes. In the past, this has been done mainly by producing the various pipes on different bending machines and only combining them afterwards.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, pipes combined in groups are fed into the bending stations and are bent there.  
      It is extremely advantageous in this context if the bending of the grouped pipes is carried out pipe by pipe.  
      Pipes combined in advance to form groups can be bent in this way.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous if a station to check for leaks in the individual pipes is provided after the bending stations.  
      The flawless quality of the bent pipes can be guaranteed in this way.  
      It has also proved to be very advantageous if a removal robot is provided which is able to remove and/or collect the pipes.  
      It is also advantageous in this context if several synchronous removal robots are provided.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, a station with a unit for combining, grouping and/or fixing several pipes bent after each other is provided.  
      A further operation is automated as a result.  
      It is also very advantageous if the bending stations are followed by a plastic injection unit.  
      Pipes can be combined to form groups of pipes in a very simple way with a plastic injection unit.  
      It has also proved to be extremely advantageous if the bending stations are followed by a unit for applying flanges, screw connections and/or hoses.  
      The flanges, screw connections and/or hoses needed to connect the pipes can be applied with no further effort as a result.  
      In another very advantageous further development of the invention, installation and testing assemblies provided after the bending stations are located on robot arms.  
      The installation and testing assemblies can be used particularly flexibly as a result. 
    
    
      One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the drawings.  
       FIG. 1  is a side view of an apparatus in accordance with the invention,  
       FIG. 2  is a top view of the same apparatus and  
       FIG. 3  is a view of a transfer unit of the apparatus. 
    
    
       1  in  FIG. 1  is an apparatus for bending individual and grouped pipes, with an infeed unit  2  and several bending stations  3 . Pipes  4  are loaded in the infeed unit  2  and are then fed into the first bending station  3 ′ by a transfer unit  5 . This first bending station  3 ′ has two bending units  6  and  7  that carry out several bending operations on the pipe  4 . Each of the bending operations can be carried out from the ends of the pipes.  
      After a specified number of bending operations has been carried out on the pipe  4 , another transfer unit  8  passes the pipe  4  on to the next bending station  3 ″. A number of bending operations is carried out on the first pipe  4  there too by the bending units  9  and  10 . It is, however, also conceivable in this context that only one single bending unit  9  is provided instead of two bending units  9  and  10 , as is indicated in one of the following bending stations  3 .  
      The number of bending stations  3  can vary according to requirements. Six bending stations  3  are provided in the example illustrated here.  
      While the first pipe  4  is being passed on to the second bending station  3 ″, another pipe  4  is being fed into the first bending station  3 ′.  
      The bending stations  3  are followed by a station  11  for applying flanges, screw connections and/or hoses  15  to the pipes  4 .  
      Another station  12  is provided after this, which is designed to check the complete pipes  4  and hoses  15  for leaks.  
      It is also conceivable that a plastic injection unit—which is not shown in any detail here—is provided too, which can be located in the area of the leak test facilities  12  and with which several pipes  4  bent after each other can be combined to form a group of pipes  16 .  
      The finished individual pipes  4  and/or grouped pipes  16  can be discharged via a delivery unit  13 .  
      The entire apparatus  1  is controlled by a central control system  14 .  
      It is also conceivable that different pipes  4 , possibly of different thicknesses and/or lengths, are processed successively or alternately by the bending stations  3 . To make this possible, the bending operations that are carried out successively in the bending stations  3  are adapted to the pipe  4  that is being produced in each individual case by the control system  14 .  
      It is also conceivable in this context that each of the pipes  4  is brought to the first bending station  3  by a separate infeed unit  2  according to their length and/or thickness.  
      As is shown in  FIG. 3 , the transfer unit  5  is provided with a transfer arm  31 , which is fitted at least approximately vertically in a support  32  so that it can travel. A support bearing  33  engages a groove  34  in the support  32 . The support bearing  33  is fitted in the groove  34  in such a way that the transfer arm  31  is vertical when the support bearing  33  is in its lowest position. If the support bearing  33  is moved upwards in the groove, the transfer arm  31  projects outwards in accordance with the vertical position of the support bearing  33  in relation to the support  32 . The vertical position of the opposite end of the transfer arm  31  to the support bearing  33  is maintained at least approximately in this context.  
      The two movements of the transfer arm  31 , the vertical movement of the support bearing  33  and the horizontal movement of the opposite end of the transfer arm  31  to the support bearing  33 , which necessitates a rotary movement of the support bearing in relation to the support  32 , can—for example—be correlated by a separate drive that is not shown in the drawings or by a simple gear configuration.  
      A gripping unit  35  can be provided at the opposite end of the transfer arm  31  to the support bearing  33 .  
      This gripper unit  35  can be used to take hold of a pipe  4 , move it to and fro between the two—vertical and projecting—positions of the transfer arm  31  and transfer it to a processing operation there in each case.