What is Sheet Metal Automatic Production Line

Sheet metal automatic production line consists of a series of workstations, which are connected by a transportation system and an electrical control system. Each station performs a specific operation, and products are processed step-by-step along the production line in a pre-defined production sequence.

The use of automatic production lines liberates people from the drudgery of repetitive tasks – replacing human labor in tasks done in hazardous environments and performing tasks that exceed human size, weight, speed, and endurance. Products produced by automatic lines should have a sufficiently large output; product design and technology should be advanced, stable, reliable, and remain basically unchanged for a long time. The use of automatic lines in mass production can improve labor productivity, stabilize and improve product quality, improve labor conditions, reduce production area, reduce production costs, shorten production cycles, ensure production balance, and have significant economic benefits.

The characteristic of the automatic sheet metal production line is that the processing object is automatically transferred from one machine tool to another machine tool, and the machine tool automatically performs processing, loading, unloading, inspection, etc.; the worker’s task is only to adjust, supervise and manage the automatic line, and do not participate in direct in operation. All machinery and equipment operate at a uniform rhythm, and the production process is highly continuous.

A fully automated production line does not require personnel directly involved in the operation, and all or part of the production process is completed by mechanical equipment and automated systems. Thus, in an automated environment, human tasks are more likely to turn into system design, tuning, oversight, and monitoring of the operation of the system, rather than directly controlling it.

There are three types of automation in production: hard automation (also known as “fixed automation”), programmable automation, and soft automation (flexible automation). The type of automation to be used depends on the product type and quantity.

An automated production line is a process by which raw materials enter and finished products leave, with little human intervention, according to programmed commands. Fast, stable, and accurate production processes help reduce production time and the cost of manufacturing products. The use of automated production lines greatly reduces production costs and labor costs, minimizes human errors, and ensures output consistency and quality.

Main Advantages of Sheet Metal Automatic Line

1. Highly automated procedures, without manual operation;
2. High work efficiency and improve enterprise production efficiency;
3. The production process of the whole process is stable and the consistency of products is improved;
4. It is suitable for mass production and reduces the production cost of enterprises.

Well-planned automation investments can also bring good financial benefits and reduce labor costs. The sheet metal automatic production line is tailored according to the actual needs of the site to ensure the highest flexibility and flexibility. So that customers can get the most suitable solution.

What Should Pay Attention When Choosing Sheet Metal Bending Production Line?

The intelligence of sheet metal smart factories not only requires the support of emerging technologies such as digitization and big data, but the real core of unmanned production in factories also depends on interconnected intelligent equipment.

Whether it is the uncoiling and blanking machine tools of the front set or the welding and spraying equipment of the back set, the domestic market has already blossomed, and there are many mature solutions to choose from.

The central core sheet metal forming equipment is still dominated by CNC bending machines, coupled with robots, although manual input and labor intensity can be reduced to a certain extent, the teaching of new workpieces, the flexible and efficient transformation of bending molds, etc. Manual intervention is still required, and there is no more mature and reliable solution. Especially for multi-variety, customized, and high-precision production requirements, the completion of smart factories is still not so satisfactory. The four-side folding unit came into being. Through its high-tech technologies such as one-side bending, automatic mold changing, turning and changing sides, and partitioning materials, it successfully broke the barriers and helped the sheet metal intelligent factory to be interconnected, flexible, green, and full-line. Unmanned efficient and safe production.

Bending robots and automation are options for many companies to invest in to improve production quality, improve the working environment, and make up for worker shortages. Many people think that buying robots is mainly to replace workers, but in fact, we rarely see cases where the purchase of robots leads to layoffs. The prejudice we get from the media about robots is that the main job of robots is to replace human workers. In reality, this is not the case for most companies. It is more about changing the workers from the first line to the second line, becoming the function of supervising the work of the robot and dealing with the failure of the machine at the same time.

Main Factors Affecting Bending Quality

• Press brake tooling

The bending die is the main tool used for bending, and the shape and size of the workpiece usually depend on the precision of the die. The higher the accuracy of the mold, the more accurate the assembly, and the higher the accuracy of the bending parts. In addition, the structure and accuracy of the mold positioning have a great influence on the accuracy of the workpiece size.

• Sheet properties

The influence of the performance of the bent sheet on the quality of the bending part is mainly manifested in two aspects

1. In actual production, we found that even with different batches and different manufacturers of materials, there will be performance fluctuations, and the stress and spring-back will be different, which directly leads to the instability of the accuracy of the bending parts.
2. The fluctuation of the thickness of the material within the upper and lower tolerance range also affects the accuracy. Even if the same bending die is used for bending, the size and shape of the obtained workpiece are also different. If the thickness is large, the bending resistance will be large and the spring-back will be small; if the thickness is small, the spring-back will be large, which will affect the accuracy of the workpiece, and is prone to warping and torsion.

• Process

When the number of bending processes increases, the cumulative error of each process will increase. In addition, the different arrangement sequences before and after the process will also have a great impact on the accuracy. Usually follow the order of the short side first, then the long side, the periphery first, the middle, and the part first, then the whole. The interference between the mold and the workpiece should be considered, and the bending sequence should be arranged reasonably. The bending sequence is not static, and the processing sequence should be adjusted appropriately according to the shape of the bending or obstacles on the workpiece.

• The influence of workpiece shape and size on accuracy

The deviation of spring-back of bending parts with asymmetrical shapes and large external dimensions will increase significantly.

The main factors that affect the rebound

• Mechanical properties of materials

The mechanical properties of the material refer to the shear strength, tensile strength, and yield point elongation of the material. Due to the different types and grades of materials, their mechanical properties are also different and fluctuate with different batches.

• Material surface quality

The thickness and surface quality of the plate has a great influence on the spring-back. If the surface of the material is uneven, uneven, or has foreign objects, stress concentration will occur during bending, which will have a greater impact on the rebound.

• Relative bending radius R/T

R: Bending upper cutter radius T: Material thickness

The greater the relative bending radius R/T value, the greater the spring-back value. Because when the R/T value is large, the degree of deformation is small, there will be a large elastic zone in the central part of the bending section, and the accompanying spring-back value will be large. Therefore, a relatively small relative bending radius is generally selected. However, if the bending radius is too small, it is easy to break the bend, which must be considered in a balanced manner.

• Bend angle

The larger the bending angle, the larger the deformation area and the larger the spring-back value. However, the bend angle has nothing to do with the spring-back value of the bend radius.

• Influence of equipment accuracy and bending speed

For example, in the process of bending U-shaped parts, the bending size will change due to the tonnage and working speed of the bending machine.