Get to know Swivel Bending in the Metal Manufacturing Industry

Conventional panel bending does have its drawbacks, especially in terms of very cosmetic work. Bending blades tend to move in a way where the ends of the blades are not in one place during the bending cycle. Swivel bending is analogous to folding on a stand-alone machine. In this process, the bending beam rotates in such a way that the tool remains in contact with a location on the outer surface of the workpiece.

If the application requires this, most modern automatic swivel bending systems have been designed so that the swivel bending beam can bend up and down. That is, they can rotate upwards to form the positive flange, reposition themselves to rotate around the new axis, and then bend the negative flange, or vice versa. In contrast to traditional manipulators, this panel bending unit uses a special conveyor to manipulate the workpiece.

Some swivel bending operations are called dual swivel bending which use two blocks to create a special shape, such as the Z shape, which involves alternating positive and negative bending. A single beam system can bend this shape, but to access all curved lines, the sheet must be turned. The double beam bending swivel system can access all bending lines in the Z bend without turning the sheet.

Swivel bending does have its limitations. If automatic applications require very complex geometries, CNC bending with infinitely varying bending movements of the blades is a better choice. The swivel bending challenge also arises when the last corner is negative. While bending blades on CNC bending can move back and forth, swivel bending blocks cannot move this way.

Conclusion

Currently, there are many types of methods that can be used in the bending process in the metal industry, one of which is swivel bending. Swivel bending has several advantages, although it also has some limitations. If you want to use a bending process for your metal products, we Duta Laserindo Metal offer various types of bending processes to suit your needs with high efficiency and economical prices.