Precision Tube Bending Performance Reaches New Users And Applications

The tube bending machine innovator Unison will demonstrate the right-first-time capability of all-electric machines at Fabtech - and show a novel new machine architecture designed to dramatically lower the costs of CNC precision tube bending.

Right-first-time, scrap-free production demonstrations will be given on a machine capable of bending tube diameters up to four inches. In addition to the benefits of the all-electric architecture - with its software-controlled set-up and servomotor-powered bending precision - the demonstration machine is equipped with Unison's laser-based springback correction system. This unique system accurately measures bend angles as they are produced, and automatically applies any necessary correction to compensate for the tendency of tubes to spring back slightly after being bent.

A key message from Unison at the show this year is the fact that all-electric tube bending machines are now available for much larger sizes - including tube and pipe diameters up to 10 inches. "Unison pioneered all-electric tube bending machines back in the 1990s, and we are now able to make economic servo-powered bending machines for pipe diameters all the way up to 10 inches," says Stuart Singleton, Vice President of Sales at Unison. "This is opening up major new efficiencies for users in areas including shipbuilding and processing plants - allowing them to replace older hydraulically-powered benders with state of the art software-controlled machines."

Another major attraction is Unison's unique, manually powered tube bender - EvBend. This machine greatly reduces the entry costs to precision rotary draw tube bending. It uses manual operations to feed and rotate tubing and apply bending force, but employs smart CNC-controlled braking on the carriage feed, rotation and bend arm axes to ensure part shapes are formed with the highest accuracy. The EvBend 1000 is believed to be the simplest high precision CNC tube bending solution available today for small-diameter tubing up to 22 mm, and is currently in use with well over 100 companies from general fabricators to aerospace and motorsports manufacturers. Unison has also recently introduced a larger version. This machine extends the manual operational principle by providing some servo-based power assistance to allow bending of tube diameters up to 2 inches.

"The EvBend concept is ideal for companies producing high-precision tubular parts in low volume production environments," adds Stuart Singleton. "Among the key markets for this bending machine are small-batch production needs, as well as prototyping, repair or reverse-engineering requirements." For more information, visit www.unisonltd.com.