Electric tube benders have shear blade cut-off

Incorporating shear blade cut-off technology into all-electric tube bending machines provides a cleaner, quicker system and results in considerably less end-length wastage.

Acknowledged world leaders in the design and production of tube forming machinery for the car and truck exhaust pipe manufacturing industry, Lancashire, UK-based Addison-McKee has incorporated shear blade cut-off technology into its industryleading Electra 75 all-electric tube bending machines.

Since the early 1970s, Addison-McKee has set the standards in CNC pipe-bending technology, through a formidable range of innovative tube-forming solutions that have revolutionised the industry.

Today, the company's all-electrical range of technologically advanced, highly efficient 'green' models command phenomenal success worldwide, providing manufacturing engineers and automotive component designers with the ability to bend highly complex tube designs at considerably lower cost than associated with conventional equipment.

While machine developments continue to provide increasingly flexible bending solutions, in Europe, at least, the final separation of bent components and the removal of excess material has continued to rely on the use of up-stroking cold saws - a process necessitating the use of liquid coolants and the de-burring of the sawn tube.

* Blade shearing cut off: the clean, efficient answer - with blade shearing of bent tubes providing a cleaner, quicker solution and resulting in considerably less end-length wastage, in 1998 - and in partnership with its USA-based sister - Addison-McKee took the unprecedented step of incorporating a shear cut-off system into a standard stack bender.

Tube-shear machines have long proved a popular choice in the United States and the success of this initial combination prompted Addison-McKee to take the next logical step: that of incorporating tube-shear technology into its market-leading Electra 75 tube-bending models.

* Electra 75: the complete solution to difficult applications - introduced in 1999 in response to industry demands for cleaner, greener tube bending technology and continually developed to exceed the requirements of new, wider-ranging applications - the Electra 75 Series has become the most popular pipe-bending model in the entire Addison-McKee range, with over 90 machines sold worldwide to-date.

With a state-of-the art Windows NT-based control system, touch-screen programming, 9-axis functionality, 380mm stack height, multi-radius system and boost control applying 6.5 tonf (65kN), the Electra 75 is the industry-acknowledged benchmark for difficult and tight radius bending applications.

To activate the shear blade system, and provide sufficient impact to cleanly slice through the bent tube, a compact hydraulic power source is fitted to the Electra 75 machine.

After cutting, the only evidence of the direct shear process is a small dimple on the tube surface which, if required, can easily be eliminated by a simple sizing procedure.

Any slight 'ovality' generated during the bending or shearing process can also be corrected at the sizing machine stage.

* Shear pipe bending solution - by providing greater control of the tube bending process, the Addison-McKee Electra 75 is able to reduce material wastage and improve the end user's production efficiencies.

With the addition of blade shearing cut-off technology, operating efficiency is increased and pipe wastage in the cutting process is minimised.

Already, several Addison-McKee Electra 75 models with shear blade cut-off technology have been supplied to the American market.

The first 'bend and cut' model destined for the European market is scheduled for delivery to a major European exhaust OEM during May, 2006.

Built into the machine tooling is a simple flexible tube which controls the discharge of the 3mm wide slug sheared from between the components.

Components then fall into a collecting basket, as the machine automatically runs the number of components that can be made from one length of tube.

* World-class design - Addison-McKee's skilled workforce is capable of manufacturing CNC tube bending and tooling to suit virtually any application.

The Lancashire site is equipped with a large variety of modern CNC machine tools, supported by Computer Aided Manufacturing and up to 30 design engineers working within integrated management TQM procedures.

At its UK plant, the company produces a range of over 50 basic hydraulic and electric CNC machines that can bend from 4mm pipes used in the automotive and aerospace industries to 273mm tubes used in shipbuilding.

About 150 end-forming machines a year are manufactured at its plant in the USA.

Addison-McKee machines are supported by a fast response round-the-clock spare parts and on-site assistance service manned by a team of skilled service engineers.

With over 3,000 machines installed worldwide, the company enjoys a global reputation for meeting and servicing its customers' needs.

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