Supplying manifolds and exhausts systems for Mitsubishi Motors translates to a lot of hard work and rigorous requirements. Not surprisingly, Taiwan’s largest supplier for such parts (Shye Shyang) faced between choosing bending 1D Radius or keeping its wall thinning under 15% of the original wall thickness. Anything else would require either a larger bending radius or thinner walls, both options that were not acceptable by the Japanese manufacturer. So they called SOCO to discuss their options.
The requirements were anything but simple: short clamping distances, short lengths, wall thinning concerns, with different radiuses on the same tube, all of which were close to 1D bending. On the other hand, the solution was clearer: SOCO offered the booster bender, a CNC 12 axis, tube bending machine with Material Booster (Center Line Radius Booster).
Its design met the demands: capacity for up 76 m/m X 2.1 m/m mild steel tubing, with radius at 1 times the tube diameter (1D); 3 stacks of tooling and last bend boosting capability, with ability to bend tubes with short lengths; short clamping distances were met with 3D (compound) tooling; on top of it all, it prevented excessive wall thinning with its material boosting design, keeping the wall thinning ratio under 15% of the original wall while still performing 1D bending, and under 12% for radiuses of 1.5 D.
Addressing other needs, SOCO engineers understood that precision, stability and production time were vital factors in a production environment, which meant that bending accuracy was a must with minimal tooling setup. With electric servo controlled feeding, rotating and transversal movement, combined with hydraulic proportional servo valves for the bending, pressure die assistant and material boosting axes, this machine ensured bending repeatability at 0.1 degrees. A powerful cooling system controlled the hydraulic system’s temperature and flow, resulting in stability and low maintenance needs.
Typically, wall thinning and tight radius bending are required in the production of various automotive parts and boiler tubing, and SOCO’s booster has been developed to address such needs. After inspection of the first machine, the same customer had two more of the same tube bender in the works.