The ROSENBERGER AG, important German company that manufactures machine for tube processing from the beginning servo electric driven, has developed and supplied to many companies, in particular in the field Automotive, the Twister, a CNC bending machine completely automatic with high flexibility.
This machine is based on a robot and one or more standards RB Rosenberger bending heads. In the Twister the robot has the functions of handling ,of feeding and rotating the tube during the bending on the bending head. The functionalities of the robot can be also used to feed the tube to servo electric driven RU Rosenberger endforming machines or also for other operations. The Twister will be programmed like one standard Rosenberger CNC bending machine from the only control panel, with direct input of coordinates x, y, z.

Bending of hose-fitting assemblies

With the Twister it is possible to bend in a single cycle combinations already assembled of rigid tubes with flexible hoses. The assembling of the flexible hoses and the straight rigid tubes is in fact much easier and economic to realize also as far as the eventual orientation of the single items. In comparison with the traditional process, that involves the separate bending of the rigid tubes, and later their assembling with the flexible hoses, the all in costs of realization of the pipeline drastically reduce thanks to the reduction of machines, operations, space and the intermediate stocking, with a system that is quickly to be programmed and tooled for a various pipeline.

Advantages in the process of bending in comparison to traditional bending machines

The Twister has the possibility to bend the tubes from both the extremities towards the center. That represents a remarkable advantage when long pipeline have to be bent having in the last part large bending angles or rotations, because it will be limited the portion of tube subject to oscillations. Moreover the tubes can already be assembled with valves, fittings etc. without that this prevents to the robot of the Twister to handle and to bend the tube.
The sequence of the bents is not binding. During the processes of bending, often happens that a bent cannot be carried out due to a collision problem and it is therefore necessary to execute it in a later manual operation. The Twister can integrate this operation in the bending cycle, locking the tube bent in front of the bending head, positioned in relation of the bent to be made.

This possibility is also interesting when the last section is very short and with the guide dowels is not possible to go enough close to the bending rolls. Thanks to the possibility to lock the tube in front of the bending head, are possible last extremely short sections also.

The total freedom of movement of the robot guarantees the widest flexibility that allows bending cycles still today unknown. The guided programming software, simple and fast, is the same one of standard electrically driven Rosenberger RB20, RB30 CNC bending machines.
The Twister can be equipped with a maximum of 5 bending heads, also of different sizes and bending directions. The concept of the Twister and the name TWISTER are patent to world-wide. Rosenberger produces bending machines, endforming machines, rolling machines and cutting machines electrically driven and has supplied the Twister and the others machines for the tube processing to the more important operating groups in the industrial fields, like automotive, aircraft, heating, industrial vehicles etc.
The Co. Rosenberger is represented in Italy from Euracciai of Milan (www euracciai.it).

By M. Rossi