Claims:Claims:
We claim:
1) A hydraulic three roll plate bending machine for parting the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll by converting the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder comprising of;
a. a top roller(01) a bottom roller (02) and
b. at least one bending roller(Side roller) (03);
c. an electronic controller, the electronic controller including a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials;
d. an actuator associated with the at least one bending roller, the actuator operating in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller;
e. an induction motor (11) coupled with one of the top or bottom roller, the motor operating in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller; a position sensor disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine,
f. the position sensor configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller;
g. drop end(04);
h. drive frame(05);
i. drop frame(06);
j. top roll drive cam (07);
k. top roll drive cylinder (08);
l. bottom roll drive cam (09);
m. bottom roll drive cylinder (10);
n. Oil reservoir (12).
wherein the electronic controller is programmed and configured to: load a plate between the top roller and the bottom roller; receive a user input indicative of a desired plate radius from a machine user; calculate a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database; provide a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius; provide a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller; determine an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate; and calculate an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius.

2. The hydraulic roll bending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic controller is further programmed and configured to calculate an updated bending signal based on the adjustment to the material database and the desired plate radius and configured to cause the at least one bending roller to assume a new position based on the updated bending signal.
3. The hydraulic roll bending machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic controller is further programmed and configured to provide the feed signal to advance a remaining portion of the plate through the top and bottom rollers and against the at least one side roller at its new position.

4. A method for operating a hydraulic roll bending machine having a top roller, a bottom roller and at least one side roller, the method comprising: using an electronic controller associated with the hydraulic roll bending machine, the electronic controller including a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials; providing an actuator associated with the at least one bending roller, the actuator operating in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller; providing a motor coupled with one of the top or bottom roller, the motor operating in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller; providing a position sensor disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine, the position sensor configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller; loading a plate between the top roller and the bottom roller; receiving a user input indicative of a desired plate radius from a machine user into the electronic controller; calculating a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database using the electronic controller; providing a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius using the electronic controller; providing a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller using the electronic controller; determining an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate, and providing the actual pre-bend radius to the electronic controller; and calculating an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius using the electronic controller.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising calculating an updated bending signal based on the adjustment to the material database and the desired plate radius using the electronic controller.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising using a second bending roller to position and pre-bend the plate.

Date:27/07/2021 For, Sanjay Mehta & Nikunj Sanjay Mehta
Agent of the applicant
Pallavi Unmesh Deshmukh

, Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 OF 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
(SEE SEC 10 AND RULE 13)
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

“A three roll plate roll bending machine with hydraulic cylinders with CAM mechanism for rotation”

Sanjay Mehta and Nikunj Sanjay Mehta, Indian applicants having place of business at J - 374, MIDC, Bhosari, Pune 411026. Maharashtra, India

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present disclosure generally relates to plate roll bending machines and, more particularly, to three plate roll bending machines having hydraulic cylinders.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
The present disclosure relates roll bending machines having three or four rolls, which are well known in the metal fabricating industry for rolling metal plate into cylinders, obrounds and cone shapes. This type of machine uses hydraulic cylinders to change the relative position between the various rolls of the machine, and also hydraulic motors to rotate the rolls, such that plates can be formed in any desired shape.

The hydraulic systems of such machines commonly utilize a centrally located hydraulic manifold on which proportional valves, counterbalance valves, solenoid valves, flow control valves, oil pressure sensors and the like are mounted to operate hydraulic cylinders or motors that power and position gripping and bending rolls. In certain machines, the hydraulic manifolds are manufactured to National Fluid Power Association (NFPA) standard dimensions or International Standard Organization (ISO) standard dimensions and can be purchased from catalogs of various manufacturers. Similarly, the cylinders are manufactured to NFPA or ISO standard dimensions and can be purchased from catalogs form various manufacturers.

In a typical roll bending machine, pressurized hydraulic fluid is provided from a hydraulic pump into a manifold, which contains valves and other flow control devices that are fluidly connected, via tubes and hoses, to the various actuators of the machine. As is often the case, when an actuator is to be activated, a valve will open to port hydraulic fluid under pressure to the actuator; in other words, the pressurized fluid is conveyed to the actuator via piping that interconnects the manifold with the actuator. Depending on the location of the actuator on the machine, the piping may have to traverse a relatively short or relatively long distance before reaching the actuator.
In the past, machine designers have tried to place the manifold at a central location on the machine such that actuators that are required to be active simultaneously, for example, pairs of cylinders operating to adjust the position of a bending roll, are activated simultaneously and without delays. Nevertheless, it is not always practical to place the manifold in a location where all actuators on the machine are at equal distances. As a result, oil to one of the actuators often has to travel a longer or shorter distance than oil provided to the other actuator in a pair, based on the location of the actuators on the machine, which can cause imbalances during operation. Further, the oil is provided to the various actuators using different types of fluid conduits, for example, hard metal tubes or flexible rubber hoses, which introduces further imbalances to the system. Lastly, the temperature and resulting changes in compressibility of the hydraulic fluid, when the activating fluid has to travel relatively large distances before it acts on an actuator, introduces elasticity and vibration in the system.

The conventional rolling machine uses a pair of gear box and electrical and /or hydraulic motor to generated rotational torque to rolls and ultimately used to part linear movement to metal plate/sheet under process. This particular process of material movement under force is required to form a permanent deformation in the form of arc/radius. Also the same process is used for generating intermittent straight profile if application calls for.

Existing two lower roll centre-to-centre spacing has two kinds of forms, and a kind of is that lower roll does not have backing roll, and two lower rolls are adjusted the centre-to-centre spacing of two lower rolls respectively in the horizontal direction by two cover hydraulic pressure or mechanical actuation device, and control the parallel of two lower rolls. The advantage of this form is easy to adjust, and is stepless adjustment; Shortcoming is that the parallel accuracy of two rollers is relatively poor, and the error of two cover drive units may superpose in the same way, and two lower rolls cannot be fully synchronously in moving, and workpiece and roll surface have the possibility that slides over each other, and the horizontal component that every cover drive unit bears is bigger, cannot cancel each other.
Another kind is that two lower rolls carry out moving of horizontal direction by hydraulic pressure or mechanical horizontal drive apparatus, and two lower rolls and back-up chock move by bearing pin or Bolt Connection together, and bearing pin and thread connector are in the centre of two lower rolls. By artificial degree of tightness (extract or insert) connector, adjust the centre-to-centre spacing of two lower rolls and backing roll, the advantage of this form is that two lower rolls and back-up chock connect together mobile, the depth of parallelism remains unchanged, the horizontal component of two lower rolls and backing roll is born by connector can cancel each other part or all, and the horizontal component that horizontal drive apparatus bears is less. Shortcoming is that connector (bearing pin, bolt or screw mandrel) is in the middle of two lower rolls, oxide skin and dust are more, cause the corrosion of connector, and intermediate space is narrow, manually-operated inconvenience, the screw thread of bolt is long or bolt kind quantity is more, needs during adjustment connector is taken apart fully, connects after having adjusted again. The cushion block of centre-to-centre spacing lengthening usefulness gets rusty easily or loses. Backing roll is a strutbeam, and promptly each backing roll has two bearing blocks, lays respectively at the bearing place at backing roll two ends. The adjustment of lower roll centre-to-centre spacing has only 2 grades, and backing roll can have one or more groups, owing to adjust inconvenience, this mode is used not general.
So there is a need for a three roll plate roll bending machine having hydraulic cylinders which use cam mechanism for rotation of both the top and bottom roll which is required for forming the metal plate in circular shape. The present invention works on the principle as: parting the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll is achieved by converts the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder. The present invention uses low cost hydraulic linear actuators which reduces the machine cost more than 30%. The machine is more compact and occupies less area. The overall moving parts are quiet less and also the part replacement is immediate and can be maintained in stock and there is no specialized skill is needed for maintenance. The hydraulic oil requirement is reduced to almost 40 %
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
The main object of the present invention is to provide a cost effective solution with a three roll plate bending machine having hydraulic cylinders which use cam mechanism for rotation of both the top and bottom roll which is required for forming the metal plate in circular shape.

Another object of the present invention is to part the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll by converting the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder.

Yet another object of the present invention is to use low cost hydraulic linear actuators which reduces the machine cost more than 30% and to provide a more compact machine which occupies less area.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a three roll plate bending machine with less need for maintenance with less hydraulic oil requirement (40 %).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
Accordingly, a three roll plate roll bending machine having hydraulic cylinders which use cam mechanism for rotation of both the top and bottom roll which is required for forming the metal plate in circular shape is disclosed. A hydraulic three roll plate bending machine for parting the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll by converting the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder comprising of; a top roller(01) a bottom roller (02) and at least one bending roller(Side roller) (03); an electronic controller, the electronic controller including a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials; an actuator associated with the at least one bending roller, the actuator operating in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller; an induction motor (11) coupled with one of the top or bottom roller, the motor operating in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller; a position sensor disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine, the position sensor configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller; drop end(04);drive frame(05);drop frame(06);top roll drive cam (07);top roll drive cylinder (08);bottom roll drive cam (09);bottom roll drive cylinder (10); and oil reservoir (12).
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Fig 1 and fig 2.depicts the three roll plate bending machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS WITH RESPECT TO INVENTION:
The invention will now be described in detail in connection with certain preferred and optional embodiments, so that various aspects thereof may be more fully understood and appreciated.
The present invention relates to a three roll plate roll bending machine having hydraulic cylinders which use cam mechanism for rotation of both the top and bottom roll which is required for forming the metal plate in circular shape. The present invention works on the principle as: parting the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll is achieved by converts the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder. The present invention uses low cost hydraulic linear actuators which reduces the machine cost more than 30%. The machine is more compact and occupies less area. The overall moving parts are quiet less and also the part replacement is immediate and can be maintained in stock and there is no specialized skill is needed for maintenance. The hydraulic oil requirement is reduced to almost 40 %. The present invention uses roll rotation method for generating rotational force to rolls used in plate bending and rolling machine as well as for section bending /rolling machine.
In one embodiment, we use hydraulic cylinders forward and reverse movement to convert to rotary movement with the help of specially designed cam shaft. This rotary movement and hydraulic/elector-mechanical force by related actuators develops torsional force enabling linear movement of metal to go under permanent deformation (Plastic limit). The invention being claimed now uses low cost hydraulic linear actuators instead of costly rotary actuators and gear reducers used now in conventional machines.
The linear actuators converts a linear movement of actuators to rotary movement by use of eccentric bearing shaft creating high rotary torque enough for roll rotation under force.
Also it is very easy to adopt load sensing principal for hydraulic circuit which saves input power to a great extend
The advantages of the present invention are as follows:
1) Reduced Investment cost to small / medium /large scale industries.
2) Substantial saving on input electrical power units and thereby reducing on electricity consumption ( Can be up to 40 % saving)
3) Can save substantial cost on electricity bills and there by low running cost of the equipment.
4) Less initial equipment cost compared to the now available machines in the market in turn Fast ROI. ( Return on Investment)
5) Small / medium organization can compete better to withstand in market.
6) An Enormous saving of almost up to 40 % will reduce substantially on carbon footprint.
7) Due to the nature of design of this new technology the machine body becomes more compact enabling saving on most costly work space area occupation.
8) Since the total machine input weight is less, the equipment cost is also less compared to conventional machine now available in the market.
9) Since total moving parts are reduced to more than 60 % the overall maintenance as well as less spares to be keep as inventory.
In another embodiment, the main purpose of the present invention is to form metal plates to desired circular shape and size as per job requirement. The machine contained of several critical components and is operated through control panel. The main source of energy transmission is through pressurized mineral oil pumped in to the system. The pump is usually run by directly coupled electrical induction motor energized by push button provided on control panel.
In another embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a plate roll bending machine that automatically performs a pre-bending operation, in which various physical properties of the material of the plate can be determined, and then performs one or more finishing bending operations, which take into account the physical properties of the material that were determined during the pre-bending operation, to provide a finished roll at a desired dimension.
In one aspect, the disclosure describes a hydraulic roll bending machine having a top roller (01), a bottom roller (02) and a side roller (03). The hydraulic roll bending machine further includes an electronic controller, which includes a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials. An actuator is associated with the at least one bending roller and operates in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller. A motor is coupled with one of the top or bottom roller and operates in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller. A position sensor is disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine and configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller.
In one embodiment, the electronic controller is programmed and configured to load a plate between the top roller and the bottom roller; receive a user input indicative of a desired plate radius from a machine user; calculate a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database; provide a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius; provide a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller; determine an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate; and calculate an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius.
In another aspect, the disclosure describes a method for operating a hydraulic roll bending machine having a top roller, a bottom roller and at least one bending roller. The method includes using an electronic controller associated with the hydraulic roll bending machine, the electronic controller including a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials. The method further includes providing an actuator associated with the at least one bending roller, the actuator operating in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller; providing a motor coupled with one of the top or bottom roller, the motor operating in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller; and providing a position sensor disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine, the position sensor configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller.
In one embodiment, the method includes loading a plate between the top roller and the bottom roller; receiving a user input indicative of a desired plate radius from a machine user into the electronic controller; calculating a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database using the electronic controller; providing a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius using the electronic controller; providing a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller using the electronic controller; determining an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate, and providing the actual pre-bend radius to the electronic controller; and calculating an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius using the electronic controller.
In yet another aspect, the disclosure describes an electronic controller associated with a hydraulic roll bending machine, the hydraulic roll bending machine having a top roller, a bottom roller, at least one bending roller, an actuator associated with the at least one bending roller, a motor coupled with one of the top or bottom roller, and a position sensor disposed to measure a position of the at least one bending roller relative to the machine. The electronic controller includes a material database stored in non-volatile memory, the material database including a material information library of material properties for a plurality of materials; a connection to the actuator, which actuator configured to operate in response to a bending signal provided by the electronic controller; a connection to the motor, the motor configured to operate in response to a feed signal provided by the electronic controller; and a connection to the position sensor, the position sensor configured to provide a position signal to the electronic controller.
In one embodiment, the electronic controller is programmed and configured to load a plate between the top roller and the bottom roller; receive a user input indicative of a desired plate radius from a machine user; calculate a pre-bend radius for the plate based on the desired plate radius and information from the material database; provide a bending signal to the actuator to position the at least one bending roller relative to the top and bottom rollers based on the pre-bend radius; provide a feed signal to advance a leading portion of the plate against the at least one bending roller; determine an actual pre-bend radius of the leading portion of the plate; and calculate an adjustment to the material database based on a difference between the pre-bend radius and the actual pre-bend radius.
The machine includes a controller that is configured to calculate a required roll positioning scheme and roll activation sequence to produce a pre-bend or a bend operation on a plate. The controller includes information about the material to be processed, and also corrects for unknown factors affecting the material forming process, by performing a bending operation in two stages, a learning stage and a bending stage, each time an operation is carried out. More specifically, the controller operates to provide, in the first instance, a rough bend that approximates the final, desired dimension. The rough bend, which is performed in the learning stage, is carried out with a factor of safety or risk factor, which determines the extent of under-bending that the machine will calculate based on predefined parameters. This calculation may factor in the yield strength of the material variations in the thickness of the material, the finish of the material, as it may affect traction between the material and the rollers of the bending machine, the temperature of the material and other factors that may affect the behavior and spring-back of the material during and after bending.
After the initial or rough bend is carried out, feedback observed by the user and/or acquired by machine sensors relative to an actual bend radius of the machine versus the desired or commanded bend radius, is provided to the controller to indicate the resulting radius. The controller, based on the feedback information on the resulting radius of the bend, compares the actual dimension with a calculated dimension to determine a correction factor. The correction factor, which is indicative of the extent of variability of the particular plate being shaped to a nominal set of attributes for a plate of the type that is predefined in the controller, is applied to determine an appropriate bending configuration that will produce a plate shape of desired dimensions. The controller then applies the bending configuration, without the safety or risk factor, to cause the machine to produce a plate with a desired shape. The bending configuration may be understood as a correction factor of the material properties as observed during the initial bend, which correction factor is applied to the predefined properties of the material as they are stored in the machine controller. This two-step process in which the particular corrections that are required to counter any variability in the workpiece is repeated for every plate and for every bending operation.
Below given are some of the main components of bending machine required to perform bending / rolling functions.

SR NO ITEM DESCRIPTION
01 TOP ROLL
02 BOTTOM ROLL
03 SIDE ROLL
04 DROP END
05 DRIVE FRAME
06 DROP FRAME
07 TOP ROLL DRIVE CAM
08 TOP ROLL DRIVE CYLINDER
09 BOTTOM ROLL DRIVE CAM
10 BOTTOM ROLL DRIVE CYLINDER
11 INDUCTION MOTOR
12 OIL RESERVOIRE

The initial process of clamping the metal plate between top roll(1) and bottom roll(2) and pressing the metal plate by side roll (3) . The present invention involves use of hydraulic cylinders and cam mechanism for rotation of both the top and bottom roll which is required for forming the metal plate in circular shape. The main principal for parting the rotary motion to both top and bottom roll is achieved by converting the reciprocating movement of hydraulic cylinder in to rotary movement by use of eccentric pin cam and hydraulic cylinder. The power requirement is much lesser (almost 50 % less) compared to conventional machine hence substantial saving on costly electricity charges and also huge saving on carbon foot print. Since the costly hydraulic components like hydraulic motor and gear box is replaced by low cost hydraulic linear actuators the machine cost reduces to more than 30 %. The machine is more compact and occupies less area and the overall moving parts are quiet less and also the part replacement is immediate and can be maintained in stock. Also no specialized skill is needed for maintenance. The hydraulic oil requirement is reduced to 40 %, hence it is environment friendly.