Tube bender loader and unloader

摘要

A tube bending apparatus having a base and a bend arbor thereon and an X-axis extending spindle selectively rotatably mounted on the base for movement along the X-axis and for lateral movement in orthogonal Y-axis and Z-axis directions. The spindle has a clamping mechanism on the distal end thereof. A tube bend effecting arm is hinged relative to the bend arbor and is swingable about a bend axis. An elongate track is provided laterally offset from the base and extends continuously in a direction parallel to the X-axis. A tube loader is mounted on and for movement along the elongate track. The tube loader includes a feed mechanism for sequentially feeding one tube at a time to a specified position axially aligned with the spindle when in either of the first and second locations of the tube loader. Additionally, a method is provided for systematically removing a bent tube from a bend arbor utilizing onboard robotics of the tube bending apparatus and an onboard tube gripping tool operatively connected to the spindle.