A little over a year since acquiring wire and small tube bending machinery maker Pneuform, Unison Ltd – the UK-based inventor of all-electric tube manipulation – has introduced a number of significant improvements to the entire Pneuform range.
“At Unison, we’re passionate about quality,” says joint managing director, Alan Pickering. “In fact, it was the quality of Pneuform’s machines that first caught our attention and attracted us to the idea of bringing the brand into the Unison family.
We did, however, recognise that we could add considerable user benefits to each Pneuform machine by incorporating many of the features that are standard with our Unibend tube bending CNC and Opt2Sim Suite tube simulation software.”
With that objective in mind, over the last few months Unison’s automation and software development teams have been busy adapting the company’s Unibend control and Opt2Sim software to create a proprietary solution especially for the Pneuform range of wire and small tube bending machines.
The key focus of their work has surrounded ease of use, production uplift and low cost of ownership.
Called Unibend-Wire, the resultant integrated CNC and 3D simulation system is quite possibly the most advanced, most efficient and most user-friendly control available on any wire and small diameter tube bending machine.
Intelligent data input tools and direct-from-CAD import features vastly reduce the time taken from ‘blank sheet’ concept to full production, regardless of material or complexity of bends, with Unison’s Opt2Sim Suite of simulation software tools checking and correcting parts before they reach the shop floor.
Part cycle times have also been improved by streamlining any non-added-value moves between bends – the majority of which are now fully automated.
A new integrated console, with 15” touchscreen, enables operators to verify the accuracy of the parts they wish to make in crisp, clear 3D on a digital twin of their Pneuform machine.
Powerful bend menus accelerate the creation of repeat, coiled and rectangular part forms, while the industry standard YBC file format mirrors that used on Unison’s all-electric Breeze range of tube bending machines.
Batch processing of associated parts or entire shift runs is delivered through a few easy steps, and right-first-time bends are assured by the inclusion of springback compensation, supported by easy characterisation of materials to be bent.
“From simple, single line YBC file formats, supported by powerful, easy-to-use bending instructions, to highly reliable Yaskawa drives and Unison’s advanced remote support application, we have done a great deal to underline Pneuform’s position as a leading manufacturer of quality wire and small diameter tube bending machines,” adds Alan Pickering.
“Perhaps most significant of all, however, we have introduced all these product enhancements without increasing our prices. It’s our way of ensuring that Pneuform machines remain highly accessible to manufacturers and subcontractors around the world.”
Pneuform was a pioneer of CNC 3D wire bending.
Today its wire and small diameter tube bending machines have become the industry standard with manufacturers of beer coolers, drink dispensers and HVAC equipment, as well as with makers of small diameter automotive parts.
Pneuform’s range of wire bending machines includes rotary head models, flat rotary line bending machines and
enamelled wire bending machines. Available in 2-axis and 3-axis versions, Pneuform machines cater for outside tube diameters ranging from 3 mm to 11 mm in stainless steel and 3 mm to 15 mm in copper.
Unison Ltd is the UK’s leading manufacturer of tube and pipe bending machines and continually innovates the tube and pipe bending marketplace.
The company manufactured the world’s first all-electric tube bender in 1994, followed by the world’s first all-electric multi-stack tube bender, then the world’s largest all-electric tube bender for the shipbuilding industry.
Available in single-stack, multi-stack and right/left varieties, Unison machines are delivered to more than 20 countries globally.
Unison’s tube bending software is recognised as the most user-friendly control system for tube bending machines.
The software is written and supported by Unison, ensuring complete control of its evolution, with no need for third party support.
