CNC press brake programming · Lesson 1 of 4

CNC press brake programming: principles and terminology

What a press brake control runs, its ram and backgauge axes, what one program step holds, the two meanings of "bend angle", how AFS's folder receives a profile instead, and the guarding rules.

You will be able to: Name the controlled axes and the program parameters of a CNC press brake, explain what a program holds and how a profile for AFS's folder differs, and state the safety boundary.

13 min · 12 slides · 10 questions

All lessons in this module

Slide 1 of 12

What the control does

In Cincinnati's XF manual, the active program controls the vertical movement of the ram and the movement of the backgauge.

A program can be created or opened, run, and saved in the control for later use.

AFS does not run a press brake. This module teaches it as industry practice, from the makers' documents, beside how AFS's Thalmann folder receives a profile.

Sources

Operation, Safety and Maintenance Manual: 90-350 XFORM (XF) Hydraulic Press Brake, EM-599 (N-09-25) - Cincinnati Incorporated
FlashDraft to the AFS Thalmann folder (via PathfinderEdge): legs, bend angles and blank width; painted side and 3D confirmation - Architectural Flashing Supply

Glossary

Active program: On Cincinnati's XF press brake, the program in the control that moves the ram up and down and positions the backgauge; it can be saved and reopened.
Backgauge: The programmable stop behind the die that the operator pushes the sheet against; on the Cincinnati XF it moves in-out (X), left-right (Z) and up-down (R).
Guard mute position: The point in a press brake's downstroke, set in the program, after which the presence-sensing device stops guarding the point of operation (Cincinnati XF manual).
Point of operation: In 29 CFR 1910.212, the area on a machine where work is actually performed on the material being processed.
Bend angle: How far the sheet is bent from straight. AMS Controls' PathfinderEdge reads its angle this way: 90 is a 90 degree bend. It equals 180 degrees minus the included angle.
Included angle: The angle between the two legs at a bend. FlashDraft labels bends this way, signed: 180 is straight, 90 a right angle, 0 folded flat.
PathfinderEdge profile: AMS Controls' description of a part for a folding machine: a name, an operator note and an ordered feature list that starts and ends with a Straight.