LVD is a heavy bending specialist, having built and installed custom heavy-duty press brakes as large as 3000 tons. Recently completed is a custom-designed PPEB-H 1600-ton 12-meter press brake. Soon to be installed, the machine will be bending parts for the transportation industry.

Servo-controlled with advanced hydraulics and electronics, the custom press brake can form parts up to 12 meters long. The machine has an opening table/ram of 1070 mm, cylinder stroke of 600 mm and a gap of 1000 mm. It features heavy-duty CNC sheet followers T1-T2-T3, each supporting a maximum 600 kg, adjustable along the length of the press brake for handling large plate material. It is equipped with a 9-axis heavy back gauge and automatic programmable bed crowning. The machine is also designed for a tandem set up with a PPEB-H 640-ton 4.5-meter press brake.

Sophisticated features
Modern technology and material handling options make the job of bending heavy plate easier.

• LVD’s Easy-Form® in-process angle monitoring and correction system adapts the ram position in real-time to ensure precise, consistent bending. The bending process is not interrupted, and no production time is lost.
• The TOUCH-B touch-screen control and integrated CADMAN-B software help ensure accuracy on the first bend and consistent accuracy thereafter, and reduce the time it takes to go from part program to finished part.
• Programmable gauges, sheet followers, front sheet supports and other material handling equipment add to the overall efficiency of the bending operation and are often a necessity for precise bending of large, hard-to-handle work pieces.

Why 1600 tons?
Heavy plate fabricators in industries like heavy equipment, ship building, defense, and transportation, working with high tensile steels and fabricating parts in materials greater than 6 mm in thickness, turn to high-tonnage press brakes to:

• Fabricate parts in medium to large sections
• Bend tough steel plate
• Form long parts in a single pass
• Reduce the number of welds and secondary processing operations
• Gain versatility in producing large parts

A special patented compound die radius, STONE tooling (“Shaped Tooling for Optimal beNding without wEar”) is produced with a progressive radius on both sides of the V-opening, allowing the material to flow into the die more evenly and with less drag. The unique design of the V-die reduces the friction between the material and the die encountered when bending by creating a rolling condition as the material enters the die. The STONE radius assures accurate bend angles along the entire bending length.

STONE tooling also diminishes marks, nicks and carbon deposits that can occur on the workpiece as the material rolls through the die.

Benefits include reduced tool wear, tool interchangeability, reduced residue on stainless steel, improved material control, reduced tonnage requirements and symmetric bending.

About LVD
The LVD Group is a leading manufacturer of a comprehensive range of sheet metal/plate working machine tools and software solutions, including laser cutting systems, punch presses, press brakes, guillotine shears and mid-level automation systems, integrated and supported by its CADMAN® PC based Windows® compatible software.

LVD Company n.v. introduces the Strippit P-1525, a 200kN cost-effective CNC turret punch press designed to efficiently handle large or oversized workpieces up to 1524 x 2500 mm. Larger sheets can be processed with clamp repositioning.

Part of the Strippit P-Series of punch presses, the P-1525 is ideal for the processing of large panels in cellular manufacturing or job shop environments.

LVD’s latest turret punch press delivers up to 270 hits per minute on 25,4 mm centers, and up to 600 hits per minute in nibble mode. The machine provides a ± 0,1 mm finished part accuracy and ± 0,05 mm finished part repeatability. It processes material thicknesses up to 3,5 mm mild steel and up to 6,35 mm aluminum.

Advance hydraulic RAM technology
A servo-driven hydraulic ram offers control of the ram position to achieve the highest punching rates of any machine in its class. Parameters are easily accessed and changed to provide optimal forming characteristics.

The advanced hydraulic drive system reduces noise and shock to increase machine longevity and reduce tool wear.

A direct drive axes configuration provides the industry’s tightest tolerances. This design better controls both part tolerance and repeatability to eliminate backlash and wear for repeatable accuracy and reliability.

Turret features three 50,8 mm auto-index station
The Strippit P-1525 features a 21-station thick-style turret with all turret stations keyed for maximum tool load flexibility. This versatile turret design allows every station to accept shaped or round punches and dies, reducing set-up time.

The machine is standard with three 50,8 mm auto-index stations. Each station accepts tools up to 50,8 mm in diameter, including wheel-style or scribing tools.

A full 25 mm feed clearance between the upper and lower turret allows for the production of higher forms such as lances, louvers, embossments or card guides.

The Strippit P-1525 turret is equipped with replaceable hardened steel guide bushings for accurate punch and die alignment, eliminating the need to rebore the turret. Hardened outboard shot pins provide precise alignment of punch and die for exceptional hole quality.

A large tool door allows easy access to the turret for tool loading. Quick-change die holders further reduce set-up time.

The machine’s rigid frame and precise tool guiding system ensure punch and die alignment to provide long tool life and consistently high quality parts.

Reliable PC-based control
A state-of-the-art, PC-based Fanuc control is easy to use and proven reliable.

The CNC control provides powerful features such as diagnostics, offers large program storage capacity and networking capability with user friendly MMI (man-machine-interface).

The control delivers powerful features such as full color graphics, advanced “real-time” diagnostics, increased program storage capacity and is network ready for easy transfer of programs from other computers.

Optional CADMAN® programming software provides automatic unfolding of 3D SAT and IGES files, auto-nesting full support for all standard and advanced punching functions, including auto-index stations, multi-tools, standard and special punches, forming, embossing, tapping, stamping and wheel-style tools.

About LVD
The LVD Group is a leading manufacturer of a comprehensive range of sheet metal/plate working machine tools and software solutions, including laser cutting systems, punch presses, press brakes, guillotine shears and mid-level automation systems, integrated and supported by its CADMAN® PC based Windows® compatible software.

LVD Company nv, a leading Belgian manufacturer of sheet metalworking machine tools and offline software, has completed the second phase of solar panel installation for its Belgium-based production facilities as part of ongoing efforts to reduce the company’s energy costs and offset its carbon footprint.

Solar electrical cells have been installed on its production/assembly buildings as well as five other associated structures for an overall covered roof surface of approximately 32,500 square meters.

The solar panel installation equipped with solar cells which capture energy from sunlight will provide a total installed power base equivalent to that of approximately 350 domestic households. This will enable LVD to generate more than 30% of its yearly electricity from a renewable energy source, as well as reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

In addition to decreasing LVD’s power consumption, the solar cell installation also feeds renewable source power back to Belgium’s national grid during weekends and holidays.

“We consider it a priority to reduce dependency on carbon generated power, reduce our energy costs and act in an environmentally responsible manner by minimizing the environmental impact of our production facilities,” said Carl Dewulf, President and Managing Director of LVD Company nv. “The use of solar cells is a green initiative that supports and uses clean, renewable energy. In choosing it, we move closer to our goal of sustainable business practices.”

LVD has partnered with Belgium-based energy solutions provider Linea-Trovata and investment firm Sun Invest III to complete the project.

LVD Company nv expanded its fiber laser cutting systems product line with the introduction of the Lynx FL, a cost efficient fiber laser cutting system that debuted at CIMT, Beijing, April 20th – 25th, Stand W2 – 253.

Engineering for Cost Effecient Laser Processing 
Lynx offers users the ability to enter the world of fiber laser cutting with the flexibility to process a wide variety of material types and thicknesses all within a modest and cost effective budget.

Versatile Material Capabilities
Powered by a high efficiency IPG (2 kW) fiber laser source, Lynx provides dynamic, accurate thin sheet processing of traditional sheet metal materials such as mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium with the added versatility to efficiently process metals such as copper and brass. Increased beam absorption of the 1µm wave length laser beam by the material provides processing speeds up to three times faster than CO2 laser sources in thin sheet metal.

Automated Shuttle Change Syste
A compact design, Lynx maximizes uptime with an integrated shuttle table system that allows one table to be loaded while the machine is cutting on the other table. Table change time is only 35 seconds.

Integrated Control and Drive System 
Lynx features an integrated Siemens IU CNC control and drive package guaranteeing the highest accuracy and repeatability even at high speeds.

Cutting Head 
The new Precitec “Light-Cutter” guarantees high cutting speed with excellent cutting quality. It incorporates an easy and fast protective glass cartridge change, temperature and constant distance control and a crash-protection system.