In metal fabrication most bends are put in by press brake. The heart of the press brake is its upper and lower tools. The lower tool has a ‘V’ section and the upper has a mating wedge or angle profile. Put the sheet between the two and the wedge forces it down into the ‘V’, creating the bend. (“Bending Your Metal Fabrication into Shape” gives more detail.)
The press brake operator lifts a cut blank from a stack, orients it, slides it in between the tools until it hits the back stop, and brings down the upper tool. Putting in additional bends means withdrawing and reorienting the sheet, sometimes flipping it over for bends going the other direction.
That’s hard work, especially on bigger blanks which sometimes need two people to handle. It’s easy to make a mistake that puts a manual press brake bend in the wrong place, makes it to the wrong angle, or leaves it out completely.
This is where automated press brake bending comes in.