Disregarding the regulations that can be done acting directly on the mechanical parts of the machine on some section bending machines, we can distinguish the different controls as:
• Manual control
• Control by programmable positioner
• Control by CNC (Computer Numerical Control)

Manual control

The manual control is performed acting on buttons, joysticks or foot pedals present on the control panel of the section bending machine. To each single action executed (pressure of the push button etc..) corresponds a movement of the machine. The position of the driven movable parts can be referred directly on the machine by rulers or on the control panel by digital display that are receiving the signal from encoders.
Example of control panel for manual control

Control by programmable positioner

The programmable positioner is an instrument that allows to store one or more positions of one or more driven movable parts of the section bending machine. Once stored, the position can be loaded and the movable part will move from the position occupied to the stored position. This instrument is particularly useful to perform bending works where more passages between the rolls are required, both to guarantee an higher repeatability (doing the regulations manually it is possible to commit come mistakes), and to speed up the operations.
Example of control panel for manual control with integrated programmable positioner

Control by CNC

The numerical control based on computer (CNC) allows to store command sequences that will be later automatically executed by the machine. The commands can affect all or only some parts of the machine. The main advantage of this type of control is that, excluding the operator participation to the working phase, a higher repeatability is guaranteed and moreover it is possible also for unskilled people to work with the section bending machine.
The usage of CNC in combination with profile bending machines allows to obtain bending geometries like:
- Straight parts followed by curves
- Multiple radius curve
- Ellipses
Example of control panel with integrated CNC