Give your production line a single machine that takes heating elements from straight tube to fully tested, ready-to-ship components. Built for hairpin and foldback elements used in water heaters and defrost applications, this transfer machine combines annealing, bending, pressing and electrical testing in one continuous run, so you cut handling steps, protect dimensional accuracy, and keep output consistent shift after shift.
Whether you’re running copper, stainless steel, or Incoloy, the two-section layout adjusts automatically to different lengths and materials, letting you switch production without slowing down your line or retraining your operators.
The concrete advantages that make the difference
Loading, annealing, cooling, bending, pressing, testing, and unloading all happen inside a single integrated cycle. You get finished, tested elements at the end of the line, without shuttling parts between separate stations or adding extra labor hours to your process.
Localized annealing and controlled cooling prepare the material before it’s bent, so every hairpin comes out consistent, with no internal stress, no cracking, and no rework pulling your team off other jobs.
The machine adapts automatically to copper, stainless steel, and Incoloy elements of different lengths, so you can respond to changing orders and product mixes without downtime or a second machine on the floor.
This transfer machine is built to take your heating elements from straight tube through to fully finished, electrically tested hairpin or foldback components, without interruption between stages.
Load your batches onto the high-capacity conveyor and let the machine take it from there: a CNC handling arm centers each element automatically before it enters the annealing stage. A central annealing station heats the future bend point precisely, with a sensor tracking sheath temperature throughout so results stay consistent from the first part to the last. A dedicated cooling stage follows immediately, preventing distortion before the element moves on. For foldback parts, a second annealing and cooling stage treats the two lateral bend zones as well.
Once prepared, each element is transferred automatically into the bending section. Here it’s shaped into its final hairpin form, with the process designed to keep stress off the bend apex so your parts hold up longer in service. A hydraulic squeezing stage tightens the bend radius for closer leg spacing without weakening the material, and a pressing stage locks in dimensional uniformity across every part. Before anything leaves the machine, an electrical testing station runs dielectric strength and ohmic value checks, with a terminal-probe system built to make good contact even if a part is slightly out of position.
Any element that doesn’t pass testing, or gets damaged during bending, is automatically pulled from the flow so it never reaches your shipping area. The unloading system can also be configured to feed straight into your downstream automation, keeping your whole line moving without manual intervention.
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