Blanking machine vacuum system

Claim 1

In a blanking machine having meaNs to feed a continuous web to a blanking press which has a fixed upper die and a reciprocable lower die, a conveyor adjacent the upper die and means to remove the waste portion of the web, the improvement comprising: a plurality of punches fixedly mounted on the upper die, a spring biased stripper plate surrounding said punches, spring mounted on said upper die plate and having a normal position with its lower surface in the same plane as the lower faces of the punches, a die plate fixedly secured to the lower die for cutting cooperation with said punches, a second stripper plate adapted to engage the portion of the web overlying the punches and mounted for relative vertical movement with respect to the die plate, spring means connecting the second stripper plate to the lower die to bias the second stripper plate against the web as the lower die is moved upwardly and to retain it against the cut web during the initial downward movement of the lower die, manifold means for said upper die, means to exhaust air from said mainfold means, means forming downwardly extending passages in said punches communicating with said manifold to provide a suction across their lower faces, perforate shoe means adjacent the entrance and exit ends of the upper die member communicating with said manifold means to retain portions of the web to the upper die, said latter two means retaining the waste portion and the blanked out portions of the web as a unit until removed from the press by the removal of the waste portion of the web.