Press having travelling die set

Claim 1

In a press comprising a base, a lower bolster fixedly mounted on said base, an upper bolster mounted on said base above said lower bolster for movement vertically with respect thereto, and power means for moving said upper bolster, the improvement comprising a die set having a lower die plate and an upper die plate superposed over said lower die plate and mounted for movement toward and away from said lower die plate, guide means for maintaining said upper and lower die plates in superposition, means biasing said upper and lower die plates to normally spaced-apart position, and means for moving said die set alternatively to a press position intermediate said upper and lower bolsters and to a loading and unloading position removed from said press position, said last named means comprising a slide plate adapted to support said lower die plate, a pair of forwardly projecting parallel rails mounted on top of said lower bolster and underlying said slide plate, said rails extending beyond the front edge of said bolster a distance such that in the loading position, the die set is completely removed from the work area of the press, and die set guide means projecting downwardly from said slide plate into the space between said rails and having outer sides complementary to the inner sides of said parallel rails.