Travelling cut-off saw

Claim 1

Apparatus for severing a continuous material into sections comprising, an infeed conveyor carrying the continuous material in a longitudinal direction, stationary cutting platen means at the end of said infeed conveyor, cutting means above the material and movable longitudinally and vertically to sever the material into sections, outfeed conveyor means adjacent said platen means to carry away the severed sections, sensor means providing an output signal indicative of the speed of said infeed conveyor, first counter means receiving the output signal of said sensor means and providing an output signal when the material carried by said infeed conveyor has travelled a predetermined distance, said predetermined distance being selected according to the desired length of the severed sections of material, the output signal of said first counter means initiating the longitudinal movement of said cutting means, and second counter means receiving a signal indicative of the longitudinal distance between the initial position of said cutting means and said stationary platen means and receiving the output signal of said sensor means to provide an output signal indicative of the amount of longitudinal movement of said cutting means from the point of the initial longitudinal movement thereof and until the point of initial vertical movement thereof so that the vertical movement of said cutting means may be initiated thereby assuring that cutting of the material is completed over said stationary platen means.