Automatic shearing apparatus

Claim 1

In automatic power driven shearing apparatus adapted for simultaneously cutting two perpendicularly intersecting edges of a sheet along a predetermined line by means of a shear having two cutting edges located at right anges to each over and having a support for the sheet with means to move the sheet in the longitudinal or X direction and in the transverse or Y direction to bring the predetermined line into alignment with the cutting edge, that improvement comprising: (1) a first moveable table provided with a plurality of equidistant grooves which are parallel to each other and parallel to the longitudinal blade of said shear (2) a second moveable table provided with a plurality of equidistant grooves which are parallel to each other and parallel to the transverse blade of said shear (3) a plurality of driven finger means to push the sheet in the X direction which are slideably moveable in the grooves of said first table, one finger means for each groove (4) a plurality of driven finger means to push the sheet in the Y direction which are slideably moveable in the grooves of said second table, one finger means for each groove (5) chain drive means to push the finger means in said first table (6) chain drive means to push the finger means in said second table (7) each said driven finger means in said first and second tables mounted to be rotated in one of two positions, the first position in the plane of the sheet being pushed and the second position, 90° from the first, underneath the plane of the sheet;and (8) a fixed feeding system exerting an adjustable angular force against the movements of said finger means on said first and second tables, comprising a shaft supported by bearings within a sleeve driven by a belt at a pulley at one end thereof having a roller at the other end thereof with a fulcrum formed by a spherical bushing mounted in a fixed plate and a spherical bearing mounted in a moveable control plate adjacent the pulley whereby said roller contacts said plate at an angle determined by the displacement of said sleeve within the bushing and spherical bearing.