Punching and metal stamping tool
The punching and metal stamping tool comprises a driving mechanism which moves an upper tool section, having a die, towards a lower tool section, having a punch, to punch at least a pair of angled hooking cuts into two metal bands, such as the overlapping ends of a strap wrapped around a package. The angled hooking cuts effectively fasten the bands together.
The driving mechanism comprises a cam, which moves the upper tool section to a set position where the upper tool section is a distance from the lower tool section approximately equal to the thickness of the bands. The driving mechanism also comprises an eccentric shaft having a throw which acts on the upper tool section to punch the angled hooking cuts into the bands.
Hooper and strapper devices for binding together the overlapping ends of a metal strap wrapped around a package generally comprise an upper tool having a die which moves onto a corresponding stationary lower tool having a punch. The upper and lower tools act on overlapping ends of the strap to execute a punching and metal stamping operation to produce at least a pair of angled hooking cuts in both of the overlapping ends as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,433 to Werk.
The angled hooking cuts are such that the lower band is “woven” or “hooked” onto the upper band to fasten together the overlapping ends in a known manner. The angled hooking cuts can be of any shape to permit the lower band to be “woven” or “hooked” onto the upper band, but generally the cuts comprise an angled cut located between a wide cut region and a narrow cut region on the band. Usually, the bands are relatively biased during the punching action such that once the overlapping ends of the strap are trimmed off, the bands slide somewhat toward each other thereby hooking together the projecting corners of the bands created by the angled hooking cuts in the bands.
These prior art devices suffer from several disadvantages. In particular, the rocking or pivoting motion of the die required the housing to be considerably larger than the mounting block upon which the die was mounted. This resulted in an increased amount of dust and dirt entering the housing and increasing the wear of the components. In addition, these prior art devices generally utilized the interaction of a cam on a roller device to create the pivoting or rocking motion. This arrangement resulted in a substantial amount of the forces being transferred through a hairline juncture between the cam and roller device. It is apparent that by having concentrations of such forces on a hairline juncture, increased wear and tear results.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to at least partially overcome the disadvantages of the prior art. Also, it is an object of this invention to provide an alternative type of punching and metal stamping tool wherein the upper moving tool having the die is driven by a driving mechanism which moves the upper tool along a path substantially perpendicular to the surface of the metal bands being joined together, but keeping the required force to effect the punching process relatively weak. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a driving mechanism having a double action or two step driving motion wherein a first setting means provides a relatively quick movement of the upper tool section to a set position near the lower tool during the initial activation of the driving means and then a second slower but more powerful punching drive means engages to execute the punching procedure.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a punching and metal stamping tool wherein the upper tool is mounted on a mounting block which moves completely within an aperture of a housing such that the aperture is substantially the same size and shape as the mounting block. This aperture can define a passageway. This prevents the entrance into the punching and metal stamping tool of dust and dirt which increases the wear of the moving, force bearing parts.
Further aspects of the invention reside in providing a punching and metal stamping tool for fastening two metal bands together, said bands extending lengthwise in a longitudinal direction and each band having a thin side and a wide side, said wide side having a thickness in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and defining a surface extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction, said tool comprising: an upper tool section and a lower tool section for fastening the metal bands together and adapted to receive said metal bands lengthwise therebetween when said upper tool section is in a first position; a driving mechanism for moving the upper tool section towards the lower section along a path, said driving mechanism comprising: setting means for moving the upper tool section towards the lower tool section from the first position to a set position wherein the upper tool section is a distance above the lower tool section substantially equal to a sum of the thicknesses of the bands; punching drive means for moving the upper tool section towards the lower tool section to produce at least one pair of angled hooking cuts in and along both metal bands; and wherein said setting means moves said upper tool section to the set position before the punching drive means moves the upper tool section resulting in the angled hooking cuts.
In a still further aspect, the present invention resides in providing a strapping device comprising: a tensioning means for tensioning a portion of a metal strap wrapped around a package, said strap having overlapping ends extending lengthwise in a longitudinal direction and each end having a thin side and a wide side, said wide side having a thickness in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and defining a surface extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction; punching and metal stamping tool means for fastening said overlapping ends.
It will be understood that, although various features of the invention have been described with respect to one or another of the embodiments of the invention, the various features and embodiments of the invention may be combined or used in conjunction with other features and embodiments of the invention as described and illustrated herein.
Although this disclosure has described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of the metal stamping tools invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted to these particular embodiments.
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