Expanding apparatus for manufacturing micro-expanded metal mesh foil sheets

An expanding apparatus for expanding metal foil comprising:

• a machine base;
• an expanding frame mounted on the machine base;
• a lower fixed expanding blade mounted on a bottom wall of the expanding frame;
• an upper blade actuator assembly mounted on a top wall of the expanding frame;
• an upper expanding blade mounted on the upper blade actuator assembly,
• said upper blade actuator assembly being configured for reciprocating vertical and horizontal movement of the upper expanding blade in cooperation with the lower fixed expanding blade to expand a metal foil sheet advanced through the expanding blades,
• wherein the upper blade actuator assembly comprises
• a mounting ring assembly including an upper mounting ring, a middle mounting ring and a lower mounting ring, the mounting ring assembly being mounted to the top wall of the expanding frame;
• a vertical actuator assembly including an upper receiver body, a middle pusher body, and a lower blade mount support body, the vertical actuator assembly being concentrically suspended within the mounting ring assembly with two spaced annular spring steel flexure plates respectively captured between the mounting rings and the actuator bodies, and a vertical piezo actuator received in a bore in the upper receiver body and captured between the upper receiver body and the top wall of the expanding frame, and
• a horizontal actuator assembly including a blade mount suspended between opposing downwardly depending support arms of the lower blade mount support body with opposing left and right spring steel flexure plates captured between the opposing support arms and respective plate clamping assemblies,
• wherein one of said plate clamping assemblies includes a horizontal piezo actuator received in a housing of the clamping assembly and captured between the housing of the clamping assembly and the respective flexure plate, and
• wherein the upper expanding blade is mounted on the blade mount body.