Apparatus for cutting items from a sheet

An apparatus for cutting a plurality of photographs from a sheet, comprising a housing defining an opening, a tray slidably mounted with respect to the housing from an extended position in which the tray is located outside of the housing to an inner position where the tray is located within the housing, a first die carried by the tray, a second die carried by the housing, one of said dies having a plurality of male die members corresponding in shape to the photographs to be cut from the sheet and the other of said dies having a plurality of female die members disposed to cooperate with said male die members to cut said photographs from the sheet located between said die members, a plate bordering said male die members, and means for biasing the plate outwardly away from the corresponding die to a position where the outer surface of said plate is generally flush with the outer surfaces of said male die members, operating means for moving one of said dies relative to the other of said dies to thereby cut said photographs from the sheet, and adjustable aligning means disposed on the tray for aligning the sheet with the die members associated with the tray, said aligning means comprising a plurality of rotatable cam means on said tray and disposed to be engaged by at least two edges of the sheet to align said sheet with respect to the corresponding die members, locking means for locking the cam means in a given position, ejecting means associated with each of said female die members for ejecting the cut photographs from said female die members, said ejecting means comprising a plurality of pins, and means responsive to the movable die moving away from the other of said dies after the photographs have been cut to move said pins relative to said female die members to eject said photographs.

An apparatus for cutting a plurality of printed items from a sheet, comprising a housing defining an opening, a tray slidably mounted for movement within the opening from the extended position in which the tray is located outside of the housing to an inner position where the tray is located within the housing, said housing including an upper support and having a lower die spaced beneath the upper support, said lower die including a plurality of male die members, an upper die located between the upper support and the lower die and mounted for movement relative to the upper support, said upper die having a plurality of female die members disposed to cooperate with said male die members to cut said items from the sheet located between said die members as the upper die is moved toward the lower die, means for moving the upper die toward the lower die, first biasing means for biasing the upper die upwardly toward said upper support, a plate mounted on the housing and having a series of openings, said male die members being received within said openings, and second biasing means for biasing the plate upwardly to a position where the outer surface of the plate is generally flush with the outer surfaces of the male die members, said upper die having a surface bordering said female die members disposed to engage the plate to depress the plate against the force of the second biasing means as the upper die is moved toward the lower die.