Bevel gear drive with means to control backlash for flying ram cutoff machine

A cutoff machine for severing an elongated workpiece while the workpiece is moving in a path along its longitudinal axis, comprising:

• a stationary frame including a bed extending beneath and generally parallel to said path, said frame further including a head portion above said path and spaced from said bed;
• a ram above said bed and extending essentially parallel to said path;
• linkage means connecting said ram with said head portion for swinging movement about axes extending transverse to said path;
• drive means coupled with said ram for imparting swinging movement to said ram, said drive means including:
• (1) a pair of input shafts rotatably mounted on said head portion and extending transversely to said path,
• (2) means coupling said input shafts with said ram for translating rotational movement of each of said input shafts to motion,
• (3) a drive shaft rotatably mounted on said head portion and extending in a direction generally parallel to said path and between said pair of input shafts, said drive shaft being adapted to be coupled with a source of power for rotating said drive shaft;
• (4) first and second gear means located at spaced locations along said drive shaft for translating rotational motion of said drive shaft to said pair of input shafts;
• a pair of spaced apart supports on said head portion, each of said supports having said drive shaft journalled for rotation thereof;
• and
• spacer means extending between one of said first and second gear means and one of said supports for limiting the movement of said drive shaft along its longitudinal axis to a preselected magnitude thereof in order to control the amount of backlash in said drive means.