Positioning guide for rubber-like material rotary cutting machine

A positioning guide for accurately positioning and guiding lengths of elongated rubber, plastic and other resiliant stock material having a predominantly cylindrical exterior surface configuration being fed along a predetermined straight feed path to a cutting machine having a rotary knife structure moving in a cutting plane transversely intersecting the feed path and having a pair of endless drive belts flanking the feed path providing closely adjacent confronting drive belt reaches extending between inlet and outlet nip formations along parallel planes to engage opposite surface portions of and drive the stock material along a belt drive zone spanning a length of the feed path;

• the positioning guide comprising an integral elongated plate-like body of a length greater than the span of said belt drive zone having feed and discharge ends and a straight guide bore extending therethrough of circular cross-section at said feed and discharge ends, said plate-like body having a width and thickness greater than the diameter of said guide bore at said ends and having a pair of opposite elongated flat-bottomed depressions each forming a relief cavity spanning the length of said belt drive zones in top and bottom faces respectively of the plate-like body, said cavities intersecting the path of the guide bore along planes paralleling the center axis of the bore for the length of said belt drive zone and receiving the confronting reaches of the drive belts therein, whereby the stock material extending through said guide bore is exposed in the region of said depressions along the span of said belt drive zone for driving and positioning contact with said confronting drive belt reaches while being constrained laterally by truncated portions of said guide bores remaining between said depressions.