High speed platen-type die cutter

A cutting and creasing press for sheet material including a frame, flat platen-type die means, eccentric shaft means rotatably mounted to said frame and said die means, closed loop conveyor means, sheet gripping means carried by said conveyor means and including sections equally spaced along the path of movement for the conveyor means, said conveyor means having a generally horizontal flight for carrying said gripping means in a feed direction along a generally horizontal feed path extending through a sheet loading station, a sheet unloading station, and a cutting station having said die means positioned thereat said die means having means for full cutting sheet material, said cutting station being positioned between said sheet loading and unloading stations, sheet feeding means for delivering sheets one at a time to said gripping means while the latter moves through said loading station, drive means operatively connected to said eccentric shaft means for rotating the latter at uniform cyclic speed to translate said die means along a circular path positioned for said die means to operatively engage and thereby full cut a sheet moving along said feed path through said cutting station, said drive means also being operatively connected to said conveyor means for moving the latter continuously at a uniform speed that coincides generally with a horizontal component of motion for said die means while the latter is engaged with a sheet moving along said feed path, and sheet support means disposed at said cutting station and means for moving said sheet support means between operative and retracted positions during operation of said drive means, said sheet support means when in said operative position supporting a sheet from below while the latter is not being cut.