Apparatus and method for making overlapping strip joints

In a strip joining apparatus for joining the ends of two metal strips in overlapping relation, shear means for shearing such strip ends, means mounting said shear means for movement from a remote location first to a first shear position for shearing one of said strip ends and then to a second shear position for shearing the other strip end, said second shear position being further from said remote location than said first shear position by a distance corresponding to the desired overlap between the sheared strip ends, and means for accurately locating said shear means in said first and second shear positions comprising a first gauging surface movable into and out of the line of movement of said support means for locating said shear means at said first shear position, and a second gauging surface for locating said shear means at said second shear position when said first gauging surface is moved out of such line of movement of said support means.

In a strip joining apparatus for joining the ends of two metal strips in overlapping relation, clamp means operative to hold the strips against movement, shear means for shearing such strip ends, means operative accurately to shift the position of said shear means toward one of the strip ends after shearing of such one strip end and before shearing of the other strip end to provide a predetermined amount of overlap of the strip ends after shearing both strip ends, means for moving the one strip end out of the way of the shear means during shearing of the other strip end, and means for welding the sheared strip ends together in overlapping relation.

A method of joining two metal strip ends together in overlapping relation comprising the steps of indexing a shear from a remote location to a first shear position, shearing an end of a first strip at such first shear position, indexing the shear to a second shear position which is further removed from the remote location a predetermined amount corresponding to the desired amount of overlap of the sheared strip ends, shearing an end of a second strip at such second shear position, moving the sheared end of the first strip out of the way so as not to interfere with the shearing of the end of the second strip at such second shear position, indexing the shear back toward the remote location to a welding position in which the sheared ends of the first and second strips are clamped together in overlapping relation, and welding the strip ends together in such overlapping relation.