Method of side-cutting by turret punch press

A method of side-cutting using a turret punch press comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a plurality of punch chips in a punch assembly mounted on an upper turret, each of said punch chips being adapted to be individually and selectively impacted;
• (b) performing a side-cutting of a workpiece with a predetermined one of said plurality of punch chips by impacting the corresponding one of said plurality of punch chips in a manner which partially cuts out a punching piece by cutting at least two parallel sides of said punching piece with a single stroke of said one punch chip, said partially cut out punching piece remaining attached to said workpiece at an end portion of said punching piece;
• and
• (c) cutting off said punching piece from said workpiece by cutting said end portion of said partially cut out punching piece by completing the cutting by said side-cutting using another one of said plurality of punch chips;
• and
• repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) on the remaining portion of said work piece.

A process for performing side-cutting using a turret punch including an upper turret carrying a punch assembly and a lower turret carrying a die, comprising the steps of:

• providing a first punch chip for performing a side-cutting of a workpiece in said punch assembly carried by said upper turret, said first punch chip being adapted to be selectively impacted for performing said side-cutting operation in a manner which partially cuts out a slug from said work piece;
• providing at least one second punch chip for cutting off said slug from the workpiece in said punch assembly, said second punch chip being adapted to be selectively impacted for performing said slug cutting off operation independently of said first punch;
• performing a side-cutting step, in which an impact is applied to said first punch chip for side-cutting a predetermined length of said workpiece in a manner which partially cuts out a slug which is to be removed from said work piece by cutting at least two parallel sides of said slug with a single stroke of said first punch chip;
• performing a slug cutting off step subsequent to said side-cutting step, in which an impact is applied to said second punch for cutting said slug completely free of said workpiece;
• and
• repeating said side-cutting step and said slug cutting off step.

A turret punch press for side-cutting, comprising:

• an upper turret carrying a punch assembly;
• a lower turret carrying a die;
• a first punch chip carried in said punch assembly, said first punch chip being movable, within a predetermined stroke range, toward and away from a workpiece for which side-cutting is to be performed;
• at least one second punch chip carried in said punch assembly and movable, within a predetermined stroke range, toward and away from said workpiece for which side-cutting is to be performed;
• said punch assembly having a first active condition for side-cutting, wherein said first punch chip is projected toward said workpiece beyond said second punch chip and a second condition for removing a slug partially formed in the process of side-cutting performed at said first condition of said punch assembly, in which said second punch chip is projected toward said workpiece beyond said first punch chip;
• and
• impacting means for applying impact to said first and second punch chips, said first impacting means including a first impacting element corresponding to said first punch chip, and a second impacting element corresponding to said second punch chip;
• said impacting means having a first active condition for side-cutting, in which said first impacting element is projected toward said first punch chip beyond said second impacting element, and a second active condition for removing a slug formed in the process of side-cutting performed at said first active condition of said impacting means, in which said second impacting element is projected toward said second punch chip beyond said first impacting element;
• said impacting means being operable to alternately operate said first and second impacting elements for sequentially performing side-cutting process and slug removing process;
• said first punch chip having first and second generally parallel cutting edges spaced apart a first distance for cutting two generally parallel sides of a slug to be removed from said workpiece;
• and
• said second punch chip having a third cutting edge extending generally transverse to said first and second cutting edges of said first punch chip, said third cutting edge being disposed within a width of said first and second cutting edges and having a length approximately equal to said first distance.