Apparatus and method for forming a groove in a board

An apparatus for cutting V-shaped grooves in boards of foam having a facing material thereon, comprising:

• a feeding station for feeding said boards one at a time from a supply of said boards;
• a board-receiving table disposed in a generally horizontal plane for supporting said boards upon receipt from said feeding station;
• said boards being generally planar so as to be supported flat on said table, said table supported by a frame, said frame including a first location generally adjacent said feeding station for receiving said boards from said feeding station, said frame also including a second location and a third location;
• said second location being positioned on one side of said first location and spaced from said feeding station, said third location being positioned on the other side of said first location and spaced from said feeding station;
• groove forming means for forming said grooves while said boards are supported including:
• foam removing means for removing a portion of said foam comprising said boards to form said V-shaped grooves therein and means for imparting reciprocating movement to said table relative to said foam removing means and said frame, said table being movable relative to said frame to transfer one of said boards between said first location and said second location, said table also being movable relative to said frame to transport another of said boards between said first location and said third location;
• said reciprocating movement imparting means including a track and roller system for supporting said table for linear motion relative to said foam removing means and said frame and a drive cylinder associated with said table for imparting linear motion to said table through said track and roller system, said foam removing means including a pair of blades positioned closely adjacent and above said table for forming said V-shaped grooves in said foam of said boards during relative movement therebetween;
• said pair of blades of said foam removing means removing foam as a first one of said boards moves with said table from said first location to said second location and also as a second one of said boards moves with said table from said first location to said third location;
• foam separating means for separating the portion of the foam comprising said grooves from the remainder of said boards after said grooves have been formed in said boards by said foam removing means;
• said foam separating means including a pin for separating each portion of the foam comprising each of said grooves in said boards as said first one of said boards moves from said second location to said first location and also as said second one of said boards moves from said third location to said first location;
• and
• a removing station located generally adjacent said first location for removing said boards from said table after said grooves have been formed and said foam has been separated;
• said foam removing means operating on said second one of said boards while said foam separating means is operating on said first one of said boards;
• said first one of said boards being removed from said table at said removing station when said table is at said first location after said foam separating means has separated material from said first one of said boards;
• a third one of said boards being fed to said table from said feeding station while said table is still at said first location following removal of said first one of said boards.

An apparatus for cutting a plurality of V-shaped grooves in a board of foam having a puzzle facing material thereon to form foldable corner pieces for a three-dimensional puzzle, comprising:

• a generally rectangular frame supported by a plurality of legs;
• a station centrally positioned along one side of said frame for feeding said board from a supply of said boards;
• means for supporting said board upon receipt from said station comprising:
• a generally rectangular board-receiving table supported by said frame so as to be disposed in a generally horizontal plane and said board being generally rectangular and planar so as to be positioned flat upon an upper surface of said table;
• means for forming said grooves in said board while said board is supported on said table including:
• means for removing a portion of said foam comprising said board to form said V-shaped grooves therein and means for imparting relative movement between said board-receiving table and said foam removing means, said relative movement imparting means including a track and roller system for supporting said board-receiving table for linear motion toward and away from opposite ends of said rectangular frame and relative to said foam removing means and a drive cylinder associated with said board-receiving table for imparting linear motion of a preselected distance to said board-receiving table through said track and roller system, said foam removing means including a plurality of fixedly mounted cutters each having a pair of blades positioned closely adjacent and above said board-receiving table for forming said V-shaped grooves in said foam of said board during relative movement therebetween;
• means for separating the portion of the foam comprising said groove from the remainder of said board after said groove has been formed in said board by said groove forming means;
• and
• a station centrally positioned along the other side of said frame from said feeding station for removing said board after said grooves have been formed;
• said foam separating means including a plurality of reciprocating pin assemblies each including a reciprocating pin pivotally mounted on a supporting block positioned on a rod extending generally from one side of said frame to the other side of said frame for engaging the portion of the foam comprising said groove after said groove has been formed by said groove forming means.

An apparatus for cutting a plurality of V-shaped grooves in a board of foam having a puzzle facing material thereon to form foldable corner pieces for a three-dimensional puzzle, comprising:

• a generally rectangular frame supported by a plurality of legs;
• a station centrally positioned along one side of said frame for feeding said board from a supply of said boards;
• means for supporting said board upon receipt from said station comprising:
• a generally rectangular board-receiving table supported by said frame so as to be disposed in a generally horizontal plane and said board being generally rectangular and planar so as to be positioned flat upon an upper surface of said table;
• means for forming said grooves in said board while said board is supported on said table including:
• means for removing a portion of said foam comprising said board to form said V-shaped grooves therein and means for imparting relative movement between said board-receiving table and said foam removing means, said relative movement imparting means including a track and roller system for supporting said board-receiving table for linear motion toward and away from opposite ends of said rectangular frame and relative to said foam removing means and a drive cylinder associated with said board-receiving table for imparting linear motion of a preselected distance to said board-receiving table through said track and roller system, said foam removing means including a plurality of cutters each having a pair of blades positioned closely adjacent and above said board-receiving table for forming said V-shaped grooves in said foam of said board during relative movement therebetween, wherein said cutters each include a supporting block mounted on a pair of rods extending generally from one side of said frame to the other side of said frame so as to be supported at opposite ends by said frame and a blade carrying face plate mounted to said supporting block, and wherein said face plates each include a generally V-shaped blade carrying extension disposed below said supporting block and said blades comprise razor blades secured to said blade carrying extension inclined downwardly and rearwardly in the direction of travel of said board;
• means for separating the portions of the foam comprising said grooves from the remainder of said board after said grooves have been formed in said board by said foam removing means;
• and
• a station centrally positioned along the other side of said frame from said feeding station for removing said board after said grooves have been formed;
• said foam separating means including a plurality of reciprocating pins for engaging the portions of the foam comprising said grooves after said grooves have been formed by said groove forming means.

A method for cutting a plurality of V-shaped grooves in boards of foam having a puzzle facing material thereon to form foldable corner pieces for a three-dimensional puzzle, comprising:

• feeding said boards one at a time from a supply of said boards at a feeding station onto a generally rectangular board-receiving table where said boards are generally rectangular and planar;
• supporting said boards on said board-receiving table so as to be disposed flat and in a generally horizontal plane after said boards have been fed at said feeding station;
• said table being supported by a frame, said frame including a first location generally adjacent said feeding station for receiving said boards from said feeding station, said frame also including a second location and a third location;
• said second location being positioned on one side of said first location and spaced from said feeding station, said third location being positioned on the other side of said first location and spaced from said feeding station;
• forming said grooves in said boards while said boards are supported on said table including the steps of:
• removing portions of said foam comprising said boards to form said V-shaped grooves therein by imparting reciprocating movement to said board-receiving table relative to a foam removing means and said frame, said table being movable relative to said frame to transfer one of said boards between said first location and said second location, said table also being movable relative to said frame to transport another of said boards between said first location and said third location, said relative movement being imparted by causing oppositely directed linear motion of said board-receiving table of a preselected distance in each direction relative to said foam removing means, said foam removing means including a plurality of fixedly mounted cutters each having a pair of blades positioned closely adjacent and above said board-receiving table;
• said fixedly mounted cutters of said foam removing means removing foam during relative movement between said table and said fixedly mounted cutters of said foam removing means as a first one of said boards moves with said table from said first location to said second location and also as a second one of said boards moves with said table from said first location to said third location;
• separating the portions of the foam comprising said grooves from the remainder of said boards by operation of a foam separating means after said grooves have been formed in said boards in said groove forming step;
• removing said board from said board-receiving table at a removing station after forming said grooves in said groove forming step and separating the portion of the foam comprising said grooves;
• said foam separating means separating foam during relative movement between said table and said foam separating means as said boards move from said second location to said first location and also during relative movement between said table and said foam separating means as said boards move from said third location to said first location;
• removing the portions of said foam comprising said grooves on a second one of said boards while separating the portions of said foam comprising said grooves on a first one of said boards;
• removing said first one of said boards from said first location at said removing station after said foam separation;
• and feeding a third one of said boards to said first location at said feeding station following removal of said first one of said boards.