Cart for die transportation

A cart for transporting dies and for transferring the dies to or from a die press, said cart comprising:

• a cart frame having one or more wheels for allowing the cart frame to move adjacent to or away from the die press;
• a support surface connected to the cart frame and structured to support the weight of at least one die, wherein the support surface defines a generally longitudinal direction and defines a generally lateral direction;
• a control assembly;
• and
• a transfer mechanism connected to the cart frame and operatively connected to the control assembly, the transfer mechanism capable of moving a die, in response to the control assembly, along the longitudinal direction and along the lateral direction relative to the support surface so that;
• the die can be transferred from or to the support surface relative to the die press in both a generally longitudinal direction and a generally lateral direction.

A cart for transporting dies and for transferring the dies to or from a die press, said cart comprising:

• a cart frame having one or more wheels for allowing the cart frame to move adjacent to or away from the die press;
• a support surface connected to the cart frame and structured to support the weight of at least one die, wherein the support surface defines a generally longitudinal direction and defines a generally lateral direction;
• a control assembly;
• and
• a transfer mechanism comprising at least one arm, the transfer mechanism connected to the cart frame and structured to move a die to or from the die press when the transfer mechanism is engaged with the die;
• and
• a suction device cantilevered from the arm and operatively connected to the transfer mechanism and the control assembly and capable of selectively engaging a die in response to the control assembly, such that the die can be transferred from or to the support surface relative to the die press.

A method of transferring a die having at least one metallic component onto a cart to transfer the die to or from a die press, the method comprising the steps of:

• moving the cart adjacent to the die to be transferred, wherein the cart comprises a support surface connected to a cart frame and structured to support the weight of at least one die;
• engaging the die with an electromagnet cantilevered from an arm, the electromagnet operatively connected to a transfer mechanism and a control assembly and capable of selectively magnetically engaging a metallic component of a die in response to the control assembly;
• and
• transferring the die onto the support surface until the die is completely supported by the support surface.