Hand removable backstop

A lightweight hand-removable backstop structure, for use in an unloading and stacking mechanism of an automatic precision blanking machine, the backstop structure being for helping restrain distal edges of cut-to-length pieces of sheet metal that are shorter than a pallet upon which such pieces are stacked as they are severed and ejected from the blanking machine into the unloading and stacking mechanism, in order to ensure very neat stacking of the severed lengths of cut metal successively being advanced out of and severed by the precision blanking machine from a roll of sheet metal, the hand-removable backstop structure comprising:

• at least one backstop support;
• and
• an elongated substantially rigid structure arranged to be removably installed upon and rigidly supported in position by the at least one backstop support of the unloading and stacking mechanism, the rigid structure having first, second and third elongated sections, with first and third sections being generally vertically arranged when the backstop structure is in use, and second section being generally horizontally arranged when the backstop structure is in use,
• the first section being configured to be hand-mounted upon and mechanically supported by the backstop support;
• the second section being disposed between and operatively rigidly interconnecting the first and third sections,
• the third section having at least one substantially flat large surface portion arranged to have a generally vertical orientation when the backstop structure is in use,
• the backstop structure, when in use, being of sufficient length in a horizontal direction such that all of the third section and at least a portion of the second section extend over at least part of a pallet positioned therebelow upon which ejected pieces of cut-to-length sheet metal are stacked as they are severed by the blanking machine and dropped into the unloading and stacking mechanism,
• the large flat surface portion of the third section being configured to be generally perpendicular to the direction of the advancing strips of sheet metal prior to being severed, and the backstop structure being arranged to be positioned when in use to restrain the distal edges of the severed cut-to-length pieces of sheet metal as gravity causes them to drop,
• whereby the pieces of sheet of sheet metal drop into a stack upon the pallet with their restrained distal edges neatly arranged in a common generally vertical plane and wherein the backstop support of the unloading and stacking mechanism has two substantially rigid vertically projecting support members each with a generally rectangular horizontal cross-section along most of their length, and spaced apart from one another by a first transverse horizontal distance, and wherein the first section has along at least most of its length an H-shaped horizontal cross-section, whereby the first section may be positioned about the backstop support having two substantially rigid vertically projecting support members spaced apart from one another by a horizontal distance slightly greater than a crossbar portion of the H-shaped cross-section.