A tumbling hole punch consists of a serrated tube plunging straight through a film web into a hole in a backup roll. The serrated punch is mounted to an arm which is geared to the backup roll so that the punch remains in register with the hole in the roll. In order to keep the axis of the serrated punch aligned with the axis of the hole in the roll, the punch pivots relative to its arm, and the pivoting is controlled by a gear belt drive so that as the arm rotates the punch tumbles in the opposite direction, keeping its axis parallel with the hole axis.

A method of accurately punching holes into a moving web of a thermoplastic film material, and more particularly, punching holes into the web through the intermediary of a rotary serrated tube punch. The invention relates to accurately punching holes into an advancing web of thermoplastic film material utilizing a novel rotary serrated tube punch. The film web is continuously advanced over at least a portion of the circumferential surface of a rotatable anvil roll, and tensioned against the anvil roll surface through the use of suitable tensioning devices, such as tension rollers arranged upstream and downstream of the anvil roll. At least one opening is formed in the circumferential surface of the anvil roll which is slightly larger than the size of the hole which is desired to be punched into the film web through the use of the inventive rotary tube punching arrangement. The rotary tube punch possesses a serrated cutting edge at its radially outermost end, and is adapted to be rotated in synchronism with the anvil roll and concurrently pivoted or tumbled, so as to cause the serrated cutting edge pierce through the web in a precisely aligned position with the opening in the rotating anvil roll, and to thereby produce an accurately dimensioned hole in the moving web without the necessity for stoping the web. The anvil roll may be constructed hollow, and communicates with a suctioning source for aspirating punched out film material segments.

Apparatus for cutting labels from a ribbon on which the labels are printed. The ribbon is fed into the apparatus along a vertical plane, for instance. There are vertically spaced apart knives adjacent the ribbon for cutting the upper and lower contours of the labels from the ribbon. The knives are caused to pivot toward the ribbon and to rise and fall under the influence of a cam that is shaped correspondingly with the desired contours. After the upper and lower contours are formed the ribbon is caused to change direction around a roller while at the same time the trim margin is deflected in another direction and drawn away. The ribbon, with labels still connected endwise is fed over a vacuum cylinder which has cutters at its periphery for separating the labels from a waste portion between them. The labels are removed from the vacuum cylinder and led to a label applying machine, as an example.

A machine simultaneously cuts a paper web into sheets and adjacent strips. A substantially stationary knife having a blade extending substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the web cooperates with knives on a knife-supporting cylinder. The cylinder is mounted for powered rotation about an axis, and has a substantially circular peripheral surface and at least one chord face formed in the peripheral surface. First and second movable blades are mounted to the chord face. The cylinder is solid and the movable knives enhance the bending resistance of the cylinder. The knife edges of the movable knives are circumferentially spaced from each other in the direction of rotation of the cylinder about its axis. A particular channel is provided connecting a cut web-strip-retaining groove between the movable knives to a source of vacuum, or compressed or ambient air, the cut web strip-retaining groove connected to the source of vacuum when the groove is adjacent the stationary knife, and to the source of compressed or ambient air when remote from the stationary knife (e.g. in alignment with a suction funnel).

Apparatus for continuously cutting a web and removing trim strips therefrom, including a pair of circumferentially spaced knives supported on a cutting shaft, the shaft being rotationally mounted for cutting, in a cutting area, the web transverse to its direction of movement for forming trim strips, a cylinder mounted along the underside of the web for rotation about an axis which is generally perpendicular to the direction of the moving web, the cylinder having a hollow bore communicating with a low pressure source and an opening formed in the surface of the cylinder communicating with the bore for providing low pressure at the opening, the cylinder being rotated at a predetermined speed such that the opening is positioned in the cutting area immediately downstream of the knives each time a trim strip is cut from the web and the opening is rotated away from the cutting area immediately thereafter.