A punch press has a frame with a rotatable ram having a tool mounting portion at its lower end and a rotatable die holder in the base of the frame, and it has a tool mounting portion. The tool mounting portions of the ram and die holder are aligned and have tool receiving passages at a point about their periphery. A work support table is provided about the work station and its upper surface provides a workpiece support. The press has a workpiece guidance system which includes an elongated rail and a multiplicity of tool holders supported on the rail for movement therewith. The press also includes a tool storage and transfer assembly at the outer end of the frame with a tool storage magazine rotatable about a horizontal axis and having tool holders spaced about the major portion of its periphery. Its periphery is truncated so that in one rotated position it does not extend above the work support surface, but, in the other rotated position, its tool holders are horizontally aligned with the tool receiving passages. The punch press includes a computer control which effects rotation of the lower portion of the ram and of the die holder to orient the tool receiving passages in the desired direction, effects rotation of the magazine and operation of its element to insert or retrieve tooling in the tool mounting portions and effects movement of the rail to effect transfer of tooling to and from its tool holders.

A punch press provided with a tool magazine in which a plurality of tool mounting gondolas are supported movably in a vertical loop by and between two endless chains arranged vertically around sprocket wheels. Each gondola is supported at its supporting points which differ from each other at least in height, whereby the gondola is moved around in the loop without overturn when the sprocket wheels are rotated by a motor. Each of the gondolas stays at a manually tool changing location of the magazine where a table is provided for changing a number of tool assemblies in the magazine. The table has at least one guide which is positioned at two different heights, and along the guide tool assemblies or an upper and a lower die holders are drawn out of the gondola horizontally and placed in desired positions for replacement.

A surgical apparatus for performing a surgical procedure such as severing tissue in microsurgical operations. In the case of a cutting implement, the apparatus includes an elongated rigid housing having an inner wall and supporting therein first and second elongated shaft members. The first and second shaft members each have juxtaposed inner surfaces slidable relative to each other and outer surfaces terminating in corners which abut and are slidable relative to the inner tubular wall. The first shaft has a driven end and an active or operable cutting end having a first cutting edge disposed outside of the tubular housing. The second shaft has a fixed end and a cutting end with a second cutting edge also disposed outside of the tubular housing. Drive means are connected to the driven end of the first shaft for causing axial reciprocatory movement of the first cutting edge through a predetermined stroke distance to carry the first cutting edge past the second cutting edge to effect cutting action.

In order to insert a punch into a punch mounting hole formed in a turret by a robot hand, the present method includes the following steps: (a) grasping the punch above the upper turret by a robot hand, and horizontally moving the punch to a position above a mounting hole formed in the upper turret; (b) moving the punch downwardly by the robot hand; (c) detecting whether the lower end of the punch is in contact with the wall of the mounting hole (d) detecting the height of the lower end of the punch when the lower end of the punch comes in contact with the wall of the mounting hole; (e) comparing the detected height of the lower end with a predetermined height; and (f) further moving the punch downwardly if the detected height is smaller than the predetermined height. In the preferred embodiment, if the insertion in accordance with the previous steps fails, the punch is moved upwardly and the center of the mounting hole is re-calculated on the basis of the data by a three-point search method.

To easily mount the ram drive unit on the upper frame of a punch press without being subjected to the influence of heat generated from the ram drive unit, the ram drive unit (23) is mounted on the upper frame symmetrical right and left when seen from the front. To accurately determine the angular position of a tool set, the punch holder (95) is fitted to the cylindrical pivotal member (113) with a positive fit tolerance to eliminate a or slip along the circumferential direction thereof. Further, the punch press is provided with a die holder (17) including a die fixing device (133) composed of a die push member (169), a hydraulic cylinder (165) and a piston rod (167) and further with an automatic tool exchange device (29) located equidistantly away from the process position and the tool exchange position.