Patent ID: 7985369

Claim:
A downdraft exhaust cutting and shuttle table mechanism comprising: a shuttle table mechanism including first and second elongated, horizontally disposed cutting tables having opposite ends and opposite sides, each of said first and second cutting tables including a plurality of cross-brace support struts extending generally transversely on said first and second cutting tables, each of said plurality of cross brace support struts being an upright plate extending generally parallel with one another such that material to be cut is supported on at least some of the top edges of said plurality of cross-brace support struts; a horizontal table movement device operative to move each of said first and second cutting tables forwards and backwards in a generally horizontal plane between a cutting area and a loading area generally adjacent said cutting area; a vertical table movement device in said loading area, said vertical table movement device operative to move said first and second cutting tables upwards and downwards in a generally vertical plane; a material cutting assembly positioned in said cutting area over said first and second cutting tables and being movable along the lengths thereof to cut material positioned on said first and second cutting tables upon one of said first and second cutting tables being moved into said cutting area; an exhaust duct positioned in said cutting area beneath said first and second cutting tables when one of said first and second cutting tables are positioned in said cutting area; said exhaust duct having a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart exhaust openings formed therein; means for exhausting air from within said exhaust duct; a plurality of vertically disposed and horizontally spaced partition gates extending laterally from said exhaust duct to one side of said cutting area beneath said first and second cutting tables when one of said first and second cutting tables are positioned in said cutting area to define a plurality of ventilation zones; a slag collecting device positioned in said cutting area beneath said first and second cutting tables when one of said first and second cutting tables are positioned in said cutting area for collecting slag which is created by the material being cut and which falls downwardly from said first and second cutting tables, said slag collecting device being selectively movable along the length of said first and second cutting tables; and said vertical table movement device and said horizontal table movement device cooperating to vertically move one of said first and second cutting tables from a loading position while in said loading area then generally horizontally forwards into said cutting area for cutting of material mounted thereon then generally horizontally backwards into said loading area to a position generally underneath the other of said first and second cutting tables which has been lifted via said vertical table movement device.