Patent ID: 6895797

Claim:
A punch assembly for forming a workpiece comprising, a punch assembly, said punch assembly including a vertical sleeve with a central bore, a tool holder mounted for axial movement therethrough, a ring-shaped circumferentially extending supporting flange encircling the punch assembly and slidably mounted thereon such that the punch assembly as a whole is slideable axially within the flange, the flange being spaced apart from a lower end of the punch assembly and is devoid of a guide bushing around the tool holder, the sleeve having an outwardly projecting shoulder, at least one retractor spring is connected between the shoulder of the sleeve and the flange for yieldably biasing the flange downwardly on the punch assembly, a retainer connected to the flange for holding the flange in place on the sleeve and for enabling the flange to be removed from the sleeve, said tool holder extending downwardly during use toward the workpiece from the flange and an extension control for changing the distance that the tool holder extends below the supporting flange, such that the form height or depth of the workpiece can be set at a selected value while maximizing a gap between a tool held by the tool holder and the workpiece.