Patent ID: 7134372

Claim:
A machine for slitting a metal sheet comprising: a frame; an upper drive shaft assembly mounted for rotation in the frame; a lower drive shaft assembly mounted for rotation in the frame; each of the drive shaft assemblies comprising a plurality of drive shaft sections each being coupled through a coupling mechanism to an adjacent drive shaft section for rotation in the frame, each coupling mechanism being mounted to rotate with the plurality of coupled drive shaft sections; a drive motor operably coupled to the upper and the lower drive shaft assemblies for rotation of the drive shaft assemblies; a plurality of knife holder assemblies supported by the frame in pairs for movement along the drive shaft assemblies such that a first knife holder assembly is supported for movement along the upper drive shaft assembly and a second knife holder assembly is supported for movement along the lower drive shaft assembly; and a plurality of rotary knives each being mounted in one of the knife holder assemblies and driven by one of the upper and lower drive shaft assemblies; wherein the knives of the first and second knife holder assemblies cooperate to slit the metal sheet passing through a nip between the knives of the respective knife holder assemblies; wherein the adjacent drive shaft sections of each drive shaft assembly are adapted to be selectively repositioned relative to one another for servicing the machine.