Patent ID: 7866718

Claim:
A paperboard lifting device for a stripping or blanking press, the paperboard lifting device comprising: a deflectable bridge portion comprising a top surface, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, a first end, and a second end opposite the first end; a front end integral with the first end of the deflectable bridge portion and comprising a pair of downwardly extending tabs, wherein one of the downwardly extending tabs extends from a first side of the front end and the other of the downwardly extending tabs extends from an opposite side of the front end; a back end integral with the second end of the deflectable bridge portion and comprising a pair of downwardly extending clamp arms, wherein one of the downwardly extending clamp arms extends from a first side of the front end and the other of the downwardly extending clamp arms extends from an opposite side of the front end; wherein the paperboard lifting device comprises two halves that are mirror images of each other along a central plane, each downwardly extending clamp arm comprises a curved portion that, in a downward direction, first curves away from the central plane then curves toward the central plane, each downwardly extending clamp arm terminates with a contact edge, the downwardly extending clamp arms are separated from each other by a first distance in the vicinity of the second end of the deflectable bridge portion, and the contact edges are separated from each other by a second distance that is less than the first distance.