Patent ID: 7197970

Claim:
An apparatus for trimming scrap from an aluminum sheet metal blank comprising: a clamping base comprising: a clamping base upper surface; a clamping base bottom surface; and a clamping base engagement surface positioned between said clamping base upper surface and said clamping base bottom surface, said clamping base engagement surface comprising: a clamping base vertically orientated portion perpendicular to said clamping base upper surface; and a clamping base angled portion intersecting said clamping base upper surface at an obtuse intersection angle; a steady blade mounted to said clamping base, said steady blade comprising: a steady blade mounting surface coincident with said clamping base vertically orientated portion; a vertically orientated steady blade blade-side surface; and a steady blade engagement surface angled to be substantially coplanar with said clamping base angled portion such that said steady blade and said clamping base form a contiguous angled engagement surface, said steady blade engagement surface intersecting said vertically orientated steady blade blade-side surface to form a steady blade trimming edge; an elastic scrap support comprising a support upper surface parallel and contiguous with said contiguous angled engagement surface; an upper clamping element comprising an upper clamping engagement surface parallel with said contiguous angled engagement surface, said upper clamping engagement surface positioned to engage an aluminum blank positioned between said upper clamping element and said contiguous angled engagement surface, said upper clamping element positioned such that said upper clamping engagement surface is positioned partly over said clamping base angled portion and partially over said steady blade engagement surface; a moving blade movable past said steady blade for trimming said aluminum blank, said moving blade comprising: a moving blade blade-side surface parallel to said steady blade blade-side surface, a moving blade engagement surface generally parallel with the contiguous angled engagement surface, and a moving blade trimming edge formed by the intersection of said moving blade blade-side surface and said moving blade engagement surface, said moving blade engagement surface distributing strain on said aluminum blank as said moving blade trimming edge separates a scrap element from said aluminum blank.