Patent ID: 7954404

Claim:
A punch assembly having a tubular punch housing with a punch therein that is yieldably biased in an upward direction within the housing comprising, (a) a unitary punch length adjustment subassembly adapted to be shipped and installed into the punch assembly as a separate integrated retrofit unit and having an outer tubular base member adapted to slide axially in the punch housing and to be non-rotatably mounted at the upper end of the punch assembly, (1) the unitary punch length adjustment subassembly including a punch head member having an upper end adapted to be struck by a punch ram of a punch press for driving the punch to an operating position, (2) the unitary punch length adjustment subassembly including a sleeve that is mounted within the tubular base member for rotation on the punch axis relative to the tubular base member but is held against axial movement relative to the tubular base member, (3) the punch head is operatively associated by a threaded length adjustment connection to the punch for adjusting distance from a punch tip at the lower end of the punch to an upper end of the punch head, (4) a manually operable releasable stop member is provided as part of the unitary punch length adjustment subassembly between the punch head and the tubular base member for preventing rotation of the punch length adjustment head relative to the tubular base while the unitary punch assembly is engaged in a punching operation on a punch press, and (5) a length adjustment platen is affixed to the punch and the length adjustment connection is an axial threaded connection between the punch head as a part of the unitary punch length adjustment subassembly and the platen wherein after the threaded connection is completely unscrewed the punch and the platen are able to slide out of a bottom end of the housing without the use of hand tools.