Supported shear with reversible linear drive and in-feed table therefor

Abstract

A bladeless shear for bar stock and tubing comprising axially adjacent stationary and moving dies which receive the stock and produce a shearing action by relative lateral displacement. A linear actuator or an electric motor produces the mechanical movement to rotate the drive wheel in alternatingly opposite directions. A mandrel for insertion into the tube is disclosed as well as an hydraulic tube clamp and an adjustable in-feed table.

Description

INTRODUCTION

This invention relates to bladeless shearing of linear stock such as stainless steel tubing and bar stock and, more particularly, to a device which achieves the shearing of stock by causing elliptical, lateral translation of a section of the stock relative to an axially adjacent section.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,514 “Elliptical Shearing Apparatus”, issued Jan. 13, 1987 to Alexander Borzym, there is disclosed a bladeless device for shearing linear stock, such as bar stock and tubing, by causing a section of the stock to translate laterally through an elliptical path relative to the axially adjacent stock. As is more fully disclosed in the aforesaid patent, this is achieved through the use of a large, steel body referred to as a “die holder” having a central, die-like aperture formed therein which is adapted to receive and precisely surround the linear stock. One side of the die holder is pinned to permit pivotal and limited lateral motion. The other side is connected to a drive mechanism consisting of a large electric motor driving a flywheel at constant speed and a clutch and brake mechanism for selectively and momentarily imparting orbital motion to the die holder. Orbital motion of the die holder around the mechanical drive center produces a unidirectional, elliptical translation of the stock receiving die which lies between the drive center and the pinned end of the die holder. The amplitude of the elliptical motion is a function of the amplitude of the orbital drive motion and the geometric location of the die within the die holder body.

By placing a fixed die also having a stock-receiving aperture immediately axially adjacent to the moveable die, a scissors-like shearing action is produced on a length of stock which is inserted through the two aligned dies; the shear line is defined by the mating plane of the two dies.

There are numerous advantages to a shear of this type relative to cutoffs using blades or other cutting implements. The principal advantages are the elimination of the cutting implement as a perishable component and the conservation of material in the work piece; i.e., saw blades and guillotine blades remove a section of material approximately equal to the thickness of the blade each time it passes through the stock. The resulting loss of material from the stock is significant, particularly where short lengths and high cutting rates are employed.

Another advantage is the quality of the “cut” which can be achieved in the use of the bladeless shear in connection with stock of very hard material such as stainless steel. Blade type cutoffs are known to cause distortion; e.g., burrs and/or dents in the cut tube ends, and very high blade wear when used with hard materials such as stainless steel. The bladeless shear cutoff actually excels when used with materials of this type.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a novel and advantageous table suitable for supporting lengths of tubular stock of varying diameters being fed into a supported shear where the tubular stock is severed into desired lengths. The table comprises a pair of parallel spaced apart rods, preferably of cirular cross section, symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the intended path of the stock. The rods are pivotally connected to links which in turn are pivotally connected to converging surfaces of a support block such that coordinated rotation of the links changes the spacing between the support rods without disturbing the parallel relationship between them.

In the preferred embodiment, the angular positions of the links are determined by turnbuckles which are connected between the tops of the links and a support block which can be clamped to a support surface in any of an infinite number of longitudinal positions such that angular position of the links can be controlled either by adjusting the turnbuckles or adjusting the clamp block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bladeless shear device having an in-feed table which feeds tubing onto a mandrel rod and into the shear from left to right;

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic drawing of an adjustable stroke tube shear and linear motor drive useful in explaining the concept of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective drawing of the bladeless shear device of FIG. 1 enlarged to show detail;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the bladeless shear machine illustrating the arrangement of the stationary and orbital rams and the adjustable orbital drive;

FIG. 5 is a side view partly in section to show details of the linear drive;

FIG. 6 is a cut away view of the ram and tooling portion of the device of FIG. 1 with the mandrel in place within a length of tubular stock to be sheared;

FIG. 7 is a simplified view of the orbital ram and a portion of the drive system useful in explaining certain dimensional relationships of the orbital drive function;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an hydraulic power system for producing operation of the linear drive;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are end views of the in-feed table illustrating the adjustment for different tube sizes;

FIG. 10 shows a table detail for adjusting the spread between the elements on which the stock rests; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic drawing of the electric motor embodiment of the linear drive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

General

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 , there is shown a bladeless supported shear device 10 mounted on a rigid steel base 12 for shearing tubular stock 14 which is fed into the device 10 with the help of an in-feed table 16 which underlies and supports the stock. Device 10 comprises a die holder assembly including a stationary ram 18 , an axially adjacent orbital ram 20 and a stock clamp 22 . The orbital ram 20 comprises a drive wheel 24 which is variably eccentrically driven by an hydraulic linear actuator assembly 26 through a drive shaft housing 28 . Base 12 includes a generally planar top 30 of convenient work height for the device 10 which is matched to the height of the in-feed table 16 .

The device 10 of FIGS. 1 and 3 is described herein as applied to the shearing of tubular stock of relatively hard; i.e., low ductility, material such as stainless steel. However, it is to be understood that with appropriate die tooling, the device 10 can be used to shear a wide variety of elongate stock including solid or bar stock, round tubing, square, triangular, oblong, rectangular, and polygonal tubing and fabricated shapes, both open and closed, of many shapes and materials.

The apparatus of FIG. 1 includes a mandrel 32 (see FIG. 6 ) which is inserted into the stock 14 from the end most distal from the device 10 by way of a small diameter rod 34 of adjustable length and which is adapted to be held in position during a shearing operation by means of a manually releasable clamp 36 carried on the end of in-feed table 16 . The construction of operation of the device 10 and table 16 will be described on the premise that the stock 14 is being re-cut to lengths, constant or variable, which are selected fractions of the original stock length in preparation for a fabrication operation utilizing the re-cut lengths. It is further premised that the stock 14 is being intermittently fed into the ram assembly of the device 10 and that actuation of the ram assembly to produce the shearing action occurs while the stock 14 is stationary. A suitable systems for automatically feeding stock into the shear device 10 is described in copending application Ser. No. 08/941,812, filed concurrently herewith in the name of John J. Borzym as sole inventor, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,003 issued Sep. 26, 2000.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 7 , a brief description will be made of the principal components of the bladeless shearing device 10 including the linear drive 24 , 26 , 28 and the functions thereof in shearing the stainless steel tubular stock 14 . It will be understood that a mandrel is not needed if the stock is solid and may not be needed if the stock is of an open shape or configuration which can be matched by die openings in the die holder assembly 18 , 20 .

As shown in FIG. 2 , the stationary ram 18 is mounted on the base 12 and has a circular die aperture 38 the shape of which conforms closely to the external surface of the stock 14 and the central axis 40 of which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the stock. Located in abutting, adjacent relationship to the stationary ram 18 is an orbital ram 20 a central portion 42 of which is provided with a circular die aperture 44 which, in the rest position of the ram 20 , is axially aligned with the aperture 38 in the stationary ram 18 thereby to receive the tubular stock 14 and permit the stock to pass through the apertures 38 and 49 to the desired extent. The diameter of aperture 44 is slightly larger than that of aperture 38 . The actual shape of the orbital ram 20 is more realistically illustrated in FIGS. 3 , 4 and 7 , the shape of FIG. 2 being chosen merely for purposes of schematic description; i.e., the shape shown in FIG. 7 provides more strength and rigidity which is required of a tube shearing operation in actual practice. Moreover, the ram 20 is shown in FIG. 7 to include a replaceable tool-steel insert 46 which defines the die aperture 44 .

The right-hand side of the orbital ram 20 , as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 , is provided with a slot 47 which receives in sliding relationship therein a pivot block 48 which is pivotally mounted on a bearing flange 50 by means of a shaft 51 for pivotal motion about an axis 52 which is parallel to the axis 40 of the apertures 38 and 44 . Bearing flange 50 is welded to base 12 . The lateral clearances between the block 48 and the slot 47 permit limited lateral movement of the ram 20 relative to the flange 50 for reasons to be explained.

At the left end, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 7 , the ram 20 fully surrounds and accommodates therein the drive wheel 24 and a bearing 25 therefor. The wheel is rotatably driven through a shaft 54 supported on the machine base 12 by a fixed support 56 . Shaft 54 carries a pinion 58 which meshes with the teeth of a vertical rack 60 which is alternately driven in opposite directions by hydraulic cylinders 62 and 64 which are part of the linear actuator assembly 26 .

The shaft 54 is assembled to wheel 24 by way of an integral nut 66 which is trapped within a semi-diametral slot 70 in wheel 24 . The nut 66 is threaded to receive a screw shaft 68 having upper and lower thumb wheels 72 and 74 . Rotation of the shaft 68 causes movement of the nut 66 along the shaft such that the center of shaft 54 can be displaced to any desired degree from the geometric center of the wheel 24 , which center is marked in FIG. 2 by a cross symbol. It can readily be seen that when the center of shaft 54 , i.e., the wheel “drive center,” coincides with the geometric center of the wheel itself, rotation of the wheel causes no motion of the ram 20 relative to base 12 . However, when the drive center is displaced from the geometric center of the wheel 24 as shown in both FIGS. 2 and 7 , an eccentric drive is created which forces the center of the ram 20 to follow an orbital path around the center line of the shaft 54 . This eccentric motion, although orbital about the shaft centerline, is elliptical in the area of ram portion 42 as hereinafter explained.

In the schematic examples of FIGS. 2 and 7 , the distance from axis 52 to the center line of shaft 54 where the slot 70 is vertical is twice the distance from the axis 52 to the axis 40 . To state it otherwise, the centerline of the tooling die aperture 44 is exactly midway between the center of wheel 24 and the pivot shaft 50 . Accordingly, the radial amplitude of the vertical component of displacement of the axis 40 when the eccentric wheel drive is operative is one-half of the radial displacement of the wheel center+from the center of the shaft 54 . However, the amplitude of the lateral displacement of the ram 20 in all places is equal to the radial amplitude of the orbital motion about the center of shaft 54 , the clearances between the block 48 and slot 46 permit this lateral translation. Since the amplitude R 1 of the lateral ram displacement is twice the amplitude R 2 of the vertical displacement at axis 40 , the motion of the ram 20 about the axis 40 is elliptical rather than circular. The amplitude R 1 is called the “stroke” and is varied by varying its degree of drive eccentricity through thumb wheels 72 and 74 .

In operation, the apparatus schematically illustrated in FIG. 2 is set up with the nut 66 displaced from the geometric center of the drive wheel 24 by a distance which is approximately equal to the wall thickness of the tubular stock 14 . In addition, the apertures 38 and 44 are arranged so that they are coaxial; in the actual device hereinafter described this requires that the stationary ram 18 be adjustable in vertical position relative to the base 12 . The stainless steel tubular stock 14 is fed through the concentric tooling apertures 38 and 44 until the desired shear line of the stock is co-extensive with the plane in which the inner diameters of the apertures 38 and 44 meet; i.e. the circular “seam” between the aperture 38 of the stationary ram 18 and the aperture 44 of the orbital ram 20 . A mandrel such as 32 in FIG. 6 is placed within the stock 14 . As hereinafter explained, the mandrel plays an integral part in the shearing action.

At this time, one of the hydraulic cylinders 62 and 64 is actuated to displace the rack 60 sufficiently to rotate pinion 58 about one revolution. The orbital motion imparted to the wheel 24 by the eccentric drive produces elliptical movement of the shearing ram 20 relative to the stationary ram 18 and the section of the tubular stock 14 within and forward of the aperture 44 is displaced elliptically relative to the axially adjacent section of tubular stock which is held fixed within the aperture 38 of the stationary ram 18 . This relative elliptical motion is sufficient to shear or break the material of the tubular stock 14 cleanly in the plane which is co-extensive with the seam between the apertures 38 and 44 . Cleanly shorn tube ends requiring little or no secondary operations are the result.

The tubular stock 14 is thereafter advanced until the next shearing location is centered between the stationary and fixed rams 18 and 20 , respectively, and the opposite cylinder 62 , 64 is actuated to drive the wheel 24 via the shaft 54 through one revolution in a direction opposite to that of the first operation. The intermittent bi-directional translation of the wheel 24 and the ram 20 tends to distribute wear in the area of the apertures 28 and 44 , commonly embodied as hereinafter described by expensive alloy steel tooling, around the surfaces of the apertures in a relatively uniform way thereby to substantially improve tooling life relative to the unidirectional drive which was used in the prior art device described above.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-10 , a first illustrative embodiment of the invention suitable for commercial application will be described in detail.

The in-feed table 16 is shown in FIGS. 9A , 9 B and 10 to comprise a pair of spaced parallel solid steel bars 76 and 78 of circular cross section pivotally secured at each of several spaced locations to identical sets of links 80 and 82 , respectively, which are pivotally connected to the beveled faces of a series of spaced support blocks 84 for rotation about intersecting non horizontal axes 85 and 87 . The blocks 84 are located at regular intervals along a beam 86 which is carried on fabricated steel legs 88 . As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the links 80 and 82 may be selectively pivoted about axes 85 and 87 to adjust the relative spacing between the rods 76 and 78 as well as the elevation thereof thereby to locate the centerline of the stock 14 such as to align it with the axis of apertures 38 and 44 as described above. To further explain, the links 80 and 82 are pivotally mounted to the upwardly converging faces of the blocks 84 to rotate about axes 85 and 87 whenever the turn-buckles 146 and 148 are lengthened or shortened and/or are adjusted in position by means of the mechanism 150 , 156 and 160 . The pivot points for the links 80 and 82 are near the bottoms of the upwardly converging faces of block 84 where those faces are farthest apart. When the longer dimension of the lengths 80 , 82 is most upright, as shown in FIG. 9A , the rest bars 76 , 78 , being pivotally mounted to the tops of links 80 and 82 , are closer together to accommodate smaller diameter tube 14 . When the links 80 , 82 are rotated about axes 85 and 87 to a less upright orientation, the tops of the links and the pivot axes 85 and 87 diverge, thus widening the spacing between the bars 76 , 78 as shown in FIG. 9B to accommodate larger diameter tube. The mechanism 150 , 152 , 154 , 156 , 158 , 160 allows simultaneous adjustment of the angular positions of both lengths 80 and 82 whereas the turn-buckles 146 , 148 allow individual adjustments. The bars 76 and 78 , although shown as if circular (round) cross-section and of a diameter which is less than that of the stock 14 , may be of other shapes and sizes. It is believed desirable, however, to use a bar shape which, in combination with the stock shape, produces a tangential contact for minimizing contact area.

The table 16 is arranged so as to feed the tubular stock 14 onto a notched rest block 90 which is carried within a large steel frame 92 mounted to the stationary ram 18 by way of a bolt 94 which corresponds to pin 51 in FIG. 2 and passes through a hole in bearing flange 50 shown in FIG. 4 . The axis of the bolt 94 corresponds with the axis 52 shown in FIG. 2 ; i.e., it is the lever axis or fulcrum about which the orbital ram 20 is caused to pivot by operation of the linear drive. Frame 92 carries the hydraulic cylinder 22 having a vertically extending plunger 98 disposed immediately over the noted support block 90 so as to effectively clamp the portion of the tubular steel stock 14 in which mandrel 32 is located during a shearing operation. The clamp cylinder 22 stabilizes the mandrel 32 and prevents the stock 14 from whipping during the shear operation; such whipping action can produce the undesirable result of non-square tube ends.

The elevation of the clamp block 90 is adjusted to accommodate the particular stock by way of an adjustable leg 100 which extends vertically through an integral portion of the frame 92 , as shown in FIG. 3 and has suitable locking means at 102 .

The stationary ram 18 lies between and immediately adjacent each of the frame 92 and the orbital ram 20 and is provided with a tool steel insert 46 having formed therein the aperture 44 which closely surrounds and holds the tubular stock 14 during the shearing operation. To permit alignment of the apparatus as hereinbefore described and to accommodate tubular stock of varying outside diameter, the stationary ram 18 is also mounted on the bolt 92 for pivotal motion about the axis 52 which is the common pivot axis to the frame 92 and the fixed ram 18 . A support leg 104 is mounted on the stationary ram 18 and extends in adjustable threaded relationship into the base 12 . A compression spring 106 urges the right side of the ram 18 in the counter-clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 3 to maintain tension in the bolt 104 . The frame 92 and the stationary ram 18 are preferably fastened together so they can be moved and/or adjusted as a unit by through bolts 108 and 110 which extend parallel to the axis of the tubular stock 14 . The nuts on bolts 108 and 110 are tightened once proper alignment has been achieved.

As best shown in FIG. 5 , the transmission housing 28 contains a stepped steel shaft 54 having two different but relatively large outer diameters seated in bearings 112 and 114 for rotation about the central axis of the shaft 54 . The right-hand end of the shaft 54 , as shown in FIG. 5 , is splined to receive the pinion 58 shown in FIG. 2 but removed for clarity in FIG. 5 . Pinion 58 meshes with the racks of the two-way linear drive as hereinafter described. The left side of the shaft 54 is of polygonal configuration to define nut 66 and extends into the slot 70 in the drive wheel 24 to engage the threaded shaft 68 disposed therein. A plate 116 covers the slot 70 during operation as shown in FIG. 5 .

Looking now to FIG. 6 , the details of the mandrel 32 which is disposed within the tubular stock 14 during shearing operations to prevent collapse and/or deformation of the stock wall will be described. The mandrel 32 is a bullet-shaped steel body mounted on shaft 34 which permits the mandrel to extend through a long length of tubular stock and precisely located so that critical portions of the mandrel correspond in location with the shear line at the interface between the shear tooling hereinbefore described. The shaft 34 terminates in a flared end collar 112 having a threaded axial bore which receives therein the threaded end of a rod 114 to permit length adjustments. Nut 116 locks the threaded rod 114 relative to the collar 112 when the appropriate length is achieved.

The body of mandrel 32 is essentially cylindrical and its internal diameter closely approximates that of the interior of the tubular stock 14 . It is long enough to lie between the dies 18 and 20 and to lie within the stock 14 under the clamp 22 . The distal end of the mandrel 32 is provided with an assembly which comprises a threaded center shaft, a fixed annulus 120 , a laterally moveable annulus 118 , a cap 124 , a compression spring 126 , a cam collar 128 , and a nut 122 . Cam collar 128 has a beveled external bearing surface which mates with a similar beveled interval surface in annulus 120 . Spring 126 permits the collar 128 to move radially and axially at the same time against the bias of spring 126 . The mating plane or “seam” between fixed annulus 120 and moveable annulus 118 must correspond precisely to the interface seam between the stationary and orbital rams 18 and 20 , respectively, during a shearing operation so that one section of stock 14 can move laterally of the adjacent section for shearing purposes.

Looking now to FIG. 8 an hydraulic control system for programming and controlling operation of the linear drive will be described. Pressure (P) and Tank (T) lines 132 , 134 are connected in a loop fashion through hydraulic spool valves 136 , 137 and 138 each of which is equipped with a conventional internal spool to permit high pressure and tank pressure to be gradually applied to either of the output lines from those valves in a controlled and selectable fashion. Valve 136 is a proportional value and is connected via output lines 139 and 140 to the hydraulic cylinders 62 and 64 to effect displacement of the internal pistons/racks 65 and 66 respectively. These racks engage the teeth of the orbital wheel drive pinion 58 which resides in a box 130 lubricated by pressure tapped from line 139 through a regulator 141 .

In the configuration shown in FIG. 8 high pressure (P) will be applied to the top of cylinder 62 to initiate a shear cycle and tank pressure (T) simultaneously applied to the top of cylinder 64 to maintain a small residual pressure against the top of racks/pistons 66 . As a result the high pressure drives the racks/pistons 65 downwardly as shown in FIG. 8 rotating the pinion 58 counter clockwise and driving the right hand piston 66 through the pinion 58 upwardly against the slight residual tank pressure. This maintains the teeth of the pinion gears in engagement with the same side of the rack convolutions at all times and eliminates backlash which might otherwise make stopping the orbital wheel at the dead center position more difficult and/or impossible. To drive the piston/racks 65 , 66 in the opposite direction the spool in valve 136 is shifted by an appropriate input signal to a position which reverses the pressure value on the output line. The cylinders 62 and 64 are provided with precisely adjustable mechanical stops which correspond to and actually define the top-dead-center position.

Valve 137 is used to selectively “jog” the pistons for any of a variety of operations including test and die assembly procedures. Valve 138 is available to provide a torque boost in the event a particularly hard or heavy wall thickness material is to be shorn.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the hydraulic control arts that the valves 137 and 138 are controlled by solenoids which in turn are controlled from a conventional control panel having push buttons, switches, and similar input/output devices. Valve 136 is preferably controlled by hydraulic pressure through a pilot line 131 .

Looking again to FIGS. 9A , 9 B and 10 , the in-feed table 16 is shown to comprise solid steel rods 76 and 78 forming tube rests and mounted in pivotal links 80 and 82 The angles of the links 80 , 82 relative to the block 82 are determined individually by turnbuckles 146 and 148 connected to opposite sides of slotted slide block 150 mounted on base 152 . The longitudinal portion of block 150 relative to base 152 can be adjusted via Allen-head screw 154 to produce a fast and simultaneous adjustment of the angular positions of the links 80 and 82 . The selected portion is then maintained or locked-in by clamp lever 156 attached to clamp head 158 the integral bolt of which extends downwardly through the set 160 into a tapped hole in base 152 . Individual fine adjustment of the angular positions of links 80 and 82 can be accomplished by means of the turn-buckles 146 and 148 . It will be noted from FIGS. 9A and 9B that the included angle between the contact points of the rests 76 , 78 and the tube 14 remains nearly the same over a range of adjustments; i.e., both a small tube as shown in FIG. 9A and a larger tube as shown in FIG. 9B contact the bars 76 , 78 at the 5 o'clock and 7 o'clock positions. Thus, the in-feed table rests can be narrowed or spread without creating a shallow unstable tube rest.

Table 16 underlies and supports the tubular stock 14 as it is fed into the shear device 10 . By supporting the tubular stock, table 16 also supports the mounted rod 34 shown in FIG. 1 and prevents it from sagging. To this end, cast iron forms 35 are mounted on the rod 34 at 4 foot intervals and have outside diameters which closely approximate the inside diameter of the stock 14 to hold the rod 34 straight and prevent movement of the mandrel relative to the shear plane. This instrumentality greatly increases the life of the tooling. The material of forms 35 can be other than cast iron but is preferably somewhat softer than the material of the work piece so as to be “sacrificial” in the event of interference which might otherwise mar the work piece.

In operation, a first shearing stroke is initiated by opening valve 136 to actuate cylinders 62 and 64 in the manner described above. This rotates the pinion 58 one revolution of the drive wheel 24 . On the next cycle, the cylinders 62 and 64 are actuated in the opposite direction by opening valve 136 to apply “P” and “T” pressures to opposite cylinders.

A suitable apparatus for implementing the linear drive including the hydraulic cylinders, the racks, and the pinion, as well as the high pressure hydraulic pump 132 and its power supply is available from FLO-TORK, Inc. of Orrville, Ohio 44667. FLO-TORK, Inc. refers to the product as an hydraulic rotary actuator. FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative power source in the form of a reversible electric motor 170 connected to the shaft 54 in unit 28 through a reduction gear unit 171 . The assembly 28 is otherwise the same as the arrangement shown in FIG. 5 . The motor 170 is preferably of the reluctance type and may be precisely controlled as to direction and stopping location by means which will be apparent to persons familiar with feedback position control systems.

Claims

1. An adjustable support for tubular stock comprising:a pair of parallel stock support bars spaced apart by a distance which is less than the stock diameter whereby the stock rests between and in parallel contact with both of the bars; and means for varying the spacing between said bars.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for varying comprises a plurality of pairs of links pivotally connected to said bars and to spaced support blocks having upwardly converging, beveled lateral surfaces, and means for selectively variably rotating said links about respective non-parallel pivot axes passing through said lateral surfaces to individually position said bars.

3. A support apparatus for tubular stock comprising:a base; a support block on the base and having laterally opposite upwardly converging lateral plane surfaces; first and second parallel, spaced apart stock support bars adapted to receive the stock therebetween and in parallel contact therewith; first and second links pivotally connected between respective surfaces of the support block the base and the first and second support bars, respectively; first and second turnbuckles each having one end connected to a respective link; and means adjustably connecting the other end of each of the turnbuckles to the base for selectively rotating the links relative to the base to vary the spacing between the parallel bars.

4. A support apparatus as defined in clam 3 wherein the stock support bars are essentially round in cross section.

5. In a bladeless shear device of the type having first and second tools aligned with a work piece axis and means for causing orbital motion of one of the tools relative to the other;an actuator having a linearly translating drive component; and means for converting the linear translation of the drive component into orbital motion of said one tool.