Abstract: A turret roll forming machine includes at least one turret assembly carrying multiple rows of tooling (e.g., forming rollers), rotatable about an axis to selectively align rows of tooling with an input or output. A transmission is accessible from an exterior of the turret assembly without disassembling of the turret assembly to perform a changeover of roll tooling and/or maintenance on gears, bearings, or shafts of the transmission. Thus, a chain drive may be employed, advantageously accommodating differing rotational speeds for top and bottom forming rollers of each pair of forming rollers, e.g. to reduce roll scuffing. Pairs of forming rollers may be provided as cassettes, which are removably coupleable to the turret assembly allowing quick and easy reconfiguration and/or servicing, minimizing negative effects of changeover. The turret assembly may be a unitary structure (e.g., a weldment) improving rigidity and increasing accuracy of roll forming operations.

Abstract: A manufacturing assembly and method produce a wire mesh including a plurality of longitudinal members and a monolithic transverse member secured to the plurality of longitudinal members. The monolithic transverse member includes a plurality of transverse portions that define a first cross-sectional shape, and further includes a plurality of longitudinal portions that define a second cross-sectional shape different than the first cross-sectional shape.

Abstract: A rotary slitting blade for fabricating expanded metal products includes opposed end surfaces and an outer circumferential surface extending from one of the end surfaces to the other of the end surfaces. A plurality of notches are formed in each of the end surfaces. The notches include curved surfaces having convex curvatures that smoothly transition into one of the end surfaces and/or the outer circumferential surface. The rotary slitting blade improves the quality of a resulting expanded metal product by reducing or eliminating tears, cracks, and fractures in the expanded metal product.