Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed that cuts pattern work material pieces without rotating a housing tube for orientation of the cutting knife. The apparatus utilizes a tangential axis drive motor to orient the cutting knife. Consequently, any inertia caused by the housing tube that slowed the angular acceleration of knife orientation is eliminated, and the speed of knife orientation is increased. The apparatus is not limited to motor reciprocation to drive the motion of the cutting knife. Other means of reciprocating the knife are possible with this apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed having a notching tool and a cutter that work together to cut perimeter contours and notch geometry along the perimeter of a work material with high precision and quality in a single pass of the cutting mechanism. The apparatus includes a rotary die that is rotatably coupled to a cutting head for movement between a working position where the cutter engages the work material and a non-working position where the cutter is positioned away from the work material. The cutter is positioned relative to a shaped die blade when both the cutter and die blade are in the working position to allow pattern pieces to be simultaneously cut and notched in response to commands issued from a controller. The apparatus is faster than conventional mechanisms used for cutting notches along work material piece perimeters since the notching and cutting operations are done in parallel.