Abstract: A rotary die cutter for cutting a series of irregular-shaped blanks from a continuous web. The rotary die cutter includes a male die cylinder that has a series of die cavities formed along its outer circumference. Each of the die cavities includes a surrounding cutting edge that defines the shape of the blank to be cut. The male die cylinder is pressed into engagement with either an anvil cylinder or a female die cylinder to form either crush-cutting or shear-cutting nips therebetween. The continuous web is fed into the cutting nip such that the cutting edges of the die cavities contact the web to cut the blanks from the web. A plurality of vacuum ports positioned in the die cavities along the outer circumference of the male die cylinder are connected to a source of vacuum contained in the male die cylinder to remove the die-cut blanks from the web. The die-cut blanks are vacuum-transferred to a stacking unit, while the scrap web is continuously discarded by air-conveying removal.

Abstract: A rotary die cutter for cutting a series of irregular-shaped blanks from a continuous web. The rotary die cutter includes a male die cylinder that has a series of die cavities formed along its outer circumference. Each of the die cavities includes a surrounding cutting edge that defines the shape of the blank to be cut. The male die cylinder is pressed into engagement with either an anvil cylinder or a female die cylinder to form either crush-cutting or shear-cutting nips therebetween. The continuous web is fed into the cutting nip such that the cutting edges of the die cavities contact the web to cut the blanks from the web. A plurality of vacuum ports positioned in the die cavities along the outer circumference of the male die cylinder are connected to a source of vacuum contained in the male die cylinder to remove the die-cut blanks from the web. The die-cut blanks are vacuum-transferred to a stacking unit, while the scrap web is continuously discarded by air-conveying removal.

Abstract: A rotary die cutter for cutting a series of irregular-shaped blanks from a continuous web. The rotary die cutter includes a male die cylinder that has a series of die cavities formed along its outer circumference. Each of the die cavities includes a surrounding cutting edge that defines the shape of the blank to be cut. The male die cylinder is pressed into engagement with either an anvil cylinder or a female die cylinder to form either crush-cutting or shear-cutting nips therebetween. The continuous web is fed into the cutting nip such that the cutting edges of the die cavities contact the web to cut the blanks from the web. A plurality of vacuum ports positioned in the die cavities along the outer circumference of the male die cylinder are connected to a source of vacuum contained in the male die cylinder to remove the die-cut blanks from the web. The die-cut blanks are vacuum-transferred to a stacking unit, while the scrap web is continuously discarded by air-conveying removal.