DIE AND SPRING ASSEMBLIES HAVING PARTICULAR APPLICATION TO STRIPPER PLATES

A die for use in a punch press or like equipment embodying improvements in the mount and suspension of a spring biased stripper plate. It features stripper springs endowed with a definite pre-load by virtue of a special cage assembly. The caged spring assemblies are so constructed and applied that there is absolutely no pressure on the stripper plate when the die is in an open position. In preferred embodiments of the caged spring assemblies, the open spaces between the coils of a contained spring are reduced to a dimension less than that of the thickness of the coils themselves. This prevents the coils from winding or screwing and from materially affecting the prescribed pre-load in event of spring breakage.