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A pair of wire feed clamps are affixed to parallel flights of a pulley-supported steel cable which is axially driven back and forth by an oscillatably rotatable cable drum whereby the wire feed clamps, which reciprocably move in opposite directions, feed a wire strand along a first path. The cable d

A pair of wire feed clamps are affixed to parallel flights of a pulley-supported steel cable which is axially driven back and forth by an oscillatably rotatable cable drum whereby the wire feed clamps, which reciprocably move in opposite directions, feed a wire strand along a first path. The cable drum is driven by a drive rod reciprocably movable by an orbiting crank pin on a support member which is adjustably mounted on a motor-driven rotatable feed crank. Crank pin orbit determines drive rod stroke, cable drum position, wire feed clamp spacing and travel, and wire segment length. A locking mechanism releasably locks the support member (crank pin) in desired adjusted positions. Two laterally spaced-apart conveyor assemblies, each having conveyor clamps for receiving the wire strand, convey severed wire segments along a second path perpendicular to the first. A motor-driven rotatable threaded shaft adjustably moves the two conveyor assemblies relative to each other to accommodate wire segments of different lengths. A mechanism on one conveyor assembly engages and moves an associated wire feed clamp during conveyor adjusting movement and correspondingly changes the spacing between the wire feed clamps i.e., wire segment length. The locking mechanism unlocks to enable conveyor adjusting movement to change crank pin orbit. An electronic control system controls wire processing and repositioning operations.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for severing a wire segment from a wire strand and for conveying said wire segment comprising: wire feed means for feeding said wire strand along a first path, said wire feed means comprising a cable having a pair of parallel cable flights which are reciprocably movable axially in opposite

Apparatus for severing a wire segment from a wire strand and for conveying said wire segment comprising: wire feed means for feeding said wire strand along a first path, said wire feed means comprising a cable having a pair of parallel cable flights which are reciprocably movable axially in opposite directions parallel to said first path and a pair of wire feed clamps for releasably gripping said wire strand, each wire feed clamp being fixedly connected to and movable with one cable flight, each of said wire feed clamps having two spaced apart extreme operating positions, said wire feed means further comprising cable drive means to effect reciprocating movement of said cable flights in opposite directions to thereby move each of said wire feed clamps between its two extreme operating positions during wire feeding operations; a pair of laterally spaced apart adjustably positionable conveyor assemblies, each conveyor assembly comprising at least one conveyor clamp, a pair of said one conveyor clamps in said pair of conveyor assemblies being adapted to receive said wire strand from said wire feed clamps and to grip and convey a wire segment cut therefrom along a second path transverse to said first path; wire cutter means for cutting said wire segment from said wire strand while the wire strand is gripped by said pair of conveyor clamps; first means operable for adjustably moving said conveyor assemblies laterally relative to each other in a direction parallel to said first path so as to change the spacing between said conveyor clamps; and second means synchronized with adjusting movement of said conveyor assemblies for effecting axial shifting movement of said wire feed clamps and said cable to thereby change the spacing between the two extreme operating positions of each wire feed clamp and thereby change the length of said wire strand to be received by said pair of conveyor clamps.