Essex Group, Inc.

James D Smith, Jr

Randall C Graham

Jeffrey S Smith

In a magnet wire fabrication process in which the drawing of wire is 'in-line' with the enameling process, it is often a requirement that the drawing machines be supplied with electrical power from the utility grid rather than relying on an 'in-house,' closely regulated supply of electrical power. In such cases, during voltage dips on the grid, the drawing machine motors will slow down while the wires continue to be pulled from the drawing machine at the same speed as before. A wire accumulator is interposed between the drawing machines and the enameling oven to prevent breakage of wire by providing an accumulation of wire to be used in the event of such a voltage dip. The present invention discloses an apparatus for controlling the various channels of the accumulator so as to provide roughly equivalent amounts of wire in each channel so that the integrity of all channels during a power dip is assured. A central operator control station for effecting the desired control is disclosed. It comprises, among other things, a keyboard and a display for entering a desired wire gauge size to be drawn, and a signal processor for controlling the accumulator channels according to the commanded gauge size. A plurality of controllers for each channel are responsive to a speed command signal from a pulling capstan at the enameling end of the process. This signal is modified by a feedback signal derived from the accumulator channels so as to indicate the actual running speed of the various drawing machine motors and at the same time control the amount of wire accumulated in the various channels.

Wire drawing control apparatus

Method and apparatus for monitoring a rod mill and flexible wire drawn and annealed from a stiff coil of rod in the rod mill are disclosed. The fault signals provided by an eddy-current tester are counted on a per unit time basis in order to permit the detection of rod mill problems before serious deterioration of the mill occurs. This is accomplished by direct observation of an increasing rate of fault signal occurrence. A totalized fault signal count is also provided to aid in detecting low quality wire. This is accomplished by direct observation of uniformly high levels of fault signals. A control function is disclosed whereby the rod mill is shutdown in the presence of a high rate of increase in fault signal occurrences. A 'change coil' message may be sent upon detecting uniformly high levels of faults. Fault signals are stored and identified for purposes of traceability. The invention is broadly applicable in other eddy-current testing contexts, that is, other than that context specifically disclosed for the best mode embodiment.

Eddy current apparatus and method for controlling a rod mill on the

The insulation of a plurality of grounded wires may be tested subsequent to fabrication and prior to spooling by use of a corresponding plurality of modular circuit boards installed in an AC/DC continuity tester having enhanced isolation features including on board DC power supplies and clock generators. A signal processor gathers fault data from each board and provides a fault count signal for each wire which may be printed out on a printer within the tester. Isolation between channels is enhanced by using a simple and compact test head having a plurality of rollers or sheaves separated by teflon spacers, all mounted on a common rod.

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Fairview, TN, United States of America

James D Smith, Jr