Artos Engineering Company

Magnus R Randar

Ragnar Gudmestad

Thomas J Kratoska

Terry R Kroening

David G Moore

Apparatus which repeatedly severs wire segments from a wire strand and conveys them for further processing comprises a pair of wire feed clamps which are reciprocably movable in opposite directions to feed the wire strand along a first path. The 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. The cable drum is oscillatably driven by a rack-and-pinion mechanism which includes a drive rod or rack bar reciprocably movable by an orbiting crank pin on a support member which is adjustably mounted on a motor-driven rotatable feed crank. A locking mechanism releasably locks the support member and its crank pin in selected positions relative to the feed crank. The crank pin orbit determines drive rod stroke, cable drum position and wire feed clamp spacing and travel. A feed clamp engaging mechanism engages a wire feed clamp to reposition both wire feed clamps, the cable, the cable drum, the drive rod and the crank pin support member and its crank pin relative to the feed crank to thereby change feed clamp spacing and travel. The locking mechanism unlocks to enable the drive rod to reposition the crank pin support member. An electronic system controls wire processing operations and repositioning operations.

Adjustably positional crank pin support means for wire feeding apparatus

Apparatus is provided for manufacturing electrical cords comprising modular multi-contact connectors attached to opposite ends of a segment of a multi-conductor sheathed cable. Each connector comprises a plastic housing having a cavity for receiving an end of the cable segment, displaceable anchors for mechanically engaging the cable sheath and the insulation on the conductors, and flat contacts displaceable for piercing the insulation on the conductors and making electrical contact with the wires therewithin. The apparatus includes: machinery for cutting segments from a strand of cable and for conveying them along a path; strippers along the path for removing small portions of the sheath from the ends of the segments to expose the ends of the insulated conductors therewithin; trimmers along the path for trimming the exposed ends of the insulated conductors; and connector attachment machines along the path. Each connector attachment machine comprises: a magazine and a feed mechanism which places a connector on an end of a cable segment; a first press operable to displace the anchors and mechanically anchor the housing to the cable sheath and to the insulated conductors; second and third presses operable in succession to force the contacts through the insulation and into electrical contact with the wires therein; and a fourth press which operates to perform a continuity test on a finished cord and disposes of any defective cord either by sorting it out for further rework or by destroying it by severance. Each press comprises a movable drive component and these components are driven in synchronism with each other by a motor-driven rack and pinion mechanism.

Cord manufacturing apparatus and connector attachment machine therefor

Apparatus and method for making a wire lead which comprises a pair of insulated stranded conductors encased in an insulating jacket, with a two-pronged plug at one end and either untwisted or twisted bare or tinned wires with or without terminals at the other end. The apparatus comprises mechanisms to cut and convey a cable segment, strip the insulating jacket from both ends and trim cut the exposed insulated wires, preshape them, strip and twist the stranded wires at the plug end, attach the plug at that end, and strip and perform appropriate processing operations at the other end, i.e., twist, tin, or terminate. The wire shaping mechanism for preshaping the wires at the plug end of the cable segment also helps position the wires during further processing and includes wire shaping and holding devices movable by an auxiliary conveyor, an inserter for directing the wire ends into releasable engagement with a wire shaping device, an actuator for causing the wire shaping device to effect wire bending, a wire release mechanism, and a reset mechanism for resetting the wire shaping device. The mechanism for stripping and twisting the end of a stranded wire comprises a gripping device (such as the above-described wire shaping device or a conveyor clamp) which prevents axial and rotational movement of the wire, blades for severing the wire insulation, and a rotatable and axially movable spinner head which releasably grips, rotates, and axially removes the severed piece of insulation, simultaneously twisting the stranded conductors in the process.

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Menomonee Falls, WI, United States of America

Magnus R Randar