Rockford Manufacturing Group, Inc.

Michael J Yankaitis

Irvin Burns

Richard A Alcock

Patrick Robbins

Michael Kern

Timothy J Taylor

Scott A Alcock

Charles Schooley

Lyle S Strombeck

A release assembly for wire cutting apparatus. The present invention provides a release assembly for wire cutting apparatus which allows for dynamic alteration of the cut parameters. The release assembly allows for the length of the wire to be cut to be altered, allows for the biasing force to be increased or decreased to thereby reset the release assembly for a wide range of wire gauges, and allows for the stroke length to be altered to thereby either increase or decrease the cut frequency. The release assembly includes a housing having a distal end, a proximal end and a longitudinal chamber. A plunger tube is slidably disposed in the longitudinal chamber and is biased towards the proximal end by a dynamically adjustable spring mechanism. A gauge rod is mounted within the plunger tube at an adjustable axial position. In operation, the wire being pulled from the coil engages the gauge rod and pushes the gauge rod and plunger tube in the distal direction. A sensor senses the distal movement and sends a signal to the cutting mechanism to make a cut in the wire and drop the wire from the cutting machine. The plunger tube is retained in the housing by two collars. The distance between the two collars is dynamically adjustable during cutting operations to adjust the travel distance of the plunger tube. The position of the housing relative to the wire coils is also dynamically adjustable to control the cut length of the wire.

Release assembly for a wire cutting apparatus

An apparatus for continuously feeding the wire to a wire cutting apparatus. The present invention provides a pair of mandrels provided in an in-line configuration and provided on a turntable. An active coil is loaded onto one of the mandrels while a idle coil is loaded onto the other mandrel. As the wire is being pulled to the wire cutting apparatus from the active coil the tail end of the active coil is bent into abutting relationship with the lead end of the idle coil and welded together. As a result, when the active coil is exhausted, the pulling force of the cutting machine enables the carousel to rotate so that the idle coil assumes the active position and the new coil can be loaded onto the now idle coil for a continuous feed of wire to the wire cutting apparatus.

Continuous feed wire uncoiler

Wire is straightened as an incident to being pulled through axially spaced upstream, intermediate and downstream straightening dies carried within a rotating arbor. Each die is formed with a groove which is specially shaped to cause the wire to tend to follow its natural path as the wire is straightened, the shape of the grooves reducing high stress concentrations on the dies and increasing the service life thereof.

Wire straightening apparatus with long-life dies

An in-line wire drawing machine includes a power-driven capstan rotatable about a horizontal axis and operable to unwind wire from a coil and to pull the wire through a drawing die for reducing the diameter of the wire. In order to conserve floor space, the coil is supported on an overhead turntable located above the capstan and rotatable about a vertical axis to enable unwinding of the coil. Wire unwound from the coil is directed rearwardly therefrom to a pair of guide rollers, proceeds downwardly alongside the rear of the machine and then travels forwardly to the die. A tangle detector is located upstream of the die and automatically shuts down the machine if the wire in the coil becomes tangled or snagged and fails to pay off of the coil in a free manner.

In-line wire drawing machine with overhead turntable

An apparatus is disclosed for drawing a length of wire through a die and for supplying the wire to a using station wherein the apparatus utilizes a mechanical variable-speed drive mechanism and a sensing arm for sensing the error between the consumption and feeding rates of the wire and integrating the same. An electromechanical apparatus couples the sensing arm to the variable-speed drive so that the full range of drive ratios of the variable-speed mechanical drive mechanism can be utilized without the occurrence of a pull-back force at the wire. The mechanical pivoting of the sensing arm is translated to an electrical signal by way of the electromechanical apparatus which incorporates a plunger for oscillatory motion in response to the pivoting of the compensator arm. An electrical device is sensitive to the displacement of the plunger in a manner to provide a signal having a linear relationship to the magnitude of the displacement by the plunger caused by its oscillatory movement. The electrical device is not in direct physical contact with the plunger, thereby providing a friction free transition of mechanical movement of the plunger to an electrical signal.

Growing community of inventors

Roscoe, IL, United States of America

Michael J Yankaitis