United States Steel Corporation

Other

U.S. Steel Supply Inc.

Stanwich Holdings, Inc.

S Bernard Brouse

John Wiedel

A feed and tensioning apparatus for wire strapping material includes a pair of wheels each having a smooth surfaced peripheral groove for contact with the wire. One of the wheels is rotatively mounted on an axis displaced from its central axis at an angle within the range of 5.degree. to 40.degree. on the exit side of the wheel with respect to the direction of travel of the wire during tensioning.

Wire feed and tensioning apparatus

A seal-less strapping head having an improvement for deflecting an angularly inclined overlying portion of the strap downwardly to prevent premature cut-off of the strap before the overlapped portions are fastened together. Apparatus is also provided for adjusting the elevation of the shear blade with respect to the movable die to accommodate severing a wide range of strap thicknesses. In another aspect, first and second frame sections are pivotally attached, the first section having cylinder means mounted thereon, the second section having cylinder means mounted thereon, the second section having a pair of dies housed therein for fastening the strap. Apparatus is provided for rotating the cylinder rod to vary the length engagement of a threaded member with a threaded portion extending axially from the cylinder rod to adjust the stroke of the upper die for various strap thicknesses.

Seal-less strapping head

Apparatus for positioning an edge protector to the edge of a package to be looped with strapping is provided. The apparatus includes a guide rail extending generally normal to the exposed package edge and an edge protector positioning apparatus mounted on the rail. The edge protector positioning apparatus has an edge protector application station adjacent the edge to be protected and is provided with an angularly oriented magazine which stores a stack of nested edge protectors each with its concave face foremost. Edge protectors are delivered to the application station from the magazine by means of a fluid motor operated pushing means which acts normal to the magazine to individually remove each edge protector therefrom. From the pushing means depend extended fingers having an edge protector support surface. A spring-biased separator assures individual edge protector application and spring-biased clamping means cooperate with the fingers of the pushing means to provide accurate edge protector placement on the package. Upon retraction of the pushing means and its extended fingers, the clamping retains the edge protector on the package during strapping. Following strapping, the apparatus is retracted from proximity with the package thereby releasing the edge protector.

Edge protector positioning apparatus

Apparatus for effecting the knotting of wire strapping applied to a package is provided. The knotting function is motivated by means of a hydraulic cylinder which displaces a rack gear which, in turn, drives a pinion gear to which a splined shaft is affixed. The shaft runs through the knotter unit housing which includes a twister pinion for knotting the wire, wire gripping means, cutting means, wire ejecting means and a wire cover means. In the operation of the apparatus disclosed, the end portion of the wire is fed by a remote feeder through a guide area, engaged by a gripping means and the wire is tensioned by the feeder. The hydraulic cylinder causes the shaft to rotate in a first direction which turns a first drive hub that engages a twister gear having a uni-directional pawl, which twister gear turns a twister pinion gear thereby twisting the wire. For cutting, the shaft rotates in a reverse direction and drives a cam by means of a pawl, said cam being engaged by a cam follower which is affixed to one end of a pivoting arm, the other end of such arm including a cutting blade. The wire is ejected from the knotting apparatus, also during rotation of the shaft in the reverse direction, by means of a uni-directional drive means which causes the 'U'-shaped ejectors to be extended thereby opening the cover releasing the gripping means and driving the knotted wires from the unit. Following wire ejection, the ejectors are positively retracted and maintained in a ready position for removal of subsequent knots.

Knotting apparatus for wire strapping machine

Apparatus is provided for plunging a fastener through a soft material preparatory to insertion of the fastener in a hard backing. The apparatus may be embodied as an attachment for a conventional fastener feed apparatus or as an improved form of feed apparatus itself. The improvement includes two telescoping members biased to a normal fully extended position. The members are engageable end-to-end with conventional telescoping elements of the feed apparatus and are axially movable with them. The force biasing the members apart is set so as to be substantially less than the force biasing the conventional elements to a fully extended position so that the fastener will be plunged through the soft material first upon application of a force, and then subsequently inserted into the backing upon application of additional force. Apparatus is provided for limiting the collapsed length of the members so as to control the depth of the plunge.

Fastener plunging apparatus

An improved strapping machine has a barrier for stopping travel of the strap at a precise location, a sensor which is activated by contact of the strap with the barrier so as to terminate operation of the strap feed means and a guide means for preventing buckling of the strap within the sealing assembly portion of the machine. In another aspect of the invention the clamping device has a first gripper located in fixed position during feeding and clamping, and a second gripper which is pivotable from a guide position to a clamping position. In a preferred form, one end of the second gripper bar serves as a shear anvil which co-acts with the blade to sever the strap. The shear anvil is adjustable so that the gap between the blade and anvil may be regulated to compensate for wear.

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Orland Park, IL, United States of America

S Bernard Brouse