Rockford Manufacturing Group, Inc.

Timothy J Taylor

Vernon W Wanner

Michael J Yankaitis

Richard A Alcock

John T Kline

Dale J Pitzen

An automatic set-up system for a wire drawing machine. The present invention provides an apparatus and method for substantially automating the set-up process for a wire drawing machine, including the steps of attaching the end of a wire coil to a power-driven capstan, wrapping a sufficient number of wire wraps around the capstan, releasing the end of the wire from the capstan, and feeding the wire to a downstream compensation arm and production machine. Through the use of the present invention, the initialization or set-up process is substantially automated in that the operator simply needs to present wire to the machine, and initiate the process to automatically perform the set-up function and ultimately feed the wire to the downstream production machine. Moreover, due to greatly reduced operator interaction the machine is more reliably set up, and the operator is less likely to be caught or injured by the machine.

Automatic set-up wire drawer

An in-line wire drawing machine with a floor mounted wire coil turntable and laterally disposed power-driven capstan. The present invention provides an in-line wire drawing machine which substantially reduces the footprint required for an in-line wire drawing machine while enabling relatively large diameters wire to be drawn therethrough. The wire coil is mounted at floor level to allow the coils to be easily loaded onto the drawing machine. The turntable and capstan are mounted in side-by-side fashion to allow the wire to be paid off from the coil in an arc following the natural arcuate cast of the wire coil. This avoids the problem of requiring the operator to physically force the wire against its natural cast and through the guide rollers of the drawing machine which is extremely difficult when using large diameter wire.

Space saving wire drawing machine with floor mounted wire coil

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.

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Roscoe, IL, United States of America

Timothy J Taylor