Wire feeding, cutting and stripping apparatus having clutch-operated

Abstract

A small, simple, accurate, low-cost wire cutting and stripping apparatus includes a wire feed mechanism which periodically feeds a measured length of an insulated wire strand to a wire cutter/stripper mechanism which clamps the wire strand, severs it and scores the insulation, axially separates the wire segment cut from the wire strand and strips the scored insulation during such axial separation. The wire feed mechanism is driven intermittently by a continuously rotating electric motor through an electrically-operated wire feed clutch/brake, the clutch mechanism of which engages in response to an electric signal from a timer switch (start wire feed) and which disengages in response to an electric signal from an electric wire measuring encoder (measure and stop wire feed). The wire cutter/stripper mechanism includes a stationary pair of separable clamps, a movable pair of separable bladed cutter/stripper heads and a movable pair of separable clamps. A barrel cam is periodically rotated for one revolution by the continuously rotating electric motor through a solenoid-operated one-revolution clutch in response to an electric signal from the encoder (wire feed stopped, make one cam revolution). The barrel cam has two cam tracks and drives two linkages. One (clamp/cut) linkage simultaneously closes (and subsequently simultaneously reopens) both pairs of clamps and the pair of cutter/stripper heads. The other (strip/return) linkage extends (and subsequently retracts) the movable pair of clamps and the movable pair of cutter/stripper heads so that the former moves a greater distance than the latter along the wire path.