Apparatus for forming twisted pairs of conductor wire

• US 3,957,092 A
• Filed: 06/30/1975
• Issued: 05/18/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: EPE Corp.
• Original Assignee: Gardner Denver Incorporated
• Inventors: Loy, Fred W., Karasinski, Frederick, Harms, William J., Wojahn, Charles W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Larson, Lowell A.
• Application Number:
  US05/591,580
• Time in Patent Office: 323 Days
• Field of Search: 140/115, 140/149, 57/156, 57/92, 57/55.5
• US Class Current: 140/115
• CPC Class Codes: B21F 7/00 Twisting wire; Twisting wire together for connections of limited size B21F15/04
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 13/0207 Details; Auxiliary devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 1/1248 Machines

Abstract

Apparatus for forming twisted pairs of electrical conductor wire cut to predetermined lengths and having one wire end of a pair longitudinally offset from the adjacent end of the other wire of the pair. The apparatus includes plural wire preparation units which operate to cut predetermined lengths of wire and strip insulation from one or both ends of each wire. The wire preparation units are operable to feed prepared wires to a rotary wire carrier which includes a plurality of pairs of side by side elongated wire receiving tubes. The wire carrier is rotatably indexable from a wire receiving position to a position where a wire offsetting device comprising a fluid operated clamp and linear actuator operates to longitudinally offset one wire of a pair of wires prior to a twisting operation. The wire carrier is further indexable to a position wherein a pair of wires becomes engaged with a wire tensioning device and the adjacent ends of a pair of wires are gripped by a twisting and pulling apparatus. The twisting and pulling apparatus includes a linearly movable carriage having a pair of rotatable gripping jaws which grip adjacent ends of a pair of wires and withdraw the wires from the wire carrier tubes through the tensioning device while rotating. The combined linear and rotary movement of the gripping jaws is controlled to impart a predetermined number of twists to a wire pair.

Claims

1. A method for forming a twisted pair of electrical conductor wires comprising the steps of:

providing a wire twisting apparatus including means for supporting a pair of wires in substantially side-by-side relationship and including a wire tensioning device through which said pair of wires may be longitudinally pulled;

cutting a first wire to a predetermined length;

cutting a second wire to a predetermined length;

placing said first and second wires side by side on said apparatus so that an end portion of said first wire is adjacent and end portion of said second wire;

inserting a portion of said wires in said tensioning device;

gripping the adjacent end portions of said first and second wires;

rotating said wires to twist said wires together and pulling said wires longitudinally through said tensioning device while twisting said wires together; and

,

applying a frictional drag force to said wires while said wires are being pulled longitudinally through said tensioning device and while said wires are being twisted together.

2. A method for forming a twisted pair of electrical conductor wires comprising the steps of:

providing a wire twisting apparatus including means for supporting a pair of wires in side-by-side relationship and including a wire offsetting device for displacing one wire longitudinally with respect to the other wire prior to twisting said wires together;

cutting a first wire to a predetermined length;

cutting a second wire to a predetermined length;

placing said first and second wires side by side on said apparatus so that an end portion of said first wire is adjacent an end portion of said second wire;

actuating said offsetting device to displace one wire longitudinally with respect to the other wire a predetermined amount before twisting said wires together;

gripping said first and second wires after displacing one wire with respect to the other wire; and

,

rotating said wires to twist said wires together to form a twisted pair of wires.

3. A method for forming a twisted pair of electrical conductor wires comprising the steps of:

providing a wire twisting apparatus including means for supporting a pair of wires in substantially side-by-side relationship and including a rotatable wire gripping device for rotating said pair of wires to twist said pair of wires together and further including control means for causing said rotatable gripping device to rotate said pair of wires a predetermined number of revolutions to impart a predetermined number of twists in said pair of wires;

cutting a first wire to a predetermined length;

cutting a second wire to a predetermined length;

placing said first and second wires side by side on said apparatus so than an end portion of said first wire is adjacent an end portion of said second wire;

gripping said first and second wires and rotating said wires a predetermined number of revolutions to twist said wires together to form a twisted pair of wires; and

,

reversing the direction of rotation of the rotatable gripping device upon completion of twisting the pair of wires together and rotating the rotatable gripping device a predetermined number of revolutions based on the number of twists imparted to said pair of wires to relieve torsional bias imposed on said pair of wires during the twisting thereof.