Wire carrier and method of using same
First Claim
1. A carrier for transporting a plurality of wire segments, each of which has opposite ends, and for positioning each said end of each said segment to be located and grasped by an operator, said carrier comprising:
- a body defining a wire segment receiving space and having an upper opening communicating with said space;
a plurality of laterally extending, substantially vertical dividers positioned in said segment receiving space;
each said divider having a hanger secured to an upper portion thereof, said dividers being spaced horizontally from each other to allow a coiled wire segment to be hung on each said hanger and to extend downwardly and laterally outwardly therefrom; and
first and second clamp devices carried by said body adjacent to opposite lateral edges of said opening;
each of said devices including a plurality of releasable clamps positioned to receive one end of each wire segment hanging on said hangers, to position said end for location and grasping by an operator.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An open topped carrier (2) has a space (6) dimensioned to receive a plurality of coiled wire segments (100) hung on hangers (26) carried by upper portions of dividers (22). The dividers (22) are held in vertical, horizontally spaced use positions by slots (12) formed on the inner wall surfaces of the carrier (2). Each divider (22) may be independently grasped and slid into an elevated use position to facilitate hanging the coiled segment (100) on the hanger (26). A clamping device (32) extends along each of opposite side portions of an upper flange (14) of the carrier (2). The ends (102) of each segment (100) are clamped in an accessible transport position by the clamping device (32). The carrier (2) may have portions to facilitate handling of the segment ends (102) by an operator and/or an indicator bar (58) with a plurality of lights (62) aligned with the segment ends (102) for a human operator. The coiled configuration permits a segment end (102) to be released from the clamp (32) and pulled away from the carrier (2) for processing without moving the segment (100) or the divider (22) on which it is hung away from their lower transport positions.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A carrier for transporting a plurality of wire segments, each of which has opposite ends, and for positioning each said end of each said segment to be located and grasped by an operator, said carrier comprising:
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a body defining a wire segment receiving space and having an upper opening communicating with said space; a plurality of laterally extending, substantially vertical dividers positioned in said segment receiving space;
each said divider having a hanger secured to an upper portion thereof, said dividers being spaced horizontally from each other to allow a coiled wire segment to be hung on each said hanger and to extend downwardly and laterally outwardly therefrom; andfirst and second clamp devices carried by said body adjacent to opposite lateral edges of said opening;
each of said devices including a plurality of releasable clamps positioned to receive one end of each wire segment hanging on said hangers, to position said end for location and grasping by an operator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A clamp for a plurality of wires, comprising an elongated clamp strip;
- said strip having opposite elongated lateral surfaces, an outer surface extending between said lateral surfaces, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced lateral slits for receiving an clamping wires;
each said slit extending between and through said lateral surfaces and opening onto said outer surface; and
said strip having a hole extending laterally therethrough between each pair of adjacent slits;
each said hole opening onto said lateral surfaces and being spaced from and closed to communication with said outer surface; and
said strip having sufficient resiliency and compressibility, and said holes being sized, to allow deformation of said holes to localize the effect of insertion of a wire into said one of said slits and prevent said insertion from affecting clamping of wires in adjacent slits. - View Dependent Claims (12)
- said strip having opposite elongated lateral surfaces, an outer surface extending between said lateral surfaces, and a plurality of longitudinally spaced lateral slits for receiving an clamping wires;
Specification