Apparatus for cable stripping

• US 5,669,276 A
• Filed: 06/04/1996
• Issued: 09/23/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Timothy Spacek
• Original Assignee: Timothy Spacek
• Inventors: Spacek, Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): Howell, Daniel W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLIAMS, MARK A
• Application Number:
  US08/658,184
• Time in Patent Office: 476 Days
• Field of Search: 82/130, 82/131, 82/128, 81/9.51, 81/9.4, 30/91.2, 30/90.1, 29/564.4
• US Class Current: 82/128
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 1/1221 the cutting element rotating about the wire or cable making longitudinal and transverse or helical cut H02G1/1229
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 82/2522 Portable
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 82/2527 having hollow cutter head

Abstract

A cable stripping apparatus designed to strip an end of a cable that includes an outer shield and a layer of insulation surrounding a center conductor. The stripping is accomplished by removing the outer shield at a first predetermined location and by removing the insulating layer at second predetermined location. The apparatus comprises a cutting head which includes a cable guide port, one or more cutting blades with their cutting edges facing into the cable guide port and one or more blade actuating mechanisms which drive the blades into the cable guide port and into the surface of the cable to strip the cable when the cutting head is rotated about the cable end. The end of the curing head about the cable guide port is compact, permitting it to be used to strip the ends of cables located in area where larger devices could not be accommodated. The advantage of the compact head end is maintained even though centrifugal force is used to automatically actuate the cutting blades as the cutting head is rotated.

Claims

1. Apparatus for stripping a cable of the type having a center conductor, said center conductor typically being surrounded by a generally coaxial insulator and an outer coaxial shield, the stripping operation of said cable consisting of removing the shield from the insulator and the insulator from the center conductor at an end of said cable, said apparatus comprising:

(a) a shaft having a first and a second end and a longitudinal central axis extending from said first end to said second end of said shaft,

(b) a port centered in said first end of said shaft to accept an end of said cable to be stripped with the center conductor of said cable being generally aligned with the longitudinal central axis of said shaft, said port extending inwardly of said shaft from its opening into said shaft located at said first end of said shaft and said port being generally centered about the longitudinal central axis of said shaft, and said port having a cross section in a plane orthogonal to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft that is greater than the cross section of the cable to be stripped to enable said shaft to rotate about its longitudinal central axis and about said cable end when inserted in said port without interference between said cable and said shaft,

(c) a first slot in said shaft being positioned radially with respect to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, said first slot extending from the outer surface of said shaft inwardly of said shaft to intersect said port to form an opening of said slot into said port,

(d) a blade having a cutting edge, said blade being located within said first slot with its cutting edge facing said cable and said blade having a cross section that enables said blade to slide within said first slot and be guided by the walls of said first slot for movement generally radially with respect to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, said opening of said slot into said port enabling the cutting edge of said blade to extend through said opening and contact said cable when said cable is inserted into said port,

(e) lever means having a first and a second end, said lever means extending longitudinally between said first and second ends generally along the surface of said shaft in a direction generally parallel to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, said lever means including a lever drive means located about and attached to the second end of said lever means, and said lever means further including fulcrum means located between said first and said second end of said lever means, said fulcrum means rotatively connecting said lever means to said shaft, and said lever means being flexibly attached to said blade at the first end of said lever means, said lever drive means, when activated, moving said cutting edge of said blade into contact with said cable by moving the second end of said lever means in a direction generally radially outward with respect to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, and p1 (f) means for rotating said shaft about said longitudinal central axis of said shaft to activate said lever drive means and drive the cutting edge of said blade into engagement with the entire circumference of said cable to penetrate and strip said cable.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lever drive means includes a first weight attached to the second end of said lever means, said first weight being driven radially outward with respect to the longitudinal central axis of the shaft by means of centrifugal force occurring as said shaft is rotated about its longitudinal central axis, the first end of said lever means being driven simultaneously radially inward with respect to the longitudinal central axis of said shaft by said first weight acting through said lever means, and said blade being driven radially inward with respect to the longitudinal central axis of said shaft by the radially inward movement of said first end of said lever means to place said blade in contact with said cable and to strip said cable.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further including an elastic restraining means attached between said first weight and said shaft to impart a restraint on the radially outward movement of said first weight as said shaft is rotated and to return said first weight to an initial at rest position in proximity to said shaft and retract said blade from said cable when rotation is terminated.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said first weight is adjustably attached to said lever means for positioning said weight when at rest outwardly of said shaft to adjust the level of centrifugal force applied against said restraining means and adjust the rate of movement of said blade against said cable.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said elastic restraining means is a spring.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a second weight generally equal in mass to said first weight, said second weight being connected to said shaft at a location that is generally diametrically opposite the position of said first weight on said shaft to serve as a counter balance for said first weight.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shaft contains a second slot, said second slot extending at least the length of said lever means longitudinally along the surface of said shaft in a direction generally parallel to said longitudinal central axis, and said second slot being proportioned and positioned on said shaft to accept said lever means without interference with said shaft and to enable said lever means to be generally contained within said second slot below the surface of said shaft.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said fulcrum means includes a pin passing through said shaft and said lever means in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of said lever means at the the location of said fulcrum means.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a first stop means connected to said lever means and projecting inwardly towards said shaft in a radial direction with respect to the longitudinal central axis of said shaft at a location along said lever means between the first end of said shaft and said fulcrum means, said first stop means functioning to set the depth of penetration of said blade into said cable by setting the depth of movement of the first end of said lever means towards said shaft.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said lever means further includes a first threaded hole at the location of said stop means extending through said lever means radially with respect to said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, and said first adjustable stop means includes a threaded set screw threaded through said first threaded hole to project inwardly of said lever means towards said shaft to contact said shaft and form said first adjustable stop means.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, further comprising a second adjustable stop means generally centered about said longitudinal central axis of said shaft and extending from the end of said port within said shaft and located away from the opening of said port, said second adjustable stop means projecting outwardly towards the opening of said port and being adjustable in position in a direction along said longitudinal central axis of said shaft to contact an end of said cable inserted into said port to set the depth of penetration of said end of said cable into said port and set the location at which said cable end is to be stripped.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein said shaft further includes a second threaded hole extending generally along said longitudinal central axis of said shaft from said second end of said shaft to said port, said second adjustable stop further comprising a second threaded set screw, said second threaded set screw being threaded through said second threaded hole into said port to form said second adjustable stop.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a removable blade cap that is attached to the first end of said shaft, said blade cap being generally in the form of a disc with a first and a second generally parallel planar surface with a blade cap axis passing through and positioned orthogonal to said first and second planar surfaces at their center, said blade cap further having a cap port centered about said cap axis with a diameter generally equal to that of said port, and said blade cap having an outside diameter generally equal to that of said shaft, said blade cap being attached to the first end of said shaft with the first parallel planar side of said blade cap being placed against the first end of said shaft and with said blade cap being oriented to align the cap axis with said longitudinal central axis of said shaft, said blade cap port forming an extension of said shaft port when said blade cap is attached to said shaft, said first slot being formed by a slot in said shaft having one surface open to the first end of said shaft and said open surface of said first slot being covered by said blade cap when said cap is attached to said first end of said shaft.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, further comprising a slotted shim having the same general configuration as said blade cap including a shim port having generally the same size and relative location as the cap port in the blade cap, said slotted shim having a radial slot in one of its planar surfaces to carry a blade, said radial slot extending from said shim port radially outward to the outside periphery of said shim, and said shim being positioned between the first end of said shaft and said blade cap to position a blade beyond the the first end of said shaft.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cutting edge of said blade is in the configuration of a forming tool to produce a shape in cable at the point of stripping that is also in the configuration of the forming tool.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein one side of the blade slot lies generally along a radius drawn from the longitudinal central axis of the cable when in the cable guide to guide the corner of the cutting edge to the center of the cable to enable the forming configuration of the blade to machine this configuration into the cable.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein the forming configuration of the blade is positioned only on a portion of the cutting edge side of the blade to enable the cutting corner of the forming configuration to enter the cable along a single radius drawn from the longitudinal central axis of the cable when said cable is located in said cable guide.