US2223011A - Method and mechanism for preforming wire coils - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 26,

F. C. STEPHENS METHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFORMING WIRE COILS Filed June 19, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 26, 1940. C STEPHENS 2,223,011

METHOD AND MECHANISM FORIPREFORMING WIRE cons Filed June 19, 1939 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov.26, 1940. Q P N 2,223,011

METHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFQRMING WIRE COILS Filed June 19, 19:59 s Sheets-Shet 3 \Hli 17 ft); dilly/ 4 Mammy 'Patented Nov. 26,

ltiETHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFORM- ING WIRE COILS Frank C. Stephens, Washington, D. 0., assignor to Elastic Knitted Wire 00. Inc., Providence, R. 1., a corporation of Rhode Island Application June 19, 1939, Serial No. 280,014

\ 15 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in method and mechanism for performing wire coils.

The object is to fashion wire coils preparatory to the knitting of these coils into a wire fabric,

substantially as is set forth in my co-pending application, Serial No. 78,293, filed in the U. S. Patent Ofice, May 6, 1936.

The invention consists in a method and means of pre-fabrication of wire coil into more or less stretched and flattened condition so that they may be fed or presented fiatwise to the final fashioning machine in a succession of loops.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one possible form of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View;

Fig. 3 is a plan view;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation;

Fig.5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the fabricating mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5 showing the stretching means in a raised position;

Fig. 7 is a similar section with the stretching g5 mechanism adjusted to a lower position and the retarding means set back to cause an increased stretching of the loop;

Fig. 8 shows a typical formation of loops from top and edge; and 30 Fig. 9 illustrates a series of loops stretched apart as produced when the machine is adjusted as in Fig. 7.

A, represents a base. A toothed. wheel I is mounted to turn withits supporting and driving 35 shaft 2. Shaft 2 turns in a forming head 3, and a bearing 4 of any approved type. The forming head 3 and the bearing 4 are vertically adjustable in any approved manner, on a bracket 5 by means of a set-screw 6 extending through a slot 4 l, in an. extension of the head, and thence into the bracket 5. The bearing e is correspondingly adjustable up and down in a post 8 in order to provide for raising and lowering the shaft 2 and the wheel l fixed thereon.

The head 3 is channeled through the center to form an opening 58 for the wheel l which turns and is housed therein. The central portion of the head, that is, on each side of the opening it and at the forward upper edge, is in the form of a cam H, the function of which is to receive the formed loop as the teeth of wheel I disappear therebeneath as shown, thus easing the formed loops off the teeth.

A channel [2 is secured to the upper end of a support l3, and this support I3 is adjustably mounted on the base A in any approved manner, as for example by means of the lug It, which is fitted to and extends downwardly through a slot It in the base, and inthis lug it a screwthreaded hole i6 is formed, and a screw I! is adapted to be turned in this threaded hole I 6" and is swiveled in a hole IS in a lug i9 extending downwardly from the base. By turning this screw H, the support 53 with the channel l2 may be adjusted back andforth in order to bring the outlet of the channel into the proper position relative to the wheel i. To per'mit this adjustment, a screw 28 extends through a slot 2| in the bracket 5, and thence into the bottom of the channel i2. This screw 20 is loosened when the support I3 is to be adjusted, and after the adjustment, it is tightened. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show different relative adjustments of the channel l2, and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 likewise show different vertical adjustments of the wheel I and its drive- Shaft 2.

The numeral 22 represents a friction device which may be of some soft material such as rubber or felt, and which acts as a brake, and by its frictional contact with the coils of wire slightly retards them as they are caught by the teeth of the wheel I and the loops are thereby pulled and stretched to a predetermined. size and distance apart. Pressure is applied to this friction device or brake 22 by means of a spring tension 23, one end of which bears thereon, and the tension is regulated by a thumb-screw 24 turning in the spanning yoke 25 against the tension spring 23, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A pin 26 extends across the forward end of the channel, and forms a throat between it and a shoulder 27 through which the forming loops issue as they are pulled from beneath the friction device 22 by the teeth of the wheel I.

For most purposes, and it might be said under normal conditions, the loops take the form. illustrated in Figs. 1 and 8, that is'to say, with their sides contiguous andvery slightly overlapped. The teeth of the wheel I enter the loops, and as the wheel turns to the right, the teeth pull and stretch the loops ofthecoil C, andas the coils pass one by one beneath the friction device 22 and on up the curved inclined end 39 of the outlet end of the channel I! and through the throat formed between the shoulder 21 and the pin 26, they are transformed from'their original round form as in the spiral C, to a flattened and looped formation, as shown in Fig. 8. This is all accomplished by the rotation of the shaft 2, and the toothed wheel I, the teeth of which pull and stretch in one direction while regulated friction is applied and a braking action takes place through the friction device or brake 22, and the amount. of friction to be applied is regulated by turning the thumb-screw 24.

.It is sometimes desirable to give the loops a slight tilt, as illustrated in Fig. 6, as distinguished from the formation illustrated in Fig. 8. This is easily and quickly accomplished by raising the head 3 as much as required to give this effect through the adjustment provided by the screw 6. Or it may be desirable to give a greater stretch to the loops for certain types of wire knitting, and this is done by moving the support l3 back to the left and increasing the distance between the throat at the end of the channel and the wheel I as illustrated in Fig. '7, this special form of loop being illustrated in Fig. 9.

Obviously, other adjustments might be made for different sizes and shapes of loops.

Power may be applied to the shaft 2 in any approved manner, as by hand if desired, for which purpose the handle H is provided, or it might be driven through a belt B.

As a convenient means for storing and handling the preformed wire a spool S is provided. This is rotatably mounted on the base A, and through a chain of bevel gears 33, 34, 35, 36, 31, 38 and 39, and shafts-l0 and 4|, it may be rotated by the main shaft 2, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Of course, the spool or reel S might be rotated independently, as well as in synchronization with the other parts as just described.

To briefly recapitulate, the operation is as follows: A coil of wire C is fed through the channel l2, and to start the operation one or two coils may be stretched out manually and threaded through the throat between the shoulder 2? and the pin 26, and hooked over one or two of the teeth of the wheel I'-. The shaft 2 is then set in motion and between the stretching effect of the wheel l in one direction, the retarding effect of the friction device.22 in the opposite direction, and the drawing of the coils between the pin 26 and the shoulder 21, the coils are stretched into successive loops, generally in the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, after which they are wound, if desired, on the spool S as'shown in Fig. 1, as a convenient means of handling the looped wire. They might, however, be taken from the preformer directly to the wire knitting machine, previously referred to, and in fact that would generally be the preferred practice. As has been previously explained by various adjustments, such, for instance as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, the formation and character of the loop might be varied, and, obviously, different results might be obtained by additional adjustments. v

Since the wire is resilient, the loops may be initially stretched a trifle in excess of the ultimate size and shape desired, but the inherent resiliency of the wire causes them to assume a predetermined form and relativity-as they-are eased off the teeth of the wheel by the cam formation H on the forward upper edge of the head 3.

In this way, I have provided a very simple method and means of preforming the loops, or in other words transforming the individual coils of closely coiled wire into a-succession of adjacent or contiguous and substantially fiat loops, in readiness for fabrication into a knitted wire fabric.

I claim:

1. The herein described method of transforming wire coils into a succession of approximately flat loops, which consists in pulling the coils individually and successively edgewlse and therebeneath with sufficient tension and resistance to cause a permanent deformation of the coils.

2. The herein described method of transforming coils of resilient wire into approximately flat loops'which consists in applying tension and resistance in opposite directions to the coil while pulling one convolution of the coil downwardly over the next adjacent convolution.

3. The herein described method of transforming coils of resilient wire into approximately fiat loops which consists in applying tension and frictional resistance in opposite directions to the coil, and passing the coils edgewise through a constricted passageway between the points of tension and resistance.

4. Mechanism for performing wire coils into a succession of loops including a rotary device, which receives and pulls the coils successively downwardly and releases them in the form of loops, and a constricted outlet through which the coils are successively and individually pulled.

5. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantially flat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewise through a constricted passageway.

6. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantially flat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewlse through a constricted passageway, and means for applying resistance to the coils individually prior to their passagethrough the constricted passageway, the resistance and the passageway insuring the forward movement of a single coil at a time.

7. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantially flat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewlse through a constricted passageway, means for applying resistance to the coils individually prior to their passage through the constricted passageway, the resistance and the passageway insuring the forward movement of a single'coil at a time, the means for pulling being adjustable toregulate and vary the loop formation.

8. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, the channel having a constrictedthroat at one end, means for pullingthe coils individually and successively through said throat, whereby to transform the coils into loops.

9. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, the channel having a constricted throat at one end, meansfor pulling the coils individually and successively through said throat, whereby to transform thecoils into loops,

and means for varying the distance between the channel and the pulling means.

10. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coll, the channel having a constricted throat at one end, means for pulling the coils individually and successively through said throat,,whereby to transform the coils into loops, means for varying the distance between the adjusting the pulling means.

11. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, the channel having a constricted throat at one end, means for pulling the channel and the pulling means, and means for 2,223,011 receive a wire coil. the channel having a constricted throat at one end. means for pulling the coils individually and successively through said throat, whereby to transform the coils into loops, and a synchronized rotary device upon which the loops are wound.

13. The combination of a,channel adapted to receive a wire coil, a head having a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in the channel of the head; the teeth 'of which are adapted to engage and pull the coil, the head having shoulders projecting beyond the teeth when they reach a certain point in the rotation of the wheel, whereby to ease the loops of! the teeth.

14. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil. a head having a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in the channel of the head. the teeth of which are adapted to engage and pull the coil, the head having shoulders projecting beyond the teeth when they reach a certain point in the rotation of the wheel. whereby to ease the loops oi! the teeth, and means for raising and lowering the head an toothed wheel relative to the channel.

15. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, a head having a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in the channel of the head, the teeth of which are adapted to engage and pull the coil, the head

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