Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manipulating wire, and in particular to an apparatus for forming an eyelet in an end of a wire.

Background of the Invention

Wire is used in many different applications. For example, wire is often used to hang air conditioning duct work in buildings. It is often desirable to form an eyelet in an end of a length of wire in order that the wire may be attached to another object.

Machines for forming eyelets in wire are well known. However, such machines have been developed for mass production or are essentially hand operated tools.

It would be desirable to provide a different type of wire manipulating apparatus which is able to complete all the process steps necessary to form a loop in a length of wire in a single machine.

It would also be desirable to provide a wire manipulating apparatus that is capable er of manipulating wires having different diameters.

Summary of the Invention

According to the invention there is provided a wire manipulating apparatus comprising a frame, the frame having mounted thereon a wire feeder configured to feed wire into and through the apparatus, means for applying a ferrule to wire fed through the apparatus, a loop forming means and wire extraction means configured to extract wire from the apparatus.

Preferably, the apparatus comprises a wire separator.

Advantageously, the frame mounts a spool, the spool loaded with wire and wherein the wire feeder is configured to draw wire off the spool and feed said wire into and through the apparatus.

Preferably, the wire separator is a wire fuser. The fuser may function by passing a high voltage through the wire. Where the wire is a twisted multi strand wire, also known as wire rope, the wire fuser fuses together the individual strands of wire in the process of separating one piece of wire into two pieces at the point of separation for both newly created wire ends. The apparatus may be used to form a loop in a piece of wire that has been cut to length before being placed in the wire feeder.

The wire feeder may include at least one set of driven rollers.

The wire feeder may include a first set of driven rollers to one side of the wire separator and a second set of driven rollers to the other side of the wire separator in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus.

The first and second sets of rollers may be drivable independently of one another. Different sets of rollers may be provided for different diameter wires. Advantageously other components of the apparatus do not need to be changed for different diameters of wire, for example 2.5mm, 3mm, 4mm and 5mm.

A set of driven rollers may include two rollers configured to mesh with one another and to form a wire receiving space between the two meshing rollers. One or both of the two rollers may be driven directly. Where only one roller is driven directly, the other roller is driven by contact directly with the driven roller or through wire located in the wire receiving space.

One of the two meshing rollers may have a wire engaging surface that is adapted to impart rotation to wire in the wire receiving space about the longitudinal axis of the wire. The wire engaging surface adapted to impart rotation to wire in the wire receiving space may include a curved portion and/or a portion lying at an angle to a horizontal plane.

The wire engaging surface may be in the form of a surface that is not parallel to the surface of the other of the two meshing rollers.

The surface of one roller may lie in a horizontal plane. The surface of the other roller may be set an angle of a few degrees thereto. The surface of the other roller may include a groove to form the wire receiving space. The groove may include a curved bottom wall.

The wire engaging surface that is adapted to impart rotation to wire may include a curved surface. The purpose of imparting the said rotation is to rotate the wire about its longitudinal axis in the direction of twist of the wire. This prevents the wire from fraying as it passes through the apparatus.

The means for applying a ferrule to wire fed through the apparatus may comprise a ferrule holder, a die set and a ferrule feeder.

The ferrule feeder may be configured such that wire to which a ferrule is to be attached may pass through the ferrule feeder. The ferrule holder may be a magazine adapted to hold a plurality of ferrules.

The means for applying a ferrule to wire may be mounted on a carriage, the carriage mounted on the frame, such that said carriage is moveable to and fro along the longitudinal axis of the apparatus, preferably by a linear actuator.

The carriage may be provided with a stop member configured to limit movement of the carriage. The stop member may be adjustable to provide different limits to movement of the carriage,

The ferrule feeder comprises a linear actuator including a rod like ferrule engaging portion. Advantageously, the rod like ferrule engaging portion has a cross-sectional shape that corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the ferrule. Advantageously, the ferrule feeder is configured to push the ferrule out of the ferrule holder towards an into the die set.

The means for applying a ferrule to wire may include a wire guide assembly, the assembly including at least one wire guide configured to guide a free end of a wire towards an opening that is aligned with a ferrule, the at least one wire guide including a sloping surface.

The wire guide assembly may include sliding members, which when the sliding members are in a closed configuration together provide an opening that is aligned with an opening in a ferrule situated in the ferrule holder, the opening provided by the sliding members being smaller than the external dimension of the ferrule such that the walls of the ferrule engage with the surface of the sliding members around the opening.

The opening may be tapered, the ferrule end of the opening being smaller than the end of the opening proximate the loop forming means.

Advantageously, one of the sliding members includes a latch, the latch extending over the ferrule when the ferrule is situated in the die set.

The latch may be mounted on an upper sliding member and includes a detent which engages with an end face of the ferrule.

The latch may have a curved or angled surface for engagement with by the ferrule, movement of the end face of the ferrule over the curved surface causing the latch to lift, the latch falling when the ferrule has passed the detent.

The latch may be mounted pivotally on the sliding member, or the sliding members and latch may be lifted as the ferrule passes over the curved or angled surface. The loop forming means may comprise a lever mounted for rotation relative to the frame, between a retracted position in which wire may travel in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus past the lever and an extended position where the lever holds a free end of the wire in alignment with the ferrule.

Advantageously, the loop forming means comprises boss and wherein the lever and boss are positioned relative to one another such that moving the lever between the retracted and extended positions bends the wire around the boss.

Preferably, the boss is the head of a piston, the piston mounted in and retractable and extendible with respect to a cylinder.

The loop forming means may include a wire guide having a wire receiving channel aligned with the path of the wire through the apparatus along the longitudinal axis of the apparatus.

Advantageously, the wire guide is moveable between a first position in the path of the lever moving between its retracted and extended positions, and a second position removed from said path of the lever.

The wire extraction means may comprise a pair of rollers.

Advantageously, the pair of rollers is down stream of the loop forming means.

Where the wire feeder may include a first set of driven rollers to one side of the wire separator and a second set of driven rollers to the other side of the wire separator, the wire extraction means may include the second set of driven rollers, which are capable er of partially extracting the wire from the apparatus.

The wire manipulating apparatus may further comprise a controller, the controller configured to synchronise actuation of the apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manipulating wire comprising the steps of providing wire and manipulating said wire with the apparatus of the first aspect of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In the Drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and which are by way of example:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the wire manipulating apparatus of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional representation of a feeder and fuser unit of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a schematic front view of feed roller unit of the apparatus illustrated in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a schematic rear view of feed roller unit of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of rollers of the feed roller unit illustrated Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 6 is an exploded view of the interface of the rollers illustrated in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an alternative set of rollers of the feed roller unit illustrated Figures 3 and 4;

Figure 8 is an exploded view of the interface of the rollers illustrated in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a schematic cross-sectional representation of the ferrule feeder and application unit of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 ;

Figure 10 is a schematic representation of the underside of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 ;

Figure 11 is a schematic representation of a carriage stop;

Figure 12 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a first configuration;

Figure 13 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a second configuration;

Figure 14 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a third configuration;

Figure 15 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a fourth configuration;

Figure 16 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a fifth configuration;

Figure 17 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a sixth configuration;

Figure 18 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit in a seventh configuration;

Figure 19 is a schematic representation of the feed roller unit illustrated in Figure 3; Figure 20 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feed unit;

Figure 21 is a schematic representation of the feed lever of the ferrule feed unit illustrated in Figure 20;

Figure 22 is a schematic representation of a ferrule magazine of the ferrule feed unit illustrated in Figure 20;

Figure 23 is a schematic representation of the crimp dies of the ferrule feed unit illustrated in Figure 20;

Figure 24 is a schematic representation of a gates of the ferrule feed unit illustrated in

Figure 20;

Figure 25 is a schematic representation of the fuser of the apparatus;

Figure 26 is a schematic representation of the loop forming unit;

Figure 27 illustrates the looping arm of the apparatus;

Figure 28 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a first configuration;

Figure 29 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a second configuration

Figure 30 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a third configuration;

Figure 31 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a fourth configuration;

Figure 32 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a fifth configuration;

Figure 33 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a sixth configuration;

Figure 34 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in a seventh configuration;

Figure 35 is a schematic representation of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 in an eighth configuration;

Figure 36 is a schematic representation of part of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1 ;

Figure 37 is a schematic representation of components of the ferrule feeder and application unit and the loop forming unit in a first configuration; Figure 38 is a schematic representation of the ferrule feeder and application unit and the loop forming unit in a second configuration; and

Figure 39 is a schematic representation of the ferrule feeder and application unit and the loop forming unit in a third configuration.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

Referring now to Figure 1 , the wire manipulating apparatus 1 comprises a plurality of components mounted on a frame 2. A spool mount 2a is provided at one end of the frame. A spool 2b carrying wire is mounted on the spool mount 2a so that the spool 2b may rotate relative to the spool mount 2a. In the illustrated example, the spool 2b is mounted on the spool mount 2a such that the spool 2b may rotate freely relative to the spool mount 2a.

A bed 2c is mounted on the frame 2 to provide a base upon which other components of the wire manipulating apparatus 1 are mounted. The component of the apparatus immediately downstream of the spool 2b is the feeder and fuser unit 3. The next component is the ferrule feeder and application unit 50. Downstream of the ferrule feeder and application unit 50 is the wire loop forming unit 100. Downstream of the wire loop forming unit is the exit feeder unit 150.

Referring now to Figure 2, which illustrates the feeder and fuser unit 3 in detail. A plate 4 is attached to the bed 2c of frame 2 by means of bolts (not shown) extending through holes 15 and into the bed 2c. The plate 4 mounts a bracket 5 at one end of the plate, the bracket 5 itself mounting a roller 6. A wire W passes over the roller 6 from the spool 2b illustrated in Figure 1 . Adjacent the bracket 5 is a first driven roller unit 7, which comprises a pair of spaced apart roller box base plates 9, each fasted fastened to the plate 4 by means of releasable fasteners 12. The roller box base plate 9 mount side plates in which shafts 11 are mounted. A plurality of rollers 8 are mounted between the two side plates 10, 10’ mounted on the roller box base plate 9.

A second driven roller unit 7 is positioned downstream of the first driven roller unit 7, with a fuser assembly 13 being positioned between the first and second driven roller units 7.

The first and second driven roller units 7 are identical in the illustrated example. The second driven roller unit 7 will be described in greater detail with reference to Figures 3 to 6.

As can be seen from Figures 3 to 6, the driven roller units include pairs of rollers 8, 8’ (Figure 2 shows only the lower of these rollers due to the cross-sectional nature of the drawing). The roller box base plate 9 includes an upstand 9’ to which side plates 10, 10’ are attached by screws 10a. The side plates 10, 10’ are attached to one another by means of a screw 10a which passes through a hole in the side plate 10 and a spacer 10”, and fastens to an internally threaded hole ffidt 10b.

Shafts 11 , 11 ’ extend through and between the side plates 10, 10’, each shaft 11 , 11 ’ supporting one of the rollers 8, 8” (in the illustrated example the shaft 11 and roller 8 are formed in a single component). As can be seen from Figure 4, the two lower shafts 11 each have a gear wheel 8c, 8d. A third gear wheel 8e is mounted on a shaft 8f. The gear wheel 8e meshes with the gear wheels 8c, 8d such that when the shaft 11 mounting gear wheel 8c is rotated, the gear wheel 8d is caused to rotate in the same direction as the gear wheel 8c. The gear wheels 8c and 8d are of the same diameter and have the same number of teeth and hence rotate at the same speed.

Each of the first and second driven roller units is provided with a motor 20 (in the illustrated example comprising a servo drive 20a, a coupling 20b and a gearbox 20c) which is mounted in a bracket 21 . The brackets 21 are mounted on the bed 2c. The output shaft 22 of gearbox 20c of the motor 20 is attached to the shaft 11 of the gear wheel 8c, typically by a quick release coupling.

Figures 5 and 6 illustrate the rollers 8, 8’ in greater detail. The roller 8 includes a groove 8a which extends around the circumference of the roller 8 and is located centrally in the roller. The groove 8a has sloping side walls 8a’ which are joined by a curved bottom wall 8a”. The diameter of the curved bottom wall is selected to match a particular diameter of wire that is to be fed through the rollers 8, 8’, that is different sets of rollers with different sized grooves 8a will be provided for different diameters of wire to be handled by the apparatus. In use, a wire W that is being manipulated by the apparatus sits in the groove 8a against the curved bottom wall 8a” and the side walls 8a’.

The roller 8’ has a different shape to that of roller 8. The roller 8’ is provided with a protrusion that is shaped and dimensioned and located to engage with the groove 8a. In the illustrated example, the shape of the surface of protrusion 8b that engages the wire comprises a first portion 8b’ and a second portion 8b”. The first portion 8b’ lies substantially parallel with or at a small angle a to the axis b-b. The second portion 8b” presents a convex surface and extends from the first portion to the side wall 8g of the roller 8’. The convex surface of second portion 8b” is connected to the side wall 8g by a curved tip 8g”. The function of the first and second portions 8b’, 8b” is to impart axial rotation to wire W as it is fed through the apparatus. In the case of multi-filament wire, by imparting rotation of the wire about its own axis, in the direction of twist of the multi-filament wire, fraying of wire can be prevented.

The roller 8 in Figures 7 and 8 has the same shape and configuration as shown in Figures 5 and 6. However, the protrusion 8b of roller 8’ has a flat face 8b’ instead of the shape described with reference to Figures 5 and 6. The drive rolls illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 have been found to be particularly useful with larger diameter wire, for example 4mm diameter wire, whereas the drive rolls illustrated in Figure 7 and 8 have been found to be particularly useful with wires of smaller diameter, for example 2.5mm diameter wire.

A fuser assembly 13 is located between the first and second driven roller units 7. The fuser assembly 13 comprises said wall members 13a each connect to a base 13b. A top plate 13 is connected to the two side wall members 13a. A high voltage fuser 16 comprising copper electrodes is situated between the side walls 13a and the base 16. Each side wall 13a includes a hole extending therethrough, the holes and the space between the rollers of the first and second feeder units 7, such that the wire follows a straight line through the apparatus. A sleeve 15 is inserted into each of the holes in the side walls 13a. Each sleeve is tapered internally, being of a wider diameter at the input end than the output end. In this way, the position of the free end of the wire WFE may deviate slightly from the axis occupied by the holes and the space between the rollers of the first and second feeder units, yet still enter the sleeve 15.

The function of the fuser 16 is to separate a length of wire from the spool when the manipulation process is complete. As well as separating the length of wire the fuser finishes the resulting ends so that the individual wire filaments within the wire are fused together. This is achieved by passing a very high voltage through the wire. For example, two voltage settings may be provided, 2.5V and 2.2 V. The point in time at which the fuser is activated and the duration of time of activation of the fuser can be programmed via a human machine interface.

The ferrule feeder and application unit 50 will now be described with reference to Figures 1 and 9 to 22. The ferrule feeder and application unit 50 comprises a carriage 51 which is mounted on the bed 2c and situated within an opening 2c’ in said bed 2c. The carriage 51 is mounted to the underside of the bed 2c by means of brackets 52 situated to opposing sides of the opening 2c’ in the bed 2c. Bars 53 extend between and are attached to the brackets 52, the bars extending in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus and being spaced apart from each other in the transverse direction of the apparatus. Linear guides 51 a are attached to the underside of the carriage 51 . The bars 53 pass through holes 51 b in the collars 51 a so that the carriage may slide to and fro along the length of the bars 53 within the opening 2c”. The holes 51 b extending through the collars 51 may be provided with bushings to facilitate easy sliding of the carriage 51 on the bars 53. The position of the carriage is controlled by an actuator. In the illustrated example, the actuator comprises a motor 54 (a servo motor in the illustrated example), a lead screw 57 connected to the output shaft of the motor 54, and a bracket 55 attached to the carriage 51 . The bracket 55 is provided with internal threads 56 which are formed in a lead screw nut 55a (numeral added to Fig 10) that is attached to the bracket 55), which engage with the external threads of the lead screw 57 causing linear movement of the carriage 51 . The motor 54 is attached to the bracket 52. As can be seen from Figure 10, the components of the actuator are mounted on the underside of the bed 2c in the illustrated example.

As shown in Figures 1 and 11 , the carriage is provided with an adjustable stop assembly 51c comprising a first component 51 d mounted on the carriage 51 and a second component 51 e mounted on the bed 2c. In the illustrated example, the second component 51 e is adapted to receive the first component 51 d. The second component comprises bifurcations 51 f, 51 f’ which are shaped and dimensioned to provide a space therebetween in which a part of the first component 51 d may be received. The illustrated stop assembly 51 c provides four possible stop positions by means of the pin being placed in one of three holes 51 h, the fourth stop position being provided by not inserting the pin 51 g in any of the holes 51 h. The first component 51 d includes a hole 51 d’. A pin (not shown) placed in the hole 51 d’ engages with the pin 51 g, or the closed end 51 f” of the bifurcations 51 f, 51 f’ to limit movement of the carriage.

A ferrule feed assembly 60 is mounted on the carriage 51 . The ferrule feed assembly comprises a ferrule magazine 61 formed by a back plate 61 a and a channel casing 61 b, which together provide an elongate slot 61 e which is shaped and dimensioned to receive a plurality of ferrules 68 stacked one on top of the other. The bottom of the elongate slot is open, so that individual ferrules 68 are released from the magazine under the force of gravity and the action of other parts of the apparatus. The ferrule feed assembly 60 further includes a feed lever 63 which is mounted to slide within a housing 63’ formed by side walls 62, bottom plate 62a and top plate 62b. The bottom plate 62a is formed of brass for easy of movement the feed lever 63 thereon. The feed lever 63 is provided with an end portion 63a which extends in a perpendicular direction to the longitudinal axis of the feed lever 63. The end portion is provided with a slot 63b, which receives part of a linear actuator of the ferrule feed assembly 60.

Linear actuator 70 is mounted above the top plate 62b and comprises a rod 71 which is provided with a head 72 at the free end of the rod 71 . The rod 71 has a diameter that is less than the width of the slot 63a, whereas the head 72 is of a larger dimension than the width of the slot 63b such that when the rod 71 moves along the longitudinal axis of the linear actuator 70, the head 72 exerts a force on the end portion 63a, causing the feed lever 63 to move in the direction X indicated in Figure 20 towards the ferrule magazine 61 . The rod 71 may be provided with a collar, which in use sits immediately adjacent the side of the end portion 63a that is proximate the ferrule magazine 61 . In this way, when the rod 71 is caused to move in the direction X away from the ferrule magazine 61 , the feed lever 63 will move in the same way.

In the illustrated example, the linear actuator 70 comprises a double acting pneumatic actuator. The piston 71 moves linearly moving the feed lever 63. The head 72 serves as a stop to limit the extent of linear movement of the feed lever 63. The linear actuator 70 includes two sensors, which provide an indication of the position of the lever 63 to a controller.

As can be seen from Figure 20, the side wall 62 is removably mounted on the ferrule feed assembly 60.

The lower part of the magazine 61 is best illustrated in Figures 9 and 20. The wall 67 is a part of the channel casing 61 b. The front face of the channel casing 61 b has an opening 61 f which receives the rod 65 of the feed lever 63.

A ferrule housing 67a is provided by the base plate 61 g of the magazine 61 , and the walls 67. A cover plate 69 has an opening 70 therein, which allows the ferrule 68 to be pushed therethrough and into the crimp dies 80.

Figures 9 and 21 show that the wire W extends through the feed lever 63. A hole 63a extends through the body of the feed lever 63, the wire W passing through the hole. A rod 65 extends the end of the feed lever 63 proximate the magazine 61 . The hole 63a extends through one side of the rod 65, the other side of the rod 65a being solid. The external shape of the rod 65 corresponds to the shape of the ferrule 68. The hole 63a is positioned within the rod so that it is aligned with the hole through the ferrule 68. The solid part of the rod 65 presents an end face 65b, the function of which will be described further below. Referring now to Figures 9 and 23, the crimp die set 80 comprises two moveable die blocks 81 a, 81 b moveable relative to one another, for example both die blocks may be moveable or one may be fixed and the other moveable relative to the other. Each die block is provided with a slot 82a, 82b extending through one of the walls of the die block. In the illustrated example the slots are semi-circular in cross-section and are provided with a chamfered end wall 83a, 83b respectively. The function of the chamfered end walls 83a, 83b is to guide the ferrule into the opening within the crimp dies 80 provided by the slots 82a, 82b. The die blocks 81 a, 81 b each include an attachment element 84a, 84b for attachment of the respective die block to the frame 2 and a linear actuator 87. The member 85 engages with the element 84a. The member 85 is fixed with respect to the frame 2. A moveable member 86 is attached to the die block 81 b and to a linear actuator 87, the linear actuator 87 being fixed with respect to the frame 2. When the linear actuator 87 is extended, the die block 81 b is moved towards the die block 81 a, thereby reducing the space provided by the slots 82a, 82b when the die blocks are spaced apart, as shown in Figure 23. A ferrule that is situated in this space is crimped onto wire located within the ferrule by the squeezing action of the die blocks 81 a, 81 b.

The crimp die set 80 further comprises a gate mechanism 90. The gate mechanism serves two principal purposes. First, the gate mechanism holds the ferrule 68 in place as the wire W is being fed through the ferrule 68, particularly after the loop has been formed and the free end of the wire W is being fed back through the ferrule. Second, the gate mechanism is configured to present the free end of the wire W to the ferrule 68 so that the wire W may be introduced into the ferrule 68 effectively.

Referring now to Figures 9, 12 to 18 and 24, the gate mechanism 90 comprises a mounting plate 91 , which attaches to the frame 85 or to a part of the ferrule feed assembly 60. The mounting plate 91 houses lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a. The lower and upper sliding members 93a, 93b each have respective lower and upper parts 92, 93 of a wire guide extending therefrom. Figure 24 shows the upper and lower parts of the wire guide in their closed configuration. As can be seen from the figure, the wire guide presents front and side openings 96, 97. The front opening 96 allows the wire W to pass through the wire guide following its direction of travel through the apparatus. The side opening 97 receives the free end of the wire W after the loop has been partially formed, before the free end of the wire has been introduced into the ferrule 68. The lower part 92 of the wire guide includes three surfaces 92b, 92c, 92d. The surface 92b lies in a substantially horizontal plane in the illustrated embodiments. The surface 92c slopes downwardly from the surface 92b and is at an angle of a few degrees, for example between 6 and 10 degrees, to the horizontal. The third surface 92d lies at a steeper angle to the horizontal than the surface 92c, the function of the third surface 92d being to guide the free end of the wire W onto the surface 92c.

Figures 12 to 18 illustrate the view of the gate mechanism 90 from the ferrule feed assembly 60. The lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a each include a region of increased thickness 92e, 93e. Each of these regions is provided with two spaced apart holes through which screws are inserted, the screws in threaded engagement with the wire guide parts 92, 93, thereby attaching the wire guide parts to respective sliding members 92, 93.

The regions of increased thickness 92e, 93e each include a slot 92g, 93g. When the sliders 92, 93 are in their closed configuration, for example as shown in Figure 13, these slots form an opening that is defined by the walls of the slots 92g, 93g. As can be seen from Figures 2 and 12, the slot 92g (and also slot 93g, although not visible in the drawings) is tapered, with the slot narrowing from the wire guard parts 92, 93 towards the free surface of the region of increased thickness 92e of the sliding member 92a. The function of the taper is, in the case of the free end WFE of the wire W, to present said free end to the opening in the ferrule so that the said free end WFE may be pushed into the opening in the ferrule without interfering with the wall of the ferrule. In the case of the part of the wire W that has not been looped, the taper ensures that the wire W and ferrule 68 remain aligned with the longitudinal axis of the apparatus when the wire is looped, looping of the wire tending to cause the wire W to bend.

A latch 98 extends from the upper slider 93a. As illustrated in Figures 14 and 15, the function of the latch 98 is engaged with the ferrule 68. The latch 98 comprises a detent 98c which engages with the wall of the ferrule 68 until the upper slider is raised such that the detent is clear of the ferrule wall. The latch 98a has a curved nose 98a, the lower edge of the nose 98a being connected to the detent by surface 98b. In Figure 13 the lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a are in their closed configuration. As the ferrule 68 is pressed against the nose 98b of the latch 98, the latch is caused to rise. The radius of the nose 98a facilitates this. The ferrule 68 slides along the lower surface 98b of the latch until the rear edge of the ferrule 68 has passed the detent 98c. The latch 98 then falls to the position shown in Figures 14 and 15. The ferrule 68 is held in position by the latch 98 whilst the free end WFE of the wire is pushed into the ferrule 68. The lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a are moved between their closed and open configurations by levers 94, 95 respectively, the levers being operated by an actuator 99.

The loop forming assembly 100 will now be described greater detail with reference to Figures 2827 to 36. The loop forming assembly 100 comprises a base plate 101 on which a looping arm 103 is mounted pivotally around pivot point 103a. An actuator (not shown) is provided to move the looping arm 103 about the pivot point 103a. A wire position retainer 102 is situated above the base plate 101 and is moveable up and down, towards and away from the base plate 101. An actuator (not shown) is provided to move the wire position retainer 102. A slot 102a extends along the underside of the wire retainer 102. When the wire retainer is lowered so that it sits on the upper surface of plate 101 the slot 102a is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the wire W through the other parts of the machine. The free end of the wire is formed into a loop by the lever 103, which is rotated clockwise. From the position shown in Figure 29, as the lever 103 rotates clockwise the front edge 103d of the wire capture portion 103b engages with the wire W. At the same time the wire retainer is lifted away from the base 101 , thereby releasing the wire W and providing space for the lever 103 to move into. With further rotation of the lever 103, the wire comes into contact with downwardly extending wall 103c which pushes the wire W in the direction of movement of the lever 103. The wire W is also engaged by a piston head 106a of piston assembly 104. The piston head 106a extends from a support plate 106, the perimeter of which extends beyond the perimeter of the piston head 106a.

Figure 27 illustrates the movement of the looping arm 103 and the resulting looped wire W. The piston assembly 104 is situated between the lever 103 and ferrule feed assembly 50 and comprises a piston 105b which is mounted within a cylinder 105 to slide therein. An actuator (not shown) is provided to move the piston in the cylinder between retracted and extended positions.

In the extended position, shown in Figures 29 to 34 and 37 and 38, the piston head 106a lies in the same plane as the wire W. The edge of the piston head proximate the wire W is positioned so that the said edge touches the wire W. As the lever 103 rotates in a clockwise direction, the wire is caused to bend around the piston head 106a.

The piston head 106a holds the wire W whilst the ferrule is pushed onto the free end of the wire WFE and crimped onto the wire by the die set 80. The action of crimping the ferrule generates heat, and this can cause the ferrule 68, which is typically aluminium, to adhere to the walls of the die set. The piston head 106a helps to release the ferrule 68 from the die set 80 after crimping by remaining in place in the formed loop as the carriage 51 is retracted. Once the ferrule is free from the die set 80, the piston 105b is raised, releasing the piston head from the loop formed in the wire W.

The fuser 16 is operated to sever the wire W and finish the end of the wire and the first and second sets of feeder rollers are engaged to advance the completed looped wire piece through guide tray 130 to the exit feeder unit 150 and to load fresh wire W from the spool into the apparatus.

The exit feeder unit 150 comprises lower and upper rollers 151a, 151 b mounted in spaced apart brackets 152. A servo motor 153 is attached to one of the brackets 152 and drives at least one of the rollers 151a. Complete looped lengths of wire are guided off the apparatus via an output guide tray 154.

Operation of the apparatus is described below:

Wire W is fed from spool 2b over the roller 6 and into the first driven roller unit 7. When actuated the motor 20 drives the rollers 8 of the first roller unit 7 to pull wire off spool 2b and push the wire into the end through the fuser assembly 13, and into the second driven roller unit 7. With the feed lever 63 of the ferrule feed assembly 60 in its retracted state, and the carriage 51 moved by the actuator 54 to a position proximate the output of the second roller unit 7, wire exiting the second roller unit enters the hole 64 that extends through the feed lever 63 as the first and second roller units continue to pull wire W off the spool and feed the wire through the apparatus. At this point the feed lever 63 is moved by the actuator 70 in the direction of travel of the wire W, with the rod 65 entering and passing through the lower part of the magazine 61 holding the supply of ferrules 68. The rod 65 is aligned with the lower most ferrule 68 in the magazine 61 . The rod 65 continues to be moved by the actuator 70 until the ferrule sits against the lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a of the gate mechanism 90, and within the die set 80, as shown in Figures 14 to 16. At this point the ferrule is held in place by the latch 98. During the period that the feed lever 63 is being moved towards the die set 80, the first and second roller units 7 may be stopped so that the wire W does not advance.

The next step in operation of the assembly comprises movement of the carriage 51 towards the loop forming assembly 100. The actuator 54 is operated, causing threaded rod 57 to rotate and thereby move the carriage 51 towards the loop forming assembly 100. At the same time, the wire W is advanced by the first and second roller units 7, into and through the ferrule 68. In Figure 28, the carriage 51 has begun to advance towards the loop forming assembly 100. In Figure 29 the carriage 51 has advanced fully such that the lower wire guide 92 is situated within a recess 106 in the base plate 101 . The upper surface of the base plate and the surface 92b of the wire guide 92 lie in a substantially common plane. The wire continues to advance, passing under the support plate 106 of piston 105b and through hole 102a, until a sufficient length of wire has been provided to facilitate the formation of a loop in the wire W. At this point the first and second roller units 7 are disengaged (note once the wire has been fed through the first and second feed roller units, the wire can be moved in the apparatus by driving the second feed roller unit alone, in which case the first feed roller unit must free wheel, and if such a configuration is adopted feeding of the wire through the apparatus may be stopped by halting drive the second feeder unit alone).

The wire retainer 102 is raised up and the lever 103 is caused to rotate towards the wire W which lies in the path of the wire capture portion 103b of the lever 103. As the lever 103 continues to rotate, the wire W is captured by the wire capture portion and bent around the piston head 106a. As the lever 103 continues to rotate, the carriage 51 begins to retract in order that the path of the free end of the wire WFE is not blocked.

With the lever 103 fully rotated to the position shown in Figure 32 the free end of the wire WFE is situated immediately in front of the opening in the sliders provided by slots 92g, 93g. In the present example the carriage 51 is retracted to the extent that the lower wire guide 92 is clear of the recess 106.

The carriage is then 51 is then advanced forward towards the loop forming assembly 100. The free end of the wire WFE is forced through the opening formed by the slots 92g, 93g and into the ferrule 68 at which point in the cycle the die blocks 81 a, 81 b are moved towards each other to crimp the ferrule 68 onto the wire W, as shown in Figure 33.

The lever 103 begins to retract as shown in Figure 34 and the carriage 51 starts to retract towards the feeder roll units 7. The lower and upper sliding members 92a, 93a are moved between their closed and opened states, and the die blocks 81 a, 81 b are opened. The loop L formed in the wire W is at this point held by the piston head 106a. When the ferrule 68 has cleared the die blocks 81 a, 81 b, by virtue of retraction of the carriage 51 , the piston 105b is raised, releasing the piston head 106a from the loop L. The fuser 16 is then operated to separate the looped length of wire from the wire on the spool 2b. Actuation of the second feed roller unit moves the looped length of wire to the exit feeder unit 150, the powered rollers of which pull the looped length of wire from the apparatus. If the first roller unit 7 is powered at the same time, the apparatus is loaded with the next length of wire to have a loop formed therein.