US1742966A

US1742966A - Wire feeder

Info

Publication number: US1742966A
Application number: US274304A
Authority: US
Inventors: Muller Gustav
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1927-07-27
Filing date: 1928-05-01
Publication date: 1930-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 1947-01-07
Also published as: GB294612A; NL23830C

Description

Jan. 7, 1930. e. MULLER 1,742,966

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l I Fig.

Inventor:

Gustav Muller,

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Jan. 7, 1930. G, MUL ER 1,742,966

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1. 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 2 7 4O 4F kzz /59 ITWVGTTtQf: Gustav Mul IeT,

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G. MULLER Jan. 7, 1930.

WIRE FEEDER Filed May 1. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l -l: G'uQt lat liler, WWW

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Patented Jan. 7, 1930 GUSTAV MULLER, OF BERLIN-STEGLITZ, GERMANY, ASSIGN OR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK WIRE FEEDER Application fileu May 1, 1928, Serial No.

It has been proposed to separate single wires from a pile of wires by mechanically operated devices and to feed the separated wires to a point where they are utilized, but when such devices are used for very fine wires the friction between the wires in the pile is so great as to interfere with the pulling out of the separated wires. The principal object of this invention is to provide means for separating and transferring single wires from a pile of very fine wires, such as the leading-in wires for electric incandescent lamps. To this end and in accordance with the invention the selected wires are dragged endwise out of a pile of loose wires in a receptacle or hopper having a fixed bottom and open on one side at the edge of the bottom by means of a wire extractor comprising an oscillatory wire catcher mounted to swing into the hopper through its open side and dip into the pile of loose wires, catch hold of one wire by a claw on the end, and swing back longitudinally out of the hopper, dragging the se lected wire along the bottom of the hopper and out onto a plate or shelf projecting from the open side of the hopper, and then release it. Preferably this projecting plate is pivoted above a chute or several chutes so that the wires caught and withdrawn by the catchers slide into the chutes by a simple down swing of the plate. The chutes guide the downwardly sliding wires directly to the point where they are used.

In the accompanying drawing there is shown one form of wire feeding device embodying the invention, and in which Figure 1 is a front view, partly in section, and Figure 2 a side view of the device; Fig- I ures 3 and 4 side views partly in section showing different positions of the wire catchers; Figure 5 a perspective view of the upper part of the device; Figure 6 a plan View showing the wire catchers and the extended bottom plate of the hopper; Figure 7 a view in elevation and from the rear of the wire catchers, and partly in vertical section through the bottom plate, and Figure 8 a cross section through the pile of wires. showing on a larger scale how the catcher picks out a wire.

In the particular form of wire feeder 274,304, and in Germany July 27, 1927.

shown in the drawing a vertical post 1 carries a hopper 2 for a pile of wires 3. The hopper is open at the top and also on the left side and has a downwardly sloping fixed bottom 4 which acts as a support for the pile of wires. The hopper has two arms 5 projecting in substantially the plane of the bottom 4 and carrying near their free ends on pivots 6 a bottom plate or shelf which swings on the pivots 6 and preferably consists of two metal troughs 7 side by side, but spaced apart, and with their free ends bridged or joined by a cross plate 8. The coil springs 9 engage the lower side of the troughs 7, and ordinarily hold the shelf up so that the edge of the cross plate 8 bears against a bevel edge 10 of the hopper bottom 4 and forms a straight extension of it. Below the swinging shelf composed of the two troughs 7 and the plate 8, are two funnel like chutes 11 fixed to the hopper 2 and each having an extension 12 which is telescoped a delivery tube 13 which has at its lower end a funnel-like mouthpiece 14. The two sleeves 13 are carried by a vertically movable cross head 15 slidable on the post 1, and driven up and down by the driving mechanism through the link 16.

The wire extractor for extracting one wire at a time from the pile of loose wires in the hopper comprises a bracket 17 fixed on the post 1 between the sliding cross head 15 and the hopper 2 and having a pin 18 on which is pivoted a two armed actuating lever 19 with its lower end connected through a slot20 with a pin 21 on the head 15. The upper end of the lever- 19 is connected by a link 22 with two

oscillating levers

23, 24 which swing in the same plane and are pivoted one behind the other on lugs 25 projecting from the chutes 11; The inner oscillating lever 23 carries a transverse pin 26 which extends into the slots 28 of two arms 27 on the swinging shelf formed by the troughs 7 and plate 8. On the upper end of this inner oscillating arm 23 are pivoted on a transverse pin'29 two levers or wire catching arms 30 each having on its front end a bent claw 31. Each claw has, as shown in Figure 8, a wedge-shaped notch 32 of a'size dependent on the thickness of the wire to be taken from the pile of wires 3, and which,

of the rear ends of the catchers project adjacent the travel of the lever 24 to form elongated teeth 33 which connect the lever to the catchers in their rearmost position by an automatic lock on the lever, such as two pivoted locking pawls pivoted as best shown in Figure 7 like the blades of scissors on a pin 35 on the oscillating arm 24 so that the upper legs 34 of the locking pawls will engage the ratchet teeth on the rear ends of the catchers. The lower legs 36 of these pawls which couple the catchers to the oscillating lever 24 are spread by a spring 37 which tends to hold the upper legs 34 locked to the rear ends of the catchers. The locking pawls not only compel the catchers 30 to travel with the lever 24, but also hold down the rear ends of the catcher arms and hold up the front or claw ends against the pull of springs 38 which connect the upper end of the oscillating lever 23 to the catchers and rock the catchers on their pivots when released by the locking pawls 34, so that the catcher claws 31 swing down and the rear ends of the catchers swings up out of range of the locking pawls.

The release of the

locking pawls

33, 34, and the unlocking of the catchers from .the lever 24 is brought about during the travel of the catchers toward the hopper, preferably by two wedges 39 mounted on the inner sides of the troughs 7 to project into the passage between them and to be encountered by the lower legs 36 of the pawls when the catchers and. lever 24 swing forward. The unlocking of the catchers permit their forward or claw ends to swing down through the pile of wires to the bottom of the hopper and thereby separate individual wires from the pile. They remain unlocked during the return stroke of'the lever-24, during which they drag the selected wires end wise out of the hopper and are then automatically locked to the lever 24 near the end of its back stroke by the legs 34 of the locking pawls. The catchers are automatically swung into locking position by two set screws 40 on the rear end of the swinging shelf or

bottom plate

7 and 8 which swing up as the shelf swings down and thereby'raise the front ends of the catchers so far that their rear ends slide down over the upper legs 34 of the locking pawls until they are resiliently caught by the pawls and locked to the lever 24.

The device shown as one example of the invention is suitable for feeding lead wires to the machines for making stems for electric incandescent lamps and similar articles. In this example the working position beneath the funnels 14 of the movable sleeves 13 for utilizing the wires pulled out of the pile 3 and delivered to the place of use is occupied by one of the stem heads of a rotatable stem making machine. structed as usual with clamping jaw 41 for holding a stem tube 42, a socket for holding an arbor 43, and two wire holders or sockets 44 for holding the lead wires to be sealed into the stem tube.

The pinching jaws 45 are closed automatically to compress the softened glass of the lower end of the stem tube and make the press.

Merely for illustration, the stem head is shown as mounted on a rotary table or spider 46 mounted on the frame 47 of the machine and rotated step by step by an intermittent gearing 48 which is actuated by a drive shaft 49 which also, through a cam 50, actuates the link 16 and the wire feeder in definite time relation to the movement of the table 46, so that the wire feeder is actuated and delivers wires to the stem head while the stem head is stationary with its wire sockets 44 in registry with the mouth pieces 14 of the delivery tubes, as indicated in Figure 1.

The operation of the device shown is as follows:

Assume that the hopper is filled with wires Each stem head is con- 3 and the catchers 30 occupy their rearmost postion, shown in Figures 1 and 2, with the shelf or

bottom plates

7 and 8 hanging down. The rear ends of the catchers 30 are locked by the upper legs 34 of the coupling pawls to the oscillating lever 24, as shown in Figures 5' and 7. As the sliding head 15 rises on the post 1 the

linkage system

19, 22, 23, 24 causes the catchers to swing forward until they occupy the position shown in full lines in Figure, 3. At the same time the shelf or bottom plate is then swung upwardly by the springs 9 because during the forward swing of the lever 23 the pin 26 moves freely in the slots 28 of the guides 27. Shortly before the end of the forward swing of the catchers the lower legs 36 of the locking pawls run between the wedges 39 on the inner edges of the trough 7 of the swinging shelf. The locking pawls are brought together by the wedges, whereby the upper legs 34 are pulled out of the teeth 33 of the catchers-30, thereby disas shown in Figure 3, holds fast one wire in the wedgeshaped notch 32 while the pointed legs of the claw 31 shove aside the neighboring wires. Now the sliding head 15 reverses and moves downward, causing a reverse movement of the linkage system 19, E22, 213, 24 and a retreat of the catchers 80.

As the catchers are now free from the lever 24, and their front ends are continuously pressed down by the springs 38. their notched ends slide along and over the bottom 4 and out onto the swinging shelf over the cross plate 8 and into the troughs 7. The wires gripped and caught by the notched ends or claws are dragged along endwise by friction during the retreat of the catchers until the catchers reach the position shown in Figure 4, where the wires which have been carried along are completely withdrawn from the pile and lie for their full length on the swinging shelf and for most of their lengths in the troughs 7. When the catchers reach this position the pin 26 on the oscillating lever 23 strikes against the left end of the slot 28 in the guide 27, whereupon the further swing of the oscillating lever 23 toward the rear affects the position of the swinging shelf which is now carried along or swung down, as shown in Figures 1 and 5. At the completion of the down swing of the shelf the stops 40 strike the catchers 30 from beneath, whereby their front ends are lifted away fromthe swinging shelf and their rear ends lowered over the locking pawls. The upper legs 34 of the locking pawls are squeezed together by the passage over them of the downwardly moving catcher ends until after the passage of the catcher ends over them they are snapped apart by the spring 37 and then engage the teeth 33 of the catcher ends. The catchers are thus again coupled to the oscillating arm 24, so that on the next forward movement they pass into the hopper in their high or lifted position.

The discharge of the selected wires from the swinging shelf is due to gravity as the wires are held but loosely between the claw notches 32 and the bottom plate and usually slide downwards during the downward swing of the shelf but certainly do so when, by the contact of the stops 40 with the catchers, the claws are lifted somewhat away from the shelf. The released wires slide endwise down the troughs 7 of the swinging shelf through the funnels 11 into the extensions 12 and then through the delivery tube 13 into the funnel-like mouthpieces 14, which, on the return stroke of the catchers, have descended into the stem head as shown in Fig. 1. By the mouthpieces 14 the wires are accurately fed into the lead wire sockets 44 of the stem head 41 which is in working position beneath the wire feed device. While the sliding head 15 together with the delivery tube 13 and mouthpieces 14 rise for another cycle the stem making machine is moved one stepby the intermittent driving mechanism, indicated in Fig. 1, so that when the wires are next fed another stem head is in the working position below the sliding delivery tube 13.

The invention can be used wherever a definite number of wires, especially very fine wires, are to be separated from a pile and fed to a working position. The device may be equipped with one, or two, or more than two wlre catchers, and with a corresponding number of chutes. The positive control of the oscillatable catchers can also be obtained in other ways, for example, by a cam acting on the lever 19. If the device is used for feeding of lead wires andv is attached to a stem making machine then the up and down movement of the slide head 15 can be produced by the driving mechanism of the stem making machine, as indicated in Fig. 1.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall an opening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a wire catching arm having a projecting claw with a wire gripping notch in its end, and actuatingmeans for moving said arm to carry said claw forward into said hopper, drop it into contact with the hopper bottom and move it backward to drag endwise along the hopper bottom and out hrough said opening a wire seized by said claw.

2. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall an opening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a delivery chute with its inlet adjacent but below the edge of said opening, a pivoted shelf normally with its free edge adjoining the hopper bottom at said opening and capable of swinging downward to carry its free edge to the inlet of said chute a wire catching arm having a projecting claw with a wire gripping notch in its end, actuating means for moving said arm to carry said claw forward into said hopper, drop it into contact with the hopper bottom and move it backward to drag a wire seized by said claw endwise along the hopper bottom and out through said opening onto said shelf prior to the downward swing of the shelf.

3. In a wire feeder, the combination of a hopper having in one wall an opening with its lower edge at the bottom of the hopper, a delivery .chute with its inlet adjacent but below the edge of said opening, a pivoted shelf normally with its free. edge adjoining the hopperbottom at said opening and capable of swinging downward to carry its free edge to the inlet, a wire catching arm having a projecting claw with a wire gripping notch 1n its end, actuating means for moving said arm to carry said claw forward into said hopper, drop it into contact with the hopper bottom, and move it backward to drag a wire seized by said claw endwise along the hopper bottom and out through said opening onto said shelf prior to the downward swing of the shelf, and connections whereby said actuating means swing said shelf downward as said claw near the end of its backward movement along said shelf.

4. In a wire feeder, the combination with a hopper having at one end an opening adjoining the bo-ttom of said hopper, of a wire extractor for pulling a wire endwise along the bottom of said hopper through said opening comprising two arms pivoted to swing in the same plane perpendicular to the bottom of said hopper, a wire catchin lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the orward one of said arms and having a wire catching claw on its forward end and biased to swing its forward end toward the bottom of said hopper, an automatic lock for locking the rear end of said lever to said rear arm at the rear posit-ion of said lever, and means for unlocking said lever near the end of its forward swing to permit the claw to move down to thebottom of said hopper.

5. In a wire feeder, the combination with a hopper having at one end an opening adjoining the bottom of said hopper, of a wire extractor for pulling a wire endwise along the bottom of said hopper through said opening comprising two arms pivoted to swing in the same plane perpendicular to the bottom of said hopper, a wire catching lever pivoted intermediate its ends on the forward one of said arms and having a wire catching claw on its forward end and biased to swing its forward end toward the bottom of said hopper, two locking -pawls mounted on a common pivot on said rear arm and biased to close their upper ends on the rear end of said lever and thereby lock said arm to said lever during its forward swing, and means mounted near the end of the swing of said arm to engage the lower ends of said pawls and move them to release said lever.

6. In a wire feeding mechanism, the combination of a hopper having at oneend an opening adjoining the bottom of said hopper, a wire extractor comprising a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having a claw at its forward end, a movable member mounted to move into and out of said hopper and on which said lever is pivoted to permit the forward end of said lever to swing into contact with the bottom of said hopper, an actuating member for moving said movable member and said lever toward and away from said opening, a lock on said member for locking said lever-to said member, a pivoted shelf with its free edge normally adjoining the edge of thebottom of said hopper at said opening, and means responsive to the downward swing of said shelf to swing the forward end of said lever up until'its rear end is caught byv said lock on said member.

7. In a wire feeding mechanism, the combination with a stem head comprising wire holders and tube holders, of a wire feeder comprising a hopper having at one end an opening adjoining the bottom of said hopper, a wire extractor for drawing a wire endwise along the bottom of said hopper and out through said opening, a chute with its inlet end adjacent the edge of the bottom of said hopper, a delivery tube telescoped on the end of said chute in position to register with a wire holder of said stem head, a reciprocating cross head, and connections from said cross head to said wire extractor and said delivery tube to move said delivery tube down into registry with a wire holder of said stem head as said wire extractor moves out of said hopper and feeds a wire into said chute.

v 8. In a device of the character described,

the combination with a support for holding a said support to dra the wire seized by said claw endwise out o the pile of wire.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination with an elongated support on which a pile of wires may be laid lengthwise, of a wire catcher having a claw for gripping one wire at a time and mounted to move into proximity to said support to catch one wire of said pile in said claw, and actuating means for producing relative movement of said claw and said support longitudinally of said support to drag said wire endwise out of said pile.

10. In a device of the character described, the combination with a support extending lengthwise of a pile of wires, of a wire catching arm having one end shaped to grip one wire only and movably mounted to bring said end adjacent said support to catch a wire between said end, and said support and'to move bodily along said support to drag said wire endwise along said support and out of said pile, and actuating means for said arm.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of April, 1928.

GUSTAV MULLER.