US2196076A - Apparatus for making metal sponge - Google Patents

Description

Aprilvz, 1940. F. n. MORAN I APPARATUS FOR MAKING METAL SPONGE s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June '22, 1937 April 2, 1940. v A MORAN 2,196,076

APPARATUS FOR MAKING METAL SPONGE Filed June 22, 1957 a Sheets-Sheet z 7/12] 14715 12 Moran,-

April 2,

F. D. MORAN APPARATUS FOR IAKING METAL SPONGE F'iied June 22. 1937- S Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS Foa MAKING METAL SPONGE Francis D. Moran, Downers Grove, 11]. Application June 22, 193-1, Serial No. 149,123 22 Claims. (01'. 140-11) My invention relates in general to curledwire, and more in particular to a method and apparatus for curling said wire, and a metallic cleaning'sponge formed from such curled wire.

5 In recent years it has been demonstrated that metallic sponges or pads are more satisfactory for substantially all types of scraping and cleaning operations than the many other types of brushes, sponges, pads, and the like, which had theretofore been used for such purpose. Fine steel strands, or, as it is commonly known, steel wool, for pads has been unsatisfactory for many purposes because the steel wool may injure the hand of the user unless a glove is worn, and

such steel wool pads and sponges wear down rapidly with! use and become packed in the normal cleaning operation so as to lose a desirable resiliency. Furthermore, as the pad becomes packed, the removal of dust, paint, grease,

or the like, which has collected in the use of the same, becomes impossible," and the pad some-- times becomes useless before the material is all used up.

The same disadvantage as to resiliency and 5 removal of accumulated dirt or the like is apparent in metallic pads or sponges formed of coiled wire, which at the present time are wound in such ashape that each strand of coiled "wire has resiliency in only a single direction, and the strands aren't easily manipulated to utilize all the material as a cleaning surface. Furthermore, the coils in the wire are wound closely so that the pad packs, with use, and thus can not be cleaned, or at least readily cleaned. With respect to the coiled metal wire pads, there are the disadvantages in the pad itself mentioned above, and in addition the method of making the coiled wire and forming the sponge, as well as the apparatus for practicing such 40 method are somewhat complicated and expensive. As a result, the cost of the finished coiled metal pad is high, and because of thehigh price, it is not strictly competitive with steel wool pads and the like, while at the same time having some general advantages thereover. It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an improved curled metal wire rubbing or cleaning sponge.

One of the features of this sponge is the general open resilient formation so that the" volume A stillfurther feature of my invention is the.

provision of such a sponge structure that the curled metal wire constituting the same retains a desirable amount of resiliency and openness throughout extended use and throughout an extended life, and in this structure can be readily handled for providing a new cleaning or rubbing 5 surface and for cleaning out the accumulated debris therein. Likewise, the present structure the wire for the sponge is pulled from a source of 20 supply, and simultaneously with the pulling operation is pressed against a curling edge on a curling tool to form successive relatively open curls therein, whereupon the curled wire is dropped from the curling tool in a long strand without any tautness therein, into a pile. When a suitable quantity of curled wire has accumulated below the curling edge, the strand as it' comes from such curling edge is cut. The pile or quantity of wire thus separated is'manipulated slightly to intertwine the coils, and the pad or sponge is then complete and ready for use.

An alternate method is to accumulate a large pile and merely pick up the desired quantity of curled wire from the pile, compress it in the 35 hand to cause the curls to interengage, and then cut this quantity from the pile to provide the finished formed sponge, which springs back into I an enlarged volume when removed from the hand.

Other objects and, advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view .of the apparatus of my invention. a

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a modi fication of theapparatus of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is an illustration of the finished sponge of my invention. 54)

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the preferred embodiment of the curling edge, with an illustration of the manner in which the wire is curled on such edge and drops away by gravity to a pile below the same.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the curling tool shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the curling tool of Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

- Fig. 9 is a fragmentary side elevation of a curling tool with a curling edge modified. from that illustrated in Figs. to 8.

Fig. 10 is a front view of the curling tool of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the modified curling edge of Figs. 9 and 10.

Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a curling tool with a further modification of the curling edge.

Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively, a front elevation and a top plan view of the structure of Fig. 12.

Fig. 15 in an elevation of the eccentric member of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 3.

Fig. 16 is a side elevation of the timed cutting mechanism for the curled wire.

The apparatus for curling the wire to make up the metal sponges is illustrated in Fig. l, with the apparatus mounted on a base H) of any desirable material and including a motor II for driving a capstan l2 and simultaneously driving a curling rotor l3, mounted directly on the shaft of the motor. The preferred wire for curling to be made into the metallic sponge of my invention is a flat brass or bronze wire of .0012" thickness and approximately .020 inch in width, although it is understood that I do not limit the invention to these wire specifications, wire form, or wire materials.

This wire may be originally formed from round stock by any desired flattening method and after flattening is reeled onto a spool i4 for mounting on a rotating shaft I8 appropriately journalled at IT and mounted on the base Hi. It is also understood that the wire flatteningapparatus may be mounted or assembled in connection with the curling apparatus to feed the wire directly to the curling mechanism rather than first winding it on a spool l4 and then feeding it from such spool as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The flattened brass or bronze wire [8 is passed from the spool H on the outside of a slanting guide pin I8 extending upwardly and outwardly away from its securing position at 2| in the base Ill. The wire is then looped around the rotary capstan I2 in the ordinary manner and fed around the guide pin [3' to the curling tool.

This pin 19 slants upwardly and in an opposite direction from the pin [9, andv with the pins spaced to each side of a-longitudinal line through the capstan, as is clear from Fig. 1, they act to spread the wire over the capstan into the form of a helix. Flat wire laps readily, and does not tend to stay separated on a capstan. However, with the wire looped about the capstan, as'described, it is separated so that the portion of the wire passing on to the capstan from the spool does not engage the portionpassing from the capstan to the curling apparatus and thus does not become entangled in any way.

The capstan I2 is rigidly secured to a shaft 22 which in turn is journalled in a pair of bearings 23 and with a pulley 24 on the end of the'shaft is driven by means of a belt 23 from a pulley 21 on the shaft 23 of the motor. The pulleys 24 and 21 are the same size, and the shaft 22 will rotate substantially at the speed 28 of the motor. There is probably some slight lag in the shaft 22 as compared with the speed of the shaft 28, because of the slight power losses in the belt drive, and possibly from friction in the bearings 23. However,

this is not utilized in any way in the curling operation, as will hereinafter appear.

The wire i8 is pulled over a curling edge 3| on a curling tool 32 oftool steel, by means of the friction between the rotating roller l3 and the wire l8 lying on the curling tool. The roller I3 is provided of a desirable material such as to stand up under extended use and provide a yieldable surface 33 as shown in Fig. 5, to yield slightly as it bears across the wire l8 on the curling edge and thus engage such wire for a slight distance on each side of said edge. To assist in retaining the wire l8'centered on the curling tool, and to guide the wire to the curling edge, a channel 34 extends lengthwise of the tool in the upper .portion, and substantially to the curling edge 3|.

The roller [3 has been very satisfactorily provided in a commercial embodiment of the invention in rubber, and also in leather, with each sufficiently soft to yield slightly as heretofore explained. The rotor l3 of course remains in a single vertical position on the shaft of the motor, and to obtain the necessary curling pressure on the wire l8 it is necessary to pullthe curling tool 32 and consequently the curling edge 3| upwardly across the under side of the wire so that such wire is retained under pressure between the yieldable surface 33 and the curling tool 32 at the edge The curling tool 32 which is provided in highspeed tool steel is adjustably mounted in a U- shaped bracket 36 whichin turn is mounted on an L-shaped crank 31 journalled in a bracket or U-shaped support 38 mounted on the base It]. The curling-tool-carrying arm of the member 31 may be provided with a flattened portion 39 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that as the screw 4| is tightened upon the top surface of the curling tool 32, the latter is pressed against the flat surface 39 in. a rigid mounting. A spring 42, adjustably suspended from a link 43 on a standard 44 mounted on the base l0, slips over the forward extending arm of the lever 31 and by viradjustably mounted in a bracket 46 keyed or secured against rotary movement on a shaft 41 journalled in bearings 48 mounted on the base It. The end of the shaft 41 is provided with a cam follower or the like moving in the channel 50 of an eccentric cam 43 (Fig. 15), which in turn is secured to a shaft 5| journalled in a bearing 52 and having a gear 53 secured on one end thereof. Appropriate speed-reducing and drive mechanism is provided between the gear 53 and gear 54 secured to the motor shaft 28. The shaft 41 slides back and forth in a rebiprocating movement at any desired speed to move the curling tool 32 from one side to the other axially across the rotor II to wear the surface 33 down evenly. The cam 43 is cut to provide uniform speed in moving the curling tool across the rotor.

To obtain an upward pull on the curling tool 22 comparable to that described with respect to the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, the spring 42 is hooked over an arm 56 extending from an integral bushing 51 rigidly secured on the shaft 41. Inasmuch as the movement of the shaft 41 is approximately only of an inch as it moves the curling tool back and forth over the roller l3, no difficulty is encountered by virtue of the fact that the spring. 42 is extended and as 76 angularly disposed with respect thereto.

grooms 'cating movement of the shaft 41.

As to the curling tool itself, the preferred embodiment is illustrated on an enlarged scale in Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive. The tool illustrated in these figures is three times the actual size of a commerical embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. .7, the top surface T at the curling end of the tool is ground to lie in a plane cutting diagonally through the top face of such tool. The endv face E of the tool is ground toa plane cutting diagonally across the end of the curling tool and forwardly and downwardly as viewed in Figs. 6 and 7. This provides a curlingedge 3| lying intermediate the top and bottom surfaces of the curling tool, which for purposes of complete dis-' the curling edge 3| as lying in a plane H which is tangentiallydisposed as to the rotor I3. In

this embodiment, however, the curling edge 3| is not parallel to the axis ofv the rotor, but is The pressure between the rotor and the curling tool channel -34 close to curling edge, are pro and 11.

applied diagonally across the wire, and substantially equally the'reover because the width of the wire is so small in comparison to the circumference of the rotor, causes such wire to curl openly as it leaves the edge, as shown in Fig. 5. The 35 to normally move slightly to the left at surface T as viewed in Fig. 7, and then-move slightly to the right as viewed in Fig. 7 on,the surface E, so that as a result of these urgings' or pressure on the wire, it follows a path over the curling edge. centrally thereof, without any other guide. means than the channel 34 leading up to the curling edge It is understood thatthe particular angles specified above may be varied so long as the curling edge 3| maintains the same relative position to, and cooperates with, the rotor I 3 in' the manner specified. The surfaces C'andhC' of the curling tool are ground merely to narrow down the curling edge, and provide clearance at each side thereof.

Figs. 9 to 11 show. a modification of the curling edge of Fig. 5, and in this curling tool the surfaces T' and E are ground so as to provide a diagonally extending edge 23l with the plane of the surface T and the plane ofthe-surface E both slanting relatively in the same direction; that is, to the left as viewed in Figs. 10 In this embodiment the curling edge 23l stands diagonally with respect to the. surface 33 of the rotor", andthus the axis of such rotor, and lies in a plane through the, axis of the rotor l3-,'but there is a slight tendency to cause the wire I. passing thereover to move to the left" on thecurling edge unless appropriate supplemental guide means, such asbringing vided.

A still further embodiment of they curling edg is illustrated in Figs. 12 to 14, wherein ,a similar sponges is obtained.

curling tool is provided with the curling edge 33! extending diagonally across the tool at the end portion thereof-at the junction of the surfaces 'I'" and E". The surfaces T and "E are ground so that the curling edge extends diagonally downwardly from the curling surfaces as in Fig. 9, but instead of lying in a plane through the axis of the rotor, the curling edge lies in a plane twisted at an angle of approximately 15 with respect to the axis of the rotor. The extensionof the curling edge downwardly away from the surface of the rotor causes an uneven pressure across the curling edge and there is a tendency for the wire to move transversely across the edge unless appropriate supplemental guide means are provided as-suggested with respect to the structure of Fig. 9. At the same time one side edge of the wire is being worked ahead of the other edge due to the above noted twisted position.

Broadly, in practicing'my invention to. get an open curl, it is a matter of'presenting the curling edge to the rotor surface at some angle in a substantially horizontal plane as is evident from 4 Figs. 5 to 8 so that one side of the wire is worked ahead of the otherside', or presenting the .edge at an angle with the horizontal as in Figs. 9 to 11 for instance, so that unequal pressure is applied across the width of the wire by virtue'of this inclination. ,The invention may also be practiced with the curling edge extending forwardly and downwardly in relation to the rotor as in Figs. 12

to 14, with this manner of presenting the edge representing a combination of the two previously described curling edge positions. A more concise statement of the above is that it, is a matter of, applying a'wire to a curling edge. I Where the latter is positioned diagonally downwardly or inclined with 'respcct to the width of the wire, diagonally crosswise of the wire to work one edge ahead of the other or a combination of the two viz; both diagonally or inclined downi wardly, and diagonally crosswise or transversely of the wire. When the curling edge is presented substantially parallel to the. axis of the rotor, the

less desirable relatively close coil of the prior art As is evident from the above description, the curling tool 32 and rotor l3 each have a dual junction. The curling tool provides a; carrying means for the wire to support it and press it against the rotor. l3 and simultaneously to act at the curling edge to effect, in cooperation with the rotor, curling of the wire. The yieldable rotor surface presses on to the wire on both sides of the curling edge. The frictionrotor i3 with a. yieldable surface 33 frictionally engages the wire l8 and pulls such wire over. the curling edge as it rotates with the motor II. The rotor I3, simultaneously with the pullingaction, cooperates with the curling toolto provide a pressure transversely across the wire' l8 as it passes over the diagonally extending curling edge, and

by virtue of this pressure, causes the wire to curl, as shown in Fig. 2, and to drop by its own' the aperture I, not unlike the piled form of the final sponge as shown in Fig. 4. When sufficient of the curled wire has accumulated below the aperture 6 I so it no longer turns, due to the curling operation as it comes from the curling edge, successive portions of the continuous curled strand engage one another by interengagement of the open coils,. to form a tree-like configuration, as shown in Fig. 2, and the curled wire in this form continues to drop upon the pile and build up into a haphazard mass. The apparatus could be mounted on the base in a manner such that the curled wire would accumulate in a pile of approximately a cubic foot, or accumulate in a pile as large as a room, with nothing to guide the coiled wire as it drops from the curling edge, and nothing to direct the general form of the pile other than the walls or slides of the area into which the pile accumulates. The wire drops freely from the curling edge, and there is no tautness in the continuous wire after passing such edger Apparatus for piling and cutting the curled' wire as it comes from the curling edge is illustrated in Fig. 16. This may desirably be mounted on the board I0 below the aperture 8|, or may be simply assembled as a unit and positioned with respect to cu'rling apparatus so it acts upon the curled strands conveniently. This apparatus comprises a stationary cutting tool 62, and a reciprocable cutting tool 62' with a knife edge for cutting the wire strand as it falls from the curling edge. The reciprocable cutting tool 82' is appropriately supported and has an extension for carrying a spring 63, limited in movement at one end by a collar 64 on said extension. The spring maintains the knife 62 in a normally open position and is compressed upon movement of the knife by virtue of the cam roller 84 on the extension, bearing against a cam 66. The cam in turn is keyed to a shaft. with gearing. intermediate the shaft and a motor 81. A movable belt 1! extends over rollers HI and I0 and op-, erates below vtheaperture 6| by gears 68 and 69 intermediatethe roller Ill and motor 61. The motor 81 is electrically connected to an appropriate timing device 12 for operation at predetermined intervals to cut ofl the wire and simultaneously move the belt II to permit another pile of wire 13 to accumulate.

To make up the final commercial sponge, as shown in Fig. 4, an operator may merely pick a handful of the curled wire from the pile, or one of the piles 13 on the flexible belt -'I I, and merely crush or compress'the handful of curled wire in the hand with a single operation, as one would crush a handful of snow, of cotton, or similar yieldable material held together by the constituency of the material itself, to increase the interengagement of curls in the wire. Thesponge is.

wire springs back to a relatively open yieldable.

mass. It has been found that the various portions of the continuous curled strand intertwine with one another by virtue of the substantially open curls merely as they accumulate on the pile. This interengagement or intertwining is extended with the crushing operation so that in the final sponge, the many portions twined throughout the.

sponge may be pulled out'readily in any direction, yet are retained together tenaciously by virtue of this interengagement and intertwining.

The curl in the wire accomplished by the curling operation described above, is not a relatively tight spiral curl similar to the common long screen door spring, but is an open curl with substantial recoil properties. When the finished sponge is pulled in any direction, it springs back readily, but does not pack or become so constricted that the advantages of an open flexible finished sponge are lost. When the user of the finished sponge has exhausted the cleaning possibilities of one surface, the wire of the sponge may be pulled in any direction to provide a new cleaning surface, and this process continued until substantially the entire mass inside and outside of the curled wire has been utilized for cleaning purposes. Similarly, as a result of the properties of the curled wire in the sponge, and the sponge itself, the body of the'sponge may be opened up so that grease, paint, dirt, or the like picked up in cleaning or rubbing operations, can be washed therefrom, and if this washing operation is carefully done, the sponge is then in practically original form and constituency again to carry on cleaning therewith. There is practically no disintegration of the particles, and the sponge wears down uniformly over the entire body. It has been found that a sponge made up in the manner described above has substantially twice the volume of metallic sponge of this general class found in the prior art.

As evidence of the simplicity and compactness of the entire apparatus, it might be noted that a commercial embodiment of the apparatus has been successfully employed in the manufacture of the sponges wherein the base III for supporting the various elements described, is only 20 to 14 inches. As mentioned above, the base l0 may be mounted on legs or in any desired manner, depending on the space required for piling the curled wire below the aperture 6! or a similar open space below thecurling edge.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, it is understood that it is not limited thereby, but is limited as to all possible embodiments only by the scope of the appended claims, and as they, of course, may be limited by the prior art.

I I claim:

1. An apparatus for curling wire, including a .source of supply of 'wire, and means for pulling wire holding member, and means for curling wire movable through the apparatus from the holding member, said means comprising a stationary curling edge for carrying said wire in engagement therewith on one side anda rotary member adjacent said curling edge for bearing against said wire on an opposite side thereof and at a place directly opposite said edge to frictionally engage-said wire and pull said wire over said edge,and curl the same thereon.

3. An apparatus for curling wire including a wire holder, a curling tool-for carrying said wire in a single strand thereover and in a straight line movement from said holder, and means acting areas/o alone for moving said wire over said curling tool in the straight line movement and simultaneously acting on said wire at said curling tool to curl said wire into a plurality of successive relatively open coils.

4. An apparatus for curling wire, including a rotary wire holder, stationary means for carrying said wire in its movement from said holder, and a moving yieldable surfaced member bearing against said wire at said stationary carrying means and cooperating with said carrying means to curl said wire into a plurality of successive curls.

5. An apparatus for curling wire for a metallic sponge, a source of wire in a continuous strand, a stationary member and a movable member adjacent and opposite thereto with the wire from said source movable directly between said two members, with said two members cooperating together to pull said wire from said source and simultaneously curl the same into a plurality of successive curls. 1

6. In apparatus for manufacturing curled wire cleaningand rubbing devices, a source of continuous straight wire, and means for transformingsaid straight wire into wire with a plurality of successive curls, said means including an ax ially supported rotor and an elongated curlin tool aving a curling edge at one end thereof, with the tool positioned at right angles to the axial center of the rotor, but with said curling edge on the tool disposed diagonally with respect to said axial center of the rotor.

I. In apparatus for curling wire, including a wire over said edge and curl the same thereon.

1 8. Apparatus for curling wire for a metallic sponge, including a source of wire in a continuous strand, guide means for said wire, a stationary member and a rotary member with one of said members having a non-yielding surface and the other of said members having a yieldable surface, with said wire carried between said sur-- faces, and means including the non-yielding surface, and the yielding surface acting .upon the wire therebetween to pull the wire through said apparatus including said guide means and simultaneously transform said wire from a continuous substantially straight strand, to a strand with a'plurality of successive relatively open curls.

9. -An apparatus for making metallic sponges,

including a source of metal wire, means for guiding said wire from said source to a curling edge, a curling toolhaving one end adjustably mount ed and the other end portion shaped in a manner to provide a curling edge extending crosswise of .10.An apparatus for making metallic sponges. 75.

the tool substantially transversely of the tool for carrying the wire thereon, and a movable I member, having a yieldable surface for frictionally engaging the wire topull'it over the curling edge and simultaneously curl the wire'into a plurality of successive curls, with said apparatus provided in such form that there is an opening below the curling edge whereby the curled wire drops downwardly below the curling edge to form apile thereof'with the curls intertwined.

as described in claim 9 including measuring and cutting means for separating a measured pile of curled wire from the curled wire strand dropping from the curling edge. 1 I

11. A curling tool for apparatus for curling wire including a rotating curling roller, said tool comprising an elongated bar having an end portion shaped to provide a curling edge at the junction of two plane surfaces on said end portion, with said curling edge extending diagonally across the bar.

12. Apparatus for manufacturing a curled wire cleaning device, including a source of wire, a curling rotor, a curling tool, and wire guide means intermediate said source and said curling members including a rotating capstan in substantial alignment with said source and said curling members for carrying the wire in a loop thereon, and

a guide pin on each side of said wire, with each 13. Wire curling apparatus including in combination, a portion of said apparatus having a relatively'sharp curling edge thereon for engaging wire movable over said curling edge, and with said curling edge being positioned. with reference to such wire at an angle otherthan a right angle to the line of movement of said wire.

14. Wire curling apparatus including in combination, curling means for curling wire movable through the apparatus and following a generally straight line path immediately in advance of the curling means including a relatively sharp curling edge engaging one side bf said wire and positioned with reference thereto, at an angle other than a right angle to the generally straight line path; and a pressure member} for bearing against a side of said wire opposite to said one side to curl said wire over said curling edge. e

15. Wire curling apparatus including in combination, a portion of said apparatus having a relatively sharp curling edge thereon for engaging relatively flat wire movable over said curling edge with one face of said wire thereon, and with said curling edge being presented to said wire transversely of the line of movement of thewire at an angle other than 180 to the engaged face of said wire at such transverse line of engagement.

1 6. Wire curling apparatus including in'combination, curling means for relatively flat wire movable through the apparatus in a generally straight line path portion immediately .in advance of the curling means including a'relatively sharp curling edge for engaging one side of said relatively flat wire and positioned in a line other than parallel with reference to a line extending through said wire transversely to the path of movement of said wire, and a pressure member for bearing against a side of said wire opposite to 'said one side to curl said wire over; said curling fedge."

17. In a wire curling machine, a rotating pressure member and a non-rotating curling member, with the latter having a knife edge thereon for engaging wire movable through said machine which has at least one relatively flat face, and

with such knife edge in engagement with the face of the wire, said rotating pressuremember being positioned with reference to said knife edge so as to bear against said wire and cause said to be directly pressed against said knife edge, and with said knife edge in a position so as to engage said wire face in a line transversely to the line of movement of the wire through the machine, but said knife edge extending in such a transverse line which is other than parallel with the relatively fiat face of the wire.

18. Apparatus for curling relatively flat wire, including means having a curling edge thereon for directly engaging wire moved through said apparatus in a straight line, with said curling edge being presented to said wire at a face of said wire at an angle other than a right angle to the direction of travel of said wire, and at an angle other than 180 with reference to the face of said wire in a line transversely to the line of movement of said wire.

19. An apparatus for curling wire including in combination, curling means having a relatively sharp curling edge for receiving thereon a wire movable through said apparatus, and means adsurface, with said rotor and curling member adapted to receive a movable wire therebetween, and with said knife edge and yieldable surface acting to curl said wire.

21. Curling apparatus for wire, including in combination, means having a relatively sharp curling edge thereon, a driven rotor adjacent said curling edge having a yieldable surface thereon, with said curling edge and said yieldable surface being oppositely disposed and positioned with reference to one another so as to carry a wire therebetween for curling said wire over said curling edge, and with one of said two members as between said curling edge means and said rotor being spring-pressed to press such one member against the wire therebetween to press said wire against the other of said members.

22. In apparatus of the character described, means for curling wire moving through the apparatus intoa plurality of successive curls, said means including a curling member having a knife edge for carrying the wire at said knife edge in a single strand, and a pressure member rotatably driven by means independent of the curling member bearing on said wire at said knife edge with the wire between said members and with one of said members being yieldingly pressed toward the wire and toward said other of said members.

FRANCIS D. MORAN.

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