US2581180A - Apparatus for striping wire - Google Patents

Description

1952 J. L. ENTWI ST LE ETAL 2,581,180

APPARATUS FOR STRIPING WIRE iled Feb. 9, 1949- 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JAMES L. E/VTW/S TLE ALDEN m NELSON BY I TORNEY J. 1.. ENTWISTLE ET AL 2,581,180

Jan. 1, 1952 APPARATUS FOR STRIPING WIRE" 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 9 1949 INVENTOR JAMES L. [/VTFV/STLE ALDEN 14/. NELSON BY W M ATTORNEY Jan. 1, 1952 APPARATUS FOR STRIPING WIRE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 9, 1949 FIG. 3.-

FIG. '4.

E, m R 0 Y F 1L.W A a 4 QM n u MD/ F mm a m IIIIIIIIII Patented Jan. 1, 1952 APPARATUS FOR S'TRIPING WIRE.

James L. Entwistle, Cranston, and Alden W. Nelson, Pawtucket, R. I., assignors to The James L. Entwist1e0o., Pawtucket, R. 1., a copartnership composed of James L. Entwistle and Margherita C. Entwistle Application February 9, 1949, .Serial No. 75,422

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for marking a cylindrical body and more particularly to an apparatus for applying stripes to the insulation surrounding wires for conducting electricity.

In many cases, e. g. communication equipment. it is desirable to be able to distinguish diflferent wires from one another. Commonly in such equipment when the wire insulation is of plastic or rubber, each distinctive wiremust be extruded a different solidcolor. If the insulation is of fabric, distinctively colored strands must be embodied as part of the covering. It is therefore necessary for a user to keep in stock large quantities of distinctively colored. wire. This is both inconvenient and expensive.

According to our invention it is possible for the wire user to keep wire in stock, all of whose insulation may be the same color, and as needed, by means of a novel marking head, apply distinguishing marks such as different colored spiral stripes to the insulation. It will be appreciated that according to this method of marking wire it will be possible distinctivelytomark an almost infinite number of wires. basic colorsmay be used in all sorts of combinations either as marking stripes or as different base colors of the insulation itself.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide an apparatus. which applies spiral stripes to wire insulation.

A feature of the present invention is that spiral stripes of different colors may be applied to insulated wires.

Another feature of the present invention is an apparatus in which an insulated wire is pulled in onedirection and controls the rotation of a marking head around the wire.

Still another feature of the present invention is a marking head comprising one or several in dividual marking units, each unit being partlyfilled with a suitably colored ink which is applied to the wire by a rotatable wheel.

These and other features of the present invention will becomeapparent from theiollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevation of the apparatus;

For instance the eight Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section-of the capstan drive of the marking head;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section of a marking unit;

7 Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3 on lines 4-4; Fig. 5 is a sectionon the lines 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 shows a piece of the wire-with spiral marking stripes; and

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the marking head with three marking units.

In the embodiment of Fig. 1, wire I is pulled by a conventional capstan drive generally indicated at 2 from a pay-off drum 3 over pulleys 5, 6, I of a capstan drive generally indicated at 4. Wire I is then pulled over pulleys 8 and 9 by capstan wheels I0 and II and traversed onto takeup drum I3 by guide wheel I2. On its way from pulley 6 to pulley 8 the wire moves along the vertical center line of a marking head generally indicated at IB and through a drying device I4. When pulleys 6 and 1 are rotated by wire I, marking head I 6, which is connected by suitable gears to these pulleys, is rotated around the wire.

Marking head I6 comprises one or more'marking units I5 each of which comprises a lower portion I! (Fig. 3) for adjustably mounting the unit on head I6, and an upper portion or reservoir I8, which is partly filled with a colored liquid, such as ink, and houses a rotatable marking wheel "I 9. Wheel I9 contacts wire I at an acute angle and as it is rotated by the moving wire transports the liquid from the reservoir to the wire and applies a spiral stripe to the latter.

Capstan drive 4 for rotating marking head I6 is schematically shown in Fig. 2. Wire I is pulled over pulleys 5, 6 and I by capstan drive 2 (Fig. 1) in the direction indicated by the arrows and then moves through a hollow shaft 29. As pulleys 6 and I are driven 'by the wire, a bevel gear 2| driven by a meshing bevel gear on the shaft of pulley 6 (not shown) rotates with a gear 22 which meshes with a gear 23 on shaft 20. Thus the rotation of hollow shaft 20 around wire I is controlled by the wire.

The upper portion of hollow shaft 20 (Fig. 2) is telescoped by another hollow shaft 21 which keeps wire I in the center of hollow shaftZII. Both these hollow shafts are rigidly held together by a screw 28. Fulcrum hub 29 is press fitted around hollow shafts 20 and 21 and two lock-nuts 30 and 3! are screwed on a threaded portion of fulcrum hub 29. Lock nut 30 is tapered.

A unit I is adjustably mounted on fulcrum hub 29 in the following manner: A pivot 32 fastens the bottom of reservoir l8 to fulcrum hub 29. A threaded lug 33 passes through a hole in the bottom of lower portion l1 and contacts tapered lock nut 30. Unit I5 is moved closer to wire I by tightening screw 33 and moved away by loosening the screw. In this manner the distance between wheel l9 and wire i may be varied. This distance may also be varied by screwing lock nuts and 3| up or down on fulcrum hub 29. Accordingly, if it is necessary to adjust the distance between the units and wire I, because wire of different diameter from that previously used, is employed, the adjustment on all the units may be simultaneously performed by operating lock nuts 30, 3|.

Wheel l9 contacts wire I (Fig. 5) at an acute angle so that'a true rolling action along the spiral angle of the stripe is obtained. The wheel is rotatably mounted (Figs. 3,4, 5) in reservoir I8 by means of bearings 34, on either side of the reservoir. An opening is provided in the front of the reservoir through which wheel 19 protrudes. A scraping device 31, conveniently made of chemically resistant synthetic rubber, is held on the front of reservoir l8 by a headed stud 38, and contact with hub of marking wheel 19. The lower half of wheel 19 passes through a slit 39 in the scraper. The sides of the slit scrape against the wheel to wipe off any liquid adhering thereto. It is desirable that the liquid be only on the rim of the wheel which contacts the wire in an acute angle substantially as shown in Fig. 5. The unit forms this angle with the wire because lower portion I! is in a different plane from upper portion l8 when the unit is mounted on fulcrum hub 29.

Reservoir I8 is partly filled with a colored liquid 40, e. g. ink. As long as unit I5 is not rotating the level of the liquid is below wheel l9. When the unit rotates the liquid will be forced outward and bank up vertically on the closed side of reservoir l8 by centrifugal force so that wheel I 9 dips in the ink, as shown by dotted lines (Fig. 3). We have found that when the head rotates at an optimum speed of 1200 R. P. M. it is well above the necessary speed to centrifuge the ink to a vertical position in the reservoirs. Since the wheel is free to rotate and contacts wire I it transports the ink to the wire and marks a spiral stripe on the latter. If the head rotates too fast the type of marking ink commonly used will separate and be unusable. Since the back and top of reservoir I B are closed, a high piling up of liquid 49 is possible. It is advisable to fill reservoir l8 as high as possible, e. g. until just below the opening in its front.

The rim of wheel 19 is preferably knurled as at 4| (Fig. 7) so that liquid will better adhere to the wheel. The sides of wheel 19 are preferably smooth and are-kept clean by the operation of scraper 31 as above described.

The Width of a spiral stripe depends upon the width of the contacting surface of wheel l9 and may be varied by varying the width or the shape of the rim of wheel IS.

The pitch of the spiral marked on the wire depends on the speed of rotation of the marking head which will depend on the rate at which the wire is pulled through the head. When the head rotates at 1200 R. P. lvi. and the wire is travelling at about 165 feet per minute, a pitch of 1.69 inches will be obtained on wires between and inches in diameter. However, the apparatus is not limited to such diameters or pitches and wires of difierent diameters may be used in combination with any desired value for the pitch which may be obtained by varying the velocity of wire 3 and/or head l6.

Head l6 preferably comprises three individual marking units IS. The units are similarly mounted on the head at equal distances from one another. Fig. '7 shows a top view of head l6 with three units I5 mounted on it.

Each reservoir 58 may be filled with a different colored ink. Thus, there will be marked on the wire three equally spaced colored spiral stripes. If desired the stripes may all be of the same color or only one or two stripes may be marked on the wire by leaving one or two reservoirs dry.

Fig. 6 shows a length of spirally marked wire such as would be obtained if head It comprising three equally spaced units l5 were rotated at 1200 R. P. M. with wire I travelling at about feet per minute. A distance of approximately .56 inch between the stripes would be obtained.

After being marked wire I is pulled through a drier 14 (see Fig. l) and a blower I4 blows a stream of air into drier l4 where it is heated and dries the markings on the wire.

While we have described a preferred embodiment of the invention, other modifications and embodiments will be suggested to those skilled in the art and it is intended to limit the invention only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A marking head for a wire striping machine comprising a single enclosed, smooth walled oblong structure for striping fluid, and having an opening in the upper half of the front wall at the juncture with the top, and a wheel rotatably mounted in the reservoir with its rim protruding through said opening and closely adjacent the inner back surface of the reservoirs wall, a plurality of said reservoirs mounted around the wire with which the wheels are in cooperative relation, a mounting bracket pivotally connected at one end to the bottom of each reservoir, an externally threaded hub surrounding the wire, an internally threaded nut having a tapered shoulder and movable on said hub, and a lug extending from the other end of each of said mounting brackets to engage said tapered shoulder whereby when said internally threaded nut is moved the position of said reservoirs with respect to the wire will be changed.

2. A marking head for a wire striping machine comprising an oblong reservoir enclosed except for an opening near the top, a rotatable wheel on a pivot mounting supported by the reservoir wall, the rim of said wheel protruding through the opening into cooperative relation with the wire and closely adjacent the inner back surface of the reservoir wall, and a pivotally supported mounting supporting said reservoir, the axis of said pivot being transverse to the direction of movement of the wire, means to adjust said mounting about said pivot, whereby said reservoir may be adjusted to vary the position of the wheel and reservoir with respect to the wire.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, in which a plurality of said reservoirs are pivotally supported on pivots transverse to the axis of said wire, and a single movable means for adjusting in unison the positions of all reservoirs with respect to the wire to vary the engagement of each of said wheels and the wire.

4. A marking head for a wire striping machine comprising a reservoir having a smooth continuous inner wall, enclosed except for an opening near the top, a rotatable wheel on a pivot mounting supported by the reservoir wall, the rim of said wheel protruding through the opening into cooperative relation with the wire and closely adjacent the inner back surface of the reservoir wall, and a pivotally supported mounting supporting said reservoir, the axis of said pivot being transverse to the direction of move ment of the wire, means to adjust said mounting about said pivot whereby said reservoir may be adjusted to vary the position of the wheel and reservoir with respect to the wire.

JAMES L. ENTWISTLE.

ALDEN W. NELSON.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,960,228 Milmoe May 22, 1934 2,157,874 Webb May 9, 1939 2,344,610 Hargreaves Mar. 21, 1944 2,537,884 Forsberg Jan. 9, 1951

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