US2731372A

US2731372A - Method of removing the insulation from the ends of assembled commutator wires

Info

Publication number: US2731372A
Application number: US292173A
Authority: US
Inventors: Carl W Kirsch
Original assignee: Hoover Co
Current assignee: Hoover Co
Priority date: 1948-05-06
Filing date: 1952-06-06
Publication date: 1956-01-17
Anticipated expiration: 1973-01-17

Description

Jan. 17. 1956 c. w. KIRSCH METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THE ENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. Carl W W,

ATTORNEY.

Jam. 17. 1956 c W sc EJ31 372 METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THE ENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY.

1956 c w KIRSCH 2,731,372

METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM THE ENDS OF ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRES Original Filed May 6, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 1 '1 Car! 14 Kirsch if? 4 wm ywwm,

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM l'HE SENDS F ASSEMBLED COMMUTATOR WIRE Carl W. Kirsch, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application May 6, 1948, Serial No. 25,461, now Patent N 2,671,913, dated March 16, 1954. Divided and this application June 6, 1952, Serial No. 292,173

13 Claims. (Cl. 134-2) This invention relates to the manufacture. of motors and more particularly to a method of removing the insulation from the ends of assembled armature wires preparatory to connecting such ends to the commutator segments.

This application is a division of my copending application for U. S. Letters Patent Serial No. 25,461, filed May 6, 1948, now Patent 2,671,913, dated March 16, 1954.

In the past it has been the practice to individually strip the insulation from the ends of assembled armature wires by hand and to hand clean the stripped ends, which procedure is slow, tedious, and costly. With some of the more recently used insulating materials it is practically impossible to remove the insulation therefrom by hand.

According to this invention the wound armature is placed in a fixture and the machine automatically separates the wire ends, removes the insulation therefrom and cleans the wire.

More specifically according to this invention a plurality of armature holding fixtures are rotatably mounted on an indexing carriage having a plurality of work stations spaced thereahout. The arrangement is such that the carriage is periodically indexed so as to move the fixtures sequentially from one station to the next.

At the first station the wound armatures are placed in the lower section of the fixture, at the second the wire ends are separated and extended radially outwardly over the upper edge of the lower fixture section, at the third section the upper fixture section is placed on the lower so as to clamp the wires between the mating edges of the sections, at the fourth station the insulation of the extending ends is charred by the application of any acetylene flame thereto. At the. fifth station the charred insulation on one side of the extending ends is removed and the wire cleaned by the application of the abrading action 6 of a wire or similar brush, at the sixth station the radially extending ends of the wires are pushed upwardly to expose the other side of the wires and at the seventh station the charred insulation is removed from the other side of the extending ends and the Wire cleaned by the abrading action of a wire brush.

At the burning and abrading station the fixtures are rotated through at least one revolution so that all of the Wires are treated. The indexing mechanism is so controlled that the rotation of the fixtures through one revolution will cause the carrier to be indexed and the fixture to be moved from one station to the next. At the load ing, wire clamping, and wire turning stations the fixtures are stationary. At the wire separating station the fixtures are preferably rotated at high speed so that the wire ends are moved to their radial position by centrifugal action.

According to the broadest aspects of one submethod according to this invention the free ends of the wires of a wound armature are extended into a radial position, the insulation thereof charred by the application of heat and the charred insulation removed. by an abrasive action.

According to the broadest aspects of another subcom- 2,731,372 Patented Jan. 17, 1956 bination according to this invention the free ends of a wound armature are separated and extended to a position extending radially of the armature by centrifugal action while rotating the armature at high speed and holding the wire coils in position on the core of the armature.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the machine of this invention showing the indexing carriage and the driving and indexing means for the carriage and armature holding fixtures;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine of this invention including a section through one of the fixtures as it appears at the burning station;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the machine of this invention showing the fixtures as they appear at the various stations;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a fixture as it appears at the wire turning station; and

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the driving mechanism for the fixtures when positioned at the wire positioning station.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1 thereof, the working stations are indicated by the letters A to G, inclusive, the station A being the loading and unloading station, B the wire separating and positioning station, C the wire clamping station, D the burning station, E the first abrading station, F the wire turning station and G the second abrading station.

The machine comprises a suitable supporting frame 10 rotatabl-y carrying a main spindle 11 which in turn carries the indexing carriage 12. The indexing carriage 12 rotatably carries a plurality of fixtures (at least one for each active station) generally indicated at 13 equally spaced about the periphery of the carriage 12.

Each fixture 13 comprises a vertical spindle 14 rotatabiy supported inbearings 15 near the edge of the carriage 12. Integral with the spindle 14 is a lower fixture section 16 adapted to snugly receive a wound armature with the upperedge of the core adjacent to the upper edge of the lower fixture section 16 so that the free ends 18 of the armature wires can be extended outwardly over the free edges thereof. An upper fixture section 19 is adapted to receive the commutator end of the armature 17 and has an opening 20 to receive the end of the armature shaft so as to rigidly hold the armature 17 within the fixture 13. The mating edges of the lower section 16 and the upper section 19have provisions for leading the wire ends 18 radially outwardly between the mating edges of, lower section 16 and upper section 19. A pulley 21 is rigidly attached to the lower end of each spindle 14.

Rigidly attached to the main spindle 11 is an indexing ratchet wheel 22 which cooperates with an indexing arm 23 pivoted to the spindle 11 and having a pawl 24 held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 22 by a spring 25. The spindle 11 and correspondingly the carriage 12 is normally held against rotation by a pin 26 (Fig. 2) engaging in one of the plurality of openings 27 in the indexing. wheel 22 and is held against reverse rotation when the pin 26 is released by a pawl 28 carried by the frame 10 and engaging the: ratchet teeth of the indexing wheel 22.

Connected to the indexing arm. 23 by means of a. link 29 is the end of. a piston rod 30,. the: piston 31 of which is adapted to: reciprocate in a cylinder 32- suitably sup ported by the frame Ill. The end 33 of the cylinder is connected by a conduit 34- to a suitablecontrol valve 35.. The end 36 of the cylinder 32 is connected to the control valve 35 by a conduit 37. The control valve 35 is con nected to a source of air under pressure by a. conduit 38 and to a bleeder valve 39 by

conduits

40 and 41.

The arrangement is such that when the bleeder valve 39 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 there is a reduced pressure in the end 36 of the cylinder 32 and the piston 31" is held in 'theposition shown in Fig. 1. When the valve actuator 42 is pushed to the right the pressure is raised in the end 36 of the cylinder 32 and reduced in the end 33 so that the piston 31 will be forced to the opposite end of the cylinder 32 to that shown in Fig. 1. Any type of

valves

35 and 39 may be used which will produce the above result.

The fixtures 13 are adapted to be rotated at stations D, E, andG bya motor 43 driving an endless belt 44 by means of a belt gearing 45, reduction gearing 46 and pulley 47. The belt 44 is threaded over the pulleys 21 at the stations D, E, and G, over the pulley 47 and over the

idler pulleys

48, 49, and 50 suitably supported by the frame 10. The pulley 47 is preferably of the same diameter or slightly;larger than the pulleys 21 so that the fixtures 13 'at the stations D, E, and G will be rotated at least once for each revolution'of the pulley 47.

Rigidly secured to the shaft of the pulley 47 is cam

wheel'51 having cams

52 and 53 thereon. Cam 52 actuates the operator 42 of the bleeder valve 39 and the cam 53 actuates an on-off switch 54 adapted to energize and deenergize a solenoid 55 connected to the pin 26.

At the station B the pulley 21 is adapted to engage a friction wheel 58 (Fig. driven by a high speed electric motor 59, pivotally secured to the frame by an arm 60 and spring-biased against a stop 61 by a spring 62. The arrangement is such that as the fixtures 13 are indexed to the station B the friction wheel 58 will engage the pulley 21 under the pressure of spring 62.

Preferably the motor 59 rotates continuously when the machine is in operation but a separate control switch may be provided. The'motor 59 may also if desired be automatically energized upon the engagement of the friction wheel 58 with the pulley 21. For example, an on-oif switch could be actuated by the movement of the arm 60 as the wheel 58 engages the pulley 21.

At the station D are a plurality of acetylene burners 63 and64 positioned above and below the wire ends 18 as shownin Fig. 2. At station E is a rotating wire brush 65 which is continuously rotated downwardly in the direction of the arrow as indicated in Fig. 3. ,At station F a cam 66 (Fig. 4) suitably supported on the frame 10 engages a pin 67 carried by the plate 68 connected by rods 69 to a sleeve 70 slidably mounted about the lower fixture section 16 for a purpose which will be described v presently. At station G is a brush 71 which is continuously rotated upwardly as shown by the arrow of Fig. 3.

The station H is idle but the fixture 13 is being rotated. If desired the fixture could be made stationary at this station and it could-then be made the unloading station.

Positioned to engage the top of the upper fixture section 19 at the stations E, F and G are

cam plates

72 and 73 which automatically engage the top section 19 as the carriage 12 is indexed to tightly hold the

sections

19 and 16 together so that the wire ends 18 will be tightly clamped. The

plates

72 and 73 may be fixed to the frame 10 in any suitable manner.

Operation A wound armature 17 is placed in the lower fixture section 16 at station A and the motor 43 started which will cause the pulley 47 to rotate in unison with the fixtures 13 at the stations D, E and G. The cam 52 will eventually engage the operator 42 for the bleeder valve 39 so as to increase the pressure in the end 36 and decrease it in the end 33 of the cylinder 32 causing the piston 31 to move to the left and move the indexing arm 23 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. l. Shortly after the engagement of the cam 52 with the actuator 42 the cam 53 will engage the actuator for the switch 54 to energize the solenoid and withdraw the pin 26 from the opening 27 in which it is then positioned to free the carriage 12 for indexing movement. During the counter-clockwise movement of the indexing arm 23 the pawl 24 will ride freely over the teeth of the indexing wheel 22 since the wheel is held against counter-clockwise movement by the pawl 28.

As the cam 52 rides free of the control arm 42 of the bleeder valve 39, high pressure will be reestablished in the end 33 of the cylinder 32 and the end 36 will be vented to low pressure. This will cause the piston 32 to move to the right and move the indexing arm 23 clockwise as viewed in Fig. l. The pawl 24 will engage the teeth of the indexing wheel 22 and index the carriage 12 so that the fixture containing the wound armature will be moved to station B. By this time the cam 53 will have disengaged the control of the switch 54 to deenergize the solenoid 55 whereby the pin 26 which is spring-biased upwardly will snap into the next aperture 27 as the fixture reaches the station B so as to rigidly lock the carriage 12 against movement.

As the fixture 13 approaches station B the pulley 21 will engage the friction wheel 58 and pivot the motor 59 counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 1 against the bias of spring 62 until the wheel 58 and pulley 21 are in good driving relationship with each other. This will cause the armature 17 to be rotated rapidly so that the wire ends 18 will be separated and moved to a radial position overlying the upper edge of the lower fixture section 16 by centrifugal action. This result is shown at station B in Fig. 3.

It is to be understood that it is within the concept of this invention to move the Wire ends 18 into their radial position by hand at station B but it is preferable that this be done by centrifugal action as above described.

During the movement of the wire ends 18 to the radial position the cam wheel 51 has been continuously rotating and eventually will render the indexing mechanism operable to index the carriage 12 another step to bring the fixture 13 with the armature 17 therein to the station C. At the station C the upper fixture section 19 is merely placed over the commutator end of the armature 17 so as to position the wire ends 18 between the mating edges of the

fixture sections

16 and 19.

The cam wheel 51 will again render the indexing mechanism operative and the carriage 12 will again be indexed to bring the fixture with the wires extending through the walls to station D. As the pulley 21 approaches station D it will engage the endless belt 44 so that the fixture 13 will be rotated in unison with the cam wheel 51. This will bring the wire ends 18 with the insulation thereon into the flames from the burners 63 and 64. .As the fixture 13 is rotated the insulation on both sides of one after the other of the wire ends 18 will be charred. During this action the fixture 13 will protect the insulation of the main part of the windings of the armature 17 from the heat of the flame so that only the insulation on the extending ends 18 will be charred. By the time the fixture 13 at the station D has made one complete revolution the cam wheel 51 will again cause the indexing mechanism to index the carriage 12 another step to bring the fixture 13 having the insulation of the ends18 charred on both sides to the station As the fixture 13 approaches the station E top section 19 will move beneath the plate 72 so as to tightly clamp the wire ends 18 between the two sections of the fixture. At the station E the fixture is also rotating in unison with the cam wheel 51. The continuously rotating brush will brush the wire ends 18 downwardly against the lower section 16 of the fixture 13, one after the other as the fixture 13 is rotated. The abrasive action of the wire brush 65 will remove the charred insulation from the top side of the wire ends 18 and will clean and polish the metal of the wires. By the time the fixture 13 has made a complete revolution at station E the cam wheel 51 will again cause the indexing mechanism to operate and move the fixture to station F where the wire ends 18 are still tightly clamped between the fixture sections by autonomreason of the engagement of the top section 19 with the plate 72. i

As the fixture leaves the station E the pulley 21 will disengage from the belt 44 so that the fixture will be stationary as it approaches and' leaves the station F. Also as. the fixture 13 approaches the station F the pin 67 will engage the cam 66 and raise the sleeve 70. upwardly about the lower section 16 of the fixture 13 so. as to bend the wire ends 18' upwardly against the top section 19. The cam wheel 51 will. again. cause the. indexing mechanism to" operate and move the fixture to station G. As the fixture leaves the station F the pin 67 will ride over the cam 66 and the sleeve 70 will return to its downward position.

As the fixture 13 approaches station G the pulley 21 will again come into contact with the belt 44 and the fixture will be rotated at station G. The wire brush 71 will sweep upwardly over the lower sides of the wire ends 18 and brush them against the upper fixture section 19. The abrasive action of the brush 71 will remove the charred insulation from the lower sides of the wire ends 18 and clean the metal of the wire, one after the other as the fixture 13 is rotated as shown at station G of Fig. 3. At station G the wire ends are tightly clamped by the engagement of the upper section 19 with the plate 73.

The indexing mechanism will continue to operate periodically until the fixture 13 with the stripped annature thereon again reaches the station A. The attendant then removes the stripped armature and replaces it with an unstripped one.

While in the above description, for reasons of clarity, the operation has been described in connection with a single fixture advancing step-by-step from station to station, the actual operation of the machine is continuous. As soon as one fixture 13 leaves station A another is moved into position and an unstripped armature is placed therein. When all of the fixtures are loaded the machine will be operating simultaneously at each station as above described and the attendant will have to continuously remove a stripped armature at station A and replace it with an unstripped one.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides an apparatus and method whereby the insulation may be continuously stripped from the free ends of the Wires of an assembled armature and the'wires cleaned and polished automatically without manual operation except the loading and unloading at station A and the placing of the upper fixture section 19 over the armature at station C.

While I have shown but a single modification of my invention it is to be understood that this modification is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particular structure and method shown and described but to include all equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends of assembled armature wires preparatory to securing the ends to the commutator segments comprising, the steps of applying a flame ot the insulation on the ends of the wires to char the insulation at the ends while protecting the insulation on the remainder of the wires from the heat of the flame, applying a rotative abrasive brushing action downwardly against the ends of the wires to remove the charred insulation from one side of the wires and to polish one side of the wires, moving the ends of the wires upwardly to expose the other side of the Wires and applying a rotative abrasive brushing action upwardly against the exposed ends of the wires to remove the charred insulation from the other side of the ends of the wires and to polish the ends of the wires, the foregoing steps being carried out in sequence.

2. The method according to claim 1 in which the first, second, and fourth steps are carried out while the arma- 6 ture is being rotated about its axis through at least one revolution.

3. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of the wires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose ends to the commutator segments comprising; rotating the armature at high speed to separate the loose ends and move them to a position extending radially of the armature by centrifugal action, applying intense heat to the radially separated loose ends to char the insulation thereof, applying an abrasive action to the one side of the loose ends to remove the charred insulation therefrom, moving the loose ends axially to expose the under side thereof and applying an abrasive action to the other side of the loose ends to remove the charred insulation therefrom.

4. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends of assembled armature wires preparatory to securing the ends to the commutator segments comprising, rotating the armature at high speed to separate the ends of the wires and move them to a position extending radially of the armature by centrifugal action, applying intense heat to the radially separated ends to char the insulation thereof while protecting the armature proper from the intense heat, applying an abrasive action to one side of said ends of sufiicient intensity to remove the charred insulation therefrom and to clean. the wire, moving the ends axially of the armature to expose the other side of said ends and applying an abrasive action to the other side of said ends of sufiicient intensity to remove the charred insulation therefrom and to clean the wire.

5. The method according to claim 4 in which the burning and abrading steps are carried out While the armature is rotated through at least one revolution.

6. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends of assembled armature wires comprising, moving said ends to a position extending radially of the armature, charring the insulation of the radially extended ends by applying heat thereto while protecting the armature proper from said heat and abrading said ends to remove the charred insulation therefrom and to clean the wire ends and rotating the armature through at least one revolution during the charring and abrading steps.

7. The method of removing the insulation from and cleaning the ends of wires of a Wound armature preparatory to securing the ends to the commutator segments comprising, rotating the armature at high speed to separate the Wire ends and move them to a position extending radially of the armature by centrifugal action while maintaining the wires in position with respect to the core, subjecting the insulation of the radially extending ends to heat of sufiicient intensity to char the insulation thereof while protecting the remainder of the armature from the heat and applying an abrading action to the wire ends to remove the charred insulation therefrom and clean the wire while holding the Wires from being pulled from the armature by the application of the abrading action.

8. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of the wires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose ends to the commutator segments comprising, separating the loose ends of the wires from each other, clamping the separated loose ends of the wires in a fixed position, charting the insulation on the ends of the wires, brushing the charred insulation from one side of the wire ends while supporting the other side against a fixed support and brushing the charred insulation from the other side of the wire ends while supporting the cleaned side against a fixed support.

9. The method according to claim 8 in which the separating step is carried out by rotating the armature at a high speed suflicient to separate the loose ends of the wires by centrifugal action.

10. The method according to claim 9 in which the charring and brushing steps are carried out while the armature is rotated at a comparatively slow speed through at least one revolution.

11. The method of removing the insulation from the loose ends of the wires of a wound armature preparatory to connecting the loose ends to'the commutator segments comprising, charring the insulation on the wire ends, brushing the charred insulation from one side of the wire ends while supporting the other side against a fixed support and brushing the insulation from the other side of the wire ends while the cleaned side is supported against a fixed support.

12. The method according to claim 11 in which each step is carried out while the armature is being slowly rotated through at least one revolution.

13. The method according to claim 11 in which the wire ends are clamped inwardly of their ends during each of the brushing steps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1898 he my.

Claims

1. THE METHOD OF REMOVING THE INSULATION FROM AND CLEANING THE ENDS OF ASSEMBLED ARMATURE WIRES PREPARATORY TO SECURING THE ENDS TO THE COMMUTATOR SEGMENTS COMPRISING, THE STEPS OF APPLYING A FLAME AT THE INSULATION ON THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TO CHAR THE INSULATION AT THE ENDS WHILE PROTECTING THE INSULATION ON THE REMAINDER OF THE WIRES FROM THE HEAT OF THE FLAME, APPLYING A ROTATIVE ABRASIVE BRUSHING ACTION DOWNWARDLY AGAINST THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TO MOVE THE CHARRED INSULATION FROM ONE SIDE OF THE WIRES AND TO POLISH ONE SIDE OF THE WIRES, MOVING THE ENDS OF THE WIRES UPWARDLY TO EXPOSE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIRES AND APPLYING A ROTATIVE ABRASIVE BRUSHING ACTION UPWARDLY AGAINST THE EXPOSED ENDS OF THE WIRES TO REMOVE THE CHARRED INSULATION FORM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ENDS OF THE WIRES AND TO POLISH THE ENDS OF THE WIRES, THE FOREGOING STEPS BEING CARRIED OUT IN SEQUENCE.