US3354687A

US3354687A - Combination wire treating and drawing apparatus and process

Info

Publication number: US3354687A
Application number: US466326A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter J Manson
Original assignee: National Standard Co
Current assignee: National Standard Co
Priority date: 1965-06-23
Filing date: 1965-06-23
Publication date: 1967-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 1984-11-28

Description

Nov. 28, 1967 w. J. MANSON 3,354,687

COMBINATION WIRE TREATING AND DRAWING APPARATUS AND PROCESS Filed June 23, 1965 FIG.I

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WALTER MANSON ATTO RNEYS United States Patent Delaware Filed June 23, 1965, Ser. No. 466,326 3 Claims. (Cl. 72-280) This invention relates to a cornb ination'apparatus and process for electroplating and/or pickling and/or polishing and finally drawing wire and similar strip material.

The term wire as used in the specification and claims will be understood to include strip material of polygonal, tubular and irregular cross sectional shape as well as that of true round cross sectional shape.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a process and apparatus for treating heavy wire and strip material as by pickling, electroplating, electropolishing, etc., and then, without manually handling the treated wire, continuously drawing it to the desired cross sectional size.

The chemicaltreatment portion of the apparatus of the present invention is one particularly suited for the treatment of heavy wires of the type disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,680,710 wherein the wire to betreated is first straightened, then coiled into the form of a helix with a horizontal axis and treated by supporting a number of coils of the helix on a horizontal supporting roller while the lower portion of the coils dip into the treating baths.

Theoretical methods or apparatuses for continuously treating and then drawing wire,'especially where the treatment involves passing the wire in and out'of' a chemical j bath capable of reacting with the wire, are for the most part impractical because of the limitations inherent in the two types of wire treatment. For example, a process or apparatus in which the wire is treated in chemical baths is best operated with a continuously moving wire because if the movement of the wire is stopped, the attack of the solutions on portions of the wire retained therein is excessive. On the other hand, the movement of the wire through the drawing dies must be discontinued at certain intervals to permit changing the drawing dies, etc. Also, the wire drawing devices may be advantageously operated at faster speeds of wire feed than the chemical treating apparatus or process.

The objects of this invention are obtained by combining a helical wire treating device of the type disclosed in said U.S. Patent No. 2,680,710 with a wire drawing device which may be of a conventional type by inserting between these two devices a store device which is capable of holding either a large or a small amount of wire, which is capable of discharging a portion of the wire held thereon and which isolates any twist applied to the wire in removing it from the store device so that the twist is not fed back to the wire passing through the chemical treatment portion of the apparatus. The store device does, in fact, add a slight twist to the wire (which will be removed in the first drawing step) but is so constructed that the twist is not allowed to extend back to the chemical treatment portion of the combination.

Although an apparatus exactly like that of US. 2,680,- 710 may be employed for the wire treating portion of the apparatus, an apparatus with two supporting rollers such as claimed in US. Patent No. 3,002,537 is far superior to the apparatus with the single supporting roller of 2,680,- 710 and is preferred for this invention.

The store device of the combination of the invention which is inserted between the chemical treatment portion and the wire drawing portion of the apparatus is a stator block type of device.

The chemical treatments which may be applied to the Car Patented Nov. as, 1967 wire in the first portion of the apparatus (prior to drawing in the last part) include, cleaning, depolarizing, pickling, electroplating with one or several metals in one or several separate baths, deplating or polishing and washing. One or several of these treatments may be applied to the wire. Where several treatments are applied, a washing or rinsing treatment is preferably applied between each two chemical treating baths.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a top plan view of the treating and drawing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the treating portion of the apparatus.

The raw 'or untreated wire is shown in the form of a coil 13 which may have that end thereof which is most remote from the machine connected to an additional coil, etc. The wire is first passed through a die 16 adapted to remove the twist, resulting from withdrawing the wire axially from coil 13, and to remove loose scale, etc. The wire is pulled through die 16 by capstan 17 and then passed to a pair of squeeze rollers 11, 12 adapted to push the wire through the remainder of the chemical treating apparatus. Between capstan 17 and squeeze rollers 11, 12, the wire may be severely bent back and forth by passing over

guides

14, 15 but this treatment is essential only for wires which are covered with a heavy and adherent scale.

The squeeze rollers 11, 12 push the wire through straightener devices 12 (only one shown) and over a coiling means 23 which coils the wire due to the fact that it is out of alignment with the path of the axis of the wire as propelled by rollers 11, 12. The helical coils'formed by roller 23 pass onto the horizontal supporting

rollers

30, 31. While supported on

rollers

30, 31 and rotated, the wire helix 10 is passed by a screw-like action through the series of baths 40-45. The first two chemical treatment baths 40 and 42 may be cleaning and pickling baths with the water rinsing bath 41 therebetween. Additional baths may be added between 42 and 44. In bath 44, structures are provided for conducting an electrical current through the wire 10' with the latter as cathode so as to plate metal from the bath onto the Wire. Bath 45 is another rinsing bath.

During its last passage over

rollers

30, 31, the wire passes under a roller 51 and is thereby substantially straightened. As shown in detail in FIG. 2 the roller 51 is mounted so that it can be vertically adjusted in the slotted support 50 by means of the adjusting knob 52.

The wire passes from the chemical treating machine to the store device which comprises the elongated stator block 82. Stator block 82 does not rotate but is retained in stationary position through the arrangement to be described. The entire mechanism 80 is supported from partition 81 which is partly broken away to show the internal structure and the tube 84. Securely fixed to the partition is the stationary gear 87. The flyer 88 with its back gearing 83, its

idler guide rolls

85 and 86 is secured to the tube shaft 84. The tube shaft 84 is mounted in bearings through the partition 81 and gear 87. This assembly is driven by external means. Pressure roll 90 holds a plurality of turns of wire 10' on the block 82. The block 82 is freely mounted by bearings on the tube 84. Gear 92 is securely fastened to block 82. As the flyer rotates, the gear 83 which is connected to gear 94 through shaft 93 also rotates and in turn rotates said gear 94. The gear 92 contains the same number of teeth as gear 87 and gear 83 contains the same number of teeth as gear 94 so that gear 92 remains in the same position as gear 87, which is to say a stationary position. The block 82 can be made as long as desired, for example long enough to store about 20 to turns of wire. The coils will remain substantially in contact as shown under pressure roll 90 until axially pulled rom the end of the store device 82.

Additional forwarding ollers

95, 96 may be supplied to pull the wire off of store evice 82 and guide it to the wire drawing device.

The wire is pulled axially from the end of block 82, s by

rollers

95, 96, pulled through a die 75 to remove the wist, by a first drum 72 and thence the wire is pulled hrough

additional dies

73 and 74 by

drums

71 and 70, espectively. As already indicated, the stator block 82 nay be made of any desired capacity, and its operation the same whether it contains one or two turns of wire Ir whether it is completely filled with wire.

The features and principles underlying the invention lescribed above in connection with specific exempliications will suggest to those skilled in the art many other modifications thereof. It is accordingly desired that the tppended claims shall not be limited to any specific feature )r details thereof. 9

I claim:

1. In a device for continuously subjecting wire to treatnent with chemical liquids and then drawing the same, he combination comprising,

means for continuously forming wire to the shape of a helix of uniform coil diameter,

horizontal roller means for storing a consecutive series of the coils of the formed helix which is adjacent to the coil forming means so that the axis of the stored helix is horizontal and the lower portions of the stored coils are suspended from said horizontal roller means,

at least one liquid container means surrounding the lower suspended portions of a plurality of said stored helical coils, means for continuously straightening the wire as it reaches the end of said horizontal roller means,

stator block means for continuously winding said straightened wire onto a non-rotating block adapted to hold at least 20 turns of the wire,

at least one wire propelling means substantially axially aligned with respect to said non-rotating block,

die means for drawing said Wire positioned between said wire propelling means and said non-rotating block.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 comprising electrode means associated with at least one of said liquid container means whereby said wire may be electrochemically treated.

3. In a process for producing drawn wire the combination comprising continuously forming the wire to the form of a helix of horizontal diameter,

continuously chemically treating the wire while in the form of said helix,

continuously straightening the treated wire,

continuously storing the straightened Wire in the form of a second helical coil, and

intermittently withdrawing portions of the wire from said second helical coil while maintaining the continuity of the wire, and drawing the withdrawn portion through at least one die.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,470,374 10/ 1923 Boley 7246 1,902,493 3/1933 Dantsizen 7246 2,394,620 2/ 1946 Leonard 72-46 2,651,104 9/1953 Giros 7239 2,913,354 11/1959 Bell 7246 3,002,537 10/ 1961 Kenmore et al. l'-1 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

H. D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A DEVICE FOR CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECTING WIRE TO TREATMENT WITH CHEMICAL LIQUIDS AND THEN DRAWING THE SAME, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING, MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY FORMING WIRE TO THE SHAPE OF A HELIX OF UNIFORM COIL DIAMETER, HORIZONTAL ROLLER MEANS FOR STORING A CONSECTUIVE SERIES OF THE COILS OF THE FORMED HELIX WHICH IS ADJACENT TO THE COIL FORMING MEANS SO THAT THE AXIS OF THE STORED HELIX IS HORIZONTAL AND THE LOWER PORTIONS OF THE STORED COILS ARE SUSPENDED FROM SAID HORIZONTAL ROLLER MEANS, AT LEAST ONE LIQUID CONTAINER MEANS SURROUNDING THE LOWR SUSPENDED PORTIONS OF A PLURALITY OF SAID STORED HELICAL COILS, MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY STRAIGHTENING THE WIRE AS IT REACHES THE END OF SAID HORIZONTAL ROLLER MEANS, STATOR BLOCK MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY WINDING SAID STRAIGHTENED WIRE ONTO A NON-ROTATING BLOCK ADAPTED TO HOLD AT LEAST 20 TURNS OF THE WIRE, AT LEAST ONE WIRE PROPELLING MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY AXIALLY ALIGNED WITH RESPECT TO SAID NON-ROTATING BLOCK, DIE MEANS FOR DRAWING SAID WIRE POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID WIRE PROPELLING MEANS AND SAID NON-ROTATING BLOCK.