Wire handling apparatus

Claim 1

WIRE HANDLING APPARATUS COMPRISING A CONVEYOR HAVING A LOADING STATION AND A DISCHARGE END; A STATIONARY DEVICE DIRECTLY ABOVE THE CONVEYOR AT THE LOADING STATION FOR RECEIVING A CONTINUOUS LENGTH OF CASTABLE WIRE, PRESETTING THE WIRE INTO A SERIES OF CONSECUTIVE CIRCULAR LOOPS OF UNIFORM DIAMETER AND DROPPING THE PRESET LOOPS ONE AT A TIME DIRECTLY ONTO THE CONVEYOR AT THE LOADING STATION, SAID CONVEYOR BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT THE LOOPS IN A FLAT, GENERALLY HORIZONTAL POSITION, WHEREBY THE LOOPS IN FALLING ON THE CONVEYOR, CAN BE MADE, DUE TO THE MOTION OF THE CONVEYOR RELATIVE TO THE DEVICE, TO BECOME ARRANGED THEREON IN OVERLAPPING RELATION WITH EACH LOOP OVERLYING ITS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING LOOP AND UNDERLYING ITS IMMEDIATELY SUCCEEDING LOOP; A UNIT AT THE DISCHARGE END OF THE CONVEYOR FOR RECEIVING THE LOOPS AND ARRANGING THEM IN THE FORM OF A BUNDLE ON A HORIZONTAL SURFACE, SAID UNIT HAVING A HORIZONTAL PLATFORM BEING POSITIONED DIRECTLY BELOW THE DISCHARGE END OF THE CONVEYOR, WHEREBY EACH LOOP SO ARRANGED TO UNDERLIE ITS IMMEDIATELY SUCCEEDING LOOP IS DISENGAGED THEREFROM AND SIMULTANEOUSLY REMOVED THEREFROM IN THE FORM OF A LOOP BY THE FORCE OF GRAVITY ALONE AND WITHOUT THE NEED FOR ANY INTERMEDIATE REARRANGEMENT OF THE LOOPS RELATIVE TO THE CONVEYOR, MEANS FOR MOVING THE PRESET LOOPS BODILY RELATIVE TO THE PLATFORM IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION AS THEY FALL.