Wire stripping apparatus and method

Claim 1

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of a covering from a length of wire along the longitudinal axis thereof, comprising: a first member having a wire gripping surface causing said wire to roll thereon when said length of wire is forced against and along said surface by a force normal to said axis, a second member having a wire gripping surface for causing said wire to roll thereon when said length of wire is forced against and along said surface by a force normal to said axis, means connected to said members for disposing said surfaces in facing spaced relationship and for moveably mounting at least one of said members for translating said surfaces with respect to each other, said connecting means including means for spacing said surfaces from each other a distance less than the diameter of said wire to stretch said covering when said wire is disposed between said surfaces so as to loosen said covering, and wire insertion means coupled to said members for causing said wire to be inserted between said surfaces when said surfaces are translated in a given direction, said insertion means including wire clamping means coupled to one of said members for clamping said wire against the gripping surface of the other member adjacent said spaced surfaces for forcing said wire between said surfaces when said surfaces are translated with respect to each other in said given direction.

Claim 2

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of a covering from a length of wire along the longitudinal axis thereof, comprising: a first member having a wire gripping surface causing said wire to roll thereon when said length of wire is forced against and along said surface by a force normal to said axis, a second member having a wire gripping surface for causing said wire to roll thereon when said length of wire is forced against and along said surface by a force normal to said axis, means connected to said members for disposing said surfaces in facing spaced relationship and for moveably mounting at least one of said members for translating said surfaces with respect to each other, said connecting means including means for spacing said surfaces from each other a distance less than the diameter of said wire to stretch said covering when said wire is disposed between said surfaces so as to loosen said covering, and wire insertion means coupled to said members for causing said wire to be inserted between said surfaces when said surfaces are translated in a given direction, said insertion means including wire clamping means coupled to one of said members for clamping said wire against the gripping surface of the other member adjacent said spaced surfaces for forcing said wire between said surfaces when said surfaces are translated with respect to each other in said given direction.

Claim 3

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of the covering on each wire from a length of twisted wires, comprising: first and second members each having a surface for gripping said wire along said length, means coupled to said members for disposing said wire gripping surfaces in facing spaced relationship so as to squeeze each of said twisted wires when disposed between said surfaces to simultaneoUsly straighten and untwist the wires and loosen the covering thereof and including means for displacing one member with respect to the other member in a given direction so as to rotate the wires disposed between said surfaces, and aligning means coupled to said members for aligning said twisted wires to said surfaces for causing said wires to be inserted between said surfaces when said one member is displaced in said given direction.

Claim 4

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of the covering on each wire from a length of twisted wires, comprising: first and second members each having a surface for gripping said wire along said length, means coupled to said members for disposing said wire gripping surfaces in facing spaced relationship so as to squeeze each of said twisted wires when disposed between said surfaces to simultaneoUsly straighten and untwist the wires and loosen the covering thereof and including means for displacing one member with respect to the other member in a given direction so as to rotate the wires disposed between said surfaces, and aligning means coupled to said members for aligning said twisted wires to said surfaces for causing said wires to be inserted between said surfaces when said one member is displaced in said given direction.

Claim 10

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of the covering on each wire from a length of twisted wires, comprising; first and second members each having an arcuate wire gripping surface for gripping said wire along the length thereof, the surface of said first member being convex and the surface of the second member being concave, means coupled to said members for disposing said surfaces in facing spacing relationship and including means for rotating said second member about said first member for displacing said surfaces with respect to each other, and aligning means coupled to said members for aligning said length of twisted wire to said spaced surfaces for causing said length to be laterally inserted between said surfaces when said second member is rotated about said first member in a direction toward said aligned wires.

Claim 11

An apparatus for facilitating the removal of the covering on each wire from a length of twisted wires, comprising; first and second members each having an arcuate wire gripping surface for gripping said wire along the length thereof, the surface of said first member being convex and the surface of the second member being concave, means coupled to said members for disposing said surfaces in facing spacing relationship and including means for rotating said second member about said first member for displacing said surfaces with respect to each other, and aligning means coupled to said members for aligning said length of twisted wire to said spaced surfaces for causing said length to be laterally inserted between said surfaces when said second member is rotated about said first member in a direction toward said aligned wires.

Claim 13

The method of loosening a covering on each wire of a set of twisted wires to facilitate the removal of the covering, comprising: clamping each wire of the set at the same end of the set between first and second wire gripping surfaces, spacing said surfaces that distance from each other by which each wire is contiguous with and squeezed by said surfaces when disposed therebetween, and translating one surface with respect to the other surface toward the clamped set of wires to roll the wires between the surfaces to untwist, straighten and loosen the covering thereof.

Claim 14

The method of loosening a covering on each wire of a set of twisted wires to facilitate the removal of the covering, comprising: clamping each wire of the set at the same end of the set between first and second wire gripping surfaces, spacing said surfaces that distance from each other by which each wire is contiguous with and squeezed by said surfaces when disposed therebetween, and translating one surface with respect to the other surface toward the clamped set of wires to roll the wires between the surfaces to untwist, straighten and loosen the covering thereof.

Claim 16

A method of loosening cable insulation surrounding a braided conductive covering on a twisted pair of wires, comprising: displacing a first wire gripping surface substantially parallel to a second wire gripping surface, disposing the two surfaces a distance apart less than the minimum outer diameter of the insulation to squeeze and elongate said insulation when said cable is inserted therebetween, and inserting the cable along the length of the insulation to be loosened between said surfaces so that said displacement rolls said length between said surfaces, elongating said insulation across the cable diameter along said length.

Claim 17

A method of loosening cable insulation surrounding a braided conductive covering on a twisted pair of wires, comprising: displacing a first wire gripping surface substantially parallel to a second wire gripping surface, disposing the two surfaces a distance apart less than the minimum outer diameter of the insulation to squeeze and elongate said insulation when said cable is inserted therebetween, and inserting the cable along the length of the insulation to be loosened between said surfaces so that said displacement rolls said length between said surfaces, elongating said insulation across the cable diameter along said length.