Patent US3765084A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3765084A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Methods of forming wire springs and welding contacts to the springs
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1971-10-29
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Granted: 1973-10-16
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Expires: 1991-10-29
Abstract
Abstract Certain types of wire spring assemblies include a plurality of parallel, spaced wires extending from opposite sides of a block formed of an insulating material. A plurality of the wire spring assemblies are loaded into a rack and the rack is attached to a dispensing mechanism for feeding serially successive wire block assemblies from the rack. Adjacent pairs of the wire springs extending from one side of the block are twisted together and coined. The opposite ends of the wire springs are coined and have contacts welded thereto. Portions of the wire springs extending from both sides of the wire block are formed at offset angles and are thereafter loaded into another rack which is attached to an unloading mechanism so that the completed wire spring assemblies may be transferred to a subsequent assembly station and used in the formation of a switching assembly.
Inventors
- 👤 W Kent
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 09:33
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01R; H01R43/00; H01R43/033; H01H; H01H11/00; H01H11/04; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T29/00; Y10T29/49; Y10T29/49002; Y10T29/49117; Y10T29/49204; Y10T29/49208; Y10T29/49218; Y10T29/49222; Y10T29/53; Y10T29/5313; Y10T29/532; Y10T29/53209; Y10T29/53213; Y10T29/53235; Y10T29/53248
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
258 words
A method of forming wire-like articles in desired configurations, which comprises the steps of: applying aligning forces adjacent to ends of adjacent selected wire-like elements to move the ends substantially together in juxtaposed, substantially parallel alignment; applying clamping forces to juxtaposed portions of the adjacent selected wire-like elements at an intermediate portion thereof spaced from the ends of the elements; moving the application of the aligning forces over intermediate portions of the selected elements along a mutual axis thereof and away from the aligned ends thereof while continuing the application of the aligning forces to the selected elements and simultaneously moving the continued application of the application of the clamping forces along the intermediate portions of the selected elements and away from the aligned ends of the adjacent selected elements to a position which is a fixed distance from the ends of the selected articles so that a selected intermediate portion of the wire-like elements are clamped at the fixed-distance position and the portions thereof which extend to the ends of the selected articles are maintained in juxtaposition and parallel with the mutual axis in preparation for and during a subsequent twisting together of the wire-like elements, and applying torsional forces to the aligned ends of the selected wire-like elements about the mutual axis of the elements the fixed distance from the position of application of the clamping forces about the juxtaposed portions of the wire-like elements for twisting together portions of at least selected ones of a plurality of the wire-like elements to form a wire-like article.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
258 words
A method of forming wire-like articles in desired configurations, which comprises the steps of: applying aligning forces adjacent to ends of adjacent selected wire-like elements to move the ends substantially together in juxtaposed, substantially parallel alignment; applying clamping forces to juxtaposed portions of the adjacent selected wire-like elements at an intermediate portion thereof spaced from the ends of the elements; moving the application of the aligning forces over intermediate portions of the selected elements along a mutual axis thereof and away from the aligned ends thereof while continuing the application of the aligning forces to the selected elements and simultaneously moving the continued application of the application of the clamping forces along the intermediate portions of the selected elements and away from the aligned ends of the adjacent selected elements to a position which is a fixed distance from the ends of the selected articles so that a selected intermediate portion of the wire-like elements are clamped at the fixed-distance position and the portions thereof which extend to the ends of the selected articles are maintained in juxtaposition and parallel with the mutual axis in preparation for and during a subsequent twisting together of the wire-like elements, and applying torsional forces to the aligned ends of the selected wire-like elements about the mutual axis of the elements the fixed distance from the position of application of the clamping forces about the juxtaposed portions of the wire-like elements for twisting together portions of at least selected ones of a plurality of the wire-like elements to form a wire-like article.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method as set forth in claim 1, which further includes the step of forming in a selected configuration a portion of at least one wire-like element of the article.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method as set forth in claim 2, which further comprises the step of securing at least one contact to a portion of at least one wire-like element of the article.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises the step of moving successive wire-like elements into a position for the twisting of the elements to form the wire-like article.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
85 words
The method as set forth in claim 1, which further comprises the steps of: attaching the wire-like elements to a carrier for transporting the elements to a position whereat the elements are twisted together; moving the carrier through a gravity-feed track which communicates with an indexing feed track; directing the carrier for movement from the gravity-feed track into and through the indexing-feed track, and indexing the carrier through the feed track to selectively position the article at the position whereat the elements are twisted together.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method as set forth in claim 5, which further comprises the step of directing the carrier into a second gravity-feed track which communicates with the indexing-feed track to move the carrier to a position whereat other wire-like elements can be attached to the carrier for movement to the position whereat the elements are twisted together.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of feeding at least one article to a work station, which comprises the steps of: attaching an article to a carrier for transporting the article to a work station; moving the carrier through a gravity-feed track which communicates with an indexing-feed track; directing the carrier for movement into and through the indexing-feed track which is adjacent to the work station, and indexing the carrier through the feed track to selectively position the article at a work station.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
79 words
A method of feeding at least one article to a work station, which comprises the steps of: attaching an article to a carrier for transporting the article to a work station; moving the carrier through a gravity-feed track which communicates with an indexing-feed track; directing the carrier for movement into and through the indexing-feed track which is adjacent to the work station, and indexing the carrier through the feed track to selectively position the article at a work station.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method as set forth in claim 7, which further comprises the step of transferring the article from the carrier and into the work station.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method as set forth in claim 7, which further comprises the step of directing the carrier into a second gravity-feed track which communicates with the indexing-feed track to move the carrier to a position whereat another article can be attached to the carrier.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
160 words
A method of forming wire-like articles in desired configurations, which comprises the steps of: applying aligning forces adjacent to ends of adjacent selected wire-like elements to move the ends substantially together in juxtaposed, substantially parallel alignment; moving the application of the aligning forces over intermediate portions of the selected elements along a mutual axis thereof and away from the aligned ends thereof while continuing the application of the aligning forces to the selected elements; applying clamping forces to juxtaposed portions of the adjacent selected wire-like elements a fixed distance at an intermediate portion thereof spaced from the ends of the elements, and applying torsional forces to the alignEd ends of the selected wire-like elements about the mutual axis of the elements the fixed distance from the application of the clamping forces about the juxtaposed portions of the wire-like elements for twisting together portions of at least selected ones of a plurality of the wire-like elements to form a wire-like article.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
160 words
A method of forming wire-like articles in desired configurations, which comprises the steps of: applying aligning forces adjacent to ends of adjacent selected wire-like elements to move the ends substantially together in juxtaposed, substantially parallel alignment; moving the application of the aligning forces over intermediate portions of the selected elements along a mutual axis thereof and away from the aligned ends thereof while continuing the application of the aligning forces to the selected elements; applying clamping forces to juxtaposed portions of the adjacent selected wire-like elements a fixed distance at an intermediate portion thereof spaced from the ends of the elements, and applying torsional forces to the alignEd ends of the selected wire-like elements about the mutual axis of the elements the fixed distance from the application of the clamping forces about the juxtaposed portions of the wire-like elements for twisting together portions of at least selected ones of a plurality of the wire-like elements to form a wire-like article.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-10-15 | 1977-04-16 | 1977-10-16 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-10-15 | 1981-04-16 | 1981-10-16 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-10-15 | 1985-04-16 | 1985-10-16 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |