Heading machines

Claim 1

A heading machine for producing headed blanks from wire, the machine comprising: a fixed frame; a ram reciprocable in the frame; a punch carried by the ram; a die block rotatably mounted on the frame and having a plurality of die cavities capable of being indexed between a plurality of stations including a cut-off station and a blow station; feed means for feeding the wire stock intermittently directly into a die cavity positioned at the cut-off station, the feed means comprising a pair of opposed linear gripper means which cam embrace and grip the wire over a substantial length thereof and mounted on a block drivable slidably in a direction longitudinally of the fixed frame by drive means, one gripper means being secured to a lever pivoted on said block and being resiliently biased away from the other gripper means, the feed means also including a cam member having a longitudinal cam face comprising a pair of spaced planar surfaces generally parallel to the direction of feed of the wire stock and a ramp between the planar surfaces, the lever having a part adapted to co-operate with the cam face, whereby, as the block is moved forwardly by the drive means, the cam urges the lever and hence said one gripper means against the resilient bias towards the other gripper means until said co-operating part contacts the ramp whereupon said one gripper means is resiliently urged away from the other gripper means by the resilient biasing means; and a cut-off mechanism being provided adjacent the cut-off station and acting upon the wire stock to sever a blank therefrom.