Production of multiple elongated products such as wire

Claim 2

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products from billet material, said method comprising: a. coating the billet material with die lubricating material; and b. passing the coated billet material through a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough in such manner that the billet material and the die lubricating material are substantially evenly distributed to all of said die apertures, whereby each die aperture is lubricated by the die lubricating material and the billet material is deformed in passing through the die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 3

Method as in claim 1, wherein: c. the die lubricating material is wax.

Claim 4

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products from billet material, said method comprising: a. coating the billet material with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. applying force along the surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said billet material toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surface fo the billet material toward the entrance end of the die; c. advancing said billet material by means of said frictional drag force against said die in such manner that the billet material and the coating of shear transmitting medium thereon are substantially evenly distributed to all of said die apertures, whereby each die aperture is lubricated by the said shear transmitting medium and the billet material is deformed in passing through the said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 5

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products from billet material, said method comprising: a. coating the billet material with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. applying force along the surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said billet material toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surface fo the billet material toward the entrance end of the die; c. advancing said billet material by means of said frictional drag force against said die in such manner that the billet material and the coating of shear transmitting medium thereon are substantially evenly distributed to all of said die apertures, whereby each die aperture is lubricated by the said shear transmitting medium and the billet material is deformed in passing through the said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 6

Method as in claim 3, wherein: d. the shear transmitting medium is wax.

Claim 7

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets with die lubricating material; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle; c. passing the bundle of coated elongated billets through a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said coated elongated billets and is lubricated by the die lubricating material thereon, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 8

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets with die lubricating material; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle; c. passing the bundle of coated elongated billets through a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said coated elongated billets and is lubricated by the die lubricating material thereon, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 9

Method as in claim 5, wherein: d. the die lubricating material is wax.

Claim 10

Method as in claim 5, wherein: d. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that the thickness of the die lubricating material between adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle is substantially uniform.

Claim 11

Method as in claim 5, wherein: d. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are regular polygons; e. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other.

Claim 12

Method as in claim 8, wherein: f. in performing step (c), each coated elongated billet is passed through a die aperture having a polygonal transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of its respective billet and decreasing in size toward its exit end.

Claim 13

Method as in claim 9, wherein: g. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are regular hexagons.

Claim 14

Method as in claim 9, wherein: g. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are equilateral triangles.

Claim 15

Method as in claim 9, wherein: g. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are squares.

Claim 16

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle; c. applying force along the peripheral surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said bundle toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surfaces of all of the elongated billets in the bundle; d. advancing said bundle by means of said frictional drag force against said die in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said coated elongated billets and is lubricated by the coating of shear transmitting medium thereon, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 17

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle; c. applying force along the peripheral surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said bundle toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surfaces of all of the elongated billets in the bundle; d. advancing said bundle by means of said frictional drag force against said die in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said coated elongated billets and is lubricated by the coating of shear transmitting medium thereon, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 18

Method as in claim 13, wherein: e. the shear transmitting medium is wax.

Claim 19

Method as in claim 13, wherein: e. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that the thickness of the shear transmitting medium between adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle is substantially uniform.

Claim 20

Method as in claim 13, wherein: e. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are regular polygons; f. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other.

Claim 21

Method as in claim 16, wherein: g. in performing step (d), each coated elongated billet is passed through a die aperture having a polygonal transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of its respective billet and decreasing in size toward its exit end.

Claim 22

Method as in claim 16, wherein: h. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are regular hexagons.

Claim 23

Method as in claim 16, wherein: h. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are equilateral triangles.

Claim 24

Method as in claim 16, wherein: h. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are squares.

Claim 25

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets, the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets being regular polygons, with die lubricating material; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle, the billets being assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other; and c. passing the bundle of coated elongated billets through a die aperture having a transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of the bundle and decreasing in size toward its exit end in such manner that the die aperture is lubricated by the die lubricating material nd the elongated billets are simultaneously reduced in the die aperture to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products, the die lubricating material preventing the indivvidual elongated products from welding to each other during passage through the die aperture.

Claim 26

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets, the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets being regular polygons, with die lubricating material; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle, the billets being assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other; and c. passing the bundle of coated elongated billets through a die aperture having a transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of the bundle and decreasing in size toward its exit end in such manner that the die aperture is lubricated by the die lubricating material nd the elongated billets are simultaneously reduced in the die aperture to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products, the die lubricating material preventing the indivvidual elongated products from welding to each other during passage through the die aperture.

Claim 27

Method as in claim 21, wherein: d. the die lubricating material is wax.

Claim 28

Method as in claim 21, wherein: d. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that the thickness of the die lubricating material between adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle is substantially uniform.

Claim 29

Method as in claim 21, wherein: d. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are regular hexagons.

Claim 30

Method as in claim 21, wherein: d. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are equilateral triangles.

Claim 31

Method as in claim 21, wherein: d. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are squares.

Claim 32

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets, the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets being regualr polygons, with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle, the billets being assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are adjacent to each other; c. applying force along the peripheral surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said bundle toward the entrance end of a die aperture having a transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of the bundle and decreasing in size toward its exit end thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surfaces of all of the elongated billets in the bundle; and d. advancing said bundle by means of said frictional drag force into said die aperture in such manner that the die aperture is lubricated by the shear transmitting medium and the elongated billets are simultaneously reduced in the die aperture to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products, the shear transmitting medium preventing the individual elongated products from welding to each other during passage through the die aperture.

Claim 33

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. coating each of a plurality of elongated billets, the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets being regualr polygons, with shear transmitting medium capable of lubricating a die; b. assembling said plurality of coated elongated billets in the form of a bundle, the billets being assembled so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are adjacent to each other; c. applying force along the peripheral surface of the coating of shear transmitting medium on said bundle toward the entrance end of a die aperture having a transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of the bundle and decreasing in size toward its exit end thereby to apply frictional drag force along the surfaces of all of the elongated billets in the bundle; and d. advancing said bundle by means of said frictional drag force into said die aperture in such manner that the die aperture is lubricated by the shear transmitting medium and the elongated billets are simultaneously reduced in the die aperture to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products, the shear transmitting medium preventing the individual elongated products from welding to each other during passage through the die aperture.

Claim 34

Method as in claim 27, wherein: e. the shear transmitting medium is wax.

Claim 35

Method as in claim 27, wherein: e. in performing step (b), the billets are assembled so that the thickness of the shear transmitting medium between adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle is substantially uniform.

Claim 36

Method as in claim 27, wherein: e. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are regular hexagons.

Claim 37

Method as in claim 27, wherein: e. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are equilateral triangles.

Claim 38

Method as in claim 27, wherein: e. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are squares.

Claim 39

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. assembling a plurality of elongated billets in the form of a bundle; b. passing the bundle of elongated billets through a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said elongated billets, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 40

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. assembling a plurality of elongated billets in the form of a bundle; b. passing the bundle of elongated billets through a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said elongated billets, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 41

Method as in claim 23, wherein: c. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are polygons; d. in performing step (a), the billets are assembled so that the adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other.

Claim 42

Method as in claim 34, wherein: e. in performing step (b), each elongated billet is passed through a die aperture having a polygonal transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of its respective billet and decreasing in size toward its exit end.

Claim 43

Method as in claim 35, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are regular hexagons.

Claim 44

Method as in claim 35, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are equilateral triangles.

Claim 45

Method as in claim 35, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are squares.

Claim 46

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. assembling a plurality of elongated billets in the form of a bundle; b. applying a frictional drag force along the surface of the bundle toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to advance said bundle toward said die in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said elongated billets, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 47

Method of simultaneously producing a plurality of elongated products, said method comprising: a. assembling a plurality of elongated billets in the form of a bundle; b. applying a frictional drag force along the surface of the bundle toward the entrance end of a die having a plurality of die apertures extending therethrough thereby to advance said bundle toward said die in such manner that each die aperture receives one of said elongated billets, thereby deforming said billets in said die apertures to produce simultaneously a plurality of elongated products therefrom.

Claim 48

Method as in claim 39, wherein: c. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets are polygons; d. in performing step (a), the billets are assembled so that the adjacent surfaces of adjacent billets in the bundle are parallel to each other.

Claim 49

Method as in claim 40, wherein: e. in performing step (b), each elongated billet is passed through a die aperture having a polygonal transverse cross-section substantially registering at its entrance end with the transverse cross-section of its respective billet and decreasing in size toward its exit end.

Claim 50

Method as in claim 41, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are regular hexagons.

Claim 51

Method as in claim 41, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are equilateral triangles.

Claim 52

Method as in claim 41, wherein: f. the transverse cross-sections of the elongated billets and the die apertures are squares.

Claim 53

A method as set forth in claim 21, further comprising: d. altering the shape of the reduced billets by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of apertures of a shape different from that of the reduced billets in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 54

A method as set forth in claim 45, wherein: e. step (d) is performed immediately following the performance of step (c).

Claim 55

A method as set forth in claim 21, further comprising: d. forming elongated products of round shape by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of circular apertures in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 56

A method as set forth in claim 47, wherein: e. step (d) is performed immediately following the performance of step (c).

Claim 57

A method as set forth in claim 24, further comprising: e. forming elongated products of round shape by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of circular apertures in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 58

A method as set forth in claim 49, wherein: f. step (e) is performed immediately following the performance of step (c).

Claim 59

A method as set forth in claim 27, further comprising: e. altering the shape of the reduced billets by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of apertures of a shape different from that of the reduced billets in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 60

A method as set forth in claim 50, wherein: f. step (e) is performed immediately following the performance of step (d).

Claim 61

A method as set forth in claim 27, further comprising: e. forming elongated products of round shape by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of circular apertures in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 62

A method as set forth in claim 51, wherein: f. step (e) is performed immediately following the performance of step (d).

Claim 63

A method as set forth in claim 30, further comprising: f. forming elongated products of round shape by passing the reduced billets through a die having extending therethrough a plurality of circular apertures in such manner that each die aperture receives one of the reduced billets.

Claim 64

A method as set forth in claim 55, wherein: g. step (f) is performed immediately following the performance of step (d).