Compensator for controlling the tension of a wire travelling through a wire-working machine

Claim 1

A wire working machine, comprising; wire drawing pulleys, disposed for passing a wire from one to the other; motors for respectively driving the pulleys; and a tension compensator for substantially maintaining a predetermined tension in the wire passing from one of the pulleys to the other, comprising; a first shaft having a first compensator pulley thereon, said first shaft and compensator pulley being located between the wire drawing pulleys; a second and movable compensator pulley having a shaft and being suspended from the first compensator pulley by the wire the predetermined tension of which is to be substantially maintained and which extends from one of the wire drawing pulleys to and around the first and second compensator pulleys in succession and therefrom to the other wire drawing pulley, so that the tension in the wire acts to move the movable compensator pulley towards the first compensator pulley when the tension increases, while disposing the movable compensator pulley and its shaft to tilt in response to differential tensions in the wire; an energy accumulator for producing a reaction force to said tension to move the movable compensator pulley and its shaft away from the first compensator pulley when the tension decreases; a detector for producing signals in response to variations in the distance from the first to the second compensator pulley; means for transmitting the signals produced by the detector to one of the motors to regulate the driving of the respective wire-drawing pulley; and a linking wire, linking the energy accumulator to the movable pulley and its shaft via the detector to operate the detector in response to said tension and said reaction force, while leaving the movable pulley and its shaft elastically free for said tilting and response to differential tensions in the wire.