Method and apparatus for processing insulated wire

Claim 1

A method of processing an insulated wire comprising the steps of (a) playing out a long continuous wire coated with insulation covering by a predetermined amount for measuring purposes; (b) feeding the played out wire by said predetermined amount in a straight line in a first direction; (c) clamping said fed wire at first and second positions; (d) cutting the clamped wire at a cutting position between said first and second positions to cut off a short wire; (e) cutting into the insulation covering of the wires with a pair of insulator cutters on both sides of the cutting position between the first and second positions; (f) removing the insulation covering between the insulator cutters by pulling the clamped wires away from each other; (g) trasnferring the clamped short wires in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and (h) repeating the steps (a) to (g) to feed a plurality of short wires along said second direction for wire end processing, said pulling in step (f) including swinging said plurality of short wires about an axis extending parallel to said second direction.

Claim 2

A method of processing an insulated wire comprising the steps of (a) playing out a long continuous wire coated with insulation covering by a predetermined amount for measuring purposes; (b) feeding the played out wire by said predetermined amount in a straight line in a first direction; (c) clamping said fed wire at first and second positions; (d) cutting the clamped wire at a cutting position between said first and second positions to cut off a short wire; (e) cutting into the insulation covering of the wires with a pair of insulator cutters on both sides of the cutting position between the first and second positions; (f) removing the insulation covering between the insulator cutters by pulling the clamped wires away from each other; (g) trasnferring the clamped short wires in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction; and (h) repeating the steps (a) to (g) to feed a plurality of short wires along said second direction for wire end processing, said pulling in step (f) including swinging said plurality of short wires about an axis extending parallel to said second direction.

Claim 5

An apparatus for processing an insulated wire comprising: (a) a wire measuring section including a pair of measuring rollers adapted to hold therebetween a long continuous wire coated with insulation covering and play out said wire intermittently by a predetermined amount; (b) a wire feeding section including a pair of pinch rollers adapted to feed the played out wire intermittently by said predetermined amount in a first direction and first wire clamp means for clamping the fed wire, a clamp slider provided along the first direction and adapted for reciprocating therealong; (c) a wire cutting section including a cutter to cut the fed wire at a cutting position to cut off a short wire and a pair of insulation cutters to cut into the insulation covering on both sides of the cutting position; and (d) a wire holding and transferring section including second wire clamp means for clamping the fed wire and transferring the cut-off short wire in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, said first and second clamp means being, prior to said transferring, adapted to move away from each other while maintaining the clamp of the wires and the insulator cutters in a cutting-ih state to remove the insulation covering between the insulator cutters, means provided to swing said wire holding and transferring section about an axis extending parallel to said second direction such that said movement of the second clamp means is performed in a swinging motion.

Claim 6

An apparatus for processing an insulated wire comprising: (a) a wire measuring section including a pair of measuring rollers adapted to hold therebetween a long continuous wire coated with insulation covering and play out said wire intermittently by a predetermined amount; (b) a wire feeding section including a pair of pinch rollers adapted to feed the played out wire intermittently by said predetermined amount in a first direction and first wire clamp means for clamping the fed wire, a clamp slider provided along the first direction and adapted for reciprocating therealong; (c) a wire cutting section including a cutter to cut the fed wire at a cutting position to cut off a short wire and a pair of insulation cutters to cut into the insulation covering on both sides of the cutting position; and (d) a wire holding and transferring section including second wire clamp means for clamping the fed wire and transferring the cut-off short wire in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, said first and second clamp means being, prior to said transferring, adapted to move away from each other while maintaining the clamp of the wires and the insulator cutters in a cutting-ih state to remove the insulation covering between the insulator cutters, means provided to swing said wire holding and transferring section about an axis extending parallel to said second direction such that said movement of the second clamp means is performed in a swinging motion.