Wire shuffling apparatus and method

Claim 1

Apparatus for adding a wire at a preselected position in a row of wires extending side by side, in parallel relation and removing a preselected wire from the row of wires comprising a frame, means mounted on the frame defining a guidepath for the wires extending transversely of the wires in the direction of the row; means mounted on the frame defining an escapement for a wire extending transversely from the guidepath; opposed cooperative means in said escapement to move the wire perpendicularly of its axis from the row to the escapement and from the escapement to the row; opposed cooperative moving means in said guide path to urge the wires in a row along the guidepath closely together and to permit limited movement apart of the wires on the removal from and addition of a wire to the row, respectively; and, means mounted on the frame to move the escapement and the wire moving means relatively along the row into alignment with a preselected wire position for operation of the wire moving means.

Claim 9

A method of selectively adding or removing a wire from a row of wires fed axially from a supply for making a wire harness comprising the steps of providing an escapement and guidepath; providing a plurality of flexible wirereceiving tubes having wire exit ends arranged in a row in said guidepath, movement of the wire exit ends moving the wires in the rows; feeding leading ends of the individual wires axially into respective wire entry ends of the respective flexible wire receiving tubes to form the row; moving the escapement and wire moving means to a preselected position; and retaining wire entry ends of the tubes in stationary condition and moving wire exit ends of the tube in directions transversely of the row into and out from the row into different desired relative positions, the exit ends of the wire receiving tubes in the row being moved relatively apart and together on the movement of tubes into and out from the row respectively.

Claim 10

A method of selectively adding or removing a wire from a row of wires fed axially from a supply for making a wire harness comprising the steps of providing an escapement and guidepath; providing a plurality of flexible wirereceiving tubes having wire exit ends arranged in a row in said guidepath, movement of the wire exit ends moving the wires in the rows; feeding leading ends of the individual wires axially into respective wire entry ends of the respective flexible wire receiving tubes to form the row; moving the escapement and wire moving means to a preselected position; and retaining wire entry ends of the tubes in stationary condition and moving wire exit ends of the tube in directions transversely of the row into and out from the row into different desired relative positions, the exit ends of the wire receiving tubes in the row being moved relatively apart and together on the movement of tubes into and out from the row respectively.