Abstract: A blade assembly is provided for use in a wire stripping system, where the blade assembly includes a first blade including a first cutting opening therein, the first opening including a first guide surface on one side of the first opening and a first cutting surface on the opposite side of the first opening, and a second blade including a second cutting opening therein, the second opening including a second guide surface on one side of the second opening and a second cutting surface on the opposite side of the second opening. The blades impart a rotation force on the wire to cause the cutting surfaces to make a depth-controlled circumferential cut in the sheath around the entire wire.

Abstract: A blade assembly is provided for use in a wire stripping system, where the blade assembly includes a first blade including a first cutting opening therein, the first opening including a first guide surface on one side of the first opening and a first cutting surface on the opposite side of the first opening, and a second blade including a second cutting opening therein, the second opening including a second guide surface on one side of the second opening and a second cutting surface on the opposite side of the second opening. The blades impart a rotation force on the wire to cause the cutting surfaces to make a depth-controlled circumferential cut in the sheath around the entire wire.

Abstract: A blade assembly is provided for use in a wire stripping system, where the blade assembly includes a first blade including a first cutting opening therein, the first opening including a first guide surface on one side of the first opening and a first cutting surface on the opposite side of the first opening, and a second blade including a second cutting opening therein, the second opening including a second guide surface on one side of the second opening and a second cutting surface on the opposite side of the second opening. The blades impart a rotation force on the wire to cause the cutting surfaces to make a depth-controlled circumferential cut in the sheath around the entire wire.

Abstract: A wire prefeeder has a tower standing on a base. A horizontal upper shaft is mounted fixedly to the upper end of the tower and a plurality of pulleys are on the shaft. A carriage is adapted to in the tower and another horizontal lower shaft which has a plurality of pulleys and is mounted to the carriage in parallelism with the upper shaft. A wire infeed device is driven with an electric motor. Wire feeds to a dancer pulley after which it is looped around the upper and lower pulleys in succession and departs tangentially from a pulley on its way to a wire processing machine which draws the wire. The carriage rises when there is an instantaneous increase in wire tension and an electric signal is produced whose magnitude corresponds to the amount of carriage movement. The motor responds to the signal by changing the motor and wire infeed speed to pay out wire at a rate which keeps the tension in the drawn wire constant. A new type of clamp is provided for coupling a wire reel to a shaft.

Abstract: An electro/mechanical feedback system and method for displaying the positional and sizing information relative to the hole size formed by closed stripping blades of a wire stripping machine. The feedback system includes a pair of rotary optical encoders that are tied to the respective blade tool holders via adjusting screws. The adjusting screws provide infinite adjustment resolution. Turning the adjusting screws opens or closes the blades. The encoders convert the adjusting screw rotational information into blade translatory information, which is displayed. The displayed information represents positional information of each of the blades as well as the actual diameter of the cutting hole formed by the closed blades at a true zero position. The adjusting screw includes a torque head that limits adjusting screw torque to a predetermined amount. The present invention includes a positive stop used as a home position for each blade.

Abstract: A pair of tooling assemblies cooperate to cut and strip insulation from an insulated electrical conductor. The first tooling assembly comprises a die type stripping blade and an insulation guide. The first stripping blade has a cutting edge located a predetermined distance from a guide face on the insulation guide. The second tooling assembly comprises a second die type stripping blade and an insulation stop. The second stripping blade has a cutting edge complementary with the first stripping blade cutting edge. The insulation stop has a stop face that is located a predetermined distance from the second stripping blade cutting edge. The two tooling assemblies are aligned in a coplanar plane and clamped in respective toolholders.

Abstract: Blades for cutting and stripping insulated electrical conductors have alignment references thereon for aiding the set-up and adjustment of the blades. The alignment references comprise corners across the longitudinal edges of the blades. Each corner is formed by the intersection of the longitudinal edge and a first leg that is machined into the longitudinal edge and extends toward the blade interior. A second leg extends between the first leg and the longitudinal edge to create a generally V-shaped notch in the blade longitudinal edge. The first leg preferably intersects the longitudinal edge at a right angle to provide a sharp corner line. The second leg preferably intersects the longitudinal edge at an angle of less than about 45 degrees, thereby producing a rather blunt corner and permitting easy differentiation between the two corners.

Abstract: A machine for precisely cutting and stripping insulated electrical conductors. The depth of cut may be accurately set to accommodate wide ranges of conductor/insulation sizes. The length of the strip may be varied and accurately set without repositioning the entire machine. The machine may be bench mounted to act as a stand alone unit, or it may be mounted on a conveyor type automatic wire cutting and stripping machine. The machine includes a base plate that reciprocates parallel to the insulated electrical conductor to perform the stripping operation. A cutterhead opens and closes over the insulated electrical conductor to perform the cutting operation. The cutterhead comprises a pair of cutterhead slides that are accurately aligned with each other and that precisely reciprocate on a common plate. The cutterhead slides are driven by a dual cam-yoke system. The base plate and cutterhead mechanisms are cushioned at the ends of their respective strokes by a shock absorbing system.

Abstract: Apparatus for center notching an insulated electrical conductor includes two pairs of cutting blades that circumferentially slice the insulation at predetermined locations along the insulated electrical conductor to thereby define a slug of insulation. A jaw with a knife edge is located in each of the four quadrants about the insulated electrical conductor axis. The jaws travel in respective rectangular paths in a four stroke cycle. During the first stroke the jaws are translated toward a first plane passing longitudinally through the insulated electrical conductor axis with the knife edges in a separated configuration. During the second stroke the jaws translate toward a second plane perpendicular to the first plane to close the jaws and cause the knife edges to longitudinally penetrate the insulation slug. During the third stroke the jaws are translated away from the first plane with the knife edges in the closed configuration to thereby strip the insulation slug from the conductor.

Abstract: Insulation is precisely cut and stripped from insulated electrical conductors by V type stripping blades. Precision cutting and stripping is assured by forming the blades with complementary and interlocking T and U-shaped cross sections. The blades have increased stiffness compared with prior blades even though the overall thickness of the blade pair does not exceed the overall thickness of prior blade pairs. A blade stop is interlockable with either stripping blade to precisely control the cutting hole size during production. An insulation stop is also interlockable with a selected blade for precisely locating the insulated electrical conductor relative to the blade cutting edges when the blades are closed over the conductor.

Abstract: An ultra-sonic welding machine has independently adjustable front and rear anvils. Each anvil is independently clampable at desired locations. The rear anvil is reciprocable under power to opened and closed positions relative to the front anvil to thereby permit easy insertion and withdrawal of a workpiece. The end positions of the rear anvil are positively controlled by an adjustable and clampable stop block. The invention further comprises a welding tip that has a concave working edge and relief pockets for improving the welded connection and reducing ultra-sonic energy losses.

Abstract: Precision spacers are inserted between the cutoff and stripping blades of an insulated conductor processing machine. The spacers have accurately controlled lengths that take into account the thickness of the various blades and that corresponds with different commonly specified strip lengths. The various strip lengths are accurately set by a single selected spacer. The spacers also assure that cooperating cutoff and stripping blades mesh properly when closing over the insulated conductor during the cutting and stripping process. The spacers have small slots on their top surfaces for receiving a small screwdriver. The slots and screwdriver facilitate handling the spacers in the machine at strip length changeover.

Abstract: The tool holder of a machine for cutting a supply of insulated electrical conductor into discrete lengths employs a standard cutting blade. The standard blade serves as the outer boundary of the tool holder and of the remainder of the machine, thereby assuring that the cut lengths can pass to the next processing station without striking any component and thereby become disoriented. Use of the standard cutting blades is accomplished by employing conventional fasteners to retain the blade on the tool holder. The cutting blade is located in the tool holder by a slotted member and blade shank end locator.

Abstract: An improved blade for cutting and stripping insulation from insulated electrical conductors has a cutting edge with a circular cross-section when viewed in the direction parallel to the axis of the insulated conductor to be stripped instead of the elliptical cutting edge of conventional blades. The blade is manufactured by feeding a manufacturing tool through a blank so as to generate a curved surface having a longitudinal axis connecting the blank faces at an angle thereto. The curved surface has an elliptical contour when viewed along the axis.

Abstract: A blade for cutting and stripping insulation from insulated electrical conductors has two blade angles leading to the cutting edge. The first angle is a gathering angle which opens onto the leading surface of the blade and provides a wide opening for gathering offset insulated conductors. The gathering angle converges toward the interior of the blade and intersects the second blade angle, which also converges toward the blade interior. The second blade angle, the cutting angle, terminates in a radius cutting edge adapted to slice the insulation. The blade walls defining the cutting angle are tangent to the cutting edge radius. The cutting angle is minimized so that the radius cutting edge provides a maximum circumferential contact with the conductor. The blade may include a stop for positively controlling the cutting stroke to avoid nicking the conductor.