Wire tie system for twisting drop wires for suspended grid ceilings

Abstract

A wire tie system for suspended ceilings utilizing a twisting hand tool having a power driven spindle located in a casing including means for gripping a wire and twisting same and a wire tie vise for securing and tying a free end of wire to a clip. The wire tie vise comprises a frame with a clamping device for holding a free end of a wire and a chuck designed to hold a clip and wire inserted therethrough forming a loop and twisting same to secure the clip on the loop. The twisting hand tool device includes a housing and an adapter mountable to an electric drill or an integral drill unit There is a slot in the spindle that extends from an outer periphery thereof in a direction toward the spindles axis of rotation. A first wire length can be placed in the slot with the tool being located intermediate opposite terminal ends of the wire. A second wire length is insertable into and through a hole in the spindle that is spaced radially from the spindle rotational axis. A cordless electric drill mounts on the housing and drives the spindle to thereby twist the wire piece through the hole around the wire in the slot.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to a tool for twisting together strands of wire, to a tool for twisting a wire end portion onto the wire itself in for example wires that suspend open framework for suspended ceilings, to a wire twisting tool one can detachably connect to a powered hand held tool and to a power driven tool dedicated for use in twisting together at least two side by strands of wire.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Commercial buildings commonly have acoustic tile ceilings which are supported by a grid. The grid is suspended from the roof or rough ceiling by wires fastened to clips. At least some building code requires that the wires be looped through a hole in the clip and then twist four turns. The clip is then hooked onto the roof purlin or rough ceiling with the wire hanging down. The free end of then wire is then passed through a hole in the grid work, bent back, and also must be twisted four turns. The twisting is done by hand and is obviously difficult and tiring.

The installation of suspended ceilings involves suspending a grid of inverted ‘T’ shaped beams and cross connector beams from beams or the like permanent overhead structural portions of the building structure. The inverted ‘T’ beams are suspended from the building structure by a plurality of wires that are spaced apart from one another with each wire being connected at its upper end to overhead structure of the building in a suitable manner, for example, by a clip attached to the end of the wire and anchored by a nail, screw or the like to the overhead structure. The wires depend downwardly from the building structure and the lower end of each is individually inserted through a pre-drilled hole in the ‘T’ beam and bent at a location indicated by, for example, a laser level beam such that the finished suspended ceiling will be at a predetermined elevation. The free end portion of the wire projecting beyond the ‘T’ beam is conventionally hand twisted around the wire portion depending downwardly to the ‘T’ beam and hereinafter referred to as the stationary wire. Hand twisting is slow, labour intensive and inconsistent.

Conventional suspended ceilings sometimes utilize a manually bent tail of the P-loop about the stem of the wire to provide a useful wire for suspending a ceiling. Some machines have been designed for factory preparation of wires having clips slideably attached thereto. If the wrapping of the wire about the stem is not sufficiently tight, then a loop is formed which fails to maintain the reliable height of the suspension of the ceiling. At different projects, ceiling wires of various diameters are employed, necessitating the need for a wire twisting machine to accommodate to a plausible range of wire-diameters. Typically, a wire includes a hanging device such as a clip slideably fitted onto the loop formed by the wire-wrapping operation.

PRIOR ART

Several devices have been utilized in an attempt to provide a inexpensive, quick, and reliable wire twisting device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,703 teaches a wire twisting tool including crank and a clamp mounted on a base. Another reference, U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,624 1991 teaches an anchor installing and wire twisting device including a slotted tool for holding and anchor or clip. U.S. Pat. No. 1,251,193 teaches a clamp mechanism for tying wires. U.S. Pat. 5,280,812 teaches a wire wrapping method and machine utilizing a foot switch to actuate coaxial slotted gears to coaxial tie wires for a ceiling support system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The wire tie system includes a wire tie vise or hold down pad comprising a frame with a clamping device for holding a free end of a wire and twisting and forming a loop from the free end a wire for holding a clip. A chuck designed to hold a clip is mounted to a selected end of the frame and includes a shaft for connecting to a drill or hand crank. A wire clip holding a loop formed from a distal end of a length of wire is inserted into an axial groove formed or cut a selected distance into the chuck for holding same. A selected portion of the length of the wire to be suspended is looped through a clip and the loop and clip are disposed into the axial groove extending through a portion of the chuck. The main length of wire and a free end of the loop are held securely in a vise or clamp means a selected distance from the chuck whereby rotation of the chuck twists the loop of wire with respect tot he clamp knurling the wire a selected number of turns securing same to the clip. The number of wire twists depend upon positioning of the clamp whereby increasing the distance between the clamp and the chuck increases the number of twist in the wire. The distal end of the suspension wire now includes a clip for attachment to a ceiling support.

More particularly, the wire tie system for twisting drop wires for suspended grid ceilings utilizes two tools to perform the tasks. The first tool comprises a wire tie vise comprising a frame or base pad holder with a chuck which is rotatably held in the frame. The chuck is configured to receive and hold the clip which has a wire already looped into a hole in the clip. Then the wire which has been folded back on itself is clamped and held tight by a clamping tool at which time the chuck can be spun or rotated to create a desired number of twists of the wire. The chuck may be driven by a manual crank of some sort, a drill motor or a permanently installed motor. Both the lower half and the upper half of the clamp may have roughened or knurled surfaces to grasp the wire tightly. The second part of the wire tie system consists essentially of an adapter to be powered by a drill. The hand held tool comprises a housing including a slot with a small gear including a corresponding slot alignable with that of the housing or case. The radial slot formed there through provides means for which the length of wire is passed so that the main body or length of wire is disposed through the slots of the housing and gear whereby the gear can rotates around the wire stationary suspended wire. The distal end of the free end of the wire is now passed through one of two offset holes in the gear beside the slot. Now the gear an be rotated causing the free end of the wire to be twisted around the stationary suspended wire. The gear must be stopped so that the slot in the large gear aligns with the slot in the housing so that the tool may be removed from the wire. The gear in the adapter may be driven by a hand drill motor, a dedicated motor permanently installed on the tool, or perhaps a manual crank of sonic sort. It is anticipated that the gear may include a blank tooth which aligns with the slot so that the gear stops with every complete revolution so that the slot in the gear is in alignment with the slot in the housing so that the number of revolutions is dependent upon how many times the user pulls the trigger.

Thus, upon mounting the clip and suspending the wire across the ceiling, the wire is suspended and attachment to the opposite end of the ceiling. The wire twisting system hand tool adapter features a slot in the spindle that extends from an outer periphery thereof in a direction toward the spindles axis of rotation. The suspended stationary wire can be placed in the slot of the casing and gear with the tool being located intermediate opposite terminal ends of the wire. A second free distal end of wire is insertable into and through a hole in the spindle or gear that is spaced radially from the spindle rotational axis. A hand held drill, preferably cordless, mounts on the housing and drives the spindle to thereby twist the wire piece through the hole around the stationary wire cantered with respect to the slot.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a power driven wire twisting tool primarily intended for use in the installation of the grid structure for suspended ceilings.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wire twisting tool that is attachable to a known power tool for example a hand held cordless drill.

Another object of the present drill wire twist invention is to control the number of turns to maintain alignment of the slot in the drive gear to the slot in the case providing means of quick attachment and detachment of the wire from the drill and selected and consistent number of twists.

Another object of the present invention is to save time and reduce fatigue as compared with manual twisting of the wire.

Another object of the present invention is to keep the main length of wire stationary while twisting the distal end of the wire inserted through the clip.

Another object of the present invention is to provide at least one and preferably a number of drive holes in the drill adapter for engaging the distal end of the loose wire as a convenience for the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drill adapter which allows insertion of the main body of wire and loose end from the front end or the rear end to facilitate positioning of the drill and adapter.

Another object of the present invention is to position the stationary main length of the wire loop in position in the center of the drive gear so that it is not disrupted upon rotation of the distal end of the wire upon engagement of the drill rotating the gear spinning the loose end of the wire around the stationary length of wire retained in the center of the gear and housing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an alignment nut extending from the end of the adapter housing or case providing means for manually aligning the slot in the housing or case with the slot in the drive gear slot for quick attachment and removal of the adapter tool from the suspended wire.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wire tie adapter unit which includes a housing and case adaptable for mounting to a conventional electric drill having a conventional chuck for cooperative engagement with a shaft extending from the wire tie adapter.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an adapter mountable onto a hand held electric drill including a housing including a handle and drill body including a motor therein and a chuck extending from a free end for removable holding a shaft therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a drill and adapter for tying wire wherein the drill is held in a users hand, the stationary portion of the suspended wire to be tied is disposed within a slot in the adapter casing and the slot in the drive gear to a central bore and a free distal end of the wire is disposed through a hole in the gear, whereby the user holds the adapter stationary with one hand and actuates the drill by pulling the trigger thereby rotating the drill shaft and adapter gear with respect to the adapter housing and stationary wire twisting the free distal end of the wire around the stationary wire.

It is another object of the present wire tie vise invention that the lower half and/or the upper half of the clamp holding pads have a roughened or a knurled surface to grasp the wire tightly.

In keeping with the foregoing there is provided a wire twisting tool comprising a housing and a wire twisting spindle mounted on the housing for rotation about a predetermined axis of rotation. The spindle has first and second spaced apart openings there through for receiving therein respective first and second wire lengths. Driving means mounted on the housing and connected to the spindle is provided for use in rotating the same and thereby twist together wires extending through the first and second openings.

Moreover, the wire tie system for suspended ceilings utilizing a twisting hand tool having a power driven spindle located in a casing including means for gripping a wire and twisting same and a wire tie vise for securing and tying a free end of wire to a clip. The wire tie vise comprises a frame with a clamping device for holding a free end of a wire and a chuck designed to hold a clip and wire inserted therethrough forming a loop and twisting same to secure the clip on the loop. The twisting hand tool device includes a housing and an adapter mountable to an electric drill or an integral drill unit. There is a slot in the spindle that extends from an outer periphery thereof in a direction toward the spindles axis of rotation. A first wire length can he placed in the slot with the tool being located intermediate opposite terminal ends of the wire. A second wire length is insertable into and through a hole in the spindle that is spaced radially from the spindle rotational axis. A cordless electric drill mounts on the housing and drives the spindle to thereby twist the wire piece through the hole around the wire in the slot.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent with the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the views wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a tool provided in accordance with the present invention in the preferred environmental usage of twisting a beam suspension wire upon itself locking the beam in a fixed predetermined location during installation of a suspended ceiling;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating the principal components of the battery operated drill wire twisting hand tool;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of applicants tool securely mounted on a cordless electric drill providing a tool dedicated to twisting a wire around a stationary elongate member;

FIG. 4 is an oblique view of the tool shown in FIG. 3 and looking down on the top end of the tool;

FIG. 5 is an oblique view of the tool shown in FIG. 3 but looking upwardly at the bottom portion of the tool;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view illustrating the main components of the tool and attachment of a portion of the tool casing to the cordless electric hand drill;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the wire twisting adapter showing the gear and wire twisting components illustrating a modified drive and driven gear arrangement in which the meshing gears disengage following one revolution of the drive gear allowing one to predetermine alignment of the slot in the driven gear with the slot in the housing;

FIG. 8 is an oblique side view illustrating components for the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating components for the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the knurled wire hold down pad or wire vise showing a clamp and chuck mounted to a frame with a drill driver shown in phantom lines;

FIG. 11 is an oblique end view of a portion of the wire hold down pad showing the end of the chuck holding a clip with a loop or wire disposed therein;

FIG. 12 is a top view of a wire tie clip; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing lugs holding the adapter onto the drill.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The wire tie system includes a wire tie vise or hold down pad comprising a frame with a clamping device for holding a free end of a wire and twisting and forming a loop from the free end a wire for holding a clip. A chuck designed to hold a clip is mounted to a selected end of the frame and includes a shaft for connecting to a drill or hand crank. A wire clip holding a loop formed from a distal end of a length of wire is inserted into an axial groove formed or cut a selected distance into the chuck for holding same. A selected portion of the length of the wire to be suspended is looped through a clip and the loop and clip are disposed into the axial groove extending through a portion of the chuck. The main length of wire and a free end of the loop are held securely in a vise or clamp means a selected distance from the chuck whereby rotation of the chuck twists the loop of wire with respect tot he clamp knurling the wire a selected number of turns securing same to the clip. The number of wire twists depend upon positioning of the clamp whereby increasing the distance between the clamp and the chuck increases the number of twist in the wire. The distal end of the suspension wire now includes a clip for attachment to a ceiling support. Upon mounting the clip and suspending the wire across the ceiling, the wire is cut and inserted through a second clip for attachment to the opposite end of the ceiling.

Diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1 is a beam 10 that forms part of the overhead structure of a building in which a suspended ceiling is being installed. An inverted ‘T’ beam 11 is suspended from the beam 10 by a plurality of spaced apart wires only one of which is shown and identified by the reference 12. Conventionally a suspended ceiling comprises a plurality of the beams 11 disposed in parallel spaced apart relation and supported by a plurality of spaced apart wires 12. The ‘T’ beams are interconnected by connector beams and together form an open grid for removably receiving therein individual panels.

The upper first end of the wire 12 has a clip 13 previously attached thereto using a stationary wire hold pad or vice as described hereafter, and anchored to the first building member 10 by a nail, screw or the like suitable fastening means 14. The free opposite lower second end 15 of the wire is inserted through a hole 16 in the beam 11. The wire is bent at a location indicated by reference 17 that is determined, for example, by a laser beam located so as to provide a predetermined elevation for the suspended ceiling, The wire has a free end portion 18 extending beyond the ‘T’ beam from the bend at 17 to the wire free terminal end 15. At least a portion of this free end portion 18 is twisted around the stationary wire portion 19 depending downwardly from the building beam 10 with the number of turns being dependent upon the will of the one doing the twisting.

In accordance with the present invention a wire knurling or tie tool adapter 20 is provided that twists the wire free end portion 18 around the stationary wire 19. In making the bend at 17 the wire free end portion 18 swings through an arc of 180 degrees bringing the free end portion 18 and stationary wire 19 into a general side-by-side overlapping relation.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the tool 20 which includes meshing gears 22 and 24 located in a housing 25 in a drive-driven relation. The gears are suitably jounalled and disposed within cooperative sockets formed within the housing 25 for rotation about a respective one of a pair of parallel axes of rotation disposed in fixed spaced apart relation. A slot 26 in the knurling gear 24 can be brought into alignment with a slot 28 in the knurling socket 124 of the housing 25 and when aligned the tool can be moved laterally to bring the stationary wire 19 into the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 where it is at or near the axis of rotation of the knurling gear 24. FIG. 4 illustrates the stationary wire at an intermediate position during movement of the tool relative to the stationary wire 19. The wire free end portion is inserted through one of two through wire holes 31 (only one is needed) in the knurling gear 24. Wire portion 18 terminates at the top free end 16 by its attachment to the building structure and at its bottom suspended end 18 by its engagement with the inverted ‘T’ beam 11 via a loop 120.

Drive gear 22 is rotatably disposed in drive socket 122 driven by an electric motor (preferably battery powered hand drill) by a shaft in cooperative communication with the holding members of the drill chuck. The drive gear 22 can also be referred to as a spindle by virtue of its function of spinning the wire portion 18 around the fixed in length stationary wire portion 19. In a simple form of the invention, a cordless electric hand drill 40 is used to drive the drive gear 22. The drill chuck 41 is drivingly attached to the drive gear 22 by way of example tightly grasping a drive shaft 35 secured to the drive gear 22 whereby the adapter 20 projects from the shaft 35 of the drill chuck 41.

The drill 40 drives drive gear 22 causing knurling gear 24 to rotate and thereby wind the wire free end length portion 18 around the stationary wire 19. It will be obvious that the housing 25 of the tool 20 must be anchored to the drill whereby the adapter 20 can rotate upon the shaft of the drill for easy alignment of the slotted wire knurling gear with the free end 18 and stationary end 19 of the wire. The adapter 20 can be positioned and held in to place with one hand while the user can hold and actuate the drill with the other hand.

Referring to FIGS. 3-6, the tool housing 25 comprises detachably interconnected housing portions 51, 52 that define therebetween a cavity having spaced apart aligned sockets 122, 124 in which gears 22 and 24 are located and suitably jounalled for rotation about respective ones of a pair of parallel axes disposed in fixed spaced apart relation. The exploded view of FIG. 6, shows the adapter 20 separated from the chuck 41 of the drill unit 40, thereby exposing the rear end of the motor drive shaft 35.

The drill drive shaft 53 has an internally threaded bore 54 extending inwardly from the end thereof and external threads extending to an external shoulder 55 spaced from the end of the shaft. Knurling gear 24 has two spaced apart wire insertion holes 31 whereas drive gear 22 includes two spaced apart threaded holes 68 that align with similarly located holes 67 and 66 in respective members 63, 62 of the drive gear 22 which is cooperatively and rotatably held within the housing drive socket 122. Screws secures members 62 and 63 to the drive gear 22. Member 63 has an internally threaded bore 71 that threads onto external threads on the end portion of the motor shaft. Screw 61 threads into shaft threaded bore 54 thereby securely anchoring the drive knurling gear 24 on the motor drive shaft.

As previously mentioned slots 28, 26 respectively in the housing 25 and knurling gear 24 must be in alignment for receiving the stationary portion 19 of wire 12 depending from the overhead structure of the building. Such alignment is done manually by finger gripping an outer peripheral surface of the adjusting nut 62 and turning the same until alignment occurs.

Automatic alignment of the slots of the hand held wire twisting device could be accomplished by various different means for example having a drill shaft brake actuated by a slot alignment sensor. If desired a shaft revolution counter could also be used to interrupt power upon completion of a preselected number of turns of the wire free end portion 18 about the stationary wire 19 and if desired the power interrupter could at the same time actuate a brake acting on the drive train.

The number of turns using the hand held drill adapter and alignment device can also be done by mechanical means. One such embodiment is illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 7-9. In this embodiment, the drive gear 222 has a flange 70 projecting radially beyond the gear teeth 223 thereon. The drive gear 222 is moveably mounted on a housing plate 72 for limited movement along its axis of rotation from one to the other of first and second positions. Drive gear 222 is resiliently urged to a normal at rest first position as shown in FIG. 8, in which the drive gear 222 and knurling gear 224 are offset along their axes of rotation from one another sufficient as to prevent meshing of the gear teeth thus preventing drive gear 222 from driving knurling gear 224. Drive gear 222 in its second position has the teeth thereof meshing with the teeth of knurling gear 224 placing them in a drive-driven relation (FIGS. 7 and 9). The flange 70 prevents drive gear 222 from being moved from one to the other of its first and second positions except for when a notch 71 in the flange 70 is disposed adjacent drive gear 222. The notch 71 is sufficiently large as to permit a minor arc portion of knurling gear 224 to pass through the notch 71. Disengagement of the gears 222, 224, as determined by notch 71, is timed to occur when the notch in drive gear 222 and the notch 71 in the housing are in alignment. With one notch 71 (as shown) drive gear 222 makes one revolution in one cycle of engagement and disengagement of the gears. The relative sizes of the gears 22, 24 and/or number of notches can be so chosen as to determine the number of times the free wire end portion is wound around the stationary wire.

The stationary table top wire tie vise or hold down pad 120 as shown in FIGS. 10-12, comprises a portion of the wire tie system consisting essentially of a generally rectangular frame 112 with a clamping device 114 for holding a selected portion of a main wire body 15 and a free distal end 18 of a wire and twisting and forming a loop 120 from twisting or knurling the free end 18 of a wire around the stationary end 19 of the wire and for cooperatively engaging and holding a clip 13 onto the loop 120.

A clip 13 typically includes a rectangular main body including a square aperture 126 therein including a head 128 having a central wire tie hole 130 therein and notches 131 on the sides between the head and body. The distal end of the clip 122 may be arcuate forming a curved holding member 133. The tab cooperatively engages a purlin or horizontal structural member 10 in a roof such as in a metal building whereby the sections can be lapped and nested at the supports.

The clamp 114 comprises a cross member 140 and utilizes at least one base pad 141 and preferably a movable lever pad 134 each one including a friction enhancing means 136 such as a knurled surface. As shown in FIG. 10, the movable pad 134 extends from a pivotal lever 142 opposite a handle 144 pivotally mounted onto a base 150 mounted onto the cross member for applying securing a stationary wire 19 portion of a continuous strain of wire 15 and the distal free end portion 18 of the wire forming the loop 120. Depression of the handle 144 biases the pads 134, 141 together immovably holding the wires 18, 19 therebetween.

A chuck 160 designed to hold a clip 13 is rotatably mounted to on a standard 161 extending vertically from a selected end of the frame and includes a shaft 162 for connecting to a drill or hand crank. The wire clip 13 holding a loop 120 of wire formed from a free distal end 18 of a wire that is inserted into a semi-circumferential slot 166 intersects an axial groove 168 formed or cut a selected distance into the face of the chuck. A selected portion of the length of the wire to be suspended is looped through the clip 13 prior to insertion into the chuck whereby the loop is disposed into the groove and a distal end portion of the clip 13 holding the wire loop 120 is disposed within the slot 166 of the chuck. The main length of wire and a free end of the loop are held securely in a vise or clamp means 110 a selected distance from the chuck whereby rotation of the chuck twists the loop of wire with respect to the clamp knurling the wire a selected number of turns securing same to the clip. The number of wire twists depend upon positioning of the clamp whereby increasing the distance between the clamp and the chuck increases the number of twist in the wire. The distal end of the suspension wire now includes a clip for attachment to a ceiling support 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, one or more lugs 42 can be secured to the tool adapter housing 25 and project therefrom and so located as to suitably engage the housing of the drill and thereby prevent the entire tool 20 from rotating when the drill is actuated to drive the drive gear 22. In this embodiment the tool 20 is provided as a separate unit for a purchaser to use with their own cordless hand drill. Applicants preferred embodiment however is illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6 where the tool housing is securely attached to for example a hand held cordless electric motor. In this embodiment the tool still can be marketed as a single unit intended for attachment to selected known cordless drills or alternatively a self contained independent unit can be provided in which the motor and twisting tool are a single unit directed to a dedicated purpose. The lugs 42 may be part of the housing 25 or projecting form an adapter plate (not shown) that can be detachably secured to the tool housing.

The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, for modification will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made upon departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, this invention is not intended to be limited by the specific exemplification presented herein above. Rather, what is intended to be covered is within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A wire twisting tool comprising

a housing;

a wire twisting spindle mounted on said housing for rotation about a predetermined axis of rotation, said spindle having first and second spaced apart openings there through for receiving therein respective first and second wire lengths; and

driving means mounted on said housing and connected to said spindle for use in rotating the same and thereby twist together wires extending through said first and second openings.

2. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said first opening in said spindle comprises a slot extending, inwardly from an outer peripheral edge thereof in a direction toward said axis of rotation.

3. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 2 wherein said spindle comprises a first disc like member, wherein said driving means comprises a second disc like member and means interconnecting said disc like members causing the same to rotate in unison.

4. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 3 wherein said means interconnecting said disc like members comprises gear teeth around the outer periphery of the disc like members with such gear teeth disposed in inter-meshing relation.

5. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said driving means comprises a drive train having a spindle gripingly engagable by the chuck of an electric drill.

6. A tool for use in twisting a wire end piece, extending through a suspended ceiling frame piece, around a stationary portion of such wire depending downwardly from overhead components of a building, said tool comprising a housing, a wire twisting spindle, means mounting said spindle on said housing for rotation about a first axis, slot means in said spindle extending inwardly from an outer periphery thereof in a direction toward said first axis for receiving therein said stationary wire, an opening extending through said spindle for inserting therein said wire tail piece and means operatively engaging said spindle for use in driving the same about said first axis.

7. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 6 wherein said spindle comprises a first disc like member having gear teeth around the outer periphery thereof and wherein said means operatively engaging the same comprises a second gear.

8. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 7 wherein said second gear is a disc like member rotatably mounted on said housing for rotation about a second axis disposed parallel to said first axis.

9. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 8 wherein said housing comprises a casing enclosing said disc like members and including a slot in said casing, said casing slot located to align with said slot means in said spindle when the latter is in a predetermined rotational position.

10. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 9 including power means drivingly connected to said spindle.

11. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 10 wherein said power means is detachably mounted on said casing.

12. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 9 including means causing alignment of said slots to occur upon simultaneously with said spindle coming to an at rest stationary state.

13. A wire twisting tool comprising: a housing, first and second gears jounalled on said housing and inter-meshing for respectively a driven and drive relation, a slot in said first gear for receiving a first wire, said slot extending from an outer periphery of said first gear in a direction toward its axis of rotation, a first opening through said first gear for inserting a second wire, said slot and first opening being disposed in selected spaced apart relation, and motor drive means mounted on said housing and drivingly connected to said second gear for twisting together wires extending through said slot and first opening in said first gear.

14. A wire twisting tool as defined in claim 13 wherein said motor drive means is detachably mounted on said housing

15. A wire tie system for suspended ceilings, comprising:

a hand held electric drill hand tool having a chuck for cooperatively engaging a spindle;

an adapter including a power driven spindle located in a casing including means for gripping a wire and twisting same and a wire tie vise for securing and tying a free end of wire to a clip;

said housing of said adapter including a slot in the extending from an outer periphery thereof in a direction toward the spindles axis of rotation;

a gear disposed within said housing and driven by said spindle, said gear including a slot extending from a central bore to its outer periphery and said gear including at least one bore hole through said a face;

said slot in said housing and said slot in said gear being alignable one with another;

a stationary wire extending through said slot in said housing and said gear into said central bore;

a free distal end of said wire forming a loop and extending through at least one hole in said face of said gear;

whereby actuating rotation of said drill twists said free end of said wire around a stationary portion of said wire.