GB1123810A - Improvements in a wire drawing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

1,123,810. Drawing. FASTENER ENGS. Inc. 22 Aug., 1966 [17 Jan., 1966], No. 37552/66. Heading B3P. A wire drawing machine comprises a die 13 and a drawing drum 11 to pull the wire through the die 35, the drum comprising a wire engaging surface 41 with a flange 42 at the inlet end to engage the wire as it is wound on to the drum and force the coils on the drum axially therealong to the outlet end where the wire is wound off the drum, the total number of turns on the drum remaining constant, and at least two clamps 14 mounted on the drum, to clamp the wire to the drum and operating mechanism to open the clamps as the drum rotates, the operating mechanism being so arranged that at least one clamp clamps the wire to the drum at all times. A lubricating box 37 is provided before the die 35. The wire engaging surface 41 of the drum is formed in two sections so that the axial length of the drum can be changed to accommodate different sizes of wire. As the wire unwinds from the drum to a further machine it passes over an idler roller 47 urged to take up the slack in the wire by a pneumatic cylinder 52. To prevent slipping of the coil on the drum 11, four clamps 14 are mounted on the drum around the periphery of the driving surface. The clamps each comprise a clamping member 61 mounted to swing between a clamping position (top of Fig. 3) and a release position (bottom of Fig. 3). Each clamp has a preferably fluid-operated actuator 15. Each clamp preferably only clamps the last turn of the coil. The wire engaging face member (84), Fig. 4 (not shown), of each clamp is adjustable relative to the clamp member 61 to vary the spacing between the member (84) and the surface 41 of the drum to accommodate various sizes of wire. The actuators 15 are the double-acting type and the pneumatic circuitry is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6. A valve (91) is provided for each actuator 15, the valves being mounted on the drum for rotation therewith. Each valve is operated by means of a cam follower 114 which engages a fixed cam 111 so that as the drum rotates the valves (91) are operated to open and close the clamps. The angular travel of each clamp in its open position is determined by the cam surface (111b), Fig. 6 (not shown), which is preferably less than 90 degrees. A clamp 171 is provided for clamping the wire when the drum is stopped and is operated either manually or automatically by pneumatic means. The idler roll 47 has a switch (161), Fig. 6 (not shown), which is operated by the roll control arm 48 to stop the drive to the drum when the stack W-4 becomes excessive.