US2693219A - Wire straightener - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 2, 1954 HELLER 2,693,219

WIRE .STRAIGHTENER Filed Sept. 12, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 j Z0-3 1 43 a W ll 34 15H: 49 Ari- 3 4 I; 1 I: 9 94 a 7 1 31 $0 I m? M I a 1 a 2 v E 1 a3 Z5 4 5 Z i E 24 IN VEN TOR. RICHARD D. HEI LER ATTORNEYS R. 0., HELLER 2,693,219

WIRE STRAIGHTENER Nov. 2, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 12, 1949 IN VENTOR. RICHARD D. HELLER United States Patent 2,693,219 WIRE STBAIGHTENER Richard D. Heller, Tujunga, Calif., assignor to Heller & Paul, Inc,, a corporation of California Application September 12,1949, Serial No. 115,190

5 Claims. or. 153-1185) Wire,'as sold commercially in coils, oron reels or swifts, has an inherent set. The primary set, and often the only set considered as possessed by the strand, is a coil set which tends to cause the strand to .loop round "and round in a continuous, more or less cir nlar form. The amount of coil set is by no means uniform, for some coils are closer to the center, and therefore wound more tightly about t e re of h re l han oth s, n ar r the ou side of the coil, and these inside coils have a somewhat tighter set, that is, a set with lesser radius.

Actually, the coil set is not the only set in the strand, for in addition there is normally a helical set. The strand does not wrap about the core in an exact circle, in a single plane precisely perpendicular to the coils axis, but each coil or wrap is displaced from a true circle by some amount axially of the coil, and this displacement, no matter how slight, gives it a composite set, which is neither precisely and solely a coil set, nor yet merely a helical set, but a combination of theltwo. Often, because the helical set is so small as compared to the coil set, and because the straightening of wire in the past has been subject to uncontrollable inaccI-lracies of greater degree than the ,he'licalset, or has'ibeen accomplished, or attempt ed, by a process of malleabjlizing the'strand to a degree that overrides all sets and inherent stresses, which often is in itself relied upon to effect straightening, or which sometimes is followed by a traighteniug Operation unrelated in direction or degree to any initial set, there has been no advantage to be gained by or procedure available for attackingdirectly the helical set. I have discovered in the past (see my application Serial .No. 793,183, filed December 22, 1947 and later abandoned; and my application SerialNo. 63,247, filed December 3, 194.8, issued May 26, 1953 as Patent No. 2,639,758); how a wire strand can be handledand straightened, particularly with regard to its coil set, so. accuratelythat now the inaccuracy in the rem a of the he cal s e om a j r Prob m, i itself and in its relation to the accurate removal of the o l s t-- A further factor which contributes to the strands set arises when the wire removed from a swift by flitting, which is the lifting of coils oil the end of the swift without r s n ing u wi d n ro at n the T twists the strand aboutits .own axis,';and addsstresses difiieult to calculate and unlikely to-be'uniform, but which result in unpredicta le d p r re rom straish n s mpounded upon the more regular departures arising from the coil and helical sets.

Where wire, inorder -to employ it in subsequent commercial operations, must be needle-straight, this can not be achieved if in the straightening process the strand is straightened only to eliminate the coil set, for then the helical set remains, and any twisting as a result of flitting remains also, and'the strand is. not precisely-straightened. Moreover, if it be assumed'in counterbending to, neutralize the coil set that the .coil set is uniform throughout the strand, and hence the counterbending force can be uniform throughout the length of the strand, it will be found that inaccuracy in straightening is a result of this assumption, for since the coil set is not uniform a uniform neutralizing force will not elfect straightening unless the invention of my abandoned application 793,183 is made use of. The helical set must also be taken into account, and neutralized precisely, for it is not uniform inherently, and any twisting from flitting further complicates the problem of precision straightening.

Heretofore in wire straightening operations I have employed counterbending appli d more or less directly in opposition to the coil set, and have eliminated the helical set, if it needed to be considered at all, primarily by a bending back and forth of the strand (see my Patent No. 2,639,758.) of such relative magnitude, and i i-such plane generally normal to the plane of the coil set, that any helical set is overridden by the malleablizin-g forces; so imparted to the strand. Always the coil set and the helical set were separately dealt with and neutralized, if the helical set were not completely disregarded, Never before it was attempted .to neutralize precisely the helical set, nor to neutralize precisely and simultaneously, and at a single point, both the coil set and the helical set, and the accomplishment of those ends in that manner'is a major advance which characterizes .thepresent invention,

Heretofore, as a preliminary to neutralization of coil set, havi g in mind the variation i degree of coil set in coils which lie close to or fartherfrom coils axis, .respectively, l have proposed giving to the strand, immediately preceding the counterbending operation, a coil set of smaller radius than any which it had inherently, but which can be made uniform in degree; see my abandoned application 793,183, and Patent No. 2,639,758. This also precludes rotation of the strand about its own axis, which is in itself a major contribu ion to over-all accuracy, Now I have discovered that, if the helical set is to be directly andprecisely neutralized, usually simultaneously with'neutralization of the coil set, variations of deg n the elica e 'mus li e i be e i d, andthe strand be given, in similar manner, an overriding helical Set, Of SQQI dqgree, so that it too can be neutralized by application of a constant counter-bending force.

In sum, I have discovered that the secret of precisely straightening a i trand ha i g ere l r ac uircovery that straightening of a wire strandcan notbe accomplished accurately if the helical set be disregarded, or if it be not individually and accurately neutralized, both as to direction and degree, and in the subsidiary discovery that it can be neutralized, and simultaneously the coil set can be neutralized, notw thstanding indeter minate variations of set inherent in or acquired by the strand, wholly accurately in a single passage or at a single point, if the strand be first given a helical set-.- n a so a il s p et m n deg ee. nd d m: tion, sufliciently tight to override all previous sets and to gi e the strand an acquired helical set and coil set, each of definite and unvarying degree and direction, and then, while insuring that the strand can not rotate about its own axis, freeing its ofi-running end from tension and subjecting the same to a counterben'ding force or forces, usually a singular constant force which is the resultant of and includes two components, one opposite in direction and degree to the acquired helical set, and the other opposite in direction and degree .to the acquired coil set.

More specifically, according to the present invention an advancing wire strand is gripped or vised between a pair of 'vising rollers lying in a common generally hori zontal plane, one of wh'ch rollers constitutes a fulcrum roller, and'the other of which, shallowly grooved circumferentially, constitutesa guiding and forming roller; by reason of the fact that it is wrapped uniformly about the forming roller, and that it is maintained under uni: form tension as it passes thereabout, the strand is given a constant or uniform acquired set, whichpartakes of the"cha'racteristics of or is a combination of each of a coil set and a helical set; with the strand tightly vised between these rollers and held by the groove against displacement up or down, and of course,'to eit her side, it is caused to exit continually from the set-impartifng' or vising point, freed from tension, in a general direction uniformly curved relative to and at one side of a tangent common to the two rollers at the vising point, and in a general upward or downward direction relative to the general plane of the rollers groove, as is determined by and characteristic of the sets imparted to it, of uniform degree and direction, by its wrapping about the roller; the strands free off-running end is thereupon deflected closely beyond the vising point by a deflecting force, usually by two constant forces in two unchanging directions, or by a single resultant thereof, at a single deflecting point, to counterbend it about the set-imparting point as a fulcrum, precisely oppositely to the composite curvature which it has as a result of the just-acquired coil set and helical set.

The uniform coil set is given the strand by wrapping it about the forming roller, and can be done, under some conditions, by a half-wrap of some 180, or under other conditions may require one and one-half (540 approximately) wraps. Under the latter conditions a uniform helical set follows automatically from the off-setting of one wrap by the adjoining wrap. Under the former conditions the uniform helical set must be imparted otherwise, and can be done by guiding the strand onto the groove of the forming roller from a line somewhat offset rom the grooves plane, confining it closely within the groove as its enters, and by the change of direction thereby entailed giving it a helical set. Whichever way the helical 'set is imparted to the strand, it is uniform, as is the coil set; their resultant is uniform, and can be precisely countered by a counterbending force which is a resultantdirectly opposed thereto, in degree and direction, applied to the strand as it leaves the groove in the forming roller, and the vising grip between the latter and the fulcrum roller.

' It is a further object to effect straghtening according to the novel principle just explained, whether the wire be of large diameter or small diameter or of hard or soft material, or, in other words, to provide a wire straightener which is applicable more or less generally to all styles and sizes of wire.

It is a further object to provide in such a machine suitable adjustments whereby the machine may readily be adapted to accommodate the different sizes of wire within a reasonable range, or, by other simple changes can be made to handle nearly all sizes of wire.

It is also an object to provide, for optional use in such a wire straightener, a bank of rolls, adjustable as needed, and usable not to effect straightening, but to malleablize the strand preliminary to giving it its uniform set, which in its turn precedes any straightening operation, and alternatively or additionally to insure a drag on the oncoming strand and consequent uniformity of application of forces thereto at (but not beyond) the vising point, and operable under some conditions to direct the strand in a direction slightly oifset from the plane of the groove in the forming roller. Such malleablizing rolls are in general of known construction and usage, but the specific form and arrangement shown herein and preferred by me diifers from most banks of rolls previously known to me, in that in passing through a single bank of rolls, all whereof have parallel axes, the strand is deflected not only in a single plane, generally perpendicular to such axes, but likewise is repeatedly and virtually simultaneously deflected transversely to that plane. In other words, it is given a compound deflection, by virtue of a novel construction and arrangement of a single bank of malleablizing rolls, such as ordinarily can only be accomplished by two successive banks, the rolls whereof are set respectively on axes at right angles to one another.

Thereby compactness and accuracy are further promoted.

Likewise, it is an object to advance the wire to a itraightening operation by pushing from a point in ad- Iance thereof rather than by pulling from a point thereeyon d. However, this is a matter of preference rather. han necessity, and the present invention is not to be estricted to a pushing advance, save as the same is called "or in individual claims.

With such objects in mind, and others as will appear iereinafter, the invention comprises the novel wire traightening machine and the novel method of straightenng wire, as is shown in the accompanying drawings, and s will be hereinafter described in this specification and laimed in the claims which terminate the same. The avention is broadly new, and the claims are to be broadly construed, except as the context of individual claims may require a narrower construction.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention embodied in a wire straightening machine of a form such as is presently preferred by me, all as will appear more fully hereinafter.

Figure l is a general plan view of the machine in the process of straightening a strand.

Figure 2 is a general side elevational view taken from the right-hand side of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the vising rollers, taken substantially along the axial plane thereof as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a general side elevational view of the preliminary malleablizing mechanism, the viewpoint being indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a general side elevational view of the straightening roll and guide rolls which subsequently engage the strand, the viewpoint being indicated by the line 5+5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged end elevational view of the cooperative vising rollers.

Figure 7 is a partial plan view of the principal operating parts of the machine, similar to Figure 1, but illustrating various possibilities of adjustment, such as may be required by operation upon different sizes of wire.

Figure 8 is a plan view of certain other operating parts of the mechanism, showing the possibility of adjustment there as to degree of counterbending for straightening, and to control the direction of the olf-running straightened strand.

Figure 9 is an enlarged edge view of an alternative form of forming roller, illustrating the relationship thereto of the on-running wire.

The wire strand W is taken from a reel or swift, or from a coil, assumed to be located at the lower left in, Figure 1, and it can be assumed, as is preferred, that the general plane of the coils of the wire initially lie horizontally and in the plan view, Figure 1, would appear as circles, coiled counterclockwise. Since they are but little restrained, if at all, as they unwind from their coiled form, it is first necessary to guide them and to restrain them, and to impose a drag upon them, so that the strand at the vising point is subject to uniform tension. The strand is wrapped first about a guide roller 8 which is deeply grooved to accommodate various sizes of wire, and is restrained in the groove by the retaining rollers 80 and 81; thence it wraps about a similar guide roller 82. It is convenient to accomplish reversal of the direction of the strand in its passage about the preliminary guide rollers, for thereby floor space can be saved. Its direction is subsequently reversed again, as the drawings show. It will be noted that the guide and retaining rollers 8, 80 and 81 are mounted upon and stand up above the surface of a base 9, whereas the guide roller 82 is supported upon an arm 91 which is pivotally mounted at 92 between a long and a short end, upon the base 9, and is secured in adjusted position by securing means indicated at 93. The purpose of this adjustment will appear hereinafter.

The roller 82 serves as a guide roller, in conjunction also with a roller 83 mounted near the short end of the arm 91 and beyond its pivot point 92, to guide the strand into, through, and from a bank 7 of malleablizing rolls, all more or less generally alike, arranged in pairs, but designated, to distinguish them, the rollers 7a and 7b, and the rollers 71a and 71b. The entire bank 7 of rol1- ers is supported in a plate 70 which stands uprightly from the arm 91 in a plane generally parallel to the path of the strand as defined by the guide rollers 82 and 83. These malleablizing rollers and their purpose, manner of use and adjustment will be explained in further detail hereinafter. It is sufiicient at this point to state that their function, in general, is to impose a uniform drag upon the strand, as it advances towards the vising point, and to malleablize the strand, if necessary, to an extent that it can be formed while so malleablized into a coil set and a helical set each of predeterminate and uniform degree and direction. It is conceivable that such malleablizing means will not always be required; they are primarily advantageous where flitting imparts to the strand unpredictable forms and stresses; hence. in its broader aspects the invention is not dependent upon the provision and use of such means, nor upon the use of means of this particular form.

cons sts Passing from the malleabili-zing means and past the guide roller 83, the strand teaches and wraps :at'least partially about a guiding and forming roller 1 which "is journaled at and which is mounted indirectly upon the base :9. The mounting is indirect in that the pivot pin is carried by a blockll which is guided through the medium of posts 12 in a second block '21 which is .fastened .to the base -9 as by bolts 21a, and which in turn mounts a fulcrum roller 2 vjourn'aled at '20 in the block 21, The pivot 20 also constitutes the pivot of the base 9 upon a sub-base 90 which is fixed,'and the adjustment of these two bases is retained in any given position by means such as are indicated at 94. To revert to the cooperating rollers 1 and 2, which jointly constitute vising rollers, the roller 1 is continually urged toward the rotational pressure roller '2 by springs 13 reacting between the fixed block 21 and adjustable stops 14 upon the rods 12,.

Fixed removably to the rollers 1 and lore the respective spur gears 15 and 25, and one or the other Of'ihBSC gears, preferably the gear 25, may bepoWterdriVen, as by means of the sprocket-wheel 24 and drive chain C (see Figure 2), to effect advance of the strand. The driving of these-rollers is not essential, nor is it essential to advance the strand by power applied at this pointin its path, nor by these-particular mechanisms.

The roller 83 is more than a guide roller; it islikewise a confining roller, to which end it is urged strongly towards the roller 1, by means which will be described later in detail. The roller 1 is grooved shallowly as at 19 for instance, to a depth half the gauge or crosssectional diameter of the strand, and the grooves width or cross-sectional shape 1s such that the strand is very closely confined therein, but since the strand does project beyond the periphery of the roller 1, it may be engaged and gripped by the confining roller 83, as also by the fulcrum roller 2,. The roller 83 functions'under certain conditions, in theimpa-rting to the strand of its acquired uniform helical set; under different conditions its action in this respect is less marked. Inthefirst case the groove 19 about the roller 1 is of a width to receive and confine cl se y a s g rap nly f he s n and in he second case the grooves width similarly receives and confines closely one (or more) and one-half wraps. In either event the point of issuance of the strand is fixedly Position a d t e s n a hi p -may n t placed in any direction transverse to the strand, from this fulcrum point. Each roller 1 is shown as having two grooves-.see Figures 6 and 9-.which are of somewhatdif'ferent size in order to accommodate two somewhat different sizes of wire. For a greater difference in size of he Wire, a different roller is substituted. Only one groove is used at a time.

Inthe form shown in Figure 9 the strand is wrapped onlyhalf way around the roller 1; in the alternative form of Figures 5 and 6, the roller 1 receives one and one half wraps of the strand about it, hence its groove is of a width twice the thickness of the strand- To illustrate, the strand enters the groove at theguide roller 83, com.- pletes a wrap of 360; and then makes another half wrap of approximately 180 to the point where it; is gripped between the two vising rollers 1 and 2. Therein either s g ap o d u le wrap rm, it emerges, as it wouldfrcm be en the ja s of .a v sa tha h r he vise j w are r llers, and anew leng h of strand m r es c ntinu lly- The e are. tw Purposes in wrapping he strand thus aboutthe roller 1. One is to hold it securely against rotati n bou its own ads, at or near the vising p in The t r is t g v i imm diately subsequent to. any mall abil ng act n, a o l se nd a h lical set, both, ach f hich i of n de enn n te des eand direc i n, he by bs g, fo ny p s s he s ran may have had, an overriding uniform coil set which normally would be tighter or smaller i radius than its previous o l n a m l r y d ng helical s t which is precisely the pitch of the gauge of'the strand itself, and therefore uniform. In addition to the composite setforming purpose in wrapping it about the roller 1, the purpose of confining it in a-shallow groove in that roller is to cause its acquired helical set, in conjunction with theroller 83, or by reason of its one and one-half wraps, to be uniformly of constant pitch, and also to cause the strand to stand-outwardly from theroll 1-, as i it passes thereabout, sufficiently that it .will he firmly gripped or vised between the roller 1 and each of the confining roller 83 and 'the'fulcrum roller 2, and also torestrain any tendencyjof theswraps of the. strand about thesroller 1 to be deflected displacedin an axial direction from the plane determined bythe groove, under the influence, for exam ple, of :a deflecting force located at a definite point and there applied to thestrands outrunning, free .end.

It is clear how the strand is given .a uniform coil set by wrapping it, by a half turn, .or by onezand one-half turns, aboutthe formingroller 1,, for whatever its coil set before, the malleable 'strandnow takes acoil set which throughout is determined by the diameterof the roller 1, to which it is closely held by the rollers:83 and 2. It is likewise given a uniform helical set at the same time, in either of two alternative ways. If it is wrapped once and a half, or more, times within the closely confining groove 19,, it will acquire a helic'al set which is characteristic of a coil .of a pitch exactly equal to its gauge, But it can be given :a uniform helical set if wrapped only a half turn about the roller .1, as in Figure 9. To do this, the strand is delivered from the last of the malleabilizing rolls at a level slightly above or below-the level of the groove 19; in entering the groove at the point where it is closely confined therein by the confining roller '83 the strand-is deflected, and is curled about the edge :of the groove. This gives it .auniform acquired bend which would result in forming ahelix of constant pitch, which blends with the acquired coil set to produce a uniform resultant curvature having two components, replacing the variable resultant of non-uniform coil and helical sets. This uniform resultant curvature, whichever way acquired,1can now be straightened .by a single force-if preferred, such single force can be divided among a plurality of agenciesof constant value and direction which is a resultant of two forces each of constant value and direction which oppose,.respectively, the acquired coil-set and the acquired helical set.

If the strand had not been given a definite and uniform helical set or coil set in its passagesabout the roller 1 within its groove thereof, but instead were perfectly straight, its :offrunningend would emerge in a direction which would be precisely tangential to-the two rollers 1 and 2 at their point of nearrcontact or nearest approach. If. then, such'offrunning end were deflected in the general plane'of that groove or of the two rollers, into a posi tion at an angle to this line of common .tangency, the strand would be continuously bent or curved in that direction and would acquire a pure coil set. Likewise, if it were deflected solely upwardly or downwardly from the plane of its groove there would be a tendency to curl it in that-direction, perpendicular to the plane of such an assumed coil set. Since the strand has already been given a definite coil set in its passage about the roller 1 and in the groove 19 thereof, its oifwnning free end does not follow a line of tangency, but rather tends to curl away from the same in a constant direction and amount toward thevside occupied by the roller 1, and similarly, since it has already been given a definite helicalset, it will tend. to. depart from the general plane of the groovewitjhin whi-h it was seated in thedirection and by the constant amount determined by such ac quir d he al set. Accor ngly, hi P s l to app y to the offrunning free end of the strand, immediately past the vising point or fulcrum P int where it emerges from between the rollers 1 and 2, a single force which is a resultant of two components, one of which is directly opposite the acquired coil set in direction and degree, and the other of which is directly opposite the acquired helical set in direction and degree, and so by the single resultant of these two component forces to precisely counterbend the ofirunning strand at this single point and to neutralize its just-acquired sets, both helical and coil, andto leave it needle-straight, provided, of course, the adjustment of th deflecting means is sufficiently accurately accomplished. However, it is to be noted here that since the acquired helical set and coil set is each of predetermined and constant degree and direction, there is no variation of the deflecting force required at the deflectingpoint, either in degree or direction. Conse quently, once set accurately for a given wireand for given conditions of operation-speed, drag, and the likethe single uniform force, so applied, and so adjusted, can by itself effect precise, needle-straight straightening of strands which are of widely-varying characteristics, and of widely different inherent sets initially The-:deflectingmeans, to apply'a force about th'e'fulerurndefined at the common point of tangency of the rollers 1 and 2, Y n'si'sts of the roller 3, inthepartieula'r- 7 embodiment illustrated. Additional rollers 41, 42 and 43 are shown in the vicinity of the deflecting roller 3, but these are of a different nature, for a different purpose, and are differently used, and the principles governing their use, or non-use, will be pointed out hereinafter. They are alluded to at this point primarily to make clear that as normally adjusted and employed they are not deflecting nor counterbending rollers, merely guide rollers for the already straightened, ofi'running strand.

The deflecting roller 3, which is grooved, is not necessarily rotative, and normally would not be. For ease and fineness of adjustment it is mounted upon the short end of a lever 31 pivoted at 30 upon a plate 4 which is carried upon and bodily adjustable with respect to the base 9, being secured in any given adjusted position by the means shown at 40. Bodily adjustment of the plate 4 relative to the base 9 provides for coarse adjustment of the deflecting roller 3 with respect to the path of the olfrunning end of the strand, and also to assist in pointing the straightened strand, after greater or lesser deflection, at a fixed target point of use, and its fine adjustment is accomplished by any convenient means such as are represented by itssupporting lever arm 31 and the latters adjustment about its pivot at 30, and the securement of the arm in position by a clamp block 32 which, by means of a bolt 33 received in a bridge 49, presses the arm 31 tightly against the plate 4.

Each of the guide rollers 41, 42 and 43 is mounted and adjustable similarly to the deflecting roller 3, hence need not be described in detail, but since the intended function of these rollers 41, 42 and 43 is merely to support the offrunning strand immediately after it has been straightened, and when it may still be somewhat malleable and have a tendency to sag and thus to lose its straightness, they are preferaly so adjusted, as shown in Figure 1, that they merely contact the strand and support it after it leaves the deflecting roller 3, but they themselves do not deflect it in any way. In order to emphasize that these rollers ordinarily have no straightening function and are not necessary when the strand has no tendency to sag they are shown in Figure 8 completely out of contact with the olfrunning strand, and the deflection of the latter from the position shown in dot-dash lines to that shown in full lines is accomplished wholly by the deflecting roller 3.

There may be occasions when the operator does not care to adjust the position of roller 3, relatively to the path of the offrunning strand, with the fine accuracy required to complete the straightening by that roller alone.

If such should be the case, it is possible to employ one or more of the subsequent rollers 41, 42, 43 as straightening rollers, acting in the same manner as roll 3, or cooperating as do known banks of straightening rolls. It is possible, however, to neutralize an acquired coil set by the action of the single roller 3, and this novel discovery is unique herein.

So far the discussion of the operation of the deflecting roller 3 has been principally concerned with the elimination of coil set. This same roller, however, is preferably employed to eliminate also, singly, and simultaneously with elimination of the coil set, the acquired helical set in the strand. To this end the roller 3, and correspondingly the rollers 41, 42 and 43, are adjustable axially along their supporting posts and with respect to their supporting levers, such as the lever 31. This is best shown in Figures 2 and 5. To this end each such roller is held upon its supporting post, such as the post 35, between the nuts 34 threaded thereon above and below the roller. The roller 3 is grooved, and, preferably, the guide rollers beyond it are also grooved, but the groove in the deflecting roller 3, as best seen in Figure 5, enables the strand, oifrunning from the vising point, to be deflected downwardly if the acquired helical set would otherwise tend to direct the oifrunning strand upwardly, or the reverse, depending upon the manner in which the strand is wrapped in its groove 1d about the roller 1. This deflection in the axial direction is just sufficient in amount and direction to precisely neutralize the acquired helical set, however acquired. It follows that at this single deflecting point it is possible to apply a single resultant force to the oifrunning strand, uniform in degree and direction because it is made up of a coil-set-neutralizing component and a helical-set-neutralizing component, each of which is uniform in degree and direction, which resultant force will precisely and continuously, without subsequent adjustment, remove the composite bend or curvature which the strand has just acquired in its passage about the roller 1, and the strand will leave the deflecting roller 3 precisely straight. The guide rollers, in such number as may be required, are employed beyond that point to support the strand until the danger of its sagging is past, or, as previously explained, they can be adjusted in like manner to supplement the straightening action of the roller 3, also in the elimination of the helical set.

Adjustment of the rollers 3, 41, 42 and 43, vertically serves also to bring them into the proper relationship to the general plane defined by that one of the two grooves 19 about the roller 1 which is to be used, if there be two such grooves.

It will be clear that strands of different size or of different material, or of other differing physical characteristics, will require different degrees of counterbending, or deflection, in order to straighten them. For instance, large gauge steel spring Wire requires a rather high degree of counterbending in order to straighten it, whereas a soft wire requires a small degree of counterbending. Likewise, it will be appreciated that wire of different gauge or cross-sectional diameter will spread apart the rollers 1 and 2 by different amounts, and that this movement of the roller 1 relative to the roller 2 will be doubled and reflected in the necessity for adjustment of the guide roller 33.

It is in part for the purpose of accommodating the different degrees of deflection required by different kinds of Wire, that the base 9 is pivotally mounted upon the subbase 90, and that the deflecting roller 3 has been mounted upon the plate 4, and that the later has been made bodily adjustable for coarse adjustment, after which the roller 3 and its supporting lever 31 can be adjusted to a fine degree, and are held by the securing means 32, 33. Comparison of Figures 1 and 8 will show some of the differences of adjustment which are possible.

Figure 7 shows the adjustment of the roller l to accommodate different sizes of wire, the resultant displacement of roller 83, and the corresponding adjustment which is entailed thereby in the position of the bank of malleabiizing rollers and the guide roller 82. The latter must cooperate, in guiding the strand through the malleablizing bank 7, with the final guide roller 83, and with the roller 1 in confining the strand within the groove 19. These two rollers 82 and 83 must both be mounted for adjustment in common, and the intervening malleablizing rollers must similarly be mounted for adjustment in common, Wherefore all are mounted upon the arm 91 for adjustment about the point 92. In this manner the strand is adequately guided as it runs onto and from the first guide roller 8, onto and from the second guide roller 82, and to and immediately beyond the final guide roller 83. Adjustment of the latter is required for each different gauge of wire, so that it is held closely within the selected groove 19 of the forming roller 1.

It has been explained that the rollers in the bank 7, which preferably are nonrotative in use, have at least the function of providing an adequate and uniform drag on the strand in advance of its counterbending, and preferably have the additional function of malleablizing a strand preparatory to its being given a predetermined acquired set or sets. The supporting plate 70 is therefore grooved vertically, as indicated at 72, and each roller of this bank is carried by a pin 73 and secured by nuts or the like 74, threaded thereon, at desired elevations in their respective slots 72, so as to give the strand, as it advances, a sinuous movement in a vertical plane, of any desired amplitude. Additionally, the paired rollers 7a and 7b which, like the other rollers 71a and 71b are grooved, are projected outwardly from the supporting plate 70 by means of interposed washers 75 of different thickness than the washers interposed between the rollers 71a and 71b and the plate 70, so that thereby the strand is guided and deflected repeatedly in a sinuous path horizontally, and its amplitude in this plane is variable in accordance with the thickness of the respective washers. By thus giving the strand, in a single short bank, a combined sinuous motion partly in a horizontal plane and partly in a vertical plane, the internal stresses existing in the strand are relieved and the strand is to a mild degree made malleable, so that when it is passed about the forming and guiding roller 1 it will take and acquire a set which is not the same as and bears no necessary relationship to its initial set, but which is of predetermined degree and direction. Nevertheless, it is preferred that the wraps about rollers 8, 82, and 1 be the same sense as the initial wraps of the origmal coilcounterclockwise, as shown-since by so arranging them the violence of counterbending is a minimum.

Moreover, by using the rollers of the bank 7, and by their adjustment as desired, such degree of drag can be placed upon the strand, between the reel or swift from which it is being unwound or flitted and the roller 1, that variations in its tension are not reflected as it wraps about the forming roller 1, but rather it is under constant and uniform tension at that point, and consequently 1s given a uniform degree of set as it wraps thereabout.

It is preferred that the strand be advanced by driving the rollers 1 and 2, as already explained. However, it is not outside the scope of this invention to provide in the known manner for pulling the wire through beyond the deflecting point 3. In such case it is preferred that the gears and 25 be omitted. However, in any pulling operation, care must be taken that the wire, once straightened, is not deflected or bent by any such pulling means, and it is in part to insure the pointing of the wire accurately at any such pulling point or points, or at the point where it enters another machine and is engaged for further operation (such as a cut-01f machine), without deflection, that the plate 4 is made bodily adjustable in the extent and to the degree shown, and that the base 9 is made adjustable through a considerable angle relative to the sub-base 90 and the pivotaxis at 20.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a wire straightener, in combination with a base, a sub-base whereon said base is pivotally mounted to swing laterally in its own plane, a pair of cooperating rollers mounted upon said base, one thereof constituting a pressure roller and being journaled coaxially with the bases pivotal mounting, the other constituting a forming roller and being shallowly grooved, and being guided for movement towards and from the pressure roller to vise a strand received in and outstanding from the groove of and passing about said forming roller, spring means urging the forming roller towards the pressure roller, and a single deflecting roller mounted upon said base for adjustment transversely of the strands path as it issues from between the cooperating rollers, to deflect the strand in such direction and by such amount as is required to counter any set which it may retain.

2. A wire straightener as in claim 1, including a plate mounted upon said base and adjustable transversely of the strands path, supporting means for the deflecting roller, mounted upon said plate and adjustable relative thereto for final adjustment of the deflecting roller relative to the strands path, after coarse adjustment of said plate.

3. A wire straightener as in claim 2, including guide rollers beyond the deflecting roller, in position to engage the strand, and supporting means for said guide rollers mounted on the plate foradjustment, consonant with the adjustment of the deflecting roller, to engage and confine the straightened strand beyond the deflecting roller to a straight path while it is subject to sagging.

4. Wire straightening apparatus comprising a rotational forming roller provided with a peripheral groove formed to receive and retain a wire that has both coil and helical set therein to, thereby, confine said wire to a path lying in a plane that is normal to the axis of rotation of said roller, a rotational guiding roller on an axis parallel to the axis of the forming roller and in rolling contact with a wire entering said groove, a rotational pressure roller on an axis parallel to the axes of the forming roller and the guiding roller and in rolling contact with a wire at the point where the same leaves the groove in the forming roller, said three rollers being disposed in the same general plane, the guiding roller and the pressure roller being angularly spaced around the axis of the forming roller, means to adjust the position of the guiding roller with relation to the wire in the groove of the forming roller to produce free rotational engagement of the guiding roller with the wire, means to resiliently press the forming and pressure rollers toward each other to produce a rolling inter-engagement of the pressure roller and the wire, means to drive said forming and pressure rollers in a direction to move the wire trained around and in the groove in the former roller in a direction outward of said groove, a freely rotational and grooved wire-deflecting roller in the path of the wire as it leaves the forming and pressure rollers, means to adjust the deflecting roller in the plane common said said rollers to direct the wire in a path at an angle to the line of tangency between the forming and pressure rollers, and separate means to adjust said deflecting roller in a direction transverse to said last mentioned plane to direct the wire in a path at an angle to said plane.

5. Wire straightening apparatus comprising three substantially coplanar rollers on parallel axes arranged with two of said rollers in operative rolling contact with a wire trained around the third roller, said third roller being provided with a peripheral groove in which the wire is confined in a curved path between two rollers, means to adjust one of said two rollers relative to the grooved roller to adjust the degree of rolling contact between said adiustable roller and the wire in the groove, means to resiliently press the other of said two rollers and the grooved roller toward each other, means to drive the two latter rollers to feed the wire therebetween and move said wire continuously into, around and past the mentioned groove, a freely rotational and grooved wiredeflecting roller in the path of the wire as it leaves said groove, means to adjust the deflecting roller in the plane of the rollers to direct the wire in a path at an angle to the line of tangency between the resiliently pressed and driven rollers, and separate means to adjust said deflecting roller in a direction transverse to said plane to direct the wire in a path at an angle to said plane.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 296,551 Frost Apr- 8, 1884 296,671 Bryant Apr. 8, 1884 482,071 Bryant Sept. 6, 1892 736,472 Anderson Aug. 18, 1903 998,087 Greiner July 18, 1911 1,103,718 West July 14, 1914 1,252,115 Hughes Jan. 1, 1918 1,751,094 Matteson Mar. 18, 1930 1,824,568 Pierce Sept. 22, 1931 1,864,338 Burd June 21, 1932 1,914,975 Nigro June 20, 1933 2,057,806 Whitehead Oct. 20, 1936 2,136,714 Simons Nov. 15, 1938 2,337,047 Hunter Dec. 21, 1943 2,369,234 Illmer Feb. 13, 1945 2,462,396 Heller Feb. 22, 1949

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