US3916665A

US3916665A - Spring fabricating machine and method

Info

Publication number: US3916665A
Application number: US512690A
Authority: US
Inventors: William L Hancock
Original assignee: Hoover Ball and Bearing Co
Current assignee: Hoover Universal Inc
Priority date: 1974-10-07
Filing date: 1974-10-07
Publication date: 1975-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-04

Abstract

Apparatus for and method of forming nonplanar bent wire springs without twisting of the wire. The apparatus includes a means for delivering straight lengths of wire sequentially to a first bending station and to advance the lengths of wire sequentially in parallel relationship through a series of additional bending stations for bending opposite end portions of each length of wire without twisting the wire. Each bending station has a pair of bending heads for simultaneously bending opposite end portions of the straight length of wire while the latter is at the station and wire positioning means for positioning the straight portion of the wire prior to performing the bending operation at that station. Suitable clamping and holding means are provided for transferring and supporting the series of lengths of wire. The method of forming the nonplanar bent wire springs includes the steps of positioning at the first station a first straight length of wire with its axis in a horizontal plane, bending the opposite end portions of the wire to new locations in said horizontal plane, translating the wire to a second station and rotating the straight portion of the wire about its axis so that the bent portions are displaced to selected positions out of said plane, bending in said plane the next end portions of said straight portion, and repeating these operations through a series of bending stations until the wire is formed to the desired spring configuration without twisting of the wire. The sequential steps of the method may be performed simultaneously to a plurality of lengths of wire transferred in series through the several bending stations.

Description

Hancock Nov. 4, 1975 SPRING FABRICATING MACHINE AND METHOD [75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: Hoover Ball and Bearing Company,

Saline, Mich.

[22] Filed: Oct. 7, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 512,690

William L. Hancock, Lexington, Ky.

Primary Examiner-Lowell A. Larson Attorney, Agent, or FirmOlsen and Stephenson ABSTRACT Apparatus for and method of forming nonplanar bent wire springs without twisting of the wire. The apparatus includes a means for delivering straight lengths of wire sequentially to a first bending station and to advance the lengths of wire sequentially in parallel relationship through a series of additional bending stations for bending opposite end portions of each length of wire without twisting the wire. Each bending station has a pair of bending heads for simultaneously bending opposite end portions of the straight length of wire while the latter is at the station and wire positioning means for positioning the straight portion of the wire prior to performing the bending operation at that station. Suitable clamping and holding means are provided for transferring and supporting the series of lengths of wire.

The method of forming the nonplanar bent wire springs includes the steps of positioning at the first station a first straight .length of wire with its axis in a horizontal plane, bending the opposite end portions of the wire to new locations in said horizontal plane, translating the wire to a second station and rotating the straight portion of the wire about its axis so that the bent portions are displaced to selected positions out of said plane, bending in said plane the next end portions of said straight portion, and repeating these operations through a series of bending stations until the wire is formed to the desired spring configuration without twisting of the wire. The sequential steps of the method may be performed simultaneously to a plurality of lengths of wire transferred in series through the several bending stations.

11 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures US. Patam Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 1 of6 3,916,665

sheei 3 of 6 3,91,665

. a ent Nov. 4, 1975 US. Patsnt Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 4 of6 3,916,665

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet 6 of6 3,916,665

SPRING FABRICATING MACHINE AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatus for and method of forming nonplanar bent wire springs without twisting the wire,

It is known in the art to form wire springs in a machine employing a pair of spaced bending heads between which a straight length of wire can be positioned after which a series of bending operations are performed on the end portions of the wire until a spring of desired configuration is produced without twisting the wire about its axis. A bending machine of this character is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,245,433, issued Apr. 12, 1966 in the name of W. R. Taylor, Jr.

The machine and method of operation disclosed in this patent is limited in its output capacity and performance, because one pair of bending heads must be controlled and operated to form the entire length of wire and only one wire can be formed at a time. Thus, complicated controls and adjustment means are required and the rate of output is limited. In view of the high volume of uniformily formed wire springs that are now required of wire forming industry, there is a need for improved apparatus for and method of forming bent wire springs from that known in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has overcome the inadequacies of the prior art and provides a wire bending machine that is constructed and arranged so that bent wire springs can be formed rapidly with precision and so that they have desired physical properties.

According to the one form of the present invention, a wire forming apparatus is provided that comprises a main frame supporting a plurality of similar bending stations, each station having a pair of bending heads mounted on said main frame facing each other. Each bending head includes wire bending means rotatable about an axis for bending a wire in a substantially horizontal plane. A pair of wire gripping clamps are mounted on the main frame at positions between each pair of bending heads for intermittently holding portions of a straight length of wire at locations so that the axis of the straight length of wire intersects the axes of rotation of the wire bending means. Wire positioning means are mounted on the main frame at positions outward of the bending heads and are rotatable about a horizontal axis and movable for intermittently engaging a portion of a formed end of the wire and locating the formed end around the axis of the straight length of wire through a preselected position in preparation for actuating the wire bending means. A wire translating assembly is provided for clamping onto a straight mid portion of the wire before released by said wire gripping clamps and for transferring the wire after release by said wire gripping clamps from the first bending station through a succeeding bending station where similar bending operations can be performed. The wire translating assembly is constructed and arranged so that it can receive separate straight lengths of wire in succession and successively transfer the series of paralsteps of positioning at the first station a first straight length of wire with its axis horizontally disposed in a horizontal plane, bending simultaneously the opposite end portions of the wire to new locations in the horizontal plane, translating the bent wire to a second station and locating the straight length of wire about its axis so that the bent portions are displaced to selected positions out of the plane, bending simultaneously in the plane the next end portions of the straight portion, and repeating the translating, locating and bending operations until the wire is formed to a desired shape so that bending of the wire to the desired spring configuration has been accomplished without twisting of the wire.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved apparatus for and method of forming bent wire springs rapidly and with precision and so that they have desired physical properties wherein twisting of the wire has been avoided.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a spring fabricating machine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the spring frabricating machine;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing details of the wire clamping mechanisms of the transfer beam of the wire translating assembly;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view taken in the direction of the arrows 44 of FIG. 2 showing details of construction of one of the bending heads;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the lines 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary bottom plan view showing in broken lines a portion of a straight length of wire in position for bending by the wire bending means of the bending head;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the lines 7 7 of FIG. 5 showing details of the wire gripping clamp forming a part of the bending head illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken on the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, showing details of the wire feed mechanism for feeding wires singly in succession to the transfer beam and also showing details of the transfer means for imparting reciprocating horizontal movement to the transfer beam;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary bottom plan view taken on the lines III-10 of FIG. 2 showing details of the elevating means for elevating and lowering the clamping beam relative to the main frame;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged section taken on the lines ll-ll of FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the lines 12-12 of FIG. 10; and

FIGS. 13-18, inclusive, show schematically a series of steps of bending a length of wire that can be performed by operation of the illustrated wire fabricating machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention will be described in greater detail. The wire fabricating machine has at one end a feed assembly 12 for feeding in sequence straight lengths of wire to wire translating assembly 14 for transfer through a plurality of stations 16 where bending operations can be performed to form nonplanar bent wire springs from the straight lengths of wire.

The feeder assembly 12 will be described with reference to FIG. 9, where it can be seen that it includes an inclined storage unit or hopper 18 in which a plurality of straight lengths of wire 20 can be stored. The wires 20 are fed or removed from the storage unit 18 by a plurality of blades or plungers 22 that are simultaneously actuated to move upwardly by the hydraulic cylinders 24 to wipe the inidividual wires 20 into the guides 26 that direct the wires singly to the wire trans-- lating assembly 14, the operation of which will subsequently be described.

The wire fabricating machine includes the main frame 28 on which the feeder assembly 12 is mounted and on which a pair of space parallel shafts 30 are supported on mounting plate 31 of main frame 28 by a plurality of pillow blocks 32. A plurality of support blocks 34 are mounted for travel on the shafts 30 and support the transfer plate 36 which is a component of the wire translating assembly 14, which will now be described.

The wire translating assembly 14 includes the horizontal transfer means 38, shown best in FIG. 9, for imparting reciprocal horizontal movement to the transfer plate 36 and comprises the torque motor 40, the main drive shaft 42, and coupler 44 for connecting the shaft of the torque motor to the main drive shaft 42, the actuator arm 46 and the connector arm 48 which is connected to the actuator arm by means of the pin 50. The torque motor 40 is of a conventional type which is adapted to turn intermittently 180, whereby the connector arm 48 will provide a stroke corresponding to twice the dimension between the axis of the shaft 42 and the axis of the pin 50. Thus, this will determine the extent of reciprocal movement in both directions of the transfer plate 36.

Also mounted on the shafts 30 for movement thereon is the elevation means 52 which will subsequently be described and which includes a mounting pad 54 7 adapted to be elevated and lowered between the guide blocks 56 integrally connected to the transfer plate 36.

A plurality of elevating means 52 are provided, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 2, and as there shown, a transfer beam 58 is secured thereto for movementtherewith. Thus, the transfer beam 58 will reciprocate The clamping beam 60 includes a mounting plate 62 and a plurality of cover plates 64 which define between them a plurality of transverse slots 66 which are adapted to receive a portion of a straight length of wire 20. Mounted beneath the mounting plate 62 are a plurality of hydraulic cylinders 68, each of which has its rod end operatively connected to the push rod 72 by means of the stop member 74 and screws 76. The push rod 72 can therefore travel longitudinally relative to the mounting plate 62, and in so doing will transfer the pins 78 therewith, thereby actuating the clamping blocks 80 for clampingly engaging or releasing a portion of a straight length of wire that has been positioned within the transfer slot 66. The stroke of the hydraulic cylinder 68 is limited by the stop pad mechanism 82 which has an adjustable stop 84 for adjustment purposes in setting the length of the stroke. As can be seen, the stop pad mechanism 82 is secured to the mounting plate 62. A plurality of compression springs 86 are associated with each of the clamping blocks 80 for urging the clamping blocks to a closed position. The compression springs 86 are mounted between the mounting block 80 and the blocks 88 which are connected to the movable rod 72. Thus, the clamping beam 60 can be reciprocated in a horizontal direction and also can be raised and lowered. In addition, the clamping beam is operable to grasp, transfer and release a plurality of straight lengths of wires at the transfer slots 66.

Attention is directed next to FIGs. 2, 10, 11 and 12 for a more detailed description of the elevating means 52. The elevating means 52 includes a cam mounting plate 90 which is connected to a plurality of support blocks 92 that are mounted on the shafts 30. The cam mounting plate 90 supports a pair of parallel cam plates 94, each of which has the cam surfaces 96 formed therein. A mounting bracket 98 is secured to the transfer plate 36, and a hydraulic cylinder 100 is pivotally connected at one end to the mounting bracket 98 and at the other end to the mounting block 102 which is rigidly amxed to the cam plate 94. By virtue of this con struction and arrangement, expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 100 will result in movement of the cam plates 94 in a direction parallel with the shafts 30. Also rigidly affixed to the transfer plate 36 are the mounting brackets 104 to which are pivotally connected the connecting

rods

106 and 108. The pairs of connecting

rods

106 and 108 are secured to the mounting pad 54 by the screws 110, and in addition, the connecting rods 108 have mounted at their ends cam followers 1 12 which are adapted to travel on the cam surfaces 96 when the latter are moved longitudinally in response to actuation of the hydraulic cylinders 100. When the cam plate 94 is caused to move longitudinally relative to the connecting rods 108, the latter will move vertically to the extent permitted by the cam surfaces 96. Thus, when the cam plate 94 is moved to the left as seen in FIG. 2, the cam follower 1 12 will descend a distance equal to the lowest point on the cam surface 96, thereby causing mounting pad 54 to descend an equal amount, and this in turn will lower the entire transfer beam 54 and the clamping beam 60 mounted thereon. Thus, the clamping beam 60 can be raised and lowered by actuation of the hydraulic cylinder 100. This vertical movement can occur independently of the horizontal movement imparted to the clamping beam 60 by actuation of the transfer assembly 38 on the transfer plate 36.

Attention is next directed to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4-8, inclusive, for a description of the bending stations 16. All of these stations are constructed essentially the same except for the first and last stations. Each of the intermediate stations include a pair of bending heads 114 mounted on the main frame 28 facing each other and wire gripping clamps 136 and wire positioning means 160 associated with each bending head. As shown best in FIGs. 5 and 6, the bending head 114 includes wire bending means 116 which is rotatable about a vertical axis for bending a wire 20 substantially in a horizontal plane. The bending head 1 14 includes a rotary hydraulic unit 118 that is adapted to rotate the spindle 120 a selected number of radial degrees, such as 90, for example. The hydraulic unit 118 is mounted on the mounting bracket 122 in the dovetail mounting block 124 for vertical movement in response to operation of the hydraulic cylinder 126. The dovetail mounting block 124 is also secured to the shaft 128, which in turn can be adjustably moved by means of the adjustment screw shaft 130. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the shaft 128 is keyed to the frame members 132 for axial and nonrotative movement, and clamped to the shaft 128 is the clamp bracket 134 which is adapted to travel axially with respect to the adjustment screw shaft 130 when the latter is turned. Thus, turning of the adjustment screw shaft 130 will advance or retract the shaft 128 and thereby will determine the location of the wire bending means 116.

A wire gripping clamp 136 is also mounted on the dovetail mounting block 124. The clamp 136 includes the clamp mounting bar 138 which is connected to the mounting block 124 and includes the frame portion 140. Mounted on the latter is the cylinder mount 142 which supports a hydraulic cylinder 144. The rod end 146 of the hydraulic cylinder 144 is connected to a plunger 148 which includes the pins 150. Pivotally mounted on the frame by means of the pins 152 are the clamp jaw arms 154. The clamp jaw arms 154 have angularly disposed slots 156 formed therein which fit over the pins 150 so that vertical movement of the plunger 148 will cause pivotal movement of the clamp jaw arms 154 about the pivot pins 152. Clamp jaw inserts 156 are located at the lower ends of the clamp jaw arms 154 so that when the plunger 148 is moved downward, the clamp jaw arms will pivot together at their lower ends and the clamp jaw inserts 156 can firmly grip one of the wires 20. Compression spring 158 is provided to aid in returning the plunger 148 to an elevated position. As can be seen best in FIGS. 5 and 6, the clamp jaw inserts 156 are located so that when they grippingly engage a wire 20, they will hold the wire at a location so that the axis of the straight length of wire 20 intersects the axis of rotation of the wire bending means 116.

The wire positioning means 160 includes a positioning bar 162 axially movable and rotatable about its axis. The positioning bar 162 is located so that its axis is substantially coincident with the axis of the wire 20 when the latter is supported in the position shown in the FIG. 5. The positioning bar 162 has open jaws 164 at its inner end for receiving a bent portion 166 of the wire 20 which has been bent 90 from the axis of the straight portion 120 at a preceding bending station. The jaws '1 posed between two adjacent bending stations so that it functions to move two positioning bars simultaneously. The positioning bar 162 is keyed to a first pinion gear 170 for rotation therewith, and the latter is in mesh with the pinion gear 172 that is drivingly connected to the electrical stepping motor 174. By virtue of this arrangement, the positioning bar 162 can be rotated a desired number of angular degrees so as to turn the wire 20 about its axis to displace the bent end portion 166 out of the horizontal plane in which it is located as viewed in FIG. 5. When rotary action of this nature is to occur, the wire gripping clamp 136 will previously have been opened, and the straight portion of the length of wire 20 will then be supported within the transverse slots 66 of the clamping beam 60 so as to allow rotation about the wire axis.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, each bending station 16 has a pair of bending heads facing each other together with the associated gripping clamps and wire positioning means. The first bending station need not include all of the same apparatus, because the wire positioning means will not be required until the length of wire has had its first end portion 166 bent and transferred to the second bending station. At this station the wire will then be turned out of the horizontal plane for a'subsequent bending of the next end portion of the length of wire. Similarly, the last station, may be used for heat treating purposes and other similar operations that may be desired on the formed length of wire.

In the normal operation of the wire fabricating machine 10, straight lengths of wire 20 are fed in sequence from the feeder assembly 12 by the multiple blades 22 through the guides 26 to the first transverse slot 66 in the clamping beam 60. The clamping beam 60 accepts the wire from the feeder assembly 12 and from the plurality of bending stations 16 by moving upward with the clamping blocks held open by the hydraulic cylinders 68, and the wires are then clamped prior to indexing of the clamping beam 60. With the wires held in the clamping beam 60, the transfer beam 58 is moved forward carrying all of the wires to the next bending station. The forward indexing is accomplished by the hydraulic torque motor 40 which is timed to make a rotary movement of 180. As previously indicated, the torque motor 40 is connected to the transfer plate 36 through the crank 46 and lever 50 arrangement. The transfer plate 36 also serves as the main support for the remaining transfer operating mechanism.

The wires presented to the working or bending stations are sequenced in the following manner. Each wire positioning means is moved by the hydraulic cylinder 168 toward the center of the machine 10 to contact and confine the bent portion 166 from a previous bending operation, the jaws confining the end portion 166 during rotation that is to follow. When the open jaws of the positioning bar 162 are in contact position with the wire portion 166, the clamp blocks 80 of the clamping beam 60 are released by the hydraulic cylinders 68 which allows the wires to be free, supported in length by the clamping beam 60 and held centrally by the jaws 164 of the wire positioning means 160. In this position the stepping motors 174 are programmed to rotate to their preselected positions. As previously explained, these motors are connected to the positioning bar 162 through the gears 170 and 172 to give the desired radial indexing of the wire end portions 166. The wire gripping clamps 136 are now initiated to clamp the wires 20 by the hydraulic cylinders 144, bringing the jaws together to clamp the wire and retain axial position of the wire during the return of the clamping beam 60 and transfer beam 58 to their initial positions and during the bending operations subsequently performed. With the wires in the clamped position, the transfer beam 58 is lowered by actuation of the hydraulic cylinders 100, and the transfer beam is returned in the direction of the feeder assembly 12. The positioning jaws 164 are returned to be away from the wire and allow room for the bending operation to be perfonned, and the hydraulic cylinder 126 is energized to lower the wire bending means 116. The rotary hydraulic unit 118 is next energized to rotate the wire bending means 116 to preadjusted positions, and as soon as the wire has been bent, the

hydraulic units

126 and 118 are reversed to return the bending means 116 to their idle positions. With the clamping beam 60 returned to its elevated position, the wire gripping clamps 136 are released, and the machine is ready to repeat the cycle of operation.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that a method of forming nonplanar bent wire springs is provided wherein a straight length of wire is positioned at a first station with the wire axis horizontally disposed in a horizontal plane. The opposite ends of the length of wire are bent simultaneously to new locations in the horizontal plane. Normally this will be 90 from the axis of the straight length of wire. The wire is then translated to a second station where it is rotated about its axis a desired number of angular degrees displacing the bent portions from the horizontal plane, and the next end portions of the wire are simultaneously bent in the plane, and these steps are repeated until the wire spring is formed to the desired configuration. This operation can be carried out so that a series of wire springs are being formed simultaneously through the various bending stations. Thus, the length of wire 20 can be formed at its opposite outer ends through a sequence of steps such as are shown in FIGS. 13-18, inclusive, wherein each time before the wire is bent, the preceding end portion has been rotated out of the horizontal plane containing the straight portion of wire 20. Thus, the ends of the wire 20 are continuously being formed without twisting of the wire.

It is claimed:

1. A method of forming nonplanar bent wire springs comprising the steps of positioning at a first station a first straight length of wire with its axis horizontally disposed in a horizontal plane, bending simultaneously the opposite end portions of said wire to new locations in said horizontal plane, translating the bent wire to a second station, gripping the bent end portions of said wire and rotating the gripped end portions to in turn rotate the straight portion of the wire about is axis so that the bent portions are displaced to selected positions out of said plane, bending simultaneously in said plane the next end portions of said straight portion and repeating the operations at succeeding stations until said wire is formed to a desired spring configuration without twisting of the wire.

2. The method that is defined in claim 1, wherein a plurality of nonplanar bent wire springs are formed in series by positioning in sequence at said first station next succeeding straight lengths of wire when the preceeding straight lengths of wire are translated to said second station and succeeding stations, and repeating the operations at each station that were performed on the preceeding straight lengths of wire.

3. Wire forming apparatus comprising a main frame supporting a plurality of similar bending stations, each station having a pair of bending heads mounted on said main frame facing each other, each of said bending heads including wire bending means rotatable about a vertical axis for bending a wire in a substantially horizontal plane, a pair of wire gripping clamps mounted on said main frame at positions between said pair of bending heads for intermittently holding portions of a straight length of wire at locations so that the axis of the straight length of wire intersects the axes of rotation of said wire bending means, wire positioning means mounted on said main frame at positions outward of said bending heads, said wire positioning means being rotatable about a horizontal axis and movable for intermittently engaging a portion of a formed end of said wire and rotating the formed end around said axis of the straight length of wire to a preselected position in preparation for actuation of said wire bending means, and a wire translating assembly for clamping onto a straight midportion of the wire before release by said wire gripping clamps and for transferring the wire after release by said wire gripping clamps from the first bending station to a succeeding bending station where similar bending operations can be performed.

4. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 3, wherein said wire translating assembly comprises a transfer beam extending longitudinally of said main frame between the pairs of bending heads of said bending stations, a clamping beam mounted on said transfer beam for clamping the straight lengths of wire at each station for transferring the same to the next succeeding station, said transfer beam being mounted for reciprocable horizontal movement between adjacent bending stations and for reciprocable vertical movement so that said clamping beam can be elevated from an original position to an elevated position for clampingly closing on the straight lengths of wire and can be transferred in the elevated position while supporting the wire to the next succeeding station and so that said clamping beam after release of said wire can then be lowered for return transfer to its original position, elevating means for elevating and lowering said clamping beam relative to said transfer beam, and transfer means for imparting reciprocable horizontal movement to said transfer beam.

5. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 4, wherein said clamping beam includes beam clamps operable to be open for accepting wire when the clamping beam is being elevated and to close to support the wire when the clamping beam is moved horizontally to the next bending station.

6. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein said wire gripping clamps are operable to clamp said wires supported by said beam clamps at each of said next bending stations, after which said beam clamps are operable to release said wires and said elevating means is operable to lower said clamping beam for subsequent return to said original position.

7. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 3, wherein said bending heads include adjustment means for movement of each pair of heads toward and away from each other in a direction parallel to said wire axis so that each wire bending means can engage and bend a selected portion of each wire passing through the bending station.

8. Wire fomiing apparatus that is defined in claim 3, wherein each said wire positioning means includes a positioning bar axially movable and rotatable about its 9 axis, said positioning bar being substantially in axial alignment with said wire axis and having open jaws at its inner end for receiving said formed end of the wire in said horizontal plane when the positioning bar is moved inwardly, means for axially moving said positioning means axially inwardly and outwardly at selected time intervals, and means for rotating said positioning bar a selected number of angular degrees when said open jaws are in engagement with said formed end.

9. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 3, wherein each of said bending heads includes means for elevating and lowering said wire bending means at selected time intervals.

10. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 9, wherein each of said means for elevating and lowering said wire bending means is operatively connected with the associated vwre gripping means for simultaneously elevating and lowering the latter.

11. Wire forming apparatus for forming nonplanar bent wire springs comprising a main frame supporting a plurality of similar bending stations, each station having a pair of bending heads mounted on said frame facing each other, each of said bending heads including wire bending means rotatable about a vertical axis for bending a wire in a substantially horizontal plane and 10 adjustment means for individual movement of associated heads toward and away from each other in a direction parallel to the wire axis so that each wire bending means can engage and bend a preselected end portion of each wire passing through the bending station, a pair of wire gripping clamps between each pair of bending heads for intermittently holding portions of a straight length of wire at the associated station so that the axis of the wire intersects the axes of rotation of said wire bending means, wire positioning means outward of said bending heads each operable for rotation about a horizontal axis coincident with said wire axis and axially movable for intermittent movement inwardly to engage the formed ends of the wire in said horizontal plane and to rotate the formed ends around said wire axis to a selected position out of said plane in preparation for rotation of the associated wire bending means for bending the next inward end portions of the straight portion of the wire, and a wire translating assembly for clamping onto the straight portions of the wire at the bending stations before release by the wire gripping clamps and for transferring the wires after release by the wire gripping clamps to the next succeeding bending stations where similar bending operations can be performed.

Claims

8. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 3, wherein each said wire positioning means includes a positioning bar axially movable and rotatable about its axis, said positioning bar being substantially in axial alignment with said wire axis and having open jaws at its inner end for receiving said formed end of the wire in said horizontal plane when the positioning bar is moved inwardly, means for axially moving said positioning means axially inwardly and outwardly at selected time intervals, and means for rotating said positioning bar a selected number of angular degrees when said open jaws are in engagement with said formed end.

10. Wire forming apparatus that is defined in claim 9, wherein each of said means for elevating and lowering said wire bending means is operatively connected with the associated wire gripping means for simultaneously elevating and lowering the latter.

11. Wire forming apparatus for forming nonplanar bent wire springs comprising a main frame supporting a plurality of similar bending stations, each station having a pair of bending heads mounted on said frame facing each other, each of said bending heads including wire bending means rotatable about a vertical axis for bending a wire in a substantially horizontal plane and adjustment means for individual movement of associated heads toward and away from each other in a direction parallel to the wire axis so that each wire bending means can engage and bend a preselected end portion of each wire passing through the bending station, a pair of wire gripping clamps between each pair of bending heads for intermittently holding portions of a straight length of wire at the associated station so that the axis of the wire intersects the axes of rotation of said wire bending means, wire positioning means outward of said bending heads each operable for rotation about a horizontal axis coincident with said wire axis and axially movable for intermittent movement inwardly to Engage the formed ends of the wire in said horizontal plane and to rotate the formed ends around said wire axis to a selected position out of said plane in preparation for rotation of the associated wire bending means for bending the next inward end portions of the straight portion of the wire, and a wire translating assembly for clamping onto the straight portions of the wire at the bending stations before release by the wire gripping clamps and for transferring the wires after release by the wire gripping clamps to the next succeeding bending stations where similar bending operations can be performed.