Apparatus and methods for winding and cutting wire or cable

A cutter/grabber system for resetting a wire take-up unit after forming a coil of wire, the wire take-up unit including a rotatable first mandrel portion and rotatable second mandrel portion, a third mandrel portion which is configured to alternately join with the first and second mandrel portions to form a complete mandrel on which to wind wire into a coil, and a wire directing traverse, said traverse arranged to feed wire and alternately form coils on the first and second mandrel portions when joined to the third mandrel portion, wherein each coil is wound in a figure-eight configuration, said cutter/grabber system comprising:

• a wire cutter/grabber unit configured to move along a cutter/grabber pathway to separate a coil, formed on the first mandrel portion, from the traverse and set up the second mandrel portion for winding and forming the wire into another coil,
• the pathway including a plurality of distinct positions including a wait-to-cut position that is within six inches of the traverse, a cut position, a transfer position, a hand-off position, and a ready-to-wind position,
• wherein the cutter/grabber is configured to cut the wire at the cut position between the coil on the first mandrel portion and the traverse, grab a free end of the cut the wire from the traverse, and move with the free end of the wire to the hand-off position where the free end of the wire is transferred to said second mandrel portion, and wherein the cutter/grabber is also configured to move in a circuit between the wait-to-cut position, the cut position, the transfer position, the hand-off position, the ready-to-wind position, the circuit starting and ending at the wait-to-cut position.

A system for winding wire, comprising:

• a) a wire take-up unit including a rotatable first mandrel portion and rotatable second mandrel portion, a third mandrel portion which is configured to alternately join with the first and second mandrel portions to form a complete mandrel on which to wind wire into a coil, and a wire directing traverse, said traverse arranged to feed wire and alternately form coils on the first and second mandrel portions when joined to the third mandrel portion, wherein each coil is wound in a figure-eight configuration;
• b) a wire cutter/grabber unit configured to cut the wire at a cut position between said traverse and a coil formed on said first mandrel portion and to grab a free end of the cut wire and move along a predefined cutter/grabber pathway to a hand-off position where the wire is transferred to said second mandrel portion,
• wherein as the cutter/grabber is moved along the cutter/grabber pathway from the cut position to the hand-off position, a length of wire between said traverse and the free end of the wire does not decrease, and the length of wire between the traverse and the free end of the wire is longer at the hand-off position than at the cut position;
• and
• c) a cutter/grabber positioning system coupled to the wire take-up unit at an upper end and coupled to said cutter/grabber at a lower end, the cutter/grabber positioning system disposed vertically above the cutter/grabber and configured to position the cutter/grabber along the cutter/grabber pathway,
• said positioning system includes a multi jointed arm having an upper arm and a lower arm configured to pivot relative to one another in a plane common to the upper and lower arms and having a first drive unit configured to rotated at least one of the upper and lower arms, and
• said positioning system including a second drive unit configured to translate said arm and said first drive unit in a direction parallel to the traverse,
• wherein said positioning system is configured to maintain said cutter/grabber in a horizontal orientation as the cutter/grabber moves throughout the cutter/grabber pathway.

A method of winding wire with a wire take-up unit, the take-up unit including a rotatable first mandrel portion, a rotatable second mandrel portion, a third mandrel portion which is configured to alternately join with the first and second mandrel portions to form a complete mandrel on which to wind wire into a coil, and a wire directing traverse, said traverse arranged to feed wire and alternately form coils on the first and second mandrel portions when joined to the third mandrel portion, the method comprising:

• feeding wire from the traverse and winding the fed wire in a figure-eight configuration to form a coil on a complete mandrel formed by joining the first and third mandrel portions;
• and
• upon formation of the coil,
• positioning a wire cutter/grabber unit at a cut position between said traverse and the formed coil, the cutter/grabber configured to cut the wire and grab a free end thereof, and
• cutting the wire at the cut position and grabbing the free end of the wire extending from the traverse;
• separating the first mandrel portion from the third mandrel portion, leaving the formed coil solely on the first mandrel portion and exchanging positions between the first mandrel portion and the second mandrel portion;
• and
• moving the cutter/grabber with the free end of the wire along a predefined cutter/grabber pathway to a hand-off position where the free end of the wire is transferred from the cutter/grabber to the second mandrel portion;
• joining the second mandrel portion with the third mandrel portion to form another complete mandrel;
• and
• moving the cutter/grabber along the cutter/grabber pathway from the hand-off position to a ready-to-wind position,
• wherein as the cutter/grabber is moved along the cutter/grabber pathway from the cut position to the hand-off position, the length of wire between said traverse and the free end of the wire does not decrease, and the length of wire between the traverse and the free end of the wire is longer at the hand-off position than at the cut position.