Wire attachment
AssigneeFort Wayne Metals Research Products Corporation
InventorsRobert A. Mitchell, James D. Girardot
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A swaged fitting can be fixed to a wire rope while simultaneously providing a desired shape and size, thereby avoiding the need for subsequent material removal. In one application, the swaged fitting is fixed to the wire rope by a forging operation such that the fitting is securely fixed provides a straight-sided construct once fixed to the wire rope. After the forging operation and without further material removal, the straight sides of the finished fitting are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the wire rope, while the end surfaces of the fitting are generally perpendicular to this longitudinal axis. This arrangement provides a strong and effective force-transfer interface for, e.g., end-effectors in medical devices.
Claims24
An actuator assembly comprising:
- a wire rope including a plurality of wire elements, the wire rope having a pair of opposing terminal ends;
- and
- a fitting fixed along a length of the wire rope and spaced from each of the pair of opposing terminal ends, the fitting comprising:
- a body with a straight-sided sidewall defining a longitudinal body axis;
- an aperture formed through the straight-sided sidewall of the body, the aperture defining a longitudinal aperture axis substantially perpendicular to the body axis;
- and
- a pair of end surfaces defining opposing longitudinal ends of the body, wherein the pair of end surfaces are each substantially planar across an entirety of the respective end surface.
A precursor fitting system, comprising:
- a wire rope including a plurality of wire elements;
- and
- a straight-sided body defining a longitudinal body axis, the body comprising;
- an aperture formed through the straight-sided body, the aperture defining a longitudinal aperture axis substantially perpendicular to the body axis and sized to receive the wire rope such that a void is formed between the wire rope and an interior surface of the aperture;
- a pair of opposing ends of the straight-sided body;
- and
- a pair of bosses sitting proud of the respective pair of opposing ends, the pair of bosses collectively defining a volume commensurate with a volume of the void.
A method of affixing a fitting to a wire rope, comprising:
- passing the wire rope through an aperture formed in the fitting, the wire rope having a plurality of wire elements and the aperture defining an aperture axis;
- impacting an end surface of the fitting to cause material to flow into the aperture and into contact with the wire rope;
- and
- by the step of impacting, forming an end surface of the fitting that is substantially planar across an entirety of the end surface and is substantially parallel to the aperture axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.