Conductor end shaping method and device

A conductor end shaping device for shaping conductor ends sticking out in an axial direction from an arrangement of stator slots of a stator component extending annularly around a central axis to form a stator of an electric machine, the device comprising:

• a radial bending device for widening the conductor ends and including a plurality of widening tools configured to bend the conductor ends in the radial direction such that, after bending, a first part of the conductor ends is situated at a first radial position and a second part of the conductor ends is situated at a second radial position,
• a circumferential bending device for twisting the conductor ends by bending in a circumferential direction, the circumferential bending device comprising a first bending unit configured to be rotated in a first direction of rotation and having a first annular arrangement of receiving pockets, and a second bending unit arranged concentrically thereto and configured to be rotated in the second direction of rotation and having a second annular arrangement of receiving pockets,
• and a controller adapted to control the conductor end shaping device to
• a) widen the conductor ends by bending the conductor ends in a radial direction with the plurality of widening tools of the radial bending device such that the widening causes the first part of the conductor ends to be situated at the first radial position and the second part of the conductor ends to be situated at the second radial position, and
• b) twist the conductor ends by bending in the circumferential direction with the circumferential bending device by
• b1) inserting the first part of conductor ends widened to the first radial position in step a) into a first arrangement of receiving pockets, inserting the second part of conductor ends to the second radial position in step a) into a second arrangement of receiving pockets, and
• b2) oppositely rotating said first and second bending units to bend said first part of conductor ends and said second part of conductor ends in opposite circumferential directions,
• wherein
• of the first and second bending devices, in the first arrangement, the bending unit that is located radially further out has radially inner receiving pockets open to a radially inner side, and the bending unit that is located radially further in has radially outer receiving pockets open to a radially outer side, wherein a part of the receiving pockets of the first arrangement is located at the first radial position and another part of the receiving pockets of the first arrangement is radially offset thereto and located at a radially intermediate position, or
• a part of the receiving pockets in the second arrangement is located at the second radial position and another part of the receiving pockets of the second arrangement is radially offset thereto and located at a radially intermediate position, or
• both,
• wherein the controller is further configured, during the widening according to a), to control the conductor end shaping device to
• a1) engage at least one individual conductor end by at least one first widening tool in order to bend the conductor end thus engaged individually in the radial direction, and jointly engage at least one pair of radially adjacent conductor ends by at least one second widening tool, to jointly bend said pair of radially adjacent conductor ends in the radial direction, wherein said controller is adapted to perform control of said widening tools such that a third part of said conductor ends is situated at at least one intermediate radial position between said first and second radial positions
• and wherein the controller is further adapted to control the conductor end shaping device during insertion according to step b 1) for
• b1a) inserting conductor ends widened to the at least one intermediate radial position into a receiving pocket of the other part of the first or second arrangement and inserting a radially inner conductor end of each pair of the conductor ends jointly bent in step a1) into one of the radially outer receiving pockets and the radially outer conductor end of the pair into one of the radially inner receiving pockets.