Wire heat treating apparatus
AssigneeInternational Standard Electric Corporation
InventorsJohn Lees, Kenneth Taylor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus for a continuous tandem electrical heat treating process for wire conductors for cables uses electrical contact pulleys having faces of a high melting point conductive material such as tungsten-copper. The melting point of the material is at least 1200.degree. C. The novel apparatus has reduced wear, arcing and wire breakage. Free running pulleys are also used instead of driven ones to avoid excessive tension. The free running pulleys have low torque contacts to apply high electrical current to heat the wire.
Claims15
Electrical heat treating apparatus for solid wire electrical conductors comprising a plurality of electrical contact pulleys and insulated guide pulleys feeding a wire conductor along a predetermined path, and means applying electrical current to said contact pulleys and wire for heating said wire, said contact pulleys having wire contacting faces of a metallic material having a melting point of at least 1200.degree. C and a relatively high resistance to wear.
A wire annealer for annealing a solid bare strand of aluminum wire conductor comprising:
- means supplying said bare wire along a predetermined path,
- means for tensioning said bare wire in a manner to avoid deformation and breakage of said wire,
- a plurality of contact pulleys directing said bare wire along said path, said plurality of contact pulleys are individually and separately mounted along said path to receive said single solid strand of wire,
- means for cooling said wire to permit application of increased tension thereto,
- means applying electrical current to said contact pulleys for heating said wire, and
- wherein said contact pulleys have wire contacting faces of a metallic material having a melting point of at least 1200.degree. C.
The apparatus for electrically heat treating solid wire electrical conductors by passing electrical current through a portion of said wire between at least two electrical contact pulleys, each of which has an electrically conductive wire contacting face, while said wire is moving at production speeds along a predetermined path, said path being determined by a plurality of insulated pulleys and said electrical contact pulleys, the improvement which comprises forming said electrical contact pulleys from two engaging split portions supporting wire contacting faces formed from an electrically conducting metallic material having a melting point of at least 1200.degree. C and a high resistance to wear by said solid wire electrical conductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.