Circuit board wire trimming apparatus

A circuit board wire trimming apparatus for trimming wire members protruding outwards from a circuit board, which comprises, in combination:

• a framework;
• first and second elongated support means for supporting the circuit board and for transporting the circuit board in one direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of said first and second elongated support means, said first elongated support means having a plurality of driving members carried thereby in a row in equally spaced relation to each other in a direction parallel to the direction of transportation of the circuit board, each of said driving members being constituted by a pair of coaxially aligned roll elements supported by said first elongated support means for rotation in a plane parallel to the plane of the circuit board being transported, said roll elements of each pair being placed one above the other and cooperating with each other to define a groove therebetween, said second elongated support means having a guide means defined therein lengthwise of said second elongated support means for movable engagement of one of the opposed side edges of said circuit board therewith;
• means for holding said first and second elongated supporting means over said framework;
• means for driving the driving members simultaneously to rotate the roll elements of all pairs;
• means provided for each of the roll elements for biasing either one of said roll elements of each pair towards the other of said roll elements of each pair to hold the other of the opposite side edges of the circuit board therebetween, thereby enabling the transmission of the rotational force of the roll elements of any pair to the circuit board to move the latter in said one direction with said opposed edges of the circuit boards respectively movably engaged in said guide means and said grooves defined between the pairs of the roll elements;
• a blade member rotatably supported on the framework for rotation about an axis thereof in a plane parallel to the plane of the circuit board, said blade member being positioned to trim the excess length from the wire members while said circuit board is transported with the opposed side edges respectively guided by the first and second elongated support means;
• and
• means for driving said blade member.