Wire stranding machine and control means therefor

In a wire twisting and winding apparatus having a frame, input and reel shafts rotatably mounted on said frame and inter-coupled by a variable ratio drive means, first means for driving said input shaft, and a take-up reel rotatably mounted to a first part of said frame and drivably coupled to said reel shaft for taking up twisted wire, the improvement comprising:

• (a) a flyer rotatably mounted on a flyer carriage and drivably coupled to said input shaft, said flyer carriage being reciprocally mounted to a second part of said frame separated from said first part thereof;
• (b) second means for reciprocally driving said flyer carriage, said second means being separate from said first means for driving said input shaft;
• (c) control means coupled to said variable ratio drive means for adjusting the ratio thereof during the winding of said twisted wire onto said reel so as to vary the rate of rotation of said reel shaft relative to that of said input shaft by an amount corresponding to the build-up of said wire on said reel,
• whereby, said twisted wire is given a single twist for each rotation of said flyer, and said wire is wound onto said reel in distributed layers between left and right flanges thereof.

In a wire twisting and winding apparatus having a frame, a flyer rotatably coupled thereto, input and reel shafts rotatably mounted on said frame and inter-coupled by a variable ratio drive means, means for driving said input shaft, and a take-up reel drivably coupled to said reel shaft, an improved control means for adjusting the ratio of said variable ratio drive means during the winding of twisted wire onto said reel so as to maintain a desired lay length thereof for a given rate of rotation of said flyer, said improved control means comprising:

• (a) first means coupled to a strand of said wire being drawn into said apparatus, said first means being responsive to the velocity of said wire strand and adapted to provide an analogous representation thereof;
• (b) means for selecting said desired lay length of said twisted wire being wound, said selection means being adapted to provide an analogous representation of a desired wire velocity corresponding to said desired lay length;
• (c) second means coupled to said first responsive means and said selection means, said second means being responsive to a pre-determined difference between said analogous representations of said wire strand velocity and said desired wire strand velocity, and being adapted to output first and second error signals whenever said difference is positive and negative respectively;
• (d) servo motor means having an input coupled to said second responsive means through servo control means and an output coupled to said variable ratio drive means, said servo control means being adapted to activate said servo motor means in first and opposite directions whenever said first and second error signals appear respectively,
• whereby, activation of said servo motor means in said first and opposite directions adjusts the ratio of said variable ratio drive means so as to vary the rate of rotation of said reel shaft relative to said input shaft, thereby maintaining said desired lay length.

In a wire twisting and winding apparatus having a frame, input and reel shafts rotatably mounted on said frame and inter-coupled by an improved variable ratio drive means, means for driving said input shaft, a take-up reel drivably coupled to said reel shaft, and control means coupled to said variable ratio drive means for adjusting the ratio thereof during the winding of said twisted wire onto said reel so as to vary the rate of rotation of said reel shaft relative to that of said input shaft by an amount corresponding to the build-up of said wire on said reel, said improved variable ratio drive means comprising:

• (a) an infinitely variable transmission means having a first shaft coupled to said input shaft, a control shaft coupled to said control means for adjusting the ratio thereof, and a first output shaft, the position of said control shaft being determined by said control means;
• and
• (b) a differential transmission means having third and fourth shafts and a second output shaft, said third and fourth shafts thereof being coupled to said first output shaft of said infinitely variable transmission means and to said input shaft respectively, and said second output shaft thereof being coupled to said reel shaft,
• whereby, the ratio of the rate of rotation of said reel shaft to that of said input shaft is a pre-determined function of the position of said control shaft of said infinitely variable transmission means.

In a wire twisting and winding apparatus having a main frame, a flyer rotatably coupled thereto and a reel shaft rotatably mounted to said main frame and drivably coupled to a reel spindle adapted to receive a take-up reel, the improvement comprising:

• (a) a pivot frame pivotably mounted on said main frame and adapted to rotate approximately 90.degree. between a first substantially horizontal position and a second substantially vertical position, said reel spindle being rotatably mounted on said pivot frame;
• and
• (b) means for coupling said reel spindle to said reel shaft comprising a reel jack-shaft rotatably mounted on said pivot frame and disposed coaxially with the axis of said pivot frame, first means for drivably coupling said reel shaft to said reel jack-shaft and second means for drivably coupling said reel jack-shaft to said reel spindle,
• whereby said pivot frame may be rotated between said first and second positions thereof without displacement of said first and second coupling means, thereby enabling said take-up reel to be loaded onto and unloaded from said reel spindle when said pivot frame is in said first position, and in an operational mode when said pivot frame is in said second position.