Wire stripping apparatus

Abstract

A housing encloses a pair of stripping wheel assemblies adustably mounted for rotation about a central axis on a rotatable frame which is driven by a motor. Each stripping wheel assembly includes an abrasive or stripping wheel positioned to abrade the surface of a wire inserted along the central axis. In one arrangement each stripping wheel assembly comprises a pair of bearing blocks which mount the stripping wheel to be driven via a pair of spur gears. The drive gear is affixed to a drive roller which is driven by rolling contact with the transverse inner surface of the end of the housing. In another arrangement, the stripping wheels are mounted on the same shafts as their respective drive gears which are rotated by engagement with a series of pins mounted in a circle and contacted in succession by the drive gears as the assemblies revolve about the central axis. The stripping wheel assemblies are adjustable radially inward or outward to accommodate different wire sizes. An alternative embodiment has a hollow central shaft mounting a pulley which is coupled to be driven an offset motor. This latter arrangement includes actuators for retracting and extending the stripping assemblies at appropriate points so that wire may be continuously fed through the device while the stripping of selected portions thereof is accomplished in a step-and-repeat operation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.