Machine for stripping outer jacket from multi-conductor cables

A machine for automatically stripping the covering from an end region of a wire, comprising:

• a base portion;
• a forward wire-gripping assembly mounted to said base portion, said assembly including a forward wire-gripping device for gripping an interior portion of said wire, said forward wire-gripping device being operable to hold said wire in fixed position while said wire end region is being stripped;
• a rearward insulation-pulling assembly mounted to said base portion, said rearward assembly including a rearward wire-gripping device operable to releasably grip said wire end region, said rearward wire-gripping device being axially moveable back and forth in a direction that is generally endwise and parallel to the position of said wire when said wire is in the grip of said forward wire-gripping device, and a drive motor mounted to said base portion, said drive motor being drivingly linked to said rearward wire-gripping device for moving said rearward device back and forth;
• and
• a knife hub rotatably mounted to said base portion and positioned between said forward and rearward assemblies, said knife hub carrying a pair of opposing thermal knife elements for severing said covering from said end region, and at least one spring element connected to said knife elements, wherein said at least one spring element is biased to normally close said knife elements together, said knife hub further carrying at least one actuator element that is operable to oppose the bias of said at least one spring element, and thereby open said knife elements relative to each other.