Apparatus for winding wire into a coil on the inner surface of a cylindrical body

Apparatus for winding wire into a coil in an annular groove defined at the inner surface of a cylindrical body which also has an axially extending groove intersecting the annular groove, said apparatus comprising:

• a positioning section including positioning means for positioning a cylindrical body at a predetermined relative rotary position;
• a winding section including a wire supply nozzle through which wire is supplied, a roller, and XYZ table means for moving said wire supply nozzle and said roller in three dimensions relative to a cylindrical body set at the winding section, whereby wire can be supplied along the annular groove of a cylindrical body set at the winding section by moving the supply nozzle along the annular groove and whereby the wire can be pressed by said roller against a surface of the cylindrical body defining the bottom of said annular groove as it is being wound into a coil;
• a robot operative to move a cylindrical body at least from said positioning section to said winding section, whereby a cylindrical body positioned at said positioning section can be moved to and set at said winding section by said robot;
• a tensioning device associated with said supply nozzle so as to apply tension to the wire being supplied by said supply nozzle, said tensioning device being operative to selectively adjust the tension applied to the wire while the coil is being formed;
• and
• inspection means for determining whether a coil wound in the cylindrical body is in an acceptable state.