Wire twister pinion and assembly

A wire twister pinion assembly for use in a wire-tieing machine comprising a bearing block, a slotted pinion body mounted within and substantially encased by said bearing block, and a pair of yolk members attached at opposite ends of said bearing block to retain said pinion body within said block, said pinion body including opposite end journal portions and an intermediate gear portion, radially extending gear teeth on said gear portion having crests defining an imaginary circle of predetermined diameter, opposite ends of said teeth merging with and being supported by the journal portions, said predetermined diameter being less than an outer diameter of said end journal portions, said bearing block having an elongated slot for receiving wire to be twisted and a longitudinal bore for slidably receiving said pinion body through one end of said bearing block, said elongated slot intersecting said longitudinal bore, said end journal portions being rotatably supported by said bearing block within said bore, and said yolk members including slots aligned with said pinion body slot and said elongated slot to retain opposite ends of said wire during twisting operation of said wire-tieing machine.