Fastener manufacturing apparatus and method

An assembly line for continuously manufacturing fasteners from a rod having a groove disposed therein for receiving a wire for retaining the fasteners in a strip, comprising, in sequence:

• a receiver for receiving rod;
• a die press arranged to receive the rod from the receiver having a piercing member for piercing an aperture in each fastener and a cutting member for cutting each fastener from the rod received by the die press;
• a tapping member for providing internal ribs to an inner wall of the aperture formed in the fastener by the piercing member;
• an inspection station for inspecting the internal rib formed into the inner wall of the aperture disposed in the fastener thereby verifying exactness of the aperture and the internal rib, wherein the inspection station includes first and second light inspectors disposed in an angular relationship;
• and
• a wire insertion device for inserting the wire into the groove of each fastener thereby forming a strip of fasteners, wherein the insertion device receives the fasteners from the inspection station after verification of the exactness of the aperture disposed in each fastener;
• wherein the wire insertion device includes a knurling device for reshaping the fastener over the wire, thereby retaining the wire in the groove formed in the fastener for receiving the wire;
• and wherein said knurling device is operably connected to a lever arm cantilevered in a downward direction thereby providing a reshaping force to the fastener for reforming the groove formed in the fasteners for receiving the wire.