| abstract |
Apparatus and method for making a wire lead which comprises a pair of insulated stranded conductors encased in an insulating jacket, with a two-pronged plug at one end and either untwisted or twisted bare or tinned wires with or without terminals at the other end. The apparatus comprises mechanisms to cut and convey a cable segment, strip the insulating jacket from both ends and trim cut the exposed insulated wires, preshape them, strip and twist the stranded wires at the plug end, attach the plug at that end, and strip and perform appropriate processing operations at the other end, i.e., twist, tin, or terminate. n The wire shaping mechanism for preshaping the wires at the plug end of the cable segment also helps position the wires during further processing and includes wire shaping and holding devices movable by an auxiliary conveyor, an inserter for directing the wire ends into releasable engagement with a wire shaping device, an actuator for causing the wire shaping device to effect wire bending, a wire release mechanism, and a reset mechanism for resetting the wire shaping device. n The mechanism for stripping and twisting the end of a stranded wire comprises a gripping device (such as the above-described wire shaping device or a conveyor clamp) which prevents axial and rotational movement of the wire, blades for severing the wire insulation, and a rotatable and axially movable spinner head which releasably grips, rotates, and axially removes the severed piece of insulation, simultaneously twisting the stranded conductors in the process. |