Patent ID: 9680275
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: B21F,B65G,H01R

Claim:
1. A wire singulating device comprising: a stationary plate and a movable plate defining a wire funnel and a wire channel therebetween, the wire channel disposed below the wire funnel, the wire funnel receiving a wire bundle that includes plural wires, the wire channel having a top opening that receives wires of the wire bundle from the wire funnel, the wire channel directing the wires one at a time to a take away zone below a bottom opening of the wire channel, wherein the movable plate is configured to be moved iteratively between a closed position and an open position to regulate the movement of the wires through the wire channel, the movable plate in the closed position located more proximate to the stationary plate than in the open position such that a width of the wire channel is less when the movable plate is in the closed position than when the movable plate is in the open position, the movable plate in the closed position engaging a lowermost wire within the wire channel to prevent the lowermost wire and other wires from exiting the wire channel through the bottom opening, the movable plate in the open position allowing the lowermost wire within the wire channel to exit the wire channel through the bottom opening and enter the take away zone; and a wire transfer member disposed below the bottom opening of the wire channel, the wire transfer member having a slot that aligns with the bottom opening and receives the wire that enters the take away zone when the movable plate is in the open position, the wire transfer member configured to move relative to the stationary plate and the movable plate to separate the wire that is in the slot from the wires in the wire channel.