Patent ID: 6170153
Filing Date: 2001-01-09
Classification: H01R,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for processing a wire, said wire having a longitudinal direction and an end, said method comprising the steps of:providing a wire processing apparatus having a wire processing position for processing said end of said wire;providing a guide member assembly with first and second spaced apart parallel movable guide members in proximity to the wire processing position, the movable guide members having a Y-shaped slot with a wide opened end and a narrow closed end, an elastic member extending across one of the slots at a location between the wide opened end and the narrow closed end of the slot;moving the guide members in unison parallel to the slots away from the wiring processing position and into a retracted position;conveying at least the end of the wire substantially transverse to the longitudinal direction of the wire to position the end of the wire in the wire processing position;advancing the guide members in unison parallel to the slots from the retracted position thereof toward the longitudinal axis of the wire when the wire is in the wire processing position, therebyinserting the wire into the slots of the guide members sufficiently for elastically holding the wire by means of the elastic member in the one said wire guide slot and to position the end of the wire in the wire processing position,processing the wire, andlowering the guide members in unison to the retracted position after processing the wire for releasing the wire from the guide members, andmoving the processed wire transverse to the longitudinal direction of the wire from the wire processing position.